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Half Moon Bay, California
Half Moon Bay, California
| Saturday, May 16, 1998 | Visit Walt's other Boxster pages. |
Seven
Boxsters and fourteen enthusiasts convened in the picturesque California
fishing port of Princeton-on-the-Sea to welcome the visiting Mark Lysinger
and his black '98 with Texas plates. Mark is touring the western
United States with Steve Switzer, a visitor from England. They had
come all the way from Yosemite that morning, and were bound north to the
Napa Valley wine country.
We
met in the harbor at scenic Princeton-by-the-Sea, on Half Moon Bay about
20 miles south of San Francisco. The Shore Birds restaurant met all
our requirements - private room with a long table, private parking lot
with a vacant row, and a decent seafood menu. (Mark: "I'm from Texas-
I don't eat fish.")
Lunch,
scheduled for 12:30, was an hour late in starting, but no one noticed -the
parking lot was full of Boxster discussions and inspections. Everyone had
to look at the aspherical mirror from Chris from Germany on Trygve Isaacson's
brand new '98 Arena Red/black/black. About 1:15, organizer Randy
Russell (substituting for Doug Berman, who was called away on business)
finally rolled into the parking lot. We took a group picture and
moved inside for lunch.
At
the table, Randy kept the conversation going with mini-versions of Pete's
Polls. All the Californians present, except for one retiree, were
either in the high-tech industry or married to someone who was. The
eight Boxsters represented at the gathering (Mark is on his second) ranged
from a February 1997 build to spanking new. Everyone had had at least
a few problems, spread fairly evenly from trivial (a few hose leaks) to
serious (a new engine).
Mark's
'98 had been problem-free until the previous week, when he bounced over
railroad tracks in Arizona on the way to Las Vegas. (How fast, Mark?) The
computer suffered a small stroke, retracted the driver's side window, and
muttered to itself in digital German all the way to Las Vegas, where the
Porsche dealer gave Mark the scarce replacement part that Betty had been
waiting for.
Keith
Evans gave us the inside scoop on his custom Boxster accessory - his cat.
According to Keith, the plating on his chrome 17" wheels was done by the
cat. (Not by licking them, either.) The secret? "We feed
her plutonium - she likes it because it makes her feel all warm inside."
Keith also finds heated seats unnecessary. "Just set the cat on it
for fifteen minutes beforehand."
After
lunch, a few people had to leave, including Keith, who had a wedding to
go to. He said it was California Formal
(socks required) and promised to change out of his t-shirt and jeans. The
rest of us - six Boxsters and Walt and Nancy Bilofsky's Brand X convertible-
headed up the coast road toward the Golden Gate, with Brian Langley and
Marilyn riding along as Boxster passengers. First event was Mark's
gas station stop. In honor of the legendary Las Vegas Boxsterfueling,
all but one car pulled off and waited for him. Unfortunately, Mark
fell behind as we pulled back on the road.
That
left four Boxsters, trailed by Walt with Nancy snapping pictures, zooming
in formation around the curves of the coast road, with the Pacific surf
gleaming on the left. As we convoyed along the beach in San Francisco,
owning the left lane on the Great Highway, a loud noise came from a blackVW
on our right - a woman's voice saying "Are those all Boxsters? Holy s___!
I gotta see them."
We
continued north, past the famous Cliff House restaurant overlooking Ocean
Beach, then through the streets of Pacific Heights, gawking at the fabulous
mansions. The highlight came as we
were winding through the park-like Presidio, high on the cliffs overlooking
the Golden Gate, with ships heading into harbor and the green peaks o fthe
Marin Headlands on the other side. There, coming around a curve toward
us, appeared a gleaming Zenith Blue Boxster. Imagine - this poor
guy is tooling along, on a beautiful day in a beautiful car, feeling terribly
special and unique - he comes around a curve, and there we all are,
tooting at him … As someone said, the look on his face was priceless.
We
crossed the Golden Gate Bridge in bright sunlight. When the fog takes
the day off, as it did this day, San Francisco, spread out on our right,
becomes radiant in the afternoon light. Randy was holding the four
Boxsters bunched up in the right lane, doing 35, ten miles under the limit.
Walt, out in front, looked back and saw three lanes of traffic - and no
one was passing.
The
group reconvened - with the two wandering cars catching up - at the scenic
overlook on the Marin side of the Gate. After a bit more conversation
and lots more pictures, some of the group split off, while most of the
Boxsters headed for Sausalito for dessert and tourist stuff.
Not a bad Boxsterfest, considering the
informal organization and small amount of planning. Wonder what we
could put together here in the Bay Area with a little advance notice …
Volunteers, anyone?
Mark at the Golden Gate |
Attendees:
Mark Lysinger and Steve Switzer - '98 black/black |
|
Text and photos by WaltBilofsky. Convoy photos by Nancy Bilofsky.
Visit Walt's other Boxster pages.