2012 Wavecrest Woodie Meet
A road trip from Santa Cruz to Encinitas is always daunting. Especially in a 75 year old car. At some point you must pass through the belly of the beast that is Los Angeles. These days the LA suburbs begin somewhere north of Santa Barbara and continue south to the Mexican border. There’s no “good time†anymore to pass through it.
The Wavecrest Woodie Meet is worth the trip. Held each year in mid-September, it’s a good time to be on the road in California. The kids are back in school, the tourists have turned in their rented motor homes, and the weather is as good as it gets. I changed the oil on my ’38, repacked the wheel bearings, and hit the road.
On Thursdays, Encinitas hosts a downtown cruise-in. There were lots of woodies already in town, along with local cars like these:
Friday morning a number of us meet at San Onofre for the annual Santa Cruz vs So Cal surf-out. We’ve been getting together for years and this was one of the best. It was pushing 90 degrees on the beach with water in the 70s, glassy conditions, and chest high waves.
After the surf contest it’s back to Encinitas to grab a parking space in the Wavecrest lot. In recent years they’ve allowed woodie owners to move in on Friday, the day before the actual event. This has turned into a mini-party of its own and by sundown the lot is nearly full of cars tucked in for the night.
Festivities are underway at the crack of dawn on Saturday.
I passed this Rolls Royce just north of Goleta on my drive south. He was doing about 45 and had a couple of great looking dogs for company.
Corbin Taylor’s chopped, flathead-powered shoebox has been around for years. While a lot of woodie people don’t “get it†this car has always been one of my favorites. It’s on the market for around $75K.
Parked on a side street, this ’46 had beautiful wood and a color I liked:
Mike Bauer’s ’49 is another of my favorite shoeboxes. It’s a Bay Area car and also currently on the market. I hope it stays close to home.
I left for Santa Cruz Sunday morning before dawn and, without pushing it, made it home in under eight hours. This was a pit stop in Los Alamos.
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Hi Dave, nice to see your post for Wavecrest, brought back good memories of our visit to Wavecrest 30, at the end of our Route 66 trip.
Mick
Great stuff….I like how you picked shots that are not the old usuals. Thanks for posting these Dave. Also, though my car is also on the market, I’m glad I’m holding out for a price I’d be ok with….appears to be too high, so I guess I’ll hold!! Happy to still be in the band!!!
Aloha my brudda!
Thanks for the memories, Dave. From Pasadena, I liked fooling around in Vista and Encinitas–best all around climate in north America. They were so good, I bummed one of your pics for the next Grinder.