Driving To Doheny Wood 2014

When you go to the beach at Doheny, and you are driving a Flathead Woodie, getting there is a big part of the experience. Will I really make it? Will the engine overheat? Will it start after a brief shutdown for gas or a pit stop? What is that noise I hear, is that a new vibration, why is the amp gauge on the negative side, did I bring a spare fuel pump, fan belts and distributor? Why doesn’t Vickery have these problems, he just takes off and I try to keep up. It could have been an airplane ride to John Wayne Airport but no I have to drive this thing 540 miles with the backs of my knees sticky against the car’s hot seats until the air-conditioning kicks in, wait a minute, what air conditioning? Actually the drive down was uneventful and Janice and I split up the long drive spending the night at Spyglass Inn, Pismo/Shell beach. After breakfast we headed down Hwy-1 for Dana Point Harbor Inn, stopping at the great beach café, Paradise Cove in Malibu for lunch. The Vickery’s arrived at Jim’s predicted time on Friday, 1:15pm. How does he do that? The opening ceremony at Doheny began at 8am with a snappy drill by a USMC color guard arraigned by Mickey Christiason. From 8:30 – 10am breakfast was provided by the San Diego Woodie Club for Woodie Owners. Raffles were held on the hour and the trophy presentations began at 2:30. So Cal Woodies gave out some neat trophies, and Janice and I were fortunate to be presented with the Flatheads Forever Trophy presented by Mick Carolan. At 5pm the Saturday evening dinner party commenced at picnic area B, celebrating another successful Doheny Wood at Doheny State Park. Appetizers and desert were prepared and served by members. Dinner was provided by Southern California Woodie Club for a small donation. At 8pm the official event concluded. Sunday morning the Woodie Cruze, hosted by Dougger and Peggy Anderson, was scheduled to begin at 10am and leave Dana Point Marina Inn parking lot heading north on PCH to Balboa Island. There were a couple of stops at great viewing areas along the way, as well as the option of taking the ferry which could hold three Woodies at a time over to Newport Beach, which we did. We had lunch at a little diner called the Gallery Café with Mickey & Joann Christiason and many of the Woodie Group concluding a fantastic weekend in Dana Point. This year the weather was cooperative and the various Woodie owners put on a great show. Next up, Woodies on the Wharf’s 20th Anniversary, hope to see you there…

Joe & Janice Cosgrave