How far would you drive for a Mexican lunch? As it turns out, forty-seven SNR club members in 25 Porsches were willing and eager to drive 140 miles from North Reno to Grass Valley, California for such a lunch and a chance to tour historic Nevada City. Following a short Driver’s meeting, we left the Home Depot parking lot (shown below) at 9 AM, Saturday, May 24th, with tour-organizer Steve Kent leading the way.
What a beautiful 3-hour drive it was on this bluebird day, with all the variety in scenery you could imagine. We drove north on US-395 to Hallelujah Junction, then West on CA-70 to Vinton and CA-49, South on CA-49 through rolling hills and across valleys, past cattle ranches and small towns. As we left Sierraville the drive turned really interesting. CA-49 became a 5-star Porsche road as we climbed up and over the Sierra Nevada range, navigating hundreds of curves along the white water Yuba river, through forests of towering pines and firs and through small Gold Rush-era mining towns. CA-49 was unusually gritty (lots of sand and rock chips) this year for the first 10 miles or so beyond the CA-49/-89 junction, causing us to leave more distance behind the Porsche in front to protect our paint and windshields. Once the road improved we were able to quicken our pace as we continued on to our comfort stop (pictures below) just beyond Sierra City.
Leaving our comfort stop, we passed through Downieville and North San Juan and by Nevada City on our way to our tour end, at Maria’s Mexican Restaurant in Grass Valley. Among the more memorable moments, we experienced a few minutes delay at the one-way bridge in Downieville, where we waited for a motorcycle tour of an estimated 100 Harleys to cross in the Eastbound direction (visual entertainment).
At Maria’s, 40 of us dined semi-Alfresco under a tent in the parking lot. Unfortunately, Margaritas and Cervases did not flow like water here, in deference to the long drive back home. A few brave souls ordered the 3-lb burrito, while I settled for the tacquitos (largest I’ve ever encountered).
Saying our farewells after lunch, some of us set off to take in the sights of Nevada City (3.5 miles away) before returning home. Others headed straight back toward Reno and Gardnerville via East CA-20 and North I-80. The author was surprised by the poor condition of I-80 and gladly took the CA-89 exit toward Tahoe City and eventually Gardnerville. Sadley, there was no classic Dodge Charger trying its best to induce the Porsches into a road race up North I-80, as we encountered in our Nevada City tour of 2020.
