HOM: InCarNation

California was the Country Of Nice Cars, and was a mecca for fast cars. It seemed made for convertibles, with its long beaches and winding roads and sunny skies and pretty girls. I never got a traffic ticket while I was hotrodding around down there, though I should have. Russ & I were double-dating a couple of girls, and one of them lived above La Jolla where an under-construction freeway dead ended. Those few miles of multi-lane freeway were usually empty and were the scene of a lot of races. Once we headed out of OB almost together. I wanted to get out to the girl's house a few minutes before he did so I pushed pretty hard. To my surprise when I stopped, Russ pulled up right behind me -- and he was upset at me. He thought I was racing him, and pushed his car to the point of overheating to try and catch up to me. Johnny Loew had a little yellow Opel GT sports car and a competitive spirit. We were having a little competition heading back down the freeway stub towards La Jolla when we topped a hill -- and hit the brakes! A CHP car was parked at right angles on the verge ahead of us, with radar running. We went by him slowly, expecting the worst, but all he did was lean out and shake his finger at us. Once I found a little dirt trail leading off from the end of the freeway so, being a country hick, I went bumping down it to do a little exploring. I ended up on a service road in a city park getting reamed out by two cops who informed me that going off-road in a construction zone was against the law. I didn't get a ticket, just some humiliation, before they opened a utility gate and booted me out. I took the two lane overpass from I-5 to another freeway during some high-traffic hours. The curving overpass was marked 55, but I was alternating lanes and doing 70 when I zipped past a patrolman. Another car cut him off, and by the time he caught up to me I was on the other freeway and driving 5mph under the limit. He followed me for several miles, but didn't stop me. John Loew & I doubledated for Disneyland one weekend and took the Plymouth since it had more room. John drove when we headed back home & my GF & I were in the back seat with the top down. I noticed John was passing everyone else, but didn't say anything. When my GF glanced up and saw that the speedometer was reading around 110, she curled up, shut her eyes and went catatonic. What was even funnier was two guys in a Chevy Monte Carlo 454 that eased up beside us, looked us over, and then left us behind like we were riding a bicycle. Even John was flustered over that! TBC (Me) (Home)