You asked your wife to drive....

My God in heaven.

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Originally posted by frayedends:

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Originally posted by Russ59:
What route specifically?

Can’t say exactly as using navigation causes me to pay less attention. But we were on Temecula highway and then something called palms to pines or something like that. Coming out of the mountain there was a big visitor center for palm desert.

Calif State Route-74, aka Pines to Palms Hwy connecting to hwy-371.
Hwy-74 takes you from the valley floor of Palm Desert, around Mt San Jacinto, to the pine tree otherworld of Idllywild and Mountain Center. Most people know the section from Palm Desert to the 371-junction which takes you over to Temecula; its become a commuter route between the Palm Springs-areas to northern San Diego-area and the growing wine tourism industry.

Easiest direction is East to West: a steep (but scenic) climb out of the desert floor, into the rocky wine and horse country of northeastern San Diego county, then push north into the surreal but, calming mountain communities around Idyllwild & Mountain Center. You'd never think of Southern California having areas that resembled parts of the Sierras, Southern Rockies or, N.Arizona, its a nice refuge from the heat and grime at the lower elevations is one of the treasures of SoCal.

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Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
You asked your wife to drive....

My God in heaven.

(Sorry, frayedends, but that just struck me as funny.)

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Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
You asked your wife to drive....

My God in heaven.

(Sorry, frayedends, but that just struck me as funny.)

lol it is funny. I’m generally not afraid of anything. But I get panic attacks from heights and public speaking. Can’t explain it but if you never had a panic attack you’d never get it. Better to be a pussy and let wife drive than get vertigo and go off the side of a mountain. But damn I was literally one turn from finishing the drive. If I’d only known.

We drove that several years ago in our Corvette. Driving up 74 to Idllywild was beautiful. We came back to I-10 on RT 243, that was amazing. I was not loafing, yet sport bikes passed like it was nothing, curves and all.

We drove that route when we were in San Diego a few years ago. Checked out the Salton Sea and then to Palm Desert. Both routes took us thru the mountains. Beautiful routes. Coming from Colorado, I grew up driving in the mountains so it wasn't bad for us. I could see where it is a challenge if not used to it.

Yellowstone is the same. Steep dropoffs, switchbacks, no guardrails and a ton of yahoos driving rented RVs that haven't a clue how to safely operate the damn thing.

When in Italy on Uncle Sugars dime, I used to drive in the Dolomites. And up to Cortina. The exciting event was meeting the alpine bus coming the other way!

I haven’t been on that stretch yet. I wonder how it compares to some of the Sierra passes I’ve driven. The Sonora Pass has some steep drops that sure open your eyes and cause a little pucker as well as one of the approaches to Yosemite. It’s not so much the drop-offs but when you combine the lack of rails, curves, and being small 2-lanes they can up the clench-factor.

I know the road itself for Sonora pass has a grade of 26% in places.

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Originally posted by thumperfbc:
I haven’t been on that stretch yet. I wonder how it compares to some of the Sierra passes I’ve driven. The Sonora Pass has some steep drops that sure open your eyes and cause a little pucker as well as one of the approaches to Yosemite. It’s not so much the drop-offs but when you combine the lack of rails, curves, and being small 2-lanes they can up the clench-factor.

It’s the west to east (downhill) which results in the pucker-factor.

East to west is fun.

Thanks for the tips.
Note that we live in San Diego, e haven’t been out on the roads h just for fun.
BTW Hwy 74 from I-15 west at Lake Elsinore is the Ortega Highway, a favorite of Car and Driver magazine. It’s quite nice, not scary.

Back in my younger days (18-19), while living in San Diego, and working at one of the courts, I would ride that stretch often on my VFR750. Myself, one of the judges and a deputy from the court I worked at, would ride that every other weekend. We would get to Idyllwild, eat a big breakfast, then ride back down to San Diego. An absolutely beautiful day trip ride.

If I remember correctly, there use to be a big race up and down that route every year.

Glad you made it down!

Fear of heights isn’t a man card thing to me. Probably because heights like that just about turn me inside out.

I've been on that route quite a few times, it's fun now, but wasn't the first time.

Like the OP, I was on the verge of needing new underwear.

I was told that if I was doing the driving, I could take the 15 to the 10 just like all the other sissies did. LOL.

I've got family in Palm Springs and Sandy Eggo so we make that drive a lot.

To be honest, if it weren't for the despicable whackyfornia government, it would be a fantastic place to live. The geography range is amazing, and it's a really pretty state with a lot to do and see. But, however, the government there has totally fubar-ed everything and ruined it.
.

I'm blind in my left eye so I have no depth perception. For some odd reason it really affects my right side. No way in hell would I drive that. Nor would anyone with common sense allow me to drive.

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Originally posted by OKCGene:
To be honest, if it weren't for the despicable whackyfornia government, it would be a fantastic place to live. The geography range is amazing, and it's a really pretty state with a lot to do and see. But, however, the government there has totally fubar-ed everything and ruined it.

Sadly, it isn’t just the government. there are far too many morons who drink the koolaid and want that kind of government. I used to think that if (almost) every CA politician had a heart attack and they were all called back to hell at the same time we’d be much better off. Sadly, that isn’t true. There are far too many living here who would would search out equally bad (or probably worse) politicians and elect them. Sigh…

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Originally posted by slosig:

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
To be honest, if it weren't for the despicable whackyfornia government, it would be a fantastic place to live. The geography range is amazing, and it's a really pretty state with a lot to do and see. But, however, the government there has totally fubar-ed everything and ruined it.

Sadly, it isn’t just the government. there are far too many morons who drink the koolaid and want that kind of government. I used to think that if (almost) every CA politician had a heart attack and they were all called back to hell at the same time we’d be much better off. Sadly, that isn’t true. There are far too many living here who would would search out equally bad (or probably worse) politicians and elect them. Sigh…

Easy living attracts soft people who are very malleable. Their lack of logic and reason doesn't kill them off there, so they multiply and pass on the traits.

I've lived in SoCal and it is very pleasant. Fortunately, it was in the 1960s before it got completely inundated with whackos.

There is a section of highway that follows the Salt River in Arizona that is kind of thrilling. Don't remember the route number.

flashguy

Back in December 2020 we drove from PA to SC. I can’t say I wasn’t a bit frightened in the mountains. Could have been the blizzard condition in addition to the height but let me tell you, that steering wheel has a new set of finger grips.

I think we've had similar threads over the past few years.

I've never had a problem driving near edges. I wouldn't be reckless but was comfortable driving faster than most people.

Until one day I wasn't. Not sure when it happened or why. I think it first manifested when I got the truck (or maybe it's because of the truck we starting going places where this would manifest).

Regardless of the trigger, I now have to drive slow when near edges, especially if there are no guardrails and the edge is near the road. The steeper the drop, the puckier it gets. But even with guardrails, it's not entirely comfortable.

There were some sections of road in Moab that I really didn't like. Going downhill is worse because I always start to worry about the brakes getting too hot and failing. I was sweating bullets on one off pavement route - dirt, sliding, bumpy road next to an edge. Hard braking resulted in sliding. So even though the route was probably wide enough for 2 cars (tight), with the possibility of sliding I was extremely uncomfortable.

There's a beautiful lake for kayaking. A superb kayak place in many aspects. But I don't go very often because of the drive to it - narrow road with an edge (no guardrails). It's the route to a very popular 4x4 trail so I'm always pulling over to let people pass me - they don't seem concerned about the edge.