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| Venture in Ventura A California Dreamin Preview |
(Ad)Venture in Ventura
By Michael Sullivan
Under threatening skies, 15 brave tourists in seven horseless carriages set out from the Palm Garden Hotel in Newbury Park for a 110 mile tour through
Ventura County. What was special about this tour is that is was a preview of one of the 5 tour days planned for the June 2008 California Dreamin’ HCCA
national tour. Photo #1 is our preparing to leave from the parking lot of the hotel that will serve as our tour headquarters. We drove through eight cities on
our full day tour including Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Fillmore, Santa Paula, Ojai, Ventura, Port Hueneme and Camarillo. Our tour kept us mostly on two-
lane back roads. Photo #2 is on the road to Fillmore. The tour was planned by Betty and I, who in period dress, lead the tour in our 1910 Buick Model F.
However, a failure of the engine’s oiler lead to our finishing the tour on the trouble truck driven by Jim and Loretta Sullivan.
The first stop on the tour was the city of Fillmore. While filling up on coffee and Mexican pastries, the rain did finally catch up with the tour. While waiting
for the rain to subside, we visited antique shops and a few cars left with back seats filled with new old treasures. The tour continued to along the Santa
Clara River to Santa Paula where we visited the California Oil Museum. Photo #4 is driving in the rain from Fillmore to Santa Paula. The museum’s regular
displays trace the history of oil in southern California. Their rotating display included Harley-Davidson motorcycles. After the museum, the cars were dried
off and we hit the road for more back-country roads and lunch. Photo #3 is at the museum.
Our stop in Ojai for lunch was at an Italian restaurant. Several of us observed the beautiful scenery along the way, especially where the steam-moisture
was rising from the fields along the road; indicative of a short rain on a warm day. Leaving Ojai, we encountered an unexpected detour due to a traffic
accident. We ended up traveling along another road which was rather nice and will be considered for the national tour. We traveled along the Ventura
River to downtown Ventura and then along the Pacific Ocean. The roads took us past beaches, sand dunes, and wetlands. We drove through strawberry
fields and past fruit stands where several of us stopped and purchased red-ripe strawberries for dessert later in the evening. Our final destination was
back at the hotel where we had started.
We had good cooperation with the local newspaper that sent a reporter and photographer to cover the start of our tour. Earlier in the week the newspaper
published our route so at several stops there were interested members of the public eager to see our cars. I handed out past Gazettes and HCCA
applications to interested observers. We were surprised when a second newspaper reporter showed up at the museum stop. Many observers were excited
to see 7 cars at one time and were planning to come back when over 50 horseless carriages drive into town next summer.
Of the 7 cars that began the tour, two needed the trouble truck including a 1914 Model T with new transmission bands that were acting up. The cars
completing the tour on their own power were a 1910 Model T, 1910 Oakland, 1914 Model T, 1914 Cadillac roadster, and 1915 Reo. Betty and I are
looking forward to again sharing the roads in Ventura County with those tourists that bring their cars to the June 2008 HCCA national tour.
By Michael Sullivan
Under threatening skies, 15 brave tourists in seven horseless carriages set out from the Palm Garden Hotel in Newbury Park for a 110 mile tour through
Ventura County. What was special about this tour is that is was a preview of one of the 5 tour days planned for the June 2008 California Dreamin’ HCCA
national tour. Photo #1 is our preparing to leave from the parking lot of the hotel that will serve as our tour headquarters. We drove through eight cities on
our full day tour including Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Fillmore, Santa Paula, Ojai, Ventura, Port Hueneme and Camarillo. Our tour kept us mostly on two-
lane back roads. Photo #2 is on the road to Fillmore. The tour was planned by Betty and I, who in period dress, lead the tour in our 1910 Buick Model F.
However, a failure of the engine’s oiler lead to our finishing the tour on the trouble truck driven by Jim and Loretta Sullivan.
The first stop on the tour was the city of Fillmore. While filling up on coffee and Mexican pastries, the rain did finally catch up with the tour. While waiting
for the rain to subside, we visited antique shops and a few cars left with back seats filled with new old treasures. The tour continued to along the Santa
Clara River to Santa Paula where we visited the California Oil Museum. Photo #4 is driving in the rain from Fillmore to Santa Paula. The museum’s regular
displays trace the history of oil in southern California. Their rotating display included Harley-Davidson motorcycles. After the museum, the cars were dried
off and we hit the road for more back-country roads and lunch. Photo #3 is at the museum.
Our stop in Ojai for lunch was at an Italian restaurant. Several of us observed the beautiful scenery along the way, especially where the steam-moisture
was rising from the fields along the road; indicative of a short rain on a warm day. Leaving Ojai, we encountered an unexpected detour due to a traffic
accident. We ended up traveling along another road which was rather nice and will be considered for the national tour. We traveled along the Ventura
River to downtown Ventura and then along the Pacific Ocean. The roads took us past beaches, sand dunes, and wetlands. We drove through strawberry
fields and past fruit stands where several of us stopped and purchased red-ripe strawberries for dessert later in the evening. Our final destination was
back at the hotel where we had started.
We had good cooperation with the local newspaper that sent a reporter and photographer to cover the start of our tour. Earlier in the week the newspaper
published our route so at several stops there were interested members of the public eager to see our cars. I handed out past Gazettes and HCCA
applications to interested observers. We were surprised when a second newspaper reporter showed up at the museum stop. Many observers were excited
to see 7 cars at one time and were planning to come back when over 50 horseless carriages drive into town next summer.
Of the 7 cars that began the tour, two needed the trouble truck including a 1914 Model T with new transmission bands that were acting up. The cars
completing the tour on their own power were a 1910 Model T, 1910 Oakland, 1914 Model T, 1914 Cadillac roadster, and 1915 Reo. Betty and I are
looking forward to again sharing the roads in Ventura County with those tourists that bring their cars to the June 2008 HCCA national tour.