1st Annual SCC Julian Pie Cruise!

Written By: 1HotRod

Temecula – It was a beautiful November day, and a perfect day for a cruise.  The day, Sunday 22 November 2009, a dozen Challengers from across Southern California convened in Old Town Temecula to participate in a cruise to the small mountain community of Julian in San Diego County.  The goal for many was to purchase some renowned Julian Apple Pies for Thanksgiving.  The route was a simple but scenic one, State Route (SR) 79 through Warner Springs to SR 78 at Santa Ysabel and on into Julian.  The route back took a turn at SR 76 that led us through Pauma Valley to Pala Road then back into Temecula.  The weather, road conditions, and traffic were ideal for a cruise. 

It was assumed from the beginning that due to the last minute planning, and the date being the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we would be lucky to get a handful of cars to make the cruise.  To maximize exposure and reach the largest possible audience of Challenger owners, the SCC Julian Pie Cruise announcement was posted on four forums, SoCalChallengers.com, ChallengerTalk.com, Challengerforumz.com, and MOPAR360.com.  The greatest response was from the SoCalChallenger.com forum, of course.

It was great day for a ride to Julian.  When they got to Julian, they noticed that parking was going to be an issue, especially if SCC wanted to park together.  They checked out a couple of the lots in town, and talked with the attendants at the largest parking lot in Julian.  When asked if the lot operator would consider offering a discount to our club for 6-12 cars, they took my name and email address, and in a couple of days Father Moraga of St. Elizabeth’s of Hungary emailed me offering SCC $3/day parking, a 40% discount off the regular rate of $5/day.  One must wonder if he is a MOPAR man with his reply “If you can’t Dodge ‘Em, Ram ‘Em”.  

Cruise day started with some freshly brewed coffee from Starbucks in Old Town Temecula where we all met.  Old Town Temecula, with its Early California architecture, is home to the annual Spring & Fall Old Town Temecula Car Shows formerly known as the Temecula Rod Run.  In its hay-day they were pulling in over 1000 pre-1973 cars, trucks and motorcycles.  I will be petitioning the event coordinator for acceptance of the “New” Challenger (Modern Muscle Cars) at next year’s events if anyone is interested.

When I arrived in Old Town at 8:20, he was met by Dave (REDDOG), Chris (SparkChicken) and Rick (SRT4RJ).  G1 rolled in behind me – we met on the I-15 freeway as I accelerated down the onramp.  At 8:30 more cars started to roll in, Chuck (ChuckR), Bill (HemiLvr), Julio (MrJay_RT), James W (CookieMonster), James (DutchChallenger), and SpeedKing.  At that point there were 11 Challengers lined up on Front Street.  G3 took his list of participants and started checking off names when he found that James W in his B5B RT did not sign up.  He drove in from Thousand Oaks, and picked up his friend from Victorville at Bass Pro Shops.  We were waiting for Challenger #12, Tom (Furious).  He rolled in around 8:50.  At that point, we had 12 cars – 5 HO, 3 BSM, 1 TR, 1 SW, 1 BB, and 1 B5B.  The HOs won for most popular color.

The first 5 miles through South Temecula were the toughest, with no less than 15 traffic signals.  Leading the pack, I kept the speed down to keep the group in my rearview. I was in constant contact via 2-way radio with Dave who was bringing up the rear, and G1 keeping the center line.  Just beyond Temecula, SR 79 turns into a twisty two-lane road that climbs through the valley north of Palomar Mountain.  Knowing this route is typically heavily patrolled by CHP and San Diego Sheriff Deputies, I set the cruise control at the posted speed limit, and this is how the group rolled most of the day. 

Our first stop after 30 miles was the Sunshine Summit General Store.  We had our 12 Challengers lined up side by side for great photo op. We lined them up once again and continued south on SR 79.  The traffic was so light that day that we were able to get all 12 cars back on the road without any breaks. 

We continued our drive through Warner Springs, and past Lake Henshaw.  This is where we saw the only CHP that day.  He was alone on the left shoulder with his bubbles flashing.  With the cruise control set at 55, we were not breaking any obvious laws, and we did not invite him to come harass us.   We made it past him without incident.  

Our next stop was the Inaja Memorial Park.  This is a small park along SR 78 just east of Santa Ysabel.  There were just enough parking spots left for our 12 Challengers.  We attracted a lot of attention here.  The view from the park over the Santa Ysabel valley is tremendous, and the pictures don’t do it justice. There is a memorial marker at this park in honor of the 11 firefighters who lost their lives in the Inaja Fire on November 25, 1956.

From here we proceeded to our destination in Julian. I pulled into the St. Elizabeth’s parking lot, where the attendants were expecting us.  They were excited to see us and told us to park wherever we wanted. The lot had plenty of space. It was high noon already.  Figuring an hour and a half would be enough time to grab some lunch, pie, and do some shopping, we agreed to meet back at the cars at 1:30.   We all went our separate ways, some in small groups, some with the significant other, and some with family. First stop for me was the Julian Café!