We have landed near Fallbrook north of San Diego for a couple of months to escape the rest of Wisconsin's winter. Took a couple of weeks to get here, camping in AZ and southern Cal on the way. Was hoping some of the San Diego area GRM crew might help with a couple of questions.
Any suggestions on independent shops for basic maintenance, and probably a clutch on the Mazda3? Escondido is about 10 miles south. We're in a R Pod trailer, and although I had to do brake pads in a parking lot on the way out here, I really don't have a place to wrench.
Is car theft a problem out here (and in SD too)? I can't imagine a '10 Mazda3 would be high on any car thief's list, but I probably have more $$ in parts on the car than the car itself is worth and insurance won't make me whole. Do I need to be careful where I park it? Buy a club?
I want to run Chuckwalla, Willow Springs, also Laguna Seca and Sonoma if I can find my way up north. Been digging through the calendars and clubs running events in the area, are there any in particular to avoid? How early do you have to register? Seems odd there are no TNIA events in southern CA.
Ran the Cal Club Test n Tune at the Autoclub Speedway in the Mazda3. Met a bunch of fellow autocrossers and had a good time standing around for eight hours in a parking lot to drive 12 minutes (test n tune). In early February - this is great...
PS: Restaurant/brewery/winery suggestions welcome.
Chuckwalla, Willow Springs, also Laguna Seca and Sonoma
Any of the non exotic days will be fine provided you meat sound regs.
Is car theft a problem out here (and in SD too)?
Unbelievably high but not for what you would expect. Small trucks, cheap 4 door cars and the occasional classic car. Really anything that Mexico needs or that somebody has stolen on spec for overseas. You can get modified car insurance which covers your modification costs at not a terrible addition to your normal policy if you so desire. Depends on your provider.
Scrappys Tire for that stuff.
B and D auto repair Vista.
El Parque is a great low key hangout.
jwagner (Forum Supporter) said:
PS: Restaurant/brewery/winery suggestions welcome.
Years ago I used to be in the San Diego County/Orange County area often for work.
Brewery: Stone Brewery original location (not the Downtown SD location)
https://www.stonebrewing.com/visit/bistros/escondido
Map or about 25 miles south down the I-15
I've written some previously about "tourist in San Diego" that might apply.
Thanks for the suggestions.
We already found Stone in Escondido. It's huge, an amazing beer garden and I liked the food. Wish I liked IPAs more. So far Ballast Point downtown might be my all time favorite brewery. Also liked Prohibition in Vista.
Just registered for the March 5th Chuckwalla SCCA time attack. Also thinking about the Slip Angle event at the Streets of Willow March 7.
jwagner (Forum Supporter) said:
We already found Stone in Escondido. It's huge, an amazing beer garden and I liked the food. Wish I liked IPAs more. So far Ballast Point downtown might be my all time favorite brewery. Also liked Prohibition in Vista.
Just registered for the March 5th Chuckwalla SCCA time attack. Also thinking about the Slip Angle event at the Streets of Willow March 7.
Belching Beaver is the go to for the non IPA. Same with Mother Earth. The Cali Cream is a good session beer and if you want a stout you can chew the beaver mexican hot chocolate stout is my favorite for US made beers.
In reply to jwagner (Forum Supporter) :
If you're out there for 8 weeks then I'm gonna guess that you are "a man of leisure" not working during the days. Some day you should drive Hyw 1 north through Oceanside, Laguna, Huntington Beach, etc. At the south end of Long Beach, where Orange County ends and becomes LA County, on Alamitos Bay is an old favorite of mine. It's probably a 2 hour drive but could serve as a good turn around point to this leisure trip.
The Schooner or Later only serves breakfast and lunch, 7a-3p. Do not go on the weekend, the wait is horrific. Great place for a week day. Diner food but outdoor seating is right on the edge of the marina. The place was featured on Diners, Drive-in and Dives many years ago.
Myself and sailing buddies at the same place, many years ago. We had spent the night on the sailboat at Long Beach Yacht Club and walked over for pre-race breakfast.
and go a few miles farther to Carson and the Porsche Experiance.....across the freeway from the Goodyear blimps home base 405 and 110 Freeway.....
Scenic drive...
I was leaving a work national sales meeting in Palm Desert on a Friday morning. I was headed to San Diego for sailboat racing Friday night as well as Sat and Sunday. The gps took me via Rt 74 the Palm to Pines scenic byway. Sadly, the direction I was heading made it a mostly uphill drive. I beat on the Taurus or Fusion rental pretty hard (in a fun way.) The better direction is to arrive to Palm Dessert via this route, rather than leave Palm Desert. I however had arrived coming from our Irvine office.
Pro photo with Palm Desert at the bottom ...
Some of how it looks on a map:
Probably a 2 hour tour from Fallbrook
I am currently in San Diego and have spent 6-8 months here a year for work for the last 8ish years. This trip I do not have my Cayman out here but when I do you will find me in East County carving canyons.
We were in SD a few years back for a week on business. The Gaslamp district downtown has some fantastic restaurants .We wanted to do some wine tastings, so someone suggested Temecula instead of Napa. Good times up there and a nice drive.
Any suggestions on good Mexican restaurants in the area? There's a million of them in the area and I'm not sure where to start. Looking for great tacos, fish tacos, and also mex food a step or two above the basic entree/rice/beans slopped on a plate that we get in the midwest.
@weary - Hit Belching Beaver on your suggestion. The closest they had to Mex hot chocolate was a choc/peanut butter nitro milk stout concoction. A bit sweet, there's just too much going on in that beer for me. Food was really good though. SD area food has been good to great.
Temecula wineries have been a disappointment. Generally they're beautiful and great places to sit and have a glass of wine, but the wine we've tried is so-so and overpriced. They don''t suck, but at $35++/bottle have a lousy QPR. So far the best we've found is Estate D'Iacobelli, which being the closest winery to us and having decent pizza is a happy find.
Rented a cottage at Chuckwalla. Psyched about getting on track again. Hope my clutch survives. It's at 103K and was near the top of it's travel when I bought it 20K miles ago
I'm going to Adams Motorsports Park in Riverside with a shifter kart on Sunday, leaving early from Carlsbad.
jwagner (Forum Supporter) said:
Any suggestions on good Mexican restaurants in the area? There's a million of them in the area and I'm not sure where to start. Looking for great tacos, fish tacos, and also mex food a step or two above the basic entree/rice/beans slopped on a plate that we get in the midwest.
It's been a couple decades since I lived in San Diego, but one of my favorites was El Indio: https://www.elindiosandiego.net They've been there since 1940, so you know they're doing something right.
