Santa Cruz Woodies A Chapter of the National Woodie Club
Long before there was a National Drive Your Woodie Day, the Santa Cruz Woodie Club had a years long tradition of planning their Spring Cruise for sometime in early May. Over the years we have traveled many of the more scenic routes in and around Santa Cruz and visited many of the area’s destination spots, but never before have we taken to the skies! Perfect California weather greeted 13 Woodies and their owners when they met to start the cruise at the Surf City Coffee Company in Aptos.
Starting off on the cruise we drove along some beautiful country roads, passing through redwood forests, down through fern grotto and over gurgling creeks. We stopped at Gizdich Ranch, a working fruit and berry orchard, where they make the best pies you will find anywhere, and made sure we stocked up on a few to enjoy later.
We continued on passing vineyards and local wineries and stopped at The Barn at Hoey Ranch, an old orchard barn turned Antique Shop. After some browsing and buying, our photographer emeritus, Jim Vickery, made sure we gathered for a photo of the group with banners sending a special “Get Well We Miss You” greeting to Marilyn Bowman who couldn’t join us and was sorely missed.
The group then cruised on to the Wings of History Air Museum in San Martin where we were welcomed to their annual air show and open house. After lunch everyone enjoyed a fun afternoon watching the air show and touring the museum, which is full of many wonderful old airplanes. Some of them were wooden just like our cars. We also checked out all the other displays including those by the Model-T and Mustang car clubs who were visiting as well.
Departing the Air Museum we ventured on to a local park for one last stop. There we relaxed, enjoyed some of those great pies we had picked up earlier, and cooled down a bit with the help of some root beer floats. A perfect end to a perfect cruise, made better by knowing that many of our Woodie friends across the Nation were also enjoying their own great outings on National Drive Your Woodie Day!
