The San Francisco call., 1908-07-12
Northern Roads Are
Far Superior
William B. CEdden Draps His
Conclusion From Tour to
Glendora
By K. K. PHOn1medieu

An interesting description of q trip
from Berkeley to Glendora is told by
William B. Glidden, who recently COW
cred the roads between these two places
in his seven passenger car. He writes:
The trip was an unusual one and so
different from the majority of long
distance automobile touring trips made
in this state owing to the absence of
any serious trouble with the engine
and not even puncture or a blowout.
The car started at 7:12 one morning
and very quick run was made to San
Jose. The splendid condition of the
roads through Alameda and Santa
Clara counties made this one of the
most enjoyable and speedtest laps
of the entire distance. At San Jose
stop of Is minutes was made to mail
some souvenir cards, which plan of
mailing cards was carried out on the
| trip to inform those at home of the
progress of the travellers. After leav-
ing San Jose the towns of Morgan
Hill and Gilroy were soon left ar
behind and instead of crossing over
the San Juan grade a detour was made
around by way of Watsonville into
Salinas, arriving at the latter town a
Z:l5 in the afternoon, the records show
ing that 125 miles had been covered in
| five hours and - minutes actual run
ming time. To avoid the necessity of
making specified points at the lunch
hour a repast had been provided and
nice shady spot was selected and the
/ lunch heartily enjoyed by the party
The automobile equipment contained
two thermos bottles, and each morning
! of the run, before starting. these bot
! ties would be flled at the hotels with
hot coffee, which remained hot, and was
greatly enjoyed with the luncheons.
The first night was spent at Monterey
and upon arrival there in the after
noon it was decided to take in the
Seventeen Mile drive. This was done
also running on down to Carmel by
the-Sea, where stop of about a half
hour was made; then the party re-
turned to Del Monte. This ended the
/ first days trip, and the distance trav-
eled was 167 miles.
AN early start was made the fol-
! lowing morning with Paso Robles as
! the objective point From Del Monte
to Seledad very good roads were en-
countered, the first five miles out of
Salinas being exceptionally fine. In
making this trip one should make the
run between Salinas and Kings City
in the early morning so as to avoid the
high winds and dust, which make it al
| most impossible to see the road for
more than so yards ahead. Paso Robles
was reached at $3.50 in the afternoon,
! having covered distance of 127 miles
from Del Monte At 1885 the next
morning a start was made for Santa
! Barbara, where the next night was to
| be spent. Passing over the Cresta
| grade, which, when going south, is
more or less dangerous on account Of
! sharp curves, San Luis ObiSpo was
reached at $3.50 in the morning. Then
over a poorly graded road by way of
Edna, with quite a grade, the party
| reached Arroyo Grande. The best road
between San Luis and Arroyo Grande is
| by way of Pizmo Beach, although it
takes half hour longer to go that way.
Just before reaching Santa Maria a bad
stretch of sand about mile long was
encountered Alamo Pintado, a ranch
| used as a summer resort, was the next
stop where gasoline was taken on.
- Passing the Mission Santa Ynez the
party came to a fork, and took the
wrong road leading to Lompoc. After
travelling about five miles they were
told they should take the road to
Gaviota. They passed through Gaviota
pass, then over the ravines and dips
/ between Gaviota and Santa Barbara
| The Potter hotel in Santa Barbara
was reached at $40 after a dusty ride
of 15S miles for the day. The next
morning the start was made about
! II, and after leaving Santa Barbara
the difference in the roads was most
noticeable, those in the northern part
of the state being far superior to
those in the southern, many stretches
/ between Santa Barbara and Los An
geles being so bad that a machine
could not possibly travel over II miles
an hour.
! "One very good feature for automo-
| bilists after passing Santa Barbara is
the numerous signs posted by the
Automobile club of southern Cali
fornia. Casitas pass was negotiated