My Travel Adventures, Cars , and Motorcycles: Off to Goodwood! Day One.

Dear Family & Friends,

We got up this morning excited about going to Goodwood but expecting the worst. The weather report was for lots of rain and the route we had to take is known for HEAVY traffic and long delays.

I was pleasantly surprised! The traffic was relatively light ( a few small delays but not bad) and the weather started off with a light drizzle but by the time we got to Goodwood it was dry and very pleasant!

We left London and rode for about an hour until we were in the country side riding along small country lanes through small villages. Ideal motorcycle riding!! We decided to stop for breakfast and found a terrific inn right on the road. It was charming and quaint and had great food. I knew it looked old but when we asked the waitress when it was built I was still surprised when she said some where in the 1200s... This place is old! They had a small oil painting of King Henry the 8th on the wall. It was probably done when he stayed there!

After breakfast we had about another 35 minutes of riding through beautiful English country side until we got to the Goodwood Race Circuit. Today is set up day so there was no action on the track but it was a great chance to take photos of the amazing race cars there without the crowds.. (check out my blog)

For those of you that don't know the Goodwood Revival is part classic car show, classic car races, vintage air plane show and vintage clothing show... A terrific spectacle...

After an hour or so my friend Aubrey showed up in a beautiful 1951 MK7 Jaguar sedan towing his 1951 Jaguar C Type race car.. Even among all the fancy race cars there his rig drew a crowd!

Around 3pm we got on our motorcycles and rode up the lane about a mile to Lord March's estate, Goodwood House. His front yard is about the size of San Luis Obispo! There they had a cricket match between past and present race car drivers, a formal English tea, and various entertainers. Also the parking lot was an amazing car show in it self filled with all sorts of classic cars.

When we parked our motorcycles at the cricket match they drew a small crowd because they are covered with stickers from all the places we have been and they have California plates which is certainly a novelty here. One man came up to us and started asking us all sorts of questions about our trip. He was a motorcyclist too. I could tell by his accent he was American too. I asked him where his was from and he said Ohio, Then he asked us where we were from and I told him California. He then asked what part and I said San Luis Obispo. He then said, I know that town in fact I have been there, I buy all my Jaguar parts for my E type from a company there called XKs Unlimited!! Made me feel good and he was quite excited when I told him I was the owner. He even took several photos of us!

We found a couple of comfy chairs along the pitch and watched the game for an hour or so. Their was a lovely English lady sitting next to us and she was the first British person in the 35 years I have been going to England that could actually explain the game of Cricket to me. After she explained all the rules and what they were trying to do I found it just as boring as before.......

Every year at Goodwood they have the best Laurel and Hardy impersonators I have ever seen... They are really good! I got to talking to them and mentioned my wife had cared for I think it was Stan Laurel when he was in an old folks home. They were so excited!!! They begged me to ask my wife to write just a short story about him and her time with him. They are members of the L&H club and really like to collect any information they can about him... So Bonn please write me a short story to send them..

Late in the afternoon we rode down to the B&B we are staying at. I have been staying here for over 10 years so I have become friends with the owners.. The place is absolutely beautiful!! The main farm house was built in 1350! We stayed in the new wing which is a barn built in the 1700s and is now converted into three bedrooms, a kitchen and living room. The owner Sam is an exceptional artist and the place is decorated with many of his oil paintings! I feel like it is a privilege to stay here!

Like I said when I stay there it feels like old friends.. As soon as we arrived Sam invited us in and he started pouring the wine... After an hour of catching up with each other we got cleaned up and the four of us, Sam and Hilary, Duane and I, went to the local pub and had a few more glasses of wine and a great dinner. The pubs here feel like a large living room and as soon as we got there friends of Sam joined us and it was a great evening.

I have said this many time but the site seeing and motorcycling are great but the best part of the trip is the people we see...

I can hardly wait until tomorrow. I have posted lots of photos tonight but lots more to come tomorrow!

Jason