Hosy's Grill, Santa Paula

[Tetge]

I met my brother and my sister's grown daughter, who was in town on business at Hosy's in Santa Paula, a place that is off the main highway, but, that does well and is actually good food. It also has a full bar, but we were having a late breakfast, so I have no idea how the bar is.

In any case, I do not get out much these days, so I was surprised when I fueled up that Chevron Premium was $4.70 a gallon! And then, I was amazed at how fast all the Saturday morning traffic, and there was a lot of it, was moving. I was in no hurry, so I was running +3 over the posted limits, as far to the right as possible, using cruise control a lot, and, the other traffic was nearly rolling over me, as I was about the slowest vehicle out there. Big trucks and everyone pulling a trailer of any sort appear not to know that their max in CA is 55 mph, and, they are under lanes restrictions. And, those others in a hurry run up to 90 mph, or so.

But, I made it to the restaurant, and I averaged 26.2 mpg, which is pretty decent for what is classified as an American muscle car.

In any case, the traffic was even faster and more aggressive on the way home, so, I got off the 14 at Soledad Cyn, just past Sand Cyn, to take the easy scenic route home, as I was not in a hurry. And, since the CHP is known to now and again lurk on Soledad, I proceeded to continue tol run no more that +3 over the 55 mph limit. But, Soledad is fun in places even at that speed. My drive was uneventful as the one car I caught up to pulled over and waved me by, until I came around a corner onto one of the not too long straights of Soledad, and there was a shiny slick 4 door of some sort halfway up the straight doing about 35-40 mph. But, as soon as I came into view, the car put on quite a burst of acceleration, and braked hard for the next corner.

Well sir, I am law abiding and I was still averaging about 26 mpg, but, there must be electrical glitches in the drive by wire throttle of the Mustang, because it put on an unintended burst of acceleration of its own. And, this is why I know that the car was an Audi, and that it had four exhaust tips. More, I do not know, as all Audi's look the same to me, except it did run very well. Anyway, before I finally got control over the throttle again, the Audi repeated the early, and hard, corner exiting onto the straights, and, I kept him in sight, and closed up a bit, a couple of times, but, then, since he was not really pushing hard in the corners as his MO was to break very hard just before the corner, and since I could see that my weak little Mustang could hang using just 4th gear, I slowed back down, as who needs a ticket?

But, not long after I slowed, I rounded a corner, and there was the Audi practically parked on the straight, waiting to school me some more, and it was more than I could take. I mean, he was taunting me on a road that I first traveled on almost 70 years ago, as it was the way that my family used to get to our desert property in Juniper HIlls. And, when the Audi turned off onto my favorite short cut into Acton, which I was going to take anyway, he was given a genuine lesson in why they call American muscle, muscle. He actually pulled over finally, and let me proceed on, after I pulled up on him twice, as he tried a second time, at something like 80-90 on a longer straight, and the second time I ran right up onto his bumper from 20 car lengths or more back. And, I was using my 120 mph 4th gear, not my 93 mph 3rd gear. The Audi was not slow at all, but, the Mustang did go 110+ at Famoso. so, Soledad Cyn speeds are not a big thing, as speeds do not generally exceed 110 mph (although one night after a lot of wine, I hit the rev limiter at 137 in 3rd on a Soledad straight on Brakelate's Busa, but, that was years ago, and, I had no idea now fast I was going at the time).

It felt good to go a bit crazy today, but, it ruined my fuel economy, as hard pulls in 4th take plenty of fuel, as muscle is thirsty. And, the moral of the story is be careful messing with American muscle piloted by a senile old driver who has been driving the route for almost 70 years as muscle is still muscle, and canyon roads are more than just braking so hard that your brakes smell and punching it wide open onto the straight and letting the nannies handle the early application of power. Since Soledad is really not all about power, although it is a fast road, it may well be that a better driver with that Audi would have destroyed me, but, I had a lot left, as I did some testing on that very road to calibrate the Mustang's handling when the car was brand new on the way home from the dealership, and it got floaty, but, at speeds that one should never run on a public road. I have matured and reformed since then, but, the car can be pushed along at a pretty quick pace on Soledad Cyn, as it has really big brakes and a fair amount of Coyote V8 power and good gearing, and, being smooth helps a lot with the softness of the suspension. I never got close to a hot cornering pace today, but, for a moment, I got some of the old rush that I used to get with the Terminator, as I pulled up onto the bumper of the Audi, at 90+. Nothing like the sounds and feelings of a nicely tuned Ford V8 putting all its power down, especially since opportunities to let the Coyote howl are limited as things that go 110+ in the standing 1/4 get to very high speeds in short order.

I feel better having confessed my sins, and, I now am once again reformed. You can also trust me about not having any idea about the bar at Hosy's, as it was a late breakfast, as I am reformed and would, therefore, never lie.

[SonicVenum]

I'm glad you have confessed your sins, my son. Now, do 10 Our Henry Fords, and 5 Hail Motorcrafts as penance.

[Tetge]

I feel so much better now that I have been absolved by a Ford Friar. It is hard to describe the anguish that my fall from grace due to the temptations of engaging in a speed contest caused. But, now, I feel cleansed and able to return to the path of virtue, responsibility, and mature restraint. For now, my years of sinning whilst motoring, are now behind me, and I am truly reformed at last. It feels so peaceful that it must be right, and, that rhymes with, I have seen the light.