Advice Needed - SoCal / Nevada / AZ / Utah Tour

there is a company that manufacturers missile propellants (if i remember correctly) on promontory point UT, on the north side of the great salt lake. they have an outdoor display of all rockets that use their propellants, including the space shuttle's SRBs

ive been there twice, its kinda interesting. maybe spend 30 mins there. and its free

 

Check out the Marconi Museum in Tustin, CA. A rediculous collection of cars (many rare Ferraris, etc). The Pima Air Museum in Tucson, AZ is also a nice treat.

Also, be sure and keep a Saturday morning in Orange County free so you can hit Crystal Cove. There is nothing like it in the world, as you can see by these photos (if you havent heard of it before)...
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=69646
If you havent been before, its a weekly car show in Newport Beach every Saturday from 7-9am. Hundreds and hundreds of every kind of car you can imagine.

 

For easier planning, Ive compiled a list of my favorites!

1. Crystal Cove, Saturday 7-9am, Newport Beach. For info, see this thread.
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39417

2. Marconi Auto Museum, Tustin, CA (est. 30 minutes from Newport Beach).
http://www.marconimuseum.org/

3. Titan Missle Silo Museum, Green Valley, AZ (about 20 miles south of Tucson). This is a FANTASTIC tour!
http://www.thepepper.com/tucson_titan_missile.html

4. Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, AZ.
http://www.pimaair.org/

5. Tucson Desert Museum. Very neat museum...many cute animals and cool exhibits
http://www.desertmuseum.org/

6. San Diego Air Museum, San Diego, CA. This Museum shares an area with other very interesting museums including photography and trains, I believe. Just a neat area to visit in general!
http://www.aerospacemuseum.org/

Crystal Cove, The Titan Missle, and Pima Air Museum are musts

 

More of a natural sight, but has a space angle, is the Meteor Crater in AZ.
http://www.meteorcrater.com/

The Nethercutt Collection is another private museum of vintage and classic cars.
http://www.nethercuttcollection.org/

The Petersen is a pretty good stop.
http://www.petersen.org/

I can't find the specifics, but Boeing still has a huge facility in Huntington Beach that does work for the Space Station and offers tours. And Long Beach has a facility that does work on the Boeing 717 and C-17. In the same area is the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Reserve. Huge old buildings at one end were one of the places work was done for the US Space Program in the 50's and 60's. There is also a decommissioned air base in Tustin that has very unique blimp hangars.

Out in the Mojave Desert between L.A. and Las Vegas is the Airplane Graveyard.
http://www.surrealcoconut.com/urban_ruins/southerncal/mojave.htm

And back to cars for a minute, there are a ton of famous tuner shops and manufacturer offices around the L.A area. Boyd Coddington, Chip Foose, Rod and Steve Millen, Steve Saleen, Dan Gurney, Road and Track magazine...not to mention Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Toyota, Ford, and Chrysler.

 

If you're into racing, check out the Penske museum in Scottsdale...not a huge collection of cars, but a thorough collection of racing history nonetheless (and last I was there, his Enzo was too)! It's actually at a dealership in North Scottsdale, and it's free. I used to work out at the Bondurant School at Firebird Intl. Raceway...take an afternoon to sign up for the shifter kart experience. If you enjoy speed, driving one of these beasts is an absolute must! Talk to Alan Rudolph and tell him Erik Valdez sent you. As for California; I don't know whether they do any tours at all, but NASA's JPL is in Pasadena, and heck, if you're in the Beverly Hills area, stop by our showroom...we've always got some interesting toys around!

-Erik

[email protected]

www.redlinemotorgroup.com

310.289.8830

 

Vintage Motor Cycle Museum (AKA, Private Collection), Solvang California

http://www.motosolvang.com/
weekends 11am-5pm. $5 admission.

Solvang is an excellent drive either along a freeway or over the mountain from Santa Barbara. Great driving roads to get there if you were to take the mountain. Great Views. Puts you right into wine country.