I have always loved cars and Piedmont Road has been my favorite cruisin' road for years.
Before it was rearranged to its present configuration Piedmont Road used to make a sharp right turn just past the high school and go up just a bit then turn sharply again to the left and travel along the very bottom edge of the foothills until it ended at Calaveras Road in Milpitas.
Once daddy left his 1964 Oldsmobile Jetstar parked in the driveway while he was away on some trip. The keys were in the kitchen drawer and I could not resist taking it out for a spin. Of course, I was 14 at the time and getting my license seemed light years away so I got those keys, started it up, rapped those glass packs and drove it down our street then out onto Penitencia Creek Road and down Piedmont to Milpitas then back again. Of course I had to do this in secret which seems funny now that I remember purposely downshifting that automatic just to make the pipes rumble.
On the way home I stopped at the Shell station on the corner of Noble and Piedmont to put in just enough gas to get the gauge back to the right spot and parked daddy's car right there in the exact spot in our driveway. To my knowledge, no one ever knew.
Later I took that ride with each of my friends at one time or another and I still drive it as often as possible whenever I am back in town.
Really, there is nothing especially wonderful about Piedmont Road. Just memories . . . my memories.
