Road Trip!

stever

The moisture is nice to have....

The Sunday paper didn't arrive and our guy is usually super reliable.

kyfdx

stever said:

The moisture is nice to have....

The Sunday paper didn't arrive and our guy is usually super reliable.

Note to self: remove Las Cruces from possible retirement destinations.

Actually, I already did that, when I saw the "Sun" Bowl game from El Paso, yesterday. 35 F and snow.

carboy21

stever said:

It's gotta be a record. Looks like it's finally let up. Here's a shot from thirty minutes ago. Two of our houseguests bugged out at 4:30 am to go take photos from the other side of the Organ Mtns. but had to come back thanks to white-out conditions.

We have this much snow every year in PA. Not yet this year though

fintail

Yep, Steve brought the snow with him. It'd be very cool to have that here, anything more than 3" or so is armageddon in the Seattle area.

Driving back on a dreary and cold but dry day yesterday, here's the WSP in action. OR plated Odyssey, no doubt indulging in the freedom of WA speed limits from the strange repressive limits in Oregon, likely forgot the 70 zone ended about 20 miles before this point, and was probably going ~75. They usually give a ~10mph leeway. Bonus, high quality audio - you never know what will be on the radio:

https://youtu.be/Ui9prtuChjY

stever

Still impressed by the quality of your dashcam setup. Not so impressed by the available music LOL.

fintail

It's been running fine for almost 11 months now. I'll definitely continue to run one in my daily driver, and have thought of using one in the old car too.

Maybe the Odyssey driver thought he could just "streak" along

berri

WSP may use pickup trucks and other unusual vehicles, but they are still minor league compared to the tactics of places like Maryland

fintail

Or the idiocy of Virginia...

When I was younger, a small notorious speed trap town near where my mother lives had a Pathfinder as their trap car. Probably fooled a few people.

It's cold here now, so some places are just slathering the roads with de-icer - no matter that it is also very dry. Like the little hill I live on - tons of de-icer, no moisture. The stuff seems to stick to windshields like glue once it rains. Good enough for government work I guess, no doubt the same group who does such a job with traffic controls.

tjc78

NJ State Police have begun using Chevy SSs with alloy wheels in all black. The graphics are a grey hologram that is barely visible. I'm sure they catch a few barreling down the Turnpike.

Speaking of speeding.. I was heading home last night and was admittedly moving along faster than I probably should have been when a 2 door Audi blew by me at well over 100 MPH at the end of one freeway into another.

carboy21

tjc78 said:

NJ State Police have begun using Chevy SSs with alloy wheels in all black. The graphics are a grey hologram that is barely visible. I'm sure they catch a few barreling down the Turnpike.

Speaking of speeding.. I was heading home last night and was admittedly moving along faster than I probably should have been when a 2 door Audi blew by me at well over 100 MPH at the end of one freeway into another.

SS looks like a serious competitor to the BMW 7 and the Audi A8

fintail

Lovely first day of 2016 here on the eastside, was out on local roads in the old car:

berri

Did you see the December Readers Digest - Seattle and Portland are going to fall into the Pacific Ocean any day now due to an earthquake

fintail

Just like CA, last time I checked, it was there too

There will always be another quake and it is good to be prepared, but sometimes I think the alarm ringers own shares in companies that sell prep kits and retrofitting equipment.

Michaell

Same with the intermountain west - the volcano under Yellowstone is 60,000 years overdue on erupting.

I'm not rearranging my life to worry about it.

stever

I moved.

(not quite far enough though).

carboy21

Michaell said:

Same with the intermountain west - the volcano under Yellowstone is 60,000 years overdue on erupting.

I'm not rearranging my life to worry about it.

People in the Pacific Northwest should prepare to join China when the Yellowstone Volcano erupts and splits up the USA

berri

I heard that when the Yellowstone volcano blows, it's going to wipe out a lot of the northern hemisphere. I remember as a kid during the Cuba nuclear crisis having these drills on how to get home from school when the missiles came flying toward Chicago. Now I enjoyed the time away from class, but couldn't help wondering even at that age if it wasn't just better to run toward the explosion and get it over with quickly rather than probably starving to death slowly after the event.

fintail

Back in the nuke-em cold war days, the lucky ones indeed would have been vaporized upon initial impact. Prevailing winds during a Yellowstone supereruption would wipe out everything to the east and north east - so much ash.

The PNW will join China sooner, when "investors" buy up enough prime residential real estate.

berri

Funny. I recall it was only several decades ago that Japan went on the US real estate binge buying up chunks of NYC and LA. I believe the bubble they built burst and a lot of their money was lost.

carboy21

berri said:

Funny. I recall it was only several decades ago that Japan went on the US real estate binge buying up chunks of NYC and LA. I believe the bubble they built burst and a lot of their money was lost.

Yes. Japan went into a severe recession for the next ten years after the bubble burst. Somehow I don't see that happening to China. They have their fingers in pies all over the World

fintail

Yeah, China is a lot bigger than Japan in every way, figuratively and literally. I wouldn't cry if that bubble burst, but I don't see it happening.

gagrice

stever said:

I moved.

(not quite far enough though).

I need to move up on the Oregon Coast.

berri

What makes me a little cautious in some of these heated local real estate markets is that eventually the foreign interest will wane and move on to something else. Meanwhile, given the lower compensation packages for younger employees coupled with surging child care costs, just who will then be able to buy all of these inflated priced homes?

fintail

Awful lot of dirty money to come out of China and a few other places before they move on - and not a lot of land to buy here. It'll be at least a generation. The "investor" no-questions-asked residency purchasers buy up all the prime stuff, a few lucky/successful locals get in, normal people buy condos or live in distant suburbs, kind of like Manhattan in a way (that'd be a long road trip).

berri

I was kind of surprised how relatively sparsely Bremerton is populated compared to Seattle since it only something like an hour ferry ride to Seattle, which I think is probably similar to many suburban commutes on the Interstates out there. Seemed like a lot of land over there at least.

carboy21

Miami and Southern Florida real estate is being snapped by Latin American dirty money.
West coast real estate snapped by the super rich Chinese millionaires including in Vancouver and BC.
Nowhere in the World is your dirty money safe then in American real estate.

fintail

Vancouver is like Seattle but a few degrees more insane. Average detached house in the city proper is well over 1MM now. Seattle is a bargain in comparison. I think Canada asks even fewer questions than Murka,

Regarding Bremerton (which can be a nice drive on a sunny day), I think most don't want to be at the mercy of the ferries, as the city itself doesn't have quite the amenities of Seattle. It's a bit of a drive if one doesn't use a ferry, and the closer areas like Tacoma have enough affordable housing to not tempt commuters with a trip to the peninsula. Not a ton of high wage private sector employers there (I think the main one there is still the Naval shipyard), that's a factor too. Definitely a good deal if you want to take the boat - housing is probably 75% less than in Seattle, and a lot of nice prewar middle class homes there.

berri

It was very pretty driving from there to the Olympics, but then the entire area is very pretty (well maybe not the industrial areas and the Tacoma aroma), but nothing's really 100%.

fintail

On the road today, temps always well above freezing, highs in the 40s, I noticed my street is coated with de-icer again. Thanks guys. Everyone in the area should have their car detailed and send the city the bill - seriously, this stuff seems to bond to paint and glass better than it bonds to the road. Nice job.

Hopefully something like this won't happen again - what is paved with good intentions again?

slorenzen

"what is paved with good intentions again?"

Well, you've said yourself what driving in Seattle can be like...

stever

Does it count as a road trip if you drive an hour to the airport? Off to Chattanooga this afternoon. Wonder if I'll see any VWs?

kyfdx

stever said:

Does it count as a road trip if you drive an hour to the airport? Off to Chattanooga this afternoon. Wonder if I'll see any VWs?

Do you fly into Knoxville or??

stever

ATL to Chattanooga on Delta. They actually have flights to Chattanooga again. And rumor is that most of them aren't cancelled any more.

berri

I remember back in the 70's when Delta was still flying Convair 440 turbo props into places like Chattanooga.

stever

For a while in the 90s there was nothing flying in or out except for Krystal Hamburger jets. They did a big airport remodel but it took a while to get some commercial flights in. Now there's like 45 a day but my nephew-in-law missed so many connections due to cancelled flights that he only flies out of Atlanta. I'm sure having VW and an Amazon warehouse there has helped.

El Paso is hopping today, took almost 10 minutes to get through security.

berri

Oh yeah - Krystal Burgers - the White Castle of the south!

elias

That's a Chevy Caprice PPV, not a Chevy SS Sedan. Same platform, built at same factory...

tjc78

It's essentially the same thing.... Much like a Grand Marquis and a P71 Crown Vic.

elias

No, tjc78, Chevy SS and Caprice PPV are not essentially the same thing, even though they share a platform and factory. But we each can have our own opinions, and I respect yours while disagreeing. Maybe the vast differences between the cars are in areas which are not significant to you, but which are very significant to me!?

Also dude man, a Chevy SS vs Caprice PPV comparo is nothing like a Grand Marquis vs cop Crown Vic comparo. Ew!

stever

Hanging out in Chattanooga stuck in my brother's house because there's freezing rain out today. The garbage truck just made it up (and down) the steep hill he lives on but the closest Interstate junction ~10 miles away is shut down in both directions thanks to a wreck.

gagrice

Las Cruces should be close to 70 today. Bright sunshiny day in NM.

kyfdx

stever said:

Hanging out in Chattanooga stuck in my brother's house because there's freezing rain out today. The garbage truck just made it up (and down) the steep hill he lives on but the closest Interstate junction ~10 miles away is shut down in both directions thanks to a wreck.

2" of snow, here... 40 minutes for a 20 minute commute.

I love winter tires.

stever

There's nothing worse than an ice storm in the South. Can't even walk to the mailbox here. My wife stayed back home and was bragging on the weather last night when I called.

kyfdx

stever said:

There's nothing worse than an ice storm in the South. Can't even walk to the mailbox here. My wife stayed back home and was bragging on the weather last night when I called.

Maybe she will get bit by a rattlesnake...

slorenzen

kyfdx said:

stever said:

There's nothing worse than an ice storm in the South. Can't even walk to the mailbox here. My wife stayed back home and was bragging on the weather last night when I called.

Maybe she will get bit by a rattlesnake...

Or a Kangaroo rat will eat the wiring off her car...

berri

In the south it's cotton mouths and copperheads. You can't win!

stever

Don't forget the fire ants and chiggers. (We won't mention centipedes and scorpions, lol).

Was able to get down the hill and drive a bit between 1 and 5 pm. Gonna be messy overnight but hopefully the clouds will keep the heat in a bit and melt the roads early.

kyfdx

stever said:

Don't forget the fire ants and chiggers. (We won't mention centipedes and scorpions, lol).

Was able to get down the hill and drive a bit between 1 and 5 pm. Gonna be messy overnight but hopefully the clouds will keep the heat in a bit and melt the roads early.

Chiggers.. ugh..

stever

Road trip!(s)

Reminds me of Koyaanisqatsi. Guess these must be all over YouTube with the GoPro cams everywhere.

stever

Not mine - don't drive a Honda.