Road Trip!

stever

Problem down the road? Like a nice rainstorm?

We headed out to town and enjoyed some whitewater instead. This was about two blocks from home.

xwesx

Nice! Technology can be useful at times! For me, we had to avoid a stretch of I5 in Washington on our last transcontinental..... but only *after* crawling along to the next available exit (about five miles). My wife was able to provide alternate routes on the map and guided us accordingly.

explorerx4

Heading out to Ohio tomorrow for a family and friends get together.
Filled up the F150, 34.5 gallons. It was almost empty.
Maxed out the credit card @ $100, and was able to put in another .7 gallons on my debit card.
Going to the OSU game on Saturday, and a big party on Sunday.
Heading back on Monday, but quite a few people are staying to see the Cleveland air show.

stevedebi

elias said:

Just completed cross-country I-80 commute & visit to San Ramon, San Jose, Redwood City CA, with side-visits to Faribault MN and Omaha NE. Not much time for photos since it was solo drive. Vehicle was flawless including on 87 octane fuel (premium is 'recommended'); I tried all octanes & E10/pure-gas mixes, preferring 89 E10 or pure-gas 91 octane for west of mississipi, and 87 octane for east of mississipi. mpg varied from 22 in california to 25+ on open low-altitude highway, 75 to 85 mph. You can see my car in photo lower left corner, 015 Chevy SS Sedan M6. As usual my cross-country drive/cannonball is done with 3 days of extreme driving plus one full-day of non-driving or minimal-driving at nice/tourist/friend/family places to visit. On return drive, 15 miles of traffic kindly stopped in order for me to take a group photo. The motorcycle guy was the 2nd fastest driver out there; I had just passed him: .... ^^^^ this was I-90 EB 10 miles west of I-69 a couple days ago..

Reminds me of a trip from LA to Albuquerque a few years back. They shut down the entire freeway - in both directions - to land a helicopter and fly someone out. Unreal to be in the huge open desert, with a line of cars and everyone standing outside the vehicle.

Michaell

stever said:

Problem down the road? Like a nice rainstorm?

We headed out to town and enjoyed some whitewater instead. This was about two blocks from home.

Every time I see a "Dip" road sign I think of the old "B.C" cartoon:

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/716-4SZExCL.jpg

Michaell

elias

The sirius live-traffic warned me of the accident 12 miles ahead, seconds before i encountered the ~11 mile backup. The Ohio transportation authority & state cop safety protocols were awesome - very impressive. I didn't see the fire-dept/EMT response but the road/jersey-barrier was very burned at the site of the wreck(s), on the I-90 overpass above I-69.. In 1984 myself and a co-driver did LA to daytona beach in 52 hours. I've done the Boston<->SFO drive 5 or 6 times. Record miles is 1268 in one day in VW Passat TDI, all daylight driving, chicago to rock springs Wyoming. For this trip, the max for the extreme-driving days was ~950 miles. ps - All the roadtrips to florida/Disney years ago with my kids seems to have resulted in at least one new *driver*: My eldest has CDL and is driving bigrigs now.

xwesx

Those are pretty impressive miles, particularly for all-daylight! I keep my speed within five of the limit (in the US, at least - I'm not a big fan of the 80 kph (~49mph) limits on the Alaska and Cassiar Highways), so hitting 1,000 miles per day is simply a function of time: If I do 18-hour days, I'll make a thousand.

xwesx

stever said:

Problem down the road? Like a nice rainstorm?

We headed out to town and enjoyed some whitewater instead. This was about two blocks from home.

So, could have gone two blocks from home for whitewater, and you went "out of town" instead? I don't get it....

stever

That's your wording, not mine. We're 15 minutes from "town" so we head out to town. (and no, I didn't edit my post to sneak that by you. ).

xwesx

stever said:

That's your wording, not mine. We're 15 minutes from "town" so we head out to town. (and no, I didn't edit my post to sneak that by you. ).

LOL yep, got me there. I missed that.

stever

I'd blame it on your too-fast trip home with the new TDI, but you're an amateur compared to @elias.

gagrice

xwesx said:

Those are pretty impressive miles, particularly for all-daylight! I keep my speed within five of the limit (in the US, at least - I'm not a big fan of the 80 kph (~49mph) limits on the Alaska and Cassiar Highways), so hitting 1,000 miles per day is simply a function of time: If I do 18-hour days, I'll make a thousand.

I thought I was holding up traffic on the Cassiar cruising at only 75 MPH. That was over 20 years ago, so probably more Mounties to look out for now. That was my shortest time. Left Anchorage 6 AM Monday pulled into San Diego early afternoon on Thursday. 3700 miles, driving alone in a new 93 Chevy 3/4T 4x4 PU.

xwesx

gagrice said:

xwesx said:

Those are pretty impressive miles, particularly for all-daylight! I keep my speed within five of the limit (in the US, at least - I'm not a big fan of the 80 kph (~49mph) limits on the Alaska and Cassiar Highways), so hitting 1,000 miles per day is simply a function of time: If I do 18-hour days, I'll make a thousand.

I thought I was holding up traffic on the Cassiar cruising at only 75 MPH. That was over 20 years ago, so probably more Mounties to look out for now. That was my shortest time. Left Anchorage 6 AM Monday pulled into San Diego early afternoon on Thursday. 3700 miles, driving alone in a new 93 Chevy 3/4T 4x4 PU.

That's quite impressive, particularly considering the condition of the roads back then!

On my first run up the Cassiar (1995) in my 1969 Econoline van, it was mostly gravel and a muddy mess in many areas. My transit time was twelve hours (and we were moving the whole time). In 2009 when I brought our (then-new) Forester home, I covered it in eight hours flat (best time to date). The last time we drove it was 2013, and I think our time was over ten hours due to inordinate delays related to the construction of a huge transmission line directly adjacent to the highway (rather unsightly given the beauty of the drive in all other ways) as well as work on a bridge that had the whole highway closed. The road is so much different now than 1995 - hardly recognizable. In 2013, there was only one small stretch (maybe seven miles) of gravel left on the highway, as you dip down into the Stikine River gorge and back out again. I suspect that stretch of road looks exactly the same now (I say this from 2013 perspective) as it did when you last drove it!

stever

Anything faster than nine days on the Alcan is too fast. You gotta take a whole day just to soak at Liard (unless the bears are biting).

gagrice

That trip was the first part of September. Roads were all gravel on the Cassiar. Dry and well groomed. About the only vehicles on the road were Motorhomes headed South. I was in a hurry to get to San Diego. Did not want to cut my time short there before flying back to Prudhoe. Spent only one night in motel. The rest just naps in the truck. I was also young and crazy then in my early 50s.

Thinking back the worst part of the trip was from Anchorage to the turnoff for the Cassiar. Got there late the first night and needed gas. Sadly I did not have a diesel PU. So slept at that gas station until they opened at 6AM. The paved highway in Alaska had horrible frost heaves making high speed travel wild. Then the only bad gravel I remember was just after crossing into Canada. Funny side story. I had collected Canadian Quarters from our payphones for years. They would jam up the phone so we tried to keep them out of circulation. I must have had $50 worth in a Crown Royal bag. One of my remote gas stops I asked the attendant if they would let me pay in quarters. You would think it was Christmas. They gladly took them as it cost them a fortune to get change mailed to them. That was my last trip from Alaska. No desire to do it again. Too many places I have never been. I could spend the rest of my life exploring Oregon and the NW. During the Spring, Summer and Fall.

I did Liard hot springs when I moved from Alaska in 1977. I went to Takhini hot springs several times. Mainly for the best sourdough pancakes EVER. Last time was probably around 1990.

http://www.takhinihotsprings.com/

xwesx

Ah the reminiscing! Yes, indeed, the Alaska portion of the road (basically from Glennallen to the border) was so, so terrible in 1995 (and, through the '90s). The Yukon side was great in 1995 due to their first major rebuild of the highway being in full swing. I also enjoyed the skinny, winding road that snaked along the side of Kluane Lake. Now, that is all gone. It is replaced by a huge, wide highway. And, the last decade the road had decayed (frost heaves) to the point that it was as bad, if not worse then, the Alaska roads you traveled.

I am happy to report that the Canadian government is reconditioning that whole stretch of highway again this year. So, while lots of construction delays and gravel surfaces, it is a whole lot more friendly to drive than it has been!

My Passat trip was run #16 on that highway, and I look forward to many more (17/18 are coming up in a week!).

stever

We camped at Takhini several times and hit the springs a few other times, nice spot. We floated a stretch of the nearby river one year and I spotted a beautiful looking flyrod on the river bottom. The current was so fast is was all we could do is get close to it. It was only a foot or so below the surface, but every time one of us tried to grab it, the other couldn't paddle hard enough to stay over it.

That's the one that got away.

gagrice

Stever here is a short half day trip for you and maybe a dream home. Love the vistas.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/105-N-Jose-Serna-St-Hatch-NM-87937/2116818542_zpid/

stever

The Hatch Chili Festival is this weekend. We went for a half day last year and watched the chili braiding and got a rista. This is harvest time and green chilis are in all the stores with big grills outside where they'll roast them for you. Lots of people BBQ their own for their Labor Day tradition.

And you wind up with an interesting byproduct from the grill scrapings.

xwesx

Yummy..... seasonal charcoal candy!!!!

elias

On some stretches of I-80 the posted limit toggles between 75 & 80.
Seems strange/trivial to differentiate between 5 mph at those speeds.

Turns out that the posted 75 mph limit means 'keep it around 80'.

And the posted 80 limit means, 'engage warp drive - there is actually no speed limit here but the state legislature made us pick a number which you may ignore'.

SAVE THE SALT. http://www.savethesalt.org

ps - An exception to the all-daylight-drive strategy is that I often *start* long drives "the night before". And I did so for both directions of the recent I-80 commute. All the rest was daylight however. Btw, sometimes I get cranky after 900 miles of driving:

berri

I can actually remember when Sinclair gas stations were fairly common

kyfdx

berri said:

I can actually remember when Sinclair gas stations were fairly common

I had an inflatable dinosaur from there.. in the '60s

gagrice

berri said:

I can actually remember when Sinclair gas stations were fairly common

We just got a new Sinclair in town. Was a 76 for a long time. Best prices in our little village. Diesel only 2 cents higher than driving to the city.

berri

I think the original company is long gone, but someone else bought the naming rights.

xwesx

We head out toward Oregon in the morning. I'll keep y'all posted from time to time!

stever

Save travels @xwesx.

We're in ABQ this weekend and frequently cruising on Rt. 66 moving around town.

Still finding kicks on Route 66 (Washington Post)

xwesx

Closing out day three here. We're right on schedule thus far, and the weather has been fantastic. We left about three hours late on Saturday morning, which put us into Whitehorse later than planned. All went well there, until I realized that, once again, I forgot a hammer and spikes for the tent. But, we were able to get the tent staked down with the lame aluminum anchors that tents these days include. The next morning, we stopped by a hardware store in town to get a hammer and 10" common nails (they make great anchoring spikes).

Good thing, too..... Day two saw us making a visit to Liard Hot Springs, followed by continuing down the road a bit to Summit Lake. We arrived fairly late, about 9:30pm. It was dark, 36 degrees, and a steady wind of around 20mph. That made for a challenge putting up the tent, and we were on a gravel pad, so without those spikes and hammer, there is no way we would have been able to stake down. And, without staking down, that wind would have carried our poor tent away!

That brings us to today. The wind was still rolling this morning (caused some less-than-thrilled children). We packed up camp, took a hike for several hours, came back to the car for lunch, then drove a short 200 miles to Buckinghorse River, which is where we're staying the night now.

We should be in Jasper tomorrow night after a long drive south.

This morning before breakfast.....



Some "stone mountains" while we were hiking:

gagrice

xwesx and you driving the Passat TDI? What part of Oregon are you headed for? Crater Lake can be perfect this time of year. We are headed up the 1st of October.

fintail

I suspect he's in the Subaaaaaru. Gotta be getting down into the 30s at night up there now.

Heading out to the coast on Thursday, I like paved roads and sleeping in buildings

gagrice

fintail said:

I suspect he's in the Subaaaaaru. Gotta be getting down into the 30s at night up there now.

Heading out to the coast on Thursday, I like paved roads and sleeping in buildings

I like the Hampton Inn camping. Nice place in Cottage Grove Oregon is the Village Resort. Headed there in October, look forward to seeing Scott and his wife.

slorenzen

gagrice said:

fintail said:

I suspect he's in the Subaaaaaru. Gotta be getting down into the 30s at night up there now.

Heading out to the coast on Thursday, I like paved roads and sleeping in buildings

I like the Hampton Inn camping. Nice place in Cottage Grove Oregon is the Village Resort. Headed there in October, look forward to seeing Scott and his wife.

Gary,

Lemme know when you are coming. Sheryl is speaking at a ladies' retreat on the 7th through the 9th, so we'll be on the road starting the 6th.

fintail

Now that the inconsiderate driver thread is gone, I'll just post a dumb-dumb driver on dashcam here:

https://youtu.be/UIGIwTfEb3c

I'm going on a week long road trip east of the mountains in 3 weeks - looking forward to it.

berri

You sure you weren't driving near DC

fintail

I suspect DC drivers are at least 10x better than those here. This is really an awful place to drive, in the cities anyway.

berri

I dunno, try the DC area Virginia Interstates at rush hour - stay in left lane, right before your exit you wake up and then make sudden and rash move to the right to exit. All other traffic comes to a screeching halt. Repeat at next exit. Seattle strikes me more as poorly designed Interstates with no room to expand them (although I have no idea whether reefer madness has crept in these days )

fintail

It's just so slow and plodding and timid and distracted here. The road design and often loathsome traffic controls don't help either, combined with insane population growth, and lots of drivers who appear new to motoring. When license testing becomes privatized, you know it won't get better.

I don't think pot is a huge factor in local inanity - there have been incidents, but the societal collapse predicted by the law and order types who make a business out of enforcement doesn't seem to be upon us.

stever

It was already privatized up in Michigan. Kids who flunked would shop around for "easier" testers. And some testers were flunking everyone just to rack up re-test fees.

fintail

I wouldn't be surprised if other monetary favors are involved too, especially as some of these "schools" can appear kind of sketchy. I find it very hard to believe that some of the stuff I see on the roads here passed the type of test that was administered even 20 years ago.

stever

I flunked my first test back in, oh, 1967.

Had to go get glasses. The test itself (written and driving) was pretty lame back then too.

fintail

I passed both of mine with flying colors, on the first try and yes, they were pretty lame. Drive around Seattle for a day and tell me you think all of these people actually passed. It can be hard to fathom.

The motorcycle endorsement wasn't as easy, but the testing staff there are all old school, and take it seriously.

stever

I don't think Seattle is all that bad, just heavy traffic and not many options if there's an accident on a bridge. But I always have a good navigator there; my BIL doesn't drive but knows King County thoroughly.

The last two times I drove in DC were pretty awful - one time was on a Sunday during the Cherry Festival so that was nuts. More recently we planned to park and ride but the Metro lot was so full we bailed and just had a nice long lunch in Falls Church. Lots of trucks on the Interstates back in VA (I-80 at least) but the cops seem to mostly keep drivers in check. DC isn't a place I'd want to commute in though.

Boston was bad but I haven't driven there since way before the Big Dig. Last trip East I managed to avoid Dallas and Houston. You know about Atlanta, everyone seems to go way too fast for conditions most of the time.

fintail

It took me 2 hours to go from Bellevue to Olympia (60 miles) last Thursday. Clear skies, 2pm, no wrecks, all interstate driving - just lots of slow and inattention. That random brake tap or delayed reaction can really ripple through traffic - and there's always plenty of that here. Probably a 4 hour drive at 5pm.

I like the sparkly granite roads of Atlanta, and how people don't instinctively panic when they hit the speed limit.

gagrice

Seattle from the last time I went through is almost as bad as Los Angeles. We are leaving home about 4:30 AM on a Saturday to get through LA before it gets busy. We have also found the HOV lanes helpful. I can make the 180 miles to get past LA in about 2.5 hours during light traffic. Looking at that route right this minute it is close to 4 hours. Lots of accidents due to our current rain. Once past LA it should be a relaxing 7 more hours to Red Bluff/Redding for the night. If there was ANY way to avoid Los Angeles going North I would do it. We will return down 395 to visit my sis in Tahoe. That is better than Interstate 5 but longer.

Michaell

gagrice said:

Seattle from the last time I went through is almost as bad as Los Angeles. We are leaving home about 4:30 AM on a Saturday to get through LA before it gets busy. We have also found the HOV lanes helpful. I can make the 180 miles to get past LA in about 2.5 hours during light traffic. Looking at that route right this minute it is close to 4 hours. Lots of accidents due to our current rain. Once past LA it should be a relaxing 7 more hours to Red Bluff/Redding for the night. If there was ANY way to avoid Los Angeles going North I would do it. We will return down 395 to visit my sis in Tahoe. That is better than Interstate 5 but longer.

What about the 15 to the 210 to the 5 to avoid downtown LA altogether?

xwesx

gagrice said:

xwesx and you driving the Passat TDI? What part of Oregon are you headed for? Crater Lake can be perfect this time of year. We are headed up the 1st of October.

Honestly, I *wish* we were in the TDI, but fintail is correct: Forester. There just isn't the space in the Passat's trunk for a three-week "car camping" trip.

We're currently in the Salem area visiting my mother. We toured the Tillamook cheese factory yesterday; that was fun! We also saw a fantastic rainbow on our way into Salem last night....

gagrice

Michaell said:

gagrice said:

Seattle from the last time I went through is almost as bad as Los Angeles. We are leaving home about 4:30 AM on a Saturday to get through LA before it gets busy. We have also found the HOV lanes helpful. I can make the 180 miles to get past LA in about 2.5 hours during light traffic. Looking at that route right this minute it is close to 4 hours. Lots of accidents due to our current rain. Once past LA it should be a relaxing 7 more hours to Red Bluff/Redding for the night. If there was ANY way to avoid Los Angeles going North I would do it. We will return down 395 to visit my sis in Tahoe. That is better than Interstate 5 but longer.

What about the 15 to the 210 to the 5 to avoid downtown LA altogether?

I have driven that route also. It can get very congested around Riverside, San Bernardino & I10 interchange. Also about 20 miles longer. I will check Google maps and traffic before we leave and take the road of least resistance.

Michaell

gagrice said:

Michaell said:

gagrice said:

Seattle from the last time I went through is almost as bad as Los Angeles. We are leaving home about 4:30 AM on a Saturday to get through LA before it gets busy. We have also found the HOV lanes helpful. I can make the 180 miles to get past LA in about 2.5 hours during light traffic. Looking at that route right this minute it is close to 4 hours. Lots of accidents due to our current rain. Once past LA it should be a relaxing 7 more hours to Red Bluff/Redding for the night. If there was ANY way to avoid Los Angeles going North I would do it. We will return down 395 to visit my sis in Tahoe. That is better than Interstate 5 but longer.

What about the 15 to the 210 to the 5 to avoid downtown LA altogether?

I have driven that route also. It can get very congested around Riverside, San Bernardino & I10 interchange. Also about 20 miles longer. I will check Google maps and traffic before we leave and take the road of least resistance.

In the end, you can't really avoid traffic in the greater LA area. My mom is in Ventura County and my sister is in Poway ... no real good route to drive from one place to the other.

slorenzen

" If there was ANY way to avoid Los Angeles going North I would do it."

http://www.controller.com/listings/aircraft/for-sale/1450901/2014-vans-rv-7a