Back home from the weekend trip to Indiana. Decided to drive home yesterday instead of splitting between 2 days. Lesser of 2 evils. PA/NY do construction during the day, CT at night. My daughter drove to Cleveland and I drove the rest. Fusion averaged 31 mpg for the trip. Computer read 1623 miles, 25 hours 16 minutes. 3 tanks of PUG and 1 RUG. Went with RUG once because price was high(Toll Road station) and I was going to burn through it in a few hours.
Having taken some road trips in the spring. summer and now the fall, does anyone notice that the number of bugs seems to be down? Just cleaning the bugs off the windshield used to take more time than the fuel fill up.
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
Taking the Escape on the trip to Madison. Pretty excited to see how it works out. We are meeting the future in laws for dinner in the Cleveland area tomorrow night.
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
Back from out road trip to Madison, WI with the Escape. Add 2k to the trip odometer. It automatically resets. Divide the trip length by the engine hours and you'll see we made pretty good time. I'll post pictures of some Saturday highlights soon.
Here's a quick clip from my "dashcam" (hahah) of my trip down to Palmer last weekend. It was a gorgeous day on Friday morning, so I had to take a quick snap that contrasts the snowy vid from this past spring:
PS.... I'm sorry about the dirty windshield; that's just how we roll up here in Alaska!
Eeeew - snow! We're trying to enjoy fall down here in the lower 48
Wait, SNOW is what you took away from that gorgeous scenery?! Is that like missing the forest for the trees?
Considering that this area had around two feet of snow about two weeks ago, I was pretty happy about it mostly being gone (at least at the elevation where I was driving).
2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 2013 Ford F250 Lariat D, 1976 Ford F250, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100
First pic is Bend (phone pic), second is just south of Mt Bachelor (dashcam snapshot), on a road that my car's navigation later would claim did not exist and tried to take me on a horrible detour route.
I don't think it was fresh snow. It was cold at night in Bend - maybe 40 or less, but warm in the day, above 70. I've been in the Willamette Valley, highs almost 80. I suspect we will have a harsher winter than the past couple of really mild ones, it is all cyclical.
Here's one of my road trip photos. 5000 miles on new car in 2 months... Photos like these are kindly made available to many tourists as well as locals!
I don't think the author liked the Dalton highway. One of those eco nut writers from New York City. Deadhorse was my home for half the year from 1981 to 2006. I did not think it looked that bad leaving every 3 weeks. In all those years working up there, the furthest South I drove on the Dalton was about 50 miles to some great Grayling fishing streams. If he was a true adventurer, he would have rented an SUV in Seattle, and made a real trip.
My Seward friend drove south recently, hit freezing rain in Tok and Destruction Bay. Would have been much cheaper to fly but he was moving some junk to Texas. The Dalton was pretty fun, but I've only been on it in the summer.
Seattle is a headache in terms of transportation infrastructure. As I put it, both vehicle and pedestrian unfriendly. The tunnel will make the Big Dig look like a sandbox project at recess - and the perks collected by the first class citizenry in charge of it will be astounding.
I haven't needed/wanted a car yet here, public transport is usually good and cheap in large German cities - it's that first world social good thing that brings contempt from many across the pond. I was on a rail"road" trip which reached some nice speeds:
It's subsidizing the economy, not subsidizing the playthings of some greenies who are pretending to use the bikes as commuter rigs. I suspect a statistically insignificant amount of bikes actually replace cars, in the overall American transport spectrum. For better or worse, the American economy is dependent on cheap personal transport. The corrupt tunnel projects are just a symptom of an untouchable first class citizenry group.
In all fairness, that Alaskan Way overpass on the waterfront is hideous, so I understand wanting to replace it. But what in the heck is with the project management and execution?
Short road trip. This guy was heard by my wife ~30 minutes ago in the corner of the garage by the man door. Gotta quit leaving the garage door open this time of year, they are all trying to find good spots to den up.
"Road trip" because after I managed to flip him into a garbage can, we took a short ride out into the desert. That little bit of trash was in the garbage can. I left it.
The thick ones like this guy kind of freak me out. We had the neighbor shoot the smaller one that was in the yard last Spring. Would rather relocate them, but I've heard that snakes often don't survive the move. But this move was relatively short and the habitat is the same, so hopefully finding a new den won't be too hard.
I remember plenty of snakes at our fish camp in N. Mississippi and a memorable hike up Jack's River in N. Georgia with way too many rattlers spotted. Some snake dropped out of a tree into my canoe on the Buffalo River in Arkansas one trip and I let him have it. The canoe I mean, I bailed out. The gopher snake in my cutlery drawer in Boise was a bit of a surprise too. I try to tolerate them but it's hard.
Last night a stray dog showed up and the owner wasn't answering her phone. I figured out who she was and where she lived from the number on the collar and headed out on foot, the dog following right along. After about a short quarter mile I got a bit antsy about walking down the gravel road in the dark with just my free Harbor Freight flashlight, so I bailed and went back and got the van and drove the mile to the house and dropped the dog off, both of us unbit.
We get a lot of non-poisonous snakes around here, and we like 'em a lot, as they keep the rodents in check. Never had one get into the house or garage, though.
I'm told there are rattlers around here, but in 23 years, i've never seen one.
I'm told there are rattlers around here, but in 23 years, i've never seen one.
In that area? Prarie rattlers probably pretty rare there as you're getting outside of their preferred habitat. They are common in the Columbia Basin area as well as the leeward side of the Cascades, though.
2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 2013 Ford F250 Lariat D, 1976 Ford F250, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100
I'm told there are rattlers around here, but in 23 years, i've never seen one.
In that area? Prarie rattlers probably pretty rare there as you're getting outside of their preferred habitat. They are common in the Columbia Basin area as well as the leeward side of the Cascades, though.
Last summer there were 2 rattlers spotted on a hiking trail about half a mile apart(up near Eugene). Other than that, my wife and I hike a LOT in the hills behind our home, and I've never seen 'em.
Our place backs up to BLM(not Black Lives Matter) land, and we go up there 3-4 times a week.
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I thought they all required RUG only.
Just cleaning the bugs off the windshield used to take more time than the fuel fill up.
Divide the trip length by the engine hours and you'll see we made pretty good time.
I'll post pictures of some Saturday highlights soon.
PS.... I'm sorry about the dirty windshield; that's just how we roll up here in Alaska!
Above is along the exact (within a mile or two, anyway) same stretch of road as this one that I shared earlier in the year:
Considering that this area had around two feet of snow about two weeks ago, I was pretty happy about it mostly being gone (at least at the elevation where I was driving).
Afternoon at New Glarus Brewery
Night at U Wisconsin hockey game
The farmer's market in Madtown is about the best one we've ever been to.
Bucky's not happy with you.
I don't think it was fresh snow. It was cold at night in Bend - maybe 40 or less, but warm in the day, above 70. I've been in the Willamette Valley, highs almost 80. I suspect we will have a harsher winter than the past couple of really mild ones, it is all cyclical.
Photos like these are kindly made available to many tourists as well as locals!
Driving Alaska’s Dalton Highway (NY Times)
You mean getting through Seattle on I-5 in one piece
We need an autobahn check-in from @fintail.
I haven't needed/wanted a car yet here, public transport is usually good and cheap in large German cities - it's that first world social good thing that brings contempt from many across the pond. I was on a rail"road" trip which reached some nice speeds:
Now Bertha is on track to replace Boston in the subsidy race.
"Road trip" because after I managed to flip him into a garbage can, we took a short ride out into the desert. That little bit of trash was in the garbage can. I left it.
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2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Last night a stray dog showed up and the owner wasn't answering her phone. I figured out who she was and where she lived from the number on the collar and headed out on foot, the dog following right along. After about a short quarter mile I got a bit antsy about walking down the gravel road in the dark with just my free Harbor Freight flashlight, so I bailed and went back and got the van and drove the mile to the house and dropped the dog off, both of us unbit.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
I'm told there are rattlers around here, but in 23 years, i've never seen one.
Our place backs up to BLM(not Black Lives Matter) land, and we go up there 3-4 times a week.