Road Trip!

xwesx

@grahampeters said:

That's a great question, Graham! There are two problems with that: 1., they don't share; 2., they are a bear to haul around!

explorerx4

Leaving for MadTown tomorrow. Stopping overnight near Cleveland. Escape is loaded up with plenty of room left over. No way the same stuff could fit in my Fusion. 40 inch tv slid right in through the back hatch. I think this will be the first trip we will be taking in it that doesn't have a box on the top and/or a bike hanging off the back.

stever

We might be in Madison tonight, but we're sitting in a breakfast joint near Townsend TN trying to plan our return trip north. I don't much care which way we go so long as we avoid Chicago and some of the other big city zoos - like Gatlinburg. The traffic on the Cades Cove Loop Road yesterday evening was bad enough.

But since we have a free place to hang in Port Huron we just make a ten hour day of it and cruise up that way and take a layover day with a nice couch.

imidazol97

@stever said:

The traffic on the Cades Cove Loop Road yesterday evening was bad enough.

We're talking about a return trip to Pigeon Forge and doing Cade's Cove, but after Sept 1 when all the tourists leave. Beautiful in early morning. Haven't been there for decade.

stever

My wife asked my brother in Chattanooga the other day when was the last time they went to the Smokies.

A. "We never go there".

It's pretty, but there's plenty of other mountain scenery in N. Georgia and NC and around Tellico to enjoy without the tourists. We did manage the 5 mile hike to Abrams Falls and back okay.

One of the worst parts of the loop drive was getting behind a Honda S2000 convertible that was smoking like the proverbial Mexican semi that @gagrice is always commenting about. We pulled out and let some people get in front of us for that stretch.

Decided to blast up to Port Huron and take a layover day (sorry, host with the most, no detour in Cincy for coffee this trip. )

xwesx

That's some efficient on-the-fly decision making, Steve! Do you and your wife give lessons?

xwesx

@explorerx4 said:
Leaving for MadTown tomorrow.

Okay, so considering that a 40" television is not a typical "must have" for a family vacation, I'm guessing that it is time to take someone to college? Is this returning to or going for the first time?

stever

There's an app for that.

(btw, my brother logged 12,000 miles on his TN to FBX trip).

xwesx

@stever said:
There's an app for that.

(btw, my brother logged 12,000 miles on his TN to FBX trip).

Nice! That was a meandering drive considering that it is only about 8K between the two. I trust they enjoyed themselves?

As for the app... it's not so much about knowing the options as being willing to choose one on-the-fly rather than insisting on weeks in advance. I jest to some extent; my wife is an incredible planner, but my, oh my, does she drive me BSC sometimes as a result of that very trait.

stever

Oh, my MIL was like that. She'd get AAA to plan a route and would not deviate one iota. Drove my wife nuts - sometimes it's nice preplanning but we usually just like the serendipity of finding our way.

And yeah, my brother/sis-in-law had a great trip and loved Alaska. They wish they'd had a few more days in Fairbanks too. Only odd thing was that we convinced them to take their bikes and they only used them a couple of times. I thought sure they'd go all over Anchorage on the great bike path system there.

They meandered up via our house in the UP and came home via Going to the Sun in MT and good ol' Custer State Park where they denied feeding the burros.

xwesx

@stever said:
They meandered up via our house in the UP and came home via Going to the Sun in MT and good ol' Custer State Park where they denied feeding the burros.

Probably for the best at Custer; when it comes to being fed, they can be real arses.

stever

More likely they just forgot the Oreos.

stever

Fun road trip; Niagara-on-the-Lake play, Mackinac Island, family visits, Smokies, nice meal on the waterfront with new friends in Port Huron. Had one minor check engine light that was fixed in Chattanooga with a TSB reflash. Just a couple of days on the Interstates to make time that were a bit boring; should be home around 6 or 7 tonight after stopping to visit an old friend in Marquette on the way.

We got this Grand Caravan at the end of May and have put 8,000 miles on it. Have one more trip to do in a few weeks and then we'll be ready to stay home for a few months. It's been a good monsoon season in New Mexico and it sounds like we are missing an emerald green desert bloom right now.

stever

In a recent survey of 1,000 Americans by car shopping site Edmunds.com, 40 percent of drivers said that they definitely plan to take a road trip by Labor Day and another 34 percent are considering it.

In fact, the August survey found that 80 percent of drivers had road trips in mind when they shopped for their vehicle, with cargo space being the primary attractor (22 percent). The great American road trip is alive and well with many drivers planning to go the distance (500+ miles), snap selfies and pump their favorite tunes.

Hit The Road, Jack: 75 Percent of Americans Likely to Road Trip by Labor Day

gagrice

@stever said:
In a recent survey of 1,000 Americans by car shopping site Edmunds.com, 40 percent of drivers said that they definitely plan to take a road trip by Labor Day and another 34 percent are considering it.

We plan to wait until October. Though we were really surprised in June how empty the hotels were. I made advance reservations for our trip to Indiana. Was no need as none were full. Did not bother for return last part of June and had no problem getting rooms. It seemed busier last October on our same trip, though a little different route. Maybe most of the travelers are retired boomers. When we went shopping for the diesel SUV, travel was the top priority. We don't plan to fly anymore, at least as long as it is the way it is now. Two to three road trips per year will be our time away from home. Looking forward to more exploring in the NW with the kids moving there. I was getting tired of crossing TX. I think we took every route possible.

explorerx4

We had something unsettling happen while in Madison. After eating dinner at a restaurant, we saw a couple of people trying break into my daughter's Escape.
It was parked with no other vehicles around it when we went into the restaurant. Leaving the restaurant, there were vehicles parked on both sides of it and from what I saw someone looking into the right front passenger window. There was also someone on the left side of the Escape.
Later on, my wife told me see saw the guy on the left side pull the front door handle.
Anyways, to keep it short, I let it be known I wanted them to leave, without turning it into a confrontation.
I could have handled it better, but wasn't expecting anything like that, and we were pretty vulnerable by the time we got to the car.

stever

Wow, what part of town was that in?

xwesx

Wow; glad it worked out okay for you! I'm sure you handled it better than I would have. I have very little tolerance for thieves, so I likely would have handled it "poorly" indeed!

kyfdx

Headed to Charleston, SC next week.. 2000 miles under on our leased Infiniti that goes back in October, so that's what we are driving. Even though, not a lot of hauling capacity, it's free!

About 625 miles, each way...

stever

We had a thread about the Lowcountry here a couple of years ago.

kyfdx

Thanks! We are pretty familiar, from a dozen trips to Hilton Head over the years...

stever

Never made it there. Always curious as to why people opt for Charleston vs Savannah. I'm kind of partial to Savannah but the camping was better at Charleston.

kyfdx

We've done day trips to both (from HHI). I'd be good with either one... Of course, Charleston is 90 minutes closer to us, so that matters when you are driving it in one day..

stevedebi

@explorerx4 said:
We had something unsettling happen while in Madison. After eating dinner at a restaurant, we saw a couple of people trying break into my daughter's Escape.
It was parked with no other vehicles around it when we went into the restaurant. Leaving the restaurant, there were vehicles parked on both sides of it and from what I saw someone looking into the right front passenger window. There was also someone on the left side of the Escape.
Later on, my wife told me see saw the guy on the left side pull the front door handle.
Anyways, to keep it short, I let it be known I wanted them to leave, without turning it into a confrontation.
I could have handled it better, but wasn't expecting anything like that, and we were pretty vulnerable by the time we got to the car.

You might have hit the panic button the remote, that would have deterred them.

gagrice

@stever said:
Never made it there. Always curious as to why people opt for Charleston vs Savannah. I'm kind of partial to Savannah but the camping was better at Charleston.

I really enjoyed our visit to Savannah. Took a tour on a trolley bus around the city. We flew in there rented a car and spent a week with family that have a nice condo on Hilton Head. I was not impressed with the lack of access to the ocean. Seemed like it was all private. One gated community after the next. HHI seemed a bit treacherous with just one way out of there. Did look at a couple really nice homes on the water. That was 2000 and the prices seemed high for hurricane country.

slorenzen

@gagrice said:
I really enjoyed our visit to Savannah. Took a tour on a trolley bus around the city. We flew in there rented a car and spent a week with family that have a nice condo on Hilton Head. I was not impressed with the lack of access to the ocean. Seemed like it was all private. One gated community after the next. HHI seemed a bit treacherous with just one way out of there. Did look at a couple really nice homes on the water. That was 2000 and the prices seemed high for hurricane country.

My son was stationed at Hunter Army Air Field a few years back with the 1st. Batt./75th Regiment.

He really liked Savannah and the surrounding areas, but moved back to Oregon once his 4 years were up.

gagrice

@slorenzen said:

I am really looking forward to our Oregon trip this October. I have several properties to look at in Roseburg and Cottage Grove area. You get more home for your money in Roseburg. And there is a Costco. I am not fond of Eugene as the traffic is too much like San Diego. Though Eugene is getting a Kaiser clinic which would make transferring our Medicare much easier. This will be the most time spent in Oregon since I was a kid in the 1950s. If we move we will have to get together for lunch.

explorerx4

We had out little parking lot adventure in Middleton near the Residence Inn. as far as using the panic button, I didn't have the keys in my possession.

stever

Guess they were hitting the "malls". Middleton is a nice area otherwise; we have a weaving friend there closer to Lake Mendota, and that's the town we camp in along the lake when we go to Madison. You're making me paranoid - our next road trip involves the cat and we motel it when we have to haul him somewhere. I'd rather tent camp and be close to the van, which will have lots of our stuff in it for the move.

explorerx4

@stever, My guess is they thought the restaurant we were at was closed. There was only 1 other car in the front parking lot, a red Corvette convertible with the top down.