Road Trip!

fintail

I've read the desert bloom is amazing this year, nice pics.

berri

Better bring the antihistamines

fintail

I had to hit the road yesterday down to Tacoma to visit my mom who was going in for surgery. Trip down in the rain, just after noon, was fun, 35 miles = 1 hour, which is pretty normal for any weather in this land of slow timid pensiveness. Late evening/night was much better, put the cruise at 68 and sit back, although I hit some kind of road debris near Seatac. I thought it was just skid marks on the road, but it wasn't. No damage though! Note to Tacoma: update your traffic controls, it's 2017 not 1967.

slorenzen

fintail said:

I had to hit the road yesterday down to Tacoma to visit my mom who was going in for surgery. Trip down in the rain, just after noon, was fun, 35 miles = 1 hour, which is pretty normal for any weather in this land of slow timid pensiveness. Late evening/night was much better, put the cruise at 68 and sit back, although I hit some kind of road debris near Seatac. I thought it was just skid marks on the road, but it wasn't. No damage though! Note to Tacoma: update your traffic controls, it's 2017 not 1967.

Hoping your mom is doing well, Fin.

fintail

Thanks. She only had to stay overnight, seems to be doing fine.

Speaking of road trips, don't go on 405 northbound right now - a crashed semi has created a nightmare. I actually heard it from several blocks away, about 2 hours ago. I am in the office now, with a window that overlooks the highway - 3 miles down, traffic is still stopped. Really, for road trips, keep away from this area altogether.

slorenzen said:

Hoping your mom is doing well, Fin.

fintail

A few shots from my latest trip north of 49 degrees.

Random Vancouver driving - I was behind what was a close twin to my car, and this highlights one of the most irritating parts of driving in Van - a lack of left turn lanes:

https://youtu.be/YvaIdDM34ps

All in all, it is no worse to drive there than here, the drivers there generally aren't as pensive and timid as places south. The typical Seattle driver would see them as aggressive.

The camera handles direct sunlight (what's that??) fairly well:

https://youtu.be/G6xzt89Q3m8

Closer to home, my least favorite driving conditions - bright sun after a heavy shower:

https://youtu.be/vlPN3VJYFYE

berri

Well heck, looks like Seattle

fintail

It's a parallel universe Seattle, slightly cleaner in some ways not in others, detached houses cost 300% more but without commensurate employment and wages.

cdnpinhead

I spent four years in the lower mainland (Vancouver, BC) and share your pain regarding the lack of left turn lanes and/or arrows. It's a beautiful place, but with the bridges, tunnels and generally narrow roads, traffic can be awful, and that was 35 years ago.

xwesx

Your background music in the first vid made me LOL.

fintail

I listen to a wide range, thanks to Sirius/XM. We are around the same age I think, xwesx, some of this stuff is now oldies

I've seen Vancouver change a bit in my life too, as I have spent a bit of time there over the years. At least it has an attempt at transit - I like to stay where I can hop on Skytrain for some trips. It's probably better in terms of traffic than Seattle. And oh how I'd like to buy property at 35 year old prices, in both places.

xwesx

fintail said:

I listen to a wide range, thanks to Sirius/XM. We are around the same age I think, xwesx, some of this stuff is now oldies

Haha, yeah, I think that's what made me laugh.

The song sounded perfectly familiar to me.... then I remembered how long ago it was. I'm not sure it is just the music that is oldies any more!

fintail

Indeed, we are there!

I was thinking "I remember listening to this stuff 25 years ago", and then realized 25 years ago, stuff that old was on the oldies station

xwesx said:

Haha, yeah, I think that's what made me laugh.

The song sounded perfectly familiar to me.... then I remembered how long ago it was. I'm not sure it is just the music that is oldies any more!

xwesx

My, those perspectives! The speed of time is an inescapable reality, my friend!

berri

...and it always seems faster in hindsight!

fintail

I was thinking time goes by the older you get - I think it's true.

On the road a bit at home today, I almost kind of miss Vancouver - not for the lack of left turn lanes, but for the more decisive drivers. Sooo slow and distracted/timid here today.

fintail

Hit the road a little yesterday, driving south. I knew it might be a fun day even before I left, as while out for a jog, I saw a Prius breeze through a right turn only lane - but it was going straight.

On the way down, clumpy slow-n-go traffic. No crashes or incidents, just timid people who go 50 in a 60 with a deathgrip on the wheel, and an unbroken straight-ahead stare. I think licensing should have a psych component - not just for road ragers, but for the obscenely timid.

On the way back, the same slow-n-go, capped off with a Prius in front of me, left lane, varying speed and nearly leaving the roadway. I passed on the right and saw what was going on - the "driver" was texting.

berri

No - I'm sure he was just hyper-mileing They need to change the name to pious.

tifighter

Weekend trip down to Portland. It usually takes almost three hours. Just to make it sporty, we drove the Soul EV. With a range of nearly 100 miles, it's a two stop trip the way the charger locations work out.

Each quick charge takes about 20-25 minutes. This might annoy some people, but as a guy that rode a motorbike for years, it doesn't really bother me. We stopped in two towns I'd never been to before, one of which was actually pretty interesting.

Anyhow, it made the drive a bit more of an adventure. I told my wife it felt like trying to fly across Canada with a small biplane or something. But even these adventures are disappearing; the new Bolt would have made this drive non-stop...

gagrice

tifighter said:

Weekend trip down to Portland. It usually takes almost three hours. Just to make it sporty, we drove the Soul EV. With a range of nearly 100 miles, it's a two stop trip the way the charger locations work out.

Each quick charge takes about 20-25 minutes. This might annoy some people, but as a guy that rode a motorbike for years, it doesn't really bother me. We stopped in two towns I'd never been to before, one of which was actually pretty interesting.

Anyhow, it made the drive a bit more of an adventure. I told my wife it felt like trying to fly across Canada with a small biplane or something. But even these adventures are disappearing; the new Bolt would have made this drive non-stop...

You are a lot more brave than I am. Last trip to AZ we stayed at a hotel that had two EV chargers. Both out of service. I asked if they got used. He said whenever they are working. They were not fast chargers. Overnight chargers for guests. Use a CC. Not sure what it ends up costing. I imagine here in CA far more than driving a gas or diesel vehicle.

tifighter

Between Seattle and Portland, there are 15 L3/quick charger locations, not including anything Tesla, so it doesn't take THAT much bravery. Both the Soul and my prior Leaf included two years of free charging on most of the major networks, and most of the chargers on this route are covered in that plan. In addition, there are many more L2/240 chargers in the towns in between.

Our hotel in Portland had L2 charging as well, so that was pretty seamless.

xwesx

I stayed at a hotel in Texas (the first night we had the Q7) where they had a couple of charging stations. They had them set up at the corners of the parking spots, so it sorta looked like four parked vehicles could access them, but, with only one port each, I'm not sure that more than two vehicles could plug in. The spots weren't labeled - there was just a a sign on each post that said "EV Only."

Anyhow, we arrived at nearly midnight after being up since 0600 the prior day (not including a few uncomfortable naps on overnight flights), so, after driving around the parking lot and finding the whole thing full due to three pickups with trailers taking up several spots apiece, I went back and parked in the "EV Only" spot farthest from the door. Hopefully, there were not more than three EVs that planned to show up that night after midnight! LOL

Overall, I was surprised at how frequently we saw EV charging stations. Even some of the "traditional" fueling stations had them.

fintail

I suppose if one is in a densely enough populated area and has free time, the leisurely scenic charging drive can work. I suppose it helps to be on an interstate corridor - might not be so easy driving from Spokane to Boise or something. But even the smallish town where my mom lives has a few charging stations, definitely for tourist traffic, as I suspect few locals are into it yet.

And I am sure in Portland, land of the hipster, there is no shortage of infrastructure.

fintail

Avoided a rabbit yesterday morning:

https://youtu.be/X5lPzIO8hko

Today I hit a large hidden pothole, taking the car in to be checked out for alignment issues on Saturday - if there's a bill, I'll seek out the city for reimbursement. Some roads here are like Beirut in 1983, the money goes where?

berri

Seattle - the homeless and welfare perhaps

xwesx

fintail said:

Avoided a rabbit yesterday morning:

LOL You weren't kidding! I was looking for a VAG rabbit.... not a mammal...! I had to watch the video three times to see it.

fintail

I'm in a suburb, where the money probably goes to the usual places - perks and pensions.

Actually, they usually do an at least acceptable (for Murka) job of fixing big issues, this is a new hole on a road I drive almost every day. The insanely wet winter and spring has done a number on many local surface streets.

berri said:

Seattle - the homeless and welfare perhaps

fintail

I have a video with one of those kind of Rabbits too (note the ever more typical turn signal use):

https://youtu.be/PBChQNAj78w

xwesx said:

LOL You weren't kidding! I was looking for a VAG rabbit.... not a mammal...! I had to watch the video three times to see it.

fintail

Something not seen on the road every day - maybe mother nature doesn't love the Prius? Hope the driver is OK.

berri

Those big, tall PNW fir trees seem to have the root system of a Florida Palm

fintail

For quite some time we've been at about 150% of normal rainfall, that can't help.

berri

Didn't you have a bunch of rainfall last year too? North Korea must be up to something!

slorenzen

fintail said:

For quite some time we've been at about 150% of normal rainfall, that can't help.

Yeah, I'm about DONE with the rain for this year. Even the natives are restless...

cdnpinhead

Even governor moonbeam was forced to admit that the unending drought, well, ended.

fintail

Yep. I am usually OK with it, this year it has been pretty miserable. Just too much, not just in volume, but duration.

slorenzen said:

Yeah, I'm about DONE with the rain for this year. Even the natives are restless...

tifighter

#raingry :@

Michaell

tifighter said:

#raingry :@

I like that. My chuckle for the day.

And, goodness knows, I need some levity in my life, from time to time.

explorerx4

We are headed to Ohio tomorrow. Lawn is still wet and pretty high. It's going to be huge when I get back.
I think the fertilizer guy put down the good stuff since my next door neighbor dropped him last year.

fintail

At least the long range models are still predicting warmer and drier than normal. These aren't high resolution models, but I will take any hope I can get.

kyfdx

fintail said:

At least the long range models are still predicting warmer and drier than normal. These aren't high resolution models, but I will take any hope I can get.

First half of September, please.. Dry, warm and sunny. thanks!

tifighter

September, generally, is the best month here. You should be in good shape.

fintail

Yep, the period from maybe early August through mid September is amazing here, time will tell if it makes up for the dreariest winter and spring in memory.

fintail

Hopefully the roads will be in better shape then, too. I hit a crater-sized pothole the other day, took the car in this morning to see if it caused any harm. The bump (probably the worst pothole I've ever hit) messed up the alignment, and the car may need a camber bolt (or something similar, I forget the name), I am taking it back in next week to be sure. With the taxes here, there's no excuse for some of the roads in this region.

I know the city has a process for filing road-related damage claims, and they are going to be getting one from me.

xwesx

fintail said:

Hopefully the roads will be in better shape then, too. I hit a crater-sized pothole the other day, took the car in this morning to see if it caused any harm. The bump (probably the worst pothole I've ever hit) messed up the alignment, and the car may need a camber bolt (or something similar, I forget the name), I am taking it back in next week to be sure. With the taxes here, there's no excuse for some of the roads in this region.

I know the city has a process for filing road-related damage claims, and they are going to be getting one from me.

Ah, that's bad news. At least it didn't kill your tire/wheel on the spot and cause much larger headaches for you!

Chena Hot Springs Road used to have some wicked holes in it along the back stretch about 8-10 years ago. It was still the original pavement, which takes a beating in this climate, and it was just falling apart. They finally repaved the whole length, but there were some holes so big that you literally couldn't miss them.

I remember one time I had this little Dodge Neon tailgating me when we owned the DGC. I gave him the usual signals to try and wake him up, but nada. So, I made strategic use of those potholes and the driver's inability to see beyond my vehicle. One particularly large one, which was just shy of the track width of my car, I made a point to straddle it.... BOOM! Neon guy hit that thing at 60 mph - his whole vehicle went into it. He quickly pulled to the shoulder.

I got a great laugh out of that....!

fintail

Yeah, if I had low profile tires and wheels with a wide lip, I bet the damage would have been more. It was an irritating event. I couldn't see it until I was very close, as it was in a shaded area on a grey day (as most are here lately). I couldn't swerve as of course traffic was close by. I should be happy the damage is minor, I suppose. Still irritating on a car I've had for 10 months and under 7K miles. I am also planning a little road trip later next week, but the car will be repaired by then.

I've heard stories about the highways in AK. I think some local roads have been trying to mimic those, the wet cold winter here caused Detroit-style road conditions, and I suspect the lowest bidder mentality of roadworks here won't make for a nice upcoming winter either.

xwesx said:

Ah, that's bad news. At least it didn't kill your tire/wheel on the spot and cause much larger headaches for you!

Chena Hot Springs Road used to have some wicked holes in it along the back stretch about 8-10 years ago. It was still the original pavement, which takes a beating in this climate, and it was just falling apart. They finally repaved the whole length, but there were some holes so big that you literally couldn't miss them.

I remember one time I had this little Dodge Neon tailgating me when we owned the DGC. I gave him the usual signals to try and wake him up, but nada. So, I made strategic use of those potholes and the driver's inability to see beyond my vehicle. One particularly large one, which was just shy of the track width of my car, I made a point to straddle it.... BOOM! Neon guy hit that thing at 60 mph - his whole vehicle went into it. He quickly pulled to the shoulder.

I got a great laugh out of that....!

fintail

Here's something insane seen (not by me) on a local road yesterday:

https://youtu.be/YTqIcaJ_CV8

Apparently no serious injuries, amazing. I'll be on a little road trip starting tomorrow, hope it isn't as dramatic.

xwesx

Wow; that was pretty incredible. Mostly so that nobody was injured!

fintail

Took a little road trip today, drove through some high-based thunderstorms, an unusual occurrence in this region. Caught one close lightning strike on dashcam, the thunder was loud enough to be jarring even in the car at speed. Lightning strike is at 0:31, with the thunder crack and boom soon after:

https://youtu.be/e1ta_rh9ziU

fintail

Back from the little trip, much calmer weather, many more LLCs. 167 was amusingly bad, and 405 little better (5 was full of distracted idiots, I exited as soon as I could). Saw a couple of WSP speed traps on the drive, but no other enforcement.

The results of my alignment necessitated by our not always first world quality roads (the money goes where?), looks like the rear wheel was messed up too. Not sure if this was the final adjustment, as the timestamp is an hour before the car was finished:

Michaell

Not much of a road trip - about 70 miles round trip to have brunch at the Broadmoor in Co Springs.

However, on the way back, encountered a big traffic tie up so we took the back way home. Different scenery, but a little longer travel time.