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I seem to be thinking diesel-cruze for the longer-haul 8000 mile USA circuit this summer. For the drive to MN, I drove gasser stick Chevy SS Sedan "Caprice PPV". The Caprice is so immensely superior to 2017 cruze, it is not a fair comparison.
Roads this summer will probably be very hot and busy with many standing-wave traffic resonances aka traffic-jams and slowdowns. In summer slow & go traffic I prefer the diesel cruze to the caprice/PPV/SS stickshift V8. In summer diesel fuel price usually drops and gas price usually increases. Fwiw, seems diesel prices may increase at some point soon as the refineries & markets adjust to requirements for low-sulfur diesel to replace "bunker" fuel for boaty mcboatface overseas ships.
For this last springtime week, roads were E M P T Y , very convenient. Apparently it's not quite spring yet although I removed snow tires a month ago from 016 sonic and 017 cruze oil-burner.
Minnesota is expecting a few days and a few feet of snow !
Happy travels everyone ! Lane discipline and driving was impressive for the entire MN<->MA drive except in the obvious places like NY-thruway. There appears to be increasing awareness LLC-ism along with a decreasing number of LLCs across USA. Couple of real bad drivers, one had rickety illegal trailer disintegrate on I-39 (again), 42 after I predicted it, just as we passed he realized his trailer was coming apart and dragging. Another driver of a a specific-gender-not-to-be-named-here in left lane on I-90 west out of one of the many toll booths, doing 45 mph created a moving-hazard for many miles, multiple near-wrecks were caused by that one driver.
Welcome back, and glad you made it home safely (assuming you are, indeed, home again).
The 15S is like the SW Autobahn. However, you have your rare left lane camper at the 70 limit. You have your usual 10 over camper in the left lane that won't move over since they are going 80. You also have a lot of left lane campers at 20 over (90) that think that's fast enough. It isn't. There are a lot of people going 95+.
That said, I'm assuming that the "flow" is at or near the posted limit. If flow was already twenty over, then that is the de facto speed, and everything above adjusts from there.
I guarantee you most of the people "just going with the flow" are camping, in that they are not passing anyone for at least 1/2 mile or several minutes.
What ends up happening is you get a line of faster moving cars passing on the right in the 1/2 mile in between slower truckers, and then merging left again, only to hit another line of campers, and the next 1/2 mile gap allows another pass of 3 or 4 campers in a row. Just because you have 2 or 3 cars doing what you are doing, doesn't make it the flow or acceptable.
There is no reason or excuse for it. Plenty of room on the right; as I pointed out, 1/2 mile gaps were not unusual. Some are 1/4 mile, but either way, plenty to allow people to pass properly on the left instead of the right.
I like how the camera angle captures the hood star, I missed seeing that after driving "sport" trim cars for ~5 years.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Big brother is watching.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
It featured me innocently cruising down a 2 lane road, being cut off by an oblivious Odyssey (a plague on the eastside, they can be magnets for those who hate driving), a horn honk, and comments.
Regarding Europcar, I suspect in Canada it is probably rebranded/co-branded with a local carrier, I've never seen signage in Canada for the company. They are widespread in Europe (of course).
Oh yeah, saw only one speedtrap, a stater (I think) motorcycle cop, being nice and tolerant - left lane was cruising at maybe 8-10 over, he didn't bat an eye.
Maybe the most unusual scene was this - all those LEOs and a lone Cube, maybe they caught a wanted person:
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige
Truck had minimal damage and was definitely able to be driven. Elantra, well, I hope it had a good run.
Lots of LLCs out there today too, which seems to increase on 405 south of Bellevue then 167 until it ends, then fades out again.
(I wasn't LLCing, the 7er zoomed in from an on-ramp just behind the camera, and I was letting him pass rather than moving over and spooking him)
Only honked twice, once at a woman on I5 who was dilly-dallying in the left lane, eyes on her phone (in her hand), and at a dolt stopping for an invisible stop sign. Many seemed to stay out of the way of the 'Slade.
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige
Next week I embark on another 1000+ mile road trip, this time solo, so in the wagon. Looking forward to it, I'll keep an eye out for good dashcam views.
CHP posted what was left of a Prius (fatal collision) slamming into the back of a big rig at full freeway speed when traffic apparently came to a stop.
Obviously a distracted Prius driver. Someone had the gall to say the truck should have better rear crash protection for idiots. At the speed they hit, I'm not sure better bumpers would work.
Others still, tried to say the truck shouldn't have been in the left lane. However, hitting an inamimate non-moving object, all these excuses seem like grasping for straws. Chances are, the Prius shouldn't have been in that lane either
Road trip doesn't start til early am Monday, but driving today was fun. I am in a hockey program , one of the meeting days Friday late afternoon. Got out of work late (a real gongshow that has me grasping at sanity, and losing) and it took me about an hour and a half to get to the rink. Almost exactly 20 minutes coming home - one crash here can have a domino effect just like in LA, all of the surrounding roads were a parking lot.
I’m going to use that one at my place. Some days are really “special”
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
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Definitely more economical to visit the PNW as a whole in the offseason. Good deals can be had as there's a lot of supply, especially via bidding sites.
Haven't had a chance to sort through dashcam clips yet.
I've always liked the basalt outcroppings in many areas of the basin. I spent a fair bit of my childhood here, and the geology was interesting to me:
It can be pretty flat out there, scenery typical of Anywhere Middle America, not what many think of when they think about the PNW:
More rocks and irrigation:
Driving past a small town (Harrington):
Another small town (Odessa) which without the rocks could pass for generic town in the plains:
More flat, gently undulating road surface which the camera mildly detects, a rocking motion that is almost soothing:
Oh look, flatness:
A little terrain and rock:
Tomorrow on the road again to more hilly country.
Eastbound and Down was very appropriate.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Maybe no copyright strike for Jerry Reed? That'd be cool.
I've always enjoyed the dramatic vista driving into Lewiston/Clarkston from the Idaho side:
The view into the Kittitas Valley is also nice:
Snake River almost level with the road:
Rolling hills and light mostly ag/industrial traffic in the lower Palouse:
And more:
My college roomate's mcmansion, which to build cost as much as a garden shed in my area (seriously half the price of the cheapest detached house here), shows the disparity in pricing in WA:
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
1) My Hertz rental (ended up not going with Eurocar due to bad reviews) was a Toyota Camry. Not bad actually. While the insides are decidedly cheap, the car actually handles and drives adequately, gets good gas mileage, though the 4-banger is course and loud when you ask it to work harder. This is a condemnation of Toyota Camry drivers that take turns they could do at 60 safely at 30 MPH, as it isn't the car that's at fault in modern Camry's!!!!
2) Canadian drivers are overall, pretty damn good at left lane is for passing discipline. Drove from Vancouver to Whistler up in the mountains, and it's almost the whole way 4-lanes (2 each side), and only a few LLC's, all likely tourists from the US (or so I assume). This was a pleasant surprise as I thought the unpleasantness of the PNW in the USA might infect and spread to Vancouver in Canada.
3) No one obeys the speed limit, or Canadians pretend KM/H is actually MPH. The speed limits only make some sense as MPH. They are absurdly low. Leaving the airport, I quickly learned 20-30 over was the standard pace in heavy traffic. The Camry had no issue handling at 100-120 kmh on twisty 80 or 90 kmh limited highway.
4) I didn't see any traffic enforcement occurring. Vancouver PD is well hidden in black vehicles (a bit of black and white going on). Didn't see a single patrol vehicle hiding out, or anyone with a radar gun at the ready.
5) Great restaurants in Vancouver, BC.
6) I love 50-60 degree highs all week.
Indeed BC drivers are faster on the highway than those in WA (doesn't take much), driving in the city itself or in certain suburbs (Richmond and Burnaby in particular) can be exciting for other reasons. Maybe nobody LLCs more than people in western WA, especially in the areas just south of Seattle. 167 is a LLC hotbed, 405 can be fun too.