Road Trip!

tjc78

explorerx4 said:

Back from my trip to Ohio for my grandson's 1st Birthday.
Not as much traffic as I was expecting, so things went smoothly despite a 100 to 125 miles of rain each way.
On the way out left from central CT across NY and PA and filled up at MM 226 in Ohio.
Averaged 28.5 mpg, which is good, car is rated @28 highway.
Total trip about 560 miles in 8 hours 20 minutes.
On the way back, topped off at MM 226 in Ohio.
Made it back in a tick over 7 hours, 478 miles, 29.2 mpg.
Here's a picture of the driveway on Birthday Party Day.
Fusion, Explorer, MKZ, Fusion, plus in the garage an Escape and another Explorer.

All Ford all the time!

xwesx

fintail said:

My biggest fear would be a lack of real bike lanes for at least 2/3 of the route - with the way people drive around here, it would be like Russian roulette. I've backed off on having a motorcycle as long as I am in this area, a bicycle seems riskier. The rain would really be irksome too - a few hills, but the rain for about 8 months out of the year could be annoying.

But if the roads had mid-March traffic and it was dry, it'd work.

Yes, that's true. If you have to mix with traffic, it could certainly take some of the enjoyment out of it - particularly if you also must contend with large speed differentials. I find that on lower-speed residential/business roads (25 mph or under limits), I tend to keep up with vehicle traffic just fine.

xwesx

tjc78 said:

All Ford all the time!

Have you driven a Ford lately?

Explorer, which vehicle did you drive? I can't remember which you have now that the truck is gone. Is this the MKZ?

explorerx4

Yes, I'm the the MKZ. Son in law and parents have white Fusion, black and red Explorers. My kids have black Fusion and black Escape.

fintail

My fear is distracted drivers more than plain traffic. If I lived in say Germany, I'd be far less worried - but on this side of the pond, dinking around on the phone is almost like a sport.

I think the solution would be for me to relocate to a place with less population density (its on my mind more now than ever), but if I did that, I'd just cut out the middleman and get a proper motorcycle, turbo Busa here I come

xwesx said:

Yes, that's true. If you have to mix with traffic, it could certainly take some of the enjoyment out of it - particularly if you also must contend with large speed differentials. I find that on lower-speed residential/business roads (25 mph or under limits), I tend to keep up with vehicle traffic just fine.

fintail

Hitting the road Tuesday morning, a couple days in Spokane then a stop in Moses Lake, it'll be nice to get away from the traffic which often resembles pre-'rona.

xwesx

fintail said:

Hitting the road Tuesday morning, a couple days in Spokane then a stop in Moses Lake, it'll be nice to get away from the traffic which often resembles pre-'rona.

Tuesday... seems like forever from now. Good luck with the weekend, first; then, have a great trip!

fintail

Plenty of chores I want to finish between now and then, it'll be nice to get away, definitely feeling cabin fever lately. The relatively open road is calling.

I sense a few similar trips coming up in the next ~6 weeks, too.

xwesx said:

Tuesday... seems like forever from now. Good luck with the weekend, first; then, have a great trip!

fintail

Not the most exotic location, but a pretty day today, Spokane at dusk this evening:

xwesx

That's lovely. Looks like a light haze of smoke to accent.

fintail

Yep just a touch of smoke still here, AQI is around 40 while closer to 10-20 around Puget Sound, due to recent rains I suspect. Not annoying anyway, I am glad that is over.

Michaell

fintail said:

Yep just a touch of smoke still here, AQI is around 40 while closer to 10-20 around Puget Sound, due to recent rains I suspect. Not annoying anyway, I am glad that is over.

AQI is currently 49 here in Colorado.

ab348

I never got to Spokane when I visited Washington years ago. The closest I got was Richland. Looks like a nicely scenic place. The gondola ride looks cool!

Michaell

ab348 said:

I never got to Spokane when I visited Washington years ago. The closest I got was Richland. Looks like a nicely scenic place. The gondola ride looks cool!

That was built as part of the Worlds Fair in 1974. My dad talked about taking us there, but it never happened.

fintail

Richland/Tri-Cities is a lot more desert (sagebrush rather than sand dunes) than Spokane, which is maybe more like a somewhat dry hilly forest. The pavilion in my third pic is also an Expo 74 item, all pics from the park adjacent to downtown. Nice for a walk on a pleasant evening, I've always stayed near the area when visiting. The Expo area I think was neglected and run down before the fair, then had its day in the sun, then maybe decayed a little again, and has once again been revitalized.

xwesx

fintail said:

Yep just a touch of smoke still here, AQI is around 40 while closer to 10-20 around Puget Sound, due to recent rains I suspect. Not annoying anyway, I am glad that is over.

40! I don't think it ever even gets that good here. We are always happen when it dips under 50 for a time.

fintail

In the 50s here today, closer to 10 on the other side of the mountains (where it has apparently rained all day, just a sprinkle here). Moses Lake tomorrow, then back across the pass, but returning soon.

xwesx said:

40! I don't think it ever even gets that good here. We are always happen when it dips under 50 for a time.

fintail

Interesting road data - I am surprised it isn't more on 405 given the backups I see - looked like at least a 2 mile slog on SB 405 in Bellevue by 4pm today.

Gotta go to the south end Wednesday, then 2 trips to Spokane next week, then one more one way drive - lots of driving ahead. And hopefully soon after that, a drive to Spokane in the old car, which will be something of an adventure. I-90 can be pretty monotonous in eastern WA, but the (usually) lack of traffic is still a breath of fresh air.

ab348

fintail said:

I-90 can be pretty monotonous in eastern WA, but the (usually) lack of traffic is still a breath of fresh air.

I remember driving through there in '04 in an Impala rental. Monotonous isn't a strong enough word. I remember the warning signs about turning off your A/C on the uphill stretches near Yakima to avoid overheating, and indeed the Impala's temp gauge began a precipitous climb. I also recall a pleasant rest area/state picnic park on the other side of the pass where there was a group of volunteers manning a little information/washroom building where they were giving out free cookies, which was nice. When we made it into the high desert I had my first experience with tumbleweeds which was strange.

kyfdx

Like I-70 going through Kansas... zzzzzzz

Michaell

kyfdx said:

Like I-70 going through Kansas... zzzzzzz

Or I-70 through Utah.

Or I-40 through AZ and NM.

kyfdx

Michaell said:

kyfdx said:

Like I-70 going through Kansas... zzzzzzz

Or I-70 through Utah.

Or I-40 through AZ and NM.

At least those have elevation changes..

Did find a good BBQ joint in Junction City, though.

fintail

Yeah, that stretch of 82 between Yakima and Ellensburg is a big hill with a few dips - has to be murder on trucks and older cars. Similar to 90 between Ellensburg and Vantage - probably my least favorite part of the drive (the area around Snoqualmie summit can also be a mess). I think you stopped at the Selah rest stop.

Funny thing, on my way back last week, a car in front of me struck a tumbleweed, and the tumbleweed exploded, kind of interesting. When I was a kid living in that region, tumbleweeds were just a thing - we lived at the edge of a housing development with fields on one side, and the tumbleweeds would roll in and accumulate against fences etc.

ab348 said:

I remember driving through there in '04 in an Impala rental. Monotonous isn't a strong enough word. I remember the warning signs about turning off your A/C on the uphill stretches near Yakima to avoid overheating, and indeed the Impala's temp gauge began a precipitous climb. I also recall a pleasant rest area/state picnic park on the other side of the pass where there was a group of volunteers manning a little information/washroom building where they were giving out free cookies, which was nice. When we made it into the high desert I had my first experience with tumbleweeds which was strange.

Michaell

Tumbleweeds - "Wyoming Christmas Trees" my wife calls them.

She was raised in Cheyenne, so she's seen her fair share of them over the years.

xwesx

fintail said:

Interesting road data - I am surprised it isn't more on 405 given the backups I see - looked like at least a 2 mile slog on SB 405 in Bellevue by 4pm today.

Gotta go to the south end Wednesday, then 2 trips to Spokane next week, then one more one way drive - lots of driving ahead. And hopefully soon after that, a drive to Spokane in the old car, which will be something of an adventure. I-90 can be pretty monotonous in eastern WA, but the (usually) lack of traffic is still a breath of fresh air.

Oh, are you making a permanent move east?

xwesx

kyfdx said:

Like I-70 going through Kansas... zzzzzzz

Not at all like that! I-70 through Kansas is truly a sleeper... I-90 through Washington is only that way if you're already half asleep (or have a really, really short attention span).

xwesx

When my family moved to our house in Helix, we had about 2.5 acres with a large (about 100' x 25', if I recall correctly)) quonset hut on it. The field around the quonset was fairly neglected, and there were a huge quantity of tumbleweeds that had accumulated on the leeward side of the structure. For about a week, we used our tractor to break up and haul the huge mass to a burn pile on another part of the property. I remember there was one single tumbleweed that we pulled out of there that was about 12' high and 20' across... and thorny!

There are generally two types of tumbleweeds (according to the Wes index): non-thorny and thorny. The non-thorny ones are generally somewhat tall and skinny (e.g., taller than they are wide) while the thorny ones are denser with a somewhat squat appearance (much wider than tall). Either variety is typically around 2' to 4' in the largest dimension, so seeing one this big was somewhat shocking!

And, since all of these weeds had blown to their final resting place, my eleven-year-old self was just imagining what it must have looked like rolling across the landscape, OVER the quonset, and finally landing within this huge pile of weeds. The thing was so big that we had to pull it to the bun pile with the tractor by a chain... and my those flames, from this single tumbleweed, were incredible. It took a few minutes to burn, which, if you know how fast those things go up, is saying something all by itself! The grand-daddy of all tumbleweeds.

fintail

Yep, found a new position in Spokane, starting in a couple weeks.

xwesx said:

Oh, are you making a permanent move east?

xwesx

fintail said:

Yep, found a new position in Spokane, starting in a couple weeks.

xwesx said:

Oh, are you making a permanent move east?

Congrats! I hope the move goes well for you... and that you enjoy the change in both scenery and traffic!

fintail

Thanks!

Being born on that side of the mountains and spending much of my childhood there, the scenery is fine with me - I am actually looking forward to a snowy winter. And the traffic, don't get me started. On SB 167 this afternoon it was stop and go before 2pm, and 405 was getting that way around 1pm. Not going to miss that.

xwesx said:

Congrats! I hope the move goes well for you... and that you enjoy the change in both scenery and traffic!

jpp75

Congrats @fintail! I was just in Spokane a couple of weeks ago on a road trip, I actually really like the town and area, especially the falls in the middle of downtown. Good luck with the new job and move.

fintail

Thanks! Yeah, they've done a good job with the downtown park area. I think it's one of those places that Puget Sound city folk might still have some bias against, but it is definitely growing and revitalizing. I'm cautiously optimistic that it's going to be a good time. Heading over on Monday, then again Wednesday, then moving a week from tomorrow.

jpp75 said:

Congrats @fintail! I was just in Spokane a couple of weeks ago on a road trip, I actually really like the town and area, especially the falls in the middle of downtown. Good luck with the new job and move.

fintail

Made a round trip yesterday and doing so again tomorrow. No traffic issues yesterday other than a few speed traps and an elephant race among semis, even the LLCs were easy to get around. Car averaged 29.4 mpg per the computer and was as comfortable and relaxing as one can imagine for that much driving in a day - ideal road trip car, even when loaded up with stuff.

xwesx

fintail said:

Made a round trip yesterday and doing so again tomorrow. No traffic issues yesterday other than a few speed traps and an elephant race among semis, even the LLCs were easy to get around. Car averaged 29.4 mpg per the computer and was as comfortable and relaxing as one can imagine for that much driving in a day - ideal road trip car, even when loaded up with stuff.

Nice! It is good that the cities are so close. Makes for a steady drive without excess fatigue.

fintail

On the road a bit yesterday - drive east was a breeze, drive west became a mess - a construction slowdown on the pass created a bottleneck, which brought out the idiocy of so many "drivers" - tons of people remained in the left lane (I must have passed a dozen or more on the right) and the derpy CUV feckless drone set were still going 50 when the limit went back to 70. Many also didn't understand cruise control, passing and being passed over and over.

Per the car's app, the car performed well for something of its size, power, and being loaded up for half the trip, along with a little city driving:

andres3

fintail said:

On the road a bit yesterday - drive east was a breeze, drive west became a mess - a construction slowdown on the pass created a bottleneck, which brought out the idiocy of so many "drivers" - tons of people remained in the left lane (I must have passed a dozen or more on the right) and the derpy CUV feckless drone set were still going 50 when the limit went back to 70. Many also didn't understand cruise control, passing and being passed over and over.

Per the car's app, the car performed well for something of its size, power, and being loaded up for half the trip, along with a little city driving:

64 MPH is a high average speed..... one traffic light plummets your average over a trip; unless you live right by the freeway on-ramp.

fintail

Cruise set at 78-79 for much of the drive, a few blips above, a few slowdowns.

andres3 said:

64 MPH is a high average speed..... one traffic light plummets your average over a trip; unless you live right by the freeway on-ramp.

fintail

Still looking to take a road trip in the old car on Saturday - forecast now has shower chances, but I think I am going to just deal with it and then detail the car when I get home, I want it here. It'll be an adventure.

xwesx

Yeah, it will! Should be fun. Are you buddying up on the drive to retrieve it? Given all the dust in the eastern parts of the state, my guess is that it will get a lot more detailing now than ever before!

fintail

I'm flying in, having a friend pick me up and take me to the car. He'll probably follow me to Leavenworth or so, where we'll stop for lunch (and I will inspect the car, once over the pass, it should be relatively smooth sailing from there). Yeah, the car will get wiped down/dusted more no doubt, and probably slumber longer in the winter too, due to snow.

explorerx4

Good to have a wingman on a trip like that.

xwesx

explorerx4 said:

Good to have a wingman on a trip like that.

Yeah, time to give @28firefighter a call! He needs an excuse to stretch his BMW's legs.

xwesx

Have a good time, @fintail ! It should be a relaxing trip.

fintail

Hell, if someone wants to ride with me and fly back, they are welcome

Thanks, I think it will be a fun trip, and probably the last big drive in the car for the year. I'm optimistic the car will be fine, and good to get this out of the way before the snow (frosty here this morning).

fintail

And I made it. Car performed as flawlessly as I could hope. The morning got off to a rough start, with my flight delayed 90 minutes, pushing everything back, so my hoped-for 2pm arrival ended up being more like 5pm. But, the drive was fine other than no music or cruise control for nearly 300 miles. Still, admirable for a car heading for 60 years old.

A few random snaps, I love the open secondary roads/state highways of eastern WA, even on a busy weekend, light traffic. Where in western WA, Highway 2 was a mess between Monroe and Gold Bar or so, and Leavenworth was gridlock:

xwesx

Not a bad view for 300 miles!

Is Leavenworth the place with the Bavarian flavor? We drove through there late one night when we were bringing the Q7 home due to I90 being closed in the pass.

fintail

Probably delivered the usual ~20 mpg too, which is laudable for a car of its age.

Yes, Leavenworth is what I call a 1970s/80s department store impersonation of Germany. Admittedly, I loved it when I was a kid, but I don't recall it being so crowded then. Must have been a mile long backup both ways coming into town today.

xwesx

fintail said:

Probably delivered the usual ~20 mpg too, which is laudable for a car of its age.

Yes, Leavenworth is what I call a 1970s/80s department store impersonation of Germany. Admittedly, I loved it when I was a kid, but I don't recall it being so crowded then. Must have been a mile long backup both ways coming into town today.

That's funny... I almost can't imagine such traffic in that area. When we drove through, it was all lights and not a soul to be seen anywhere. Of course, it was probably 11pm or later, on a Monday night, and the first week of March.

tjc78

@fintail
Awesome trip! I’d have to have a Bluetooth speaker off my phone for some tunes!

fintail

The old radio actually has an aux input (in back, these radios were ahead of their time), but my phone lacks a headphone jack. I brought along an old timey iPod, but on the flight it must have been bumped, and when I hooked it up, the battery was at maybe 5%. I brought my laptop along to use as a charger - and the iPod charging cable remained at home. Oh well.

That'll be one thing I'll miss about Seattle, it has a good AM oldies station playing music suitable for the car.

tjc78 said:

@fintail
Awesome trip! I’d have to have a Bluetooth speaker off my phone for some tunes!