Road Trip!

Sandman6472

We use a Voyager for most crews at work. It's basically a Pacifica with not too many upgrades. But, they drive nicely in almost any situation. Since the crew I'm in has 6 drivers plus the lead, we get to use a large Ford Transit van with the higher roof line. The only downside is there's no running board to make egress/ingress easier & it's quite easy to fall backwards. They do provide a very sturdy handle on the right side of the side cargo door to grab onto. I do have issues sometimes climbing in so a running board on the side would really help. Plus ours doesn't have tinted widows all around. Another faux pas!

explorerx4

Drove back from Wisconsin yesterday. Left with having driven over 50 miles since previous fill up.
Wife was driving and we had 56 miles on the DTE with a rest stop coming up and next one 58 miles away.
Trip odometer was just over 390 miles, so I said let's see if we can make the next rest area, I wanted to get over 400 miles before we filled up.
DTE hit zero just as we were taking the ramp to stop and fill up. Ended up going 452 miles, so now I have a good idea of the range.
Whole trip was just under 500 miles in just over 7 1/2 hours with 3 stops, none very long.

andres3

Didn't require a road trip but the S4 is indeed capable of speeds in excess of 150 MPH.

xwesx

andres3 said:

Didn't require a road trip but the S4 is indeed capable of speeds in excess of 150 MPH.

Sounds sketchy.

andres3

xwesx said:

andres3 said:

Didn't require a road trip but the S4 is indeed capable of speeds in excess of 150 MPH.

Sounds sketchy.

Nah, just a little pull where there was no traffic other than a sport bike that got smoked, he may not have seen me coming from behind after he had just passed me recently. By the time I passed him he had no chance to catch up. The S4 steamrolls with acceleration up there, I don't think my TTS is as fast after 115 or so.

I earned a thumbs up from the sport bike a couple miles later as I was changing freeways and had of course slowed down so he could catch up.

fintail

andres3 said:

xwesx said:

andres3 said:

Didn't require a road trip but the S4 is indeed capable of speeds in excess of 150 MPH.

Sounds sketchy.

Nah, just a little pull where there was no traffic other than a sport bike that got smoked, he may not have seen me coming from behind after he had just passed me recently. By the time I passed him he had no chance to catch up. The S4 steamrolls with acceleration up there, I don't think my TTS is as fast after 115 or so.

I earned a thumbs up from the sport bike a couple miles later as I was changing freeways and had of course slowed down so he could catch up.

Are you sure he wasn't just cruising along? "200 club" and all that

andres3

fintail said:

andres3 said:

xwesx said:

andres3 said:

Didn't require a road trip but the S4 is indeed capable of speeds in excess of 150 MPH.

Sounds sketchy.

Nah, just a little pull where there was no traffic other than a sport bike that got smoked, he may not have seen me coming from behind after he had just passed me recently. By the time I passed him he had no chance to catch up. The S4 steamrolls with acceleration up there, I don't think my TTS is as fast after 115 or so.

I earned a thumbs up from the sport bike a couple miles later as I was changing freeways and had of course slowed down so he could catch up.

Are you sure he wasn't just cruising along? "200 club" and all that

Pretty sure it wasn't a top-line sport bike, and his cruising speed seemed to be about 100 MPH until he got passed. He was definitely "having fun" though, and it was more than just his speed.

fintail

andres3 said:

fintail said:

andres3 said:

xwesx said:

andres3 said:

Didn't require a road trip but the S4 is indeed capable of speeds in excess of 150 MPH.

Sounds sketchy.

Nah, just a little pull where there was no traffic other than a sport bike that got smoked, he may not have seen me coming from behind after he had just passed me recently. By the time I passed him he had no chance to catch up. The S4 steamrolls with acceleration up there, I don't think my TTS is as fast after 115 or so.

I earned a thumbs up from the sport bike a couple miles later as I was changing freeways and had of course slowed down so he could catch up.

Are you sure he wasn't just cruising along? "200 club" and all that

Pretty sure it wasn't a top-line sport bike, and his cruising speed seemed to be about 100 MPH until he got passed. He was definitely "having fun" though, and it was more than just his speed.

So like a Ninja 250 or an R3 etc?

Yeah, sometimes bikers just like to play around. Your description of the S4 makes me think of my old E55, which I think was at least as fast 60-120 as it was 0-60.

fintail

In 10 days I embark on a little road trip out to the coast - not as much as some, but it should easily pass 1000 miles by the time I return.

I had a little irritation on the road on Tuesday - 2nd time in 3 years, cracked in almost exactly the same place both times, I wonder if there's an issue in that spot or if it is just coincidence. To say I unleashed a mountain of profanity would be putting it lightly:



Filing the claim with my insurer (Farmers) and Safelite was easy, too easy. I recall last time it took a couple weeks to get the right windshield in, so after I booked online I called, and lo and behold they were about 10 days out on a replacement, even though it let me book for this Friday. However, I asked if the windshield was OEM or aftermarket, it was the latter. I asked about OEM, which is expensive, and they can get one in and do it on Friday - at least so it is claimed. At least the crack is well outside of my line of sight.

xwesx

Ah, sorry about that, Fin. Windshield chips are a way of life in Alaska, but that first crack in the new windshield always elicits that rage....

I think you have dashcam still, right? You can relive the moment over and over!

I take the Crosstrek in for its first windshield replacement tomorrow, and the Forester goes in again (I think this may be the third new glass) on Monday.

fintail

xwesx said:

Ah, sorry about that, Fin. Windshield chips are a way of life in Alaska, but that first crack in the new windshield always elicits that rage....

I think you have dashcam still, right? You can relive the moment over and over!

I take the Crosstrek in for its first windshield replacement tomorrow, and the Forester goes in again (I think this may be the third new glass) on Monday.

Yeah, that's one cam clip I am not saving Actually, I didn't notice it immediately - I think it took some time. I heard a whack, but that happens a bit, so I didn't pay attention. But later when examining the car at work, I spotted the crack, I think it took some time to spread.

This happened on WB 90 just outside of Spokane, on the big uphill run out of town. I think trucks tend to lose rocks on that, and cars kick them up - I've heard more than a few there. Maybe I need to start taking the back road.

This will be the second replacement for the car - if I lived in AK, I would be fine with aftermarket, so long as the sensors (light and rain) still worked (I think the driving assist stuff is in the grille). Only my third windshield replacement ever, though - lost one in the E55 from a road puck that flew up and hit me - so maybe it is just averaging out after 30+ years on the road.

fintail

It gets better - I was suspicious about the Friday replacement, as the last time I replaced the windshield, it took a couple weeks to get one. Lo and behold, no windshield today, and I won't be able to get a replacement for a couple weeks. The one they had in stock was for a differently equipped car and I am not sure even the same model. Of course I found this out after I removed the dashcam, so I got to remount it, which is a chore. Now I will be taking the trip with a nice crack, but at least it is out of my line of sight and I don't think it will change.

xwesx

Interesting. I have not removed my dashcams for a windshield job. When I got the Crosstrek back this afternoon, they had perfectly remounted it on the new glass. Ah, it is so nice to have new glass! (Not trying to rub in your shop's failure today... it really is nice.)

I'm sure you'll have a great trip nonetheless.

I went to reinstate the insurance on the Q7 today so I can make some use of it this month, and I cannot get into my insurance app. Looks like maybe they realigned their login system, so I need different credentials? Well, nothing I try to do the reset works, so I am just SOL. Good grief! Good thing I am not on the side of the road being asked for proof of insurance!

fintail

I use a specific adhesive piece distributed by Blackvue (the dashcam company) - I have used generic mounts, but they often fail after some time, and it is a chore to scrape off the residue and re-aim it. I didn't know a windshield installler would do it, not sure I would want them to. I was still enjoying the one in the car, which otherwise had only a couple tiny knicks - winter here leaves a mark one way or another. Weather should be dry, and the crack is inconspicuous, so I am going to try to keep my OCD at bay.

I've had that happen, site redesign tricks the login/password manager, and I have to get in not remembering either. I think it happened with my HSA provider a couple times.

explorerx4

Back from our week in Hatteras, NC(OBX).
It's pain to get there from here or vice versa.
Yesterday, 750 miles in 15 hours.
Doesn't sound too, too bad but a lot of the miles were done @77 mph.
That means hours of doing close to zero.
Temp was between 95 and 100 for about half the trip. Good think A/C could keep up.
Amazingly, I only saw one vehicle pulled over with the hood up.

xwesx

Oof. I think I see why. Looks like it would be a real pain in the rear to get there from pretty much anywhere!

I hope my trip from OH to NC goes smoother when I go down to my brother's place to get the pickup.

xwesx

@fintail This should make you feel better: I put a new windshield in the Forester yesterday. I picked it up at 1600 hours. At about 1900 hours, I went out to install new wiper blades on it. While doing so, I dropped the passenger wiper arm from about 6" off the glass and ended up spider-webbing the brand new glass. /facepalm

explorerx4

@xwesx,
After a year or so, the trauma of the trip wears off, so we are ready to do it again.
Not sure where in NC your brother lives but try to avoid I-95 between DC and Richmond at all costs.

ab348

xwesx said:

@fintail This should make you feel better: I put a new windshield in the Forester yesterday. I picked it up at 1600 hours. At about 1900 hours, I went out to install new wiper blades on it. While doing so, I dropped the passenger wiper arm from about 6" off the glass and ended up spider-webbing the brand new glass. /facepalm

OUCH!

fintail

xwesx said:

@fintail This should make you feel better: I put a new windshield in the Forester yesterday. I picked it up at 1600 hours. At about 1900 hours, I went out to install new wiper blades on it. While doing so, I dropped the passenger wiper arm from about 6" off the glass and ended up spider-webbing the brand new glass. /facepalm

Yikes! Insurance claim or just taking the L?

xwesx

explorerx4 said:

@xwesx,
After a year or so, the trauma of the trip wears off, so we are ready to do it again.
Not sure where in NC your brother lives but try to avoid I-95 between DC and Richmond at all costs.

Okay, thanks! I am not sure if I've ever even been on I-95, but I hear good things about it.

xwesx

fintail said:

Yikes! Insurance claim or just taking the L?

Just taking the L. I don't do insurance on the windshield in most circumstances because I consider it a normal wear item. I think the only glass I've claimed via insurance was the exploding roof on the Q7.

fintail

xwesx said:

fintail said:

Yikes! Insurance claim or just taking the L?

Just taking the L. I don't do insurance on the windshield in most circumstances because I consider it a normal wear item. I think the only glass I've claimed via insurance was the exploding roof on the Q7.

How much is replacement for a more "normal" car like that? The OEM unit in my car was something like $1800 installed in 2021. I assume aftermarket will be half that, but I have a $100 deductible glass policy, might as well use it.

Safelite guy told me 90%+ of his claims come from I90 between the ID border and Highway 2 interchange (roughly 20 miles) I think it's just a fact of life here, maybe not as bad as AK, but trying.

xwesx

Super cheap, really. I paid $380 for each of the Subarus this last weekend (Crosstrek on Friday and Forester on Monday). I hear that the cost for "Eyesight" equipped models is substantially more expensive, if you're into that sort of thing.

andres3

$399 for Fuyao glass on the S4 installed in a shop.

fintail

My car has a couple of eyesight-looking cameras (I think these at least read speed limit signs), light detector for headlight assist, rain sensor, etc, so I expect that makes it more expensive. I know they have to do a calibration, but it is done in the shop, car doesn't need to be driven.

Amusing, and knock on wood, I am pretty sure the fintail's windshield is original to the car. It has some patina but like the gauge of the metal in the fenders, it seems a lot thicker than modern equivalents.

xwesx

fintail said:

Amusing, and knock on wood, I am pretty sure the fintail's windshield is original to the car. It has some patina but like the gauge of the metal in the fenders, it seems a lot thicker than modern equivalents.

So true! I still have the original glass on both my Econoline and my C20 pickup (not sure about the 76 F250). Both of them have exactly one big pock on them (no runs), but those were really massive rocks. I mean, something like what hit those vehicles would have gone right through a modern windshield, or at least left it completely shattered. The one that hit my van was about the size of a closed fist and sounded like a shotgun blast when it hit. The pock is about the size of a dollar coin!

andres3

Windshields have partially gotten thinner to save weight (and fuel economy theoretically). I know the R8 GT's had lighter/thinner windshields as an "upgrade" to the standard R8. You would think the feature of "less glass" would actually be a cost savings right?

fintail

andres3 said:

Windshields have partially gotten thinner to save weight (and fuel economy theoretically). I know the R8 GT's had lighter/thinner windshields as an "upgrade" to the standard R8. You would think the feature of "less glass" would actually be a cost savings right?

I wonder if it is cheaper to make, or thinner glass requires more engineering. Wouldn't surprise me if cost is more of a factor than losing 5 lbs which could be gained via other decontenting.

fintail

xwesx said:

fintail said:

Amusing, and knock on wood, I am pretty sure the fintail's windshield is original to the car. It has some patina but like the gauge of the metal in the fenders, it seems a lot thicker than modern equivalents.

So true! I still have the original glass on both my Econoline and my C20 pickup (not sure about the 76 F250). Both of them have exactly one big pock on them (no runs), but those were really massive rocks. I mean, something like what hit those vehicles would have gone right through a modern windshield, or at least left it completely shattered. The one that hit my van was about the size of a closed fist and sounded like a shotgun blast when it hit. The pock is about the size of a dollar coin!

Fintail has a filled ding completely out of the line of sight - behind the rear view mirror. It's pretty hard to spot if one isn't looking for it, and it was there when I bought the car heading for 30 years ago, I suspect it will be fine.

fintail

Halfway through the driving part of the trip. Windshield crack grew a little, maybe expected. Forecast high here near the beach is 65F, slated to be 97F in Spokane today, fun not needing to use AC (which nobody has in houses here). Car is averaging around 30 mpg on the highway. Not too many bad drivers either - only had one dingbat freeze up in a traffic circle, and a couple of slowpokes on White Pass, which is normal.

explorerx4

@fintail,
Not road trip related but I remember you posting about wearing a goalie mask.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zki3yJYnX4M

fintail

explorerx4 said:

@fintail,
Not road trip related but I remember you posting about wearing a goalie mask.

Ha yeah, forgot about that - back when I was a student, had an old 70s "Jason" style Cooper goalie mask (since given to a goalie friend who likes old gear), and now and then I would wear it while driving the fintail, little kids got a kick out of that.

fintail

Back from the road trip. Of course I forgot to total miles and mpg, but I suspect it is in the 1200 mile range, give or take a hundred or so, and highway mpg was close to 30. No issues to speak of, traffic wasn't bad but seemed to be more LLCs out yesterday than normal, maybe the heat has fried some brains. The car continues to be a sublime cruiser, wafting along while it eats up the miles. The windshield crack probably tripled in size on the trip, but gone now as I had it replaced this morning.

Interestingly, they gave me a solar tinted (kind of reminds me of blue tinted glass on some turn of the century MBs) acoustic windshield that works with HUD - my car has neither acoustic or HUD. It's aftermarket, but it looks fine to me - price difference from OEM to aftermarket, if they can even get the part, was close to 1K - not worth it to me driving it in this environment.

Most interesting spots, save for vintage cars, were a number of Airstreams on the road yesterday, must have been a convention. Most noteworthy to me was one towed by a G-Wagen, and another a new style Defender. I also noticed thin WSP presence yesterday - on my drive virtually from one end of the state to the other, I saw exactly one cruiser, and I am not sure if it was with someone for speed or assistance.

xwesx

Bah, those vehicles sound ill-equipped to handle an Airstream. I think they needed a Q7 (or Cayenne or Touareg) TDI to get the most bang for the buck....

fintail

xwesx said:

Bah, those vehicles sound ill-equipped to handle an Airstream. I think they needed a Q7 (or Cayenne or Touareg) TDI to get the most bang for the buck....

It was an older G too, the type where 15 mpg on the highway is something to be proud of - I can't imagine what it is towing an Airstream.

Michaell

Fin, do you think it’s the aerodynamics or the gearing that gets you 30mpg on the highway?

Best we’ve seen in the Outback is somewhere around 28.

fintail

Michaell said:

Fin, do you think it’s the aerodynamics or the gearing that gets you 30mpg on the highway?

Best we’ve seen in the Outback is somewhere around 28.

Aerodynamics have to be good, but it's that 9th gear for sure. At 70 it sometimes feels like it is idling along.

fintail

Funny road trip anecdote that just came back to memory. On my way back through the Columbia Basin on I-90, just E of Moses Lake, I was cruising along in minimal traffic, cruise set at 78 (in a 70). I notice a second to last gen Impala on a frontage road to my left - and it is leaving me in the dust, Not sure how fast they were going, but it was amusing. At the next overpass/interchange, I assumed they'd turn or enter the highway, and was kind of hoping for the latter as I wanted to see how fast they'd go on the interstate. Nope, back on the frontage road, and although I passed them as they stopped for the intersection, they quickly ended up passing me on the frontage road again. They turned off at the next interchange.

xwesx

Oh, yeah. Typical NW backroads drivers.... probably somewhat young. Always gotta be the main character. LOL

xwesx

We are off on the road trip to Ohio now.... We left *very* early on Thursday (8/1), and it has been several days since I have had internet and a chance to sit down to catch up a bit on all the e-happenings. We're currently in Oregon, after spending the day visiting some folks, and just settling down for the night before we dip over to Pendleton to visit my father, who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer (again). His birthday is on Wednesday, so it will be good to have the opportunity to spend it with him.

On Friday morning, 8/9, we will again start out early to make our mad dash across the continent to reach Ohio at some point Sunday evening.

xwesx

Things have gone a little more complicated than we had planned.... On Tuesday, while we were driving over to Pendleton, we received notice from home (Fairbanks) that my son went to the emergency room. He ended up having an abscess in his throat , which was sort of tucked up behind a tonsil, and it had taken a turn for the worse. Somewhat shockingly, the staff at the hospital's ER got things under control quickly and competently handled the whole situation, but the incident was enough to get my wife on the first flight home.

As such, we finished up the drive to eastern Oregon, she prepped herself for the flight out, and then we drove her up to Pasco (which is the nearest regional airport these days). By 0130 on Wednesday, she was home. In the meantime, they sent my son in for surgery Tuesday night and had him back to his sassy self by about 2200. Everything went well there, and so my wife is watching over him for a bit now.

I think she is currently planning to fly down to Pittsburgh early next week, and I will pick her up there after finishing the drive to OH with my daughter. We should be heading out of here early in the morning (8/9) to start tackling that leg of the journey.

kyfdx

Yikes! Safe travels!

explorerx4

@xwesx,
Just be aware there is a lot of tornado damage in Northern Ohio, at least the Cleveland area.
My daughter texted today that the ETA for her to get power back is now 8/14.

xwesx

Oh, wow! I didn't know that, @explorerx4 . I drove through the area this evening; it didn't look terrible. Power might have been the reason the rest area on I90 (near Mentor) was closed, though! Thankfully, we do have power over here in Conneaut.

Boy, the drive was quite the marathon. My daughter and I went from Pendleton to Glendive, MT on Friday, then on to Marquette, MI, yesterday, and ended with the drive down through MI and OH today. All told, that was a lot of hours behind the wheel. My wife originally planned the trip with her and I driving shifts, and she wanted to visit a friend in Detroit, but it was a struggle with just me driving and catching no extra sleep along the way. I ended up staying a hotel last night (in Marquette) instead of driving the extra hour to the campground that she had already paid for. It was pretty stormy on the UP last night, plus we lost two hours due to time zones (not to mention all the construction!), and I didn't want to drive until 2200 after which we would need to set up tents in the wind, rain, and darkness. No thanks!

We were up at 0200 and out by 0300 on both Friday and Saturday mornings, so there was almost no down time. Last night, I was asleep by 2130... and I didn't even wiggle (well, maybe a tiny bit) until 0600. Despite the late start (0700) and myriad traffic slowdowns through MI, we still arrived in Conneaut by 1930, did some cleaning of dust and spiderwebs, and fully unloaded the car. Time for bed now, for sure!

explorerx4

On our trip up to Detroit to today to watch the Yankees/Tigers game, a bright blue Ram TRX came roaring up through traffic.
Justafter that, it was followed buy a Durango, Charger, and a Challenger, all Hellcat models, and then a Chrysler 300 hemi. They all had Indiana plates.
The TRX was able to weave through traffic pretty easily, hard to miss and pretty loud.
The Durango and Charger were really intimidatingly weaving through traffic to catch up.
A bit late, the Duango decided to use the diminishing merge lane from a highway entrance on the right and the Charger followed.
The lane ended before they could fully merge and the went through a bunch of gravel, which went flying everywhere.
I said to my daughter our driver, I bet someone ends up with a flat tire.
About 2 miles up the road they were all pulled over in reverse order that we last saw them, Durango, Charger, TRX, Challenger, 300.
My daughter said she saw something hanging off the front of the Charger. I didn't feel bad.

xwesx

@explorerx4 That's funny, and reminds me of our last day on the road when driving through a section of highway between Ann Arbor and Detroit.

There was a construction zone where traffic was all backed up (took us over an hour to make it the.... probably four miles.... where the congestion was worst), and then some bonehead in a Toyota something, possibly a highlander or a 4Runner, decides to jump the guard rail and put their car on its lid in the ditch. This happened about three miles ahead of us and sent the congestion from bad to completely stalled. Pretty soon, a series of emergency vehicles tries to make their way through the two lanes of traffic on the freeway, which is already pretty boxed in between a concrete barrier on the inside and a guard rail on the outside, but we all managed to slowly work our way to the edges to give them just enough space (three police, two large fire trucks, and two ambulances) to get through.

Well, when the last police vehicle went through, some numb-nuts in a Cadillac decided to rush through after it like an ambulance chaser. All the cars that had split before just closed into their lanes like he didn't exist. The driver slipped by me, barely, and laid on his horn as he clipped the bumper of a car about three ahead of me. As the other vehicles later came through, he kept forcing his way forward, and made it maybe twenty vehicles ahead of me by the time we filed through the single lane left to us at the crash site.

One of the police officers waved him over to the right side and was talking at his window as we drove by. I felt bad only for the driver of the vehicle he clipped, but I'm sure Cadillac guy got his just reward.

explorerx4

Heading up to Verona WI, just under 500 miles, to do some jobs for one of my kids.
I was going to fill up the Explorer before I leave but decided not to.
Filled up on 7-30 and have driven 202 miles. Coincidentaly, there are 202 miles left on the tank.
Will be interesting to see how much range is added driving on the highway.
I need to install the new cover I bought for her bathroom fan/light/heater, which I broke last time i was there.
She also as a bat living in a gap between the outer wall of her condo unit and a joist for the deck for the unit above, so I have an idea how to take care of that.
Also, my wife wants us to shop for a new microwave and diswasher while I'm there.
I better make sure I have my Lowes card.

xwesx

Wow; that sounds like it is going to be an eventful, if not exciting, trip! Not bad for only 500 miles!

explorerx4

Back from my quick trip to Wisconsin.
Left at 5:50 AM CST and arrived home at 1:30 PM EST.
Nav took me right through the center of Chicago, some traffic but it was early and everything moved right along.
466 miles in 6 1/2 hours. One quick stop to pee and to send a couple of texts.
No stops for fuel. Still have 14 miles left until zero.
Last trip, hit zero as we pulled into the rest stop to fill up at 452 miles.
Another thing. A one point in Indiana, maybe near mid point?, I checked the Nav and I was 12 miles short of making it home.
I dropped the cruise down 2 MPH and ended up making it with 14 miles left on the DTE.