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I had almost forgotten about it, but when my Grandparents took me on an ~8 week cross country camping trip in 1982, the World's Fair was one of our stops. I don't remember much about it, except that I didn't like it. But, I was only 12, and was probably more in the mood for an amusement park with roller coasters and such.
Regarding whether it would be worth extending your trip to include these, I'm hesitant to be definitive because I don't know your (including your travel companions) likes and dislikes, budget, available time, etc. What's worthwhile or a "must see" to some is a "eh, it wasn't worth it" to others, if you know what I mean. Of course, one could say this about many destinations (some, like Rome, Paris, or the Galapagos, are definitely "must sees"), but in the context of the UP, I'd consider these very worthwhile, if time and budget allow them. If you can only do one of the two, I'd pick Copper Harbor, including the drive on the elevated road near there.
I hope that helps. Please let us know about your UP experience when you get back.
Copper Harbor may work out great. One of the gals has a 95 year old Uncle in Lake Linden. If it turns out she wants to spend more than a couple hour visit with him, we can drop her off and the rest of us could go to Copper Harbor and then pick her up. Thanks for suggesting it. A lot of times I think the suggestions from people who know areas is better than what some of the travel sights recommend.
I don't know if they still do it or not, but it used to be if you stayed at a hotel within Cedar Point you could get into the park an hour or two before it opens to the general public.
Yeah, that's what we do, stay at a place called the Hotel Breakers, or something like that, which is actually on the grounds. It's a short walk to one of the entrances to the park, and they let you in an hour early.
I also booked us a place that's on the premises at Kings Island, but I don't know if they offer the same deal or not.
I'm with you on the camping ban. I don't generally book a hotel in advance, unless we are sure of where we will be on a given night. Garmin is a great help, it lists hotels in area where you are along w/ phone numbers. When we are ready to stop, the passenger starts calling to find a vacancy, rates, etc. It one sounds ok, we first drive by it before booking to make sure it's not a dump. A internet connection would be even better, since you could also look at reviews, etc, but we do okay w/ the Garmin.
A couple years ago we were in eastern PA when we decided to stop for the night around 10. Called for around an hour to no avail. Finally, we stopped at Denny's and found out Little League World Series was going on, and not much chance of finding a room. I loaded up on coffee, and my friend went to sleep. I drove I-80 across state in the middle of the night. It was a full moon, and I could see the outline of the mountains in the moonlight. I pretty much had the road to myself and sure was glad an animal didn't cross in front of me! At the OH line, I was exhausted and we switched drivers. So, we ended up having lunch in Portland, ME on Sat and were back in IN by noon Sunday.
We flew to Chattanooga one time to visit my family and rented a car and went to Lakeland FL to visit my wife's mom. We drove back to TN through Savannah and wound up in Augusta GA one night. Ordinarily we'd be camping but not on a fly/drive.
Anyway, we wheeled into a modest motel and the rate was like $160. I was expecting maybe $60 tops. Upon inquiry, we found out that the Master's practice rounds were starting in 4 or 5 days and they had cranked up the rates to gouge the tourists.
Only took 20 minutes to get back into the world of normal rates.
Another time we were heading to the UP (the FL mom was a snowbird), and decided it'd be fun to go into Green Bay and see some countryside. After we got the plane tickets, we had a heck of a time finding a car rental. Turned out the fly-in at Oshkosh was going on and people had sucked up all the rental cars around for miles and miles. Wound up finding a Buick dealer who rented cars and that worked out well.
The 2 am arrival in Bangkok without accommodations one trip didn't work out as well, lol. We pre-plan those kind of trips a bit more now.
Do you remember seeing the sign 'Highest Point on I-80 east of the Mississippi'? Elevation is 2250 feet.
The 270 miles doesn't seem like much. But, we had started the day in Montpelier, went to Portland, and then worked our way through MA and CT. As far as I can tell from google maps, we drove around 1200 miles in less than 30 hours. It wasn't bad since we would trade off driving.
The following year I went to Hilton Head with a different friend. We split it into 2 days going down, but came back in 1 day; around 15 hours. Her driving scares the bejeezers out of me, so I drove the entire time, most of it in rain. That was a long haul!
And this was in 1986, when the speed limit was 55 ...
The List: 4 Tips For Finding Great Road Food (Straightline)
Driving through the middle of Connecticut and Massachusetts in pretty nice actually - at least until you hit Worcester.
We take 84 across and just past Hartford it starts to pretty up and right at the state line it's just perfect - nice green hills. I could live there. I'll just forget about the winter part.
Everyone knows how important it is for adults to buckle up and for children to be properly restrained in age-appropriate car seats (described at http://www.edmunds.com/car-safety/car-seat-safety-new-age-guidelines-old-install- ation-challenges.html.). So it should come as no surprise that the safest way for your dog to travel is in a harness and seatbelt. Many pet owners might prefer to keep the dog in a crate, and while that’s not a poor alternative, it does have its drawbacks. In the event of an accident, the dog could be slammed into the side of the crate; and if the crate is not properly secured, it may not hold in place.
Keeping the dog in a restraining harness isn’t just safe for the pet, but for the driver as well. An unrestrained dog can become a dangerous projectile in the event of an accident or even a short stop. And a survey by AAA last year found that nearly one-third of dog-owning drivers admitted they’d been distracted by their dogs in the car. One pet safety advocacy group has put the number of car accidents caused by dogs at 30,000 annually.
Experts consulted by Edmunds.com also warn drivers not to let dogs ride with their heads out the window. As much as they might enjoy it, they could be at risk of getting injured by flying debris. Likewise, it’s even more unsafe for dogs to travel in the flatbed of a pickup truck, where they could jump or be ejected at high speeds. Some states even have specific laws regulating how dogs can be transported in an open area of a vehicle.
The car doesn’t have to be in motion to pose a threat to your dog; leaving your pet in an unattended vehicle can also be very harmful. Experts say that even on a 60-degree day, the temperature in a car exposed to the sun can rise to over 100 degrees. Prolonged exposure in that type of heat can cause seizures or central nervous system problems in the short term and organ function problems in the long term. The best advice from experts is to simply leave your dog at home when you’re out running errands.
For more details on safe travelling with your dog, please check out the full “Dog-Safe Driving” guide on Edmunds.com at http://www.edmunds.com/car-safety/dog-safe-driving.html.
I did have one cat in my 20s that would ride around on the back of my neck.
Will post more info tomorrow, after I've had a chance to compile the numbers and my thoughts.
Weather was great for the whole trip - no rain whatsoever at all. However, both I-25 and I-40 were quite windy, especially on the return trip.
1827 total miles driven, with an average MPG of 22.51 - this was on a 2010 Mazda CX-7 AWD that had 6,000 miles on it when the trip started. Best tank was 25.79 MPG, worst was 19.93 - the EPA estimates for the CX-7 are 17 city, 23 hwy.
I use shell V-power 91 octane exclusively ... the most I paid per gallon was $4.099 in both Pecos, NM and Flagstaff, AZ. The lowest price per gallon was in Pueblo, CO at $3.889. I spent a total of $315 on gas, which was just $15 over my pre-trip estimate.
I am amazed by the quality of the roads I traveled on - particularly I-40 in NM and AZ, given the amount of truck traffic there is.
Boneheaded move of the trip was by a pickup truck with Wyoming plates on I-40 eastbound in NM. He changed lanes and cut off a NM State Trooper, who promptly pulled him over. Surprisingly, I only saw one true speed trap - in northern NM on I-25, where 3 state troopers had congregated. Fortunately, I was heading the other direction.
Spent most of the trip driving 4-5 over the limit - so 79 or 80 on most of the interstates.
I've researched this issue heavily and while I could use midgrade fuel (87 octane), I just feel more comfortable using a name-brand and the highest octane I can get - which, in Colorado, is 91.
Thanks for the validation.
However, I will admit that my other car ('06 Saturn ION - 2.2L) gets 85 octane from the local grocery store gas station.
No road trips in that car, however. The farthest its ever been from home is about 100 miles.
Yeah, if the manual says high octane, i'd use it too.
Very enjoyable time up north. Quite chilly but some great scenery.
We took off Wed around noon, and hit Chicago around 3 with 104 temps. The person in the back of the vert got a little toasted! As we headed north the temps dropped over 50 degrees. We spent the night at Island Casino Resort outside of Escanaba. Very nice place with super staff and all the locals we met were very friendly. A young guy we met at the Roulette table suggested river jumping as an activity for the next day, but we decided to pass on that one.
The next day we headed into Escanaba. We were going to take the boat out to see Pictured Rock, but the lighthouse staff told us it was too choppy that the boats wouldn't go out. The others had seen it from the shore, so we opted to bypass this and headed to see my friends 95 year old uncle in the Lake Linden area. Turned out he lives right on Lake Superior. Absolutely beautiful setting. Enjoyable visit, and he was still very much with it. Must me the low key life of the north. He gave us directions to take the back roads around LacLe Belle to Copper Harbor.
We spend Thurs night at a Copper Harbor motel. The lake was 50' off our patio door. I think it's the first time I stayed in a hotel room that had a thumblock rather than a deadbolt. The next morning we took 26 around the northern shore. Very pretty and nice curvy roads. At Eagle Habor we stopped by a little bakery that turned out to be run by monks. The chocolate muffin I got there was probably the best I've ever had. Unfortunately, I didn't open it until an hour or so down the road, or I would have went back to buy more things to bring home.
We got back along the shore in Ontonagon and then the Porcupine Mountains. We took the park road to the Lake of the Clouds and the south boundary road to see the waterfalls. It was all very pretty. We forgot to get the bug spray out of the car, so we didn't stay a long time at the falls. Northern bugs are quite big and juicy, my front bumper is absolutely covered.
Since we had good luck at a casino hotel the first night, we stayed at Bad River Casino Friday night. Would not recommend this, the casino was very run down and we all had back aches the next morning from the mattresses.
Sat morning we went into Bayfield WI and took the boat tour aound the Apostle islands. Devils Island was very interesting to see. The entire tour was around 3 hours. If it had been warmer to be on the top deck and enjoy the sun and water, it would have been better.
Hitting Chicago at 1 this morning with 6 lane traffic, road construction and idiot drivers, I was longing to be back on those twisty two lane roads.
The Jampot! We've been hearing about that place for months now.
It's still chilly (62ish today) but supposed to be warming. My brother is down in the Holland area and on his way up for a day or two at our house. Have to send them up to get some muffins.
Yeah, I can't think of a place I'd compare to the UP. Sounds like a great trip!
Both are great places to visit, but I wouldn't want to live in either. The remoteness is great for a few days, but it would get old quickly. Not to mention the extreme cold!
Record low for Chicago is minus 27.
Record low for Boise (where I last lived) is minus 25.
Anchorage's record got down to minus 38.
The UP has the warmest winters of anyplace I've lived in 30 years. :P
You need to get set up to leave in the winter. Rent a place on the Gulf for the 4 worst months. Your heating cost a lot UP there? It does sound like a great place for a road trip. One of these days I will just take off and not worry about when I have to be back.
I was surprised the Uncle had just bought a new Fiesta. I figured everyone up there needed 4 wheel drive.
Plenty of snow though - ~200 inches. Anchorage got maybe half that, but it's lighter and easier to move around here. And it's not as short a day or as gray as Anchorage was. That did get to me, but it's been okay here so far.
I got stuck once this winter and that was in my AWD Subaru. Blew through a T intersection (as did my wife another week at the same place). Both times in the Outback. If the FWD van had winter tires, I'd drive it more in the winter and avoid steep driveways. That was most all I drove in AK.
Gary, the in-laws here had a Florida place and they'd do the drive twice a year. We're more likely to fly off for a week or two and tough it out the rest of the winter. But there are lots of summer people here who will leave after Labor Day.
No worry about finding campsites or solitude up here, if that's your ideal for a road trip.
My ideal is a small, clean, comfortable, inexpensive motel, that I can park my vehicle right next to the room. I gave up camping about 20 years ago. Camping and RV parks have gotten way over priced. Just a tent spot is $25 or more. And to park an RV you will spend $40 and up. I rarely pay over $70 a night for a nice room with AARP or AAA discounts. We almost always stop driving early in the evening to avoid the rush for rooms. Always look at the room before signing on the line. Too many horror stories of people booking ahead online or via travel agent. I have never had to sleep in the car. Close a couple times when I traveled too far into the evening. Once up in the Okanagan Valley with some sort of fruit festival going on. We finally found a room at a town on the far end about midnight.
Me too, if I'm not camping. Lots of those family run spots up here, not many franchise ones. For camping, I like the free remote forest service type spots.
Can you still boondock out in the desert in your part of the world, like Anzo-Borrego?