Suggestions for a Road Trip?

[BD1]

Thanks again! Those digital cameras are amazing. Remember the old days of 35mm ??? You would have used a dozen rolls by now. That's the best part of vacations, pictures for all to see. How soon before you head home ? Are you within your time frame ? One trip we took was figured for 5 days and ended up 8 . Even my wife is in on your journey. Your the best travel agent here !
THANKS !

[zeebad1]

Originally Posted by BD1

Thanks again! Those digital cameras are amazing. Remember the old days of 35mm ??? You would have used a dozen rolls by now. That's the best part of vacations, pictures for all to see. How soon before you head home ? Are you within your time frame ? One trip we took was figured for 5 days and ended up 8 . Even my wife is in on your journey. Your the best travel agent here !
THANKS !

A DOZEN?!?!? You have no idea how many pictures I don't put into Photobucket! Of course, if we had to use film, we would probably be much more selective.

We are still trying to decide if we want to check out the south rim of the Grand Canyon tomorrow. I've been told by almost everyone, that it's a "must see."
We really had no idea how long any certain portion of this trip might take. It was kind of funny, that one day last week at breakfast, we got to visiting with a family from the Netherlands, a couple from Oregon, and a lady from California, and they thought it was great, that my wife & I didn't even know what day it was. Best part is that we didn't even care!
A few people said that all of this would take at least 3 weeks, and I think we will be real close to that. We're hoping to be in Nachogdoches, TX sometime Sunday, and spend a day or 2 with our son. Then it's 15 hours of driving to get home, and we really don't have anything special lined up for that stretch.



We finally got finished in California, and made the trek to Nevada today, through the sweltering heat. The temp on the car's display topped out at 110 on the highway.

The desert wasn't boring for us, because it's something different, that we haven't seen before. I always wondered where those long, straight stretches of never-ending highways, that I've seen on TV, but now I know.

Once we got into Las Vegas, it jumped up to 118, and people were still out walking around on the strip!! We found a car wash, that washed the car by hand, and cleaned the interior for $20.00. Can't beat that! We drove right down the strip, just to say we did, and it wasn't bad at all.

We had a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon, but they wouldn't fly with only the 2 of us, and it was also 120 degrees out there, so that trip didn't happen.

We headed out to Hoover Dam, and wandered around there a little, and I must say the temperature was miserable. We snapped a few pictures, and headed towards Kingman.

We ran into some rain on the way, and it was raining too hard for photos when we got to town, but quit before we landed for the night, and I got a chance to get some pics of Rte 66 marks.

Still looking at the maps, and trying to decide if we want to check out the Grand Canyon from the south tomorrow. You just never know!!

[zeebad1]

We left Kingman early this morning, and I tracked down a few Rte 66 sites, and got some pictures. some places are quite interesting, and others, not so much.
I did get to "stand on a corner in Winslow, AZ," but no girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford, didn't slow down to take a look at me!!

We did run up to Grand Canyon NP, but didn't spend a lot of time there. It was very busy, and we snapped a few pictures, and headed back south.

We ended up in Albuquerque, NM. tonight, and it's quite a site, coming in from the west, with all of the city lit up.

If we drove hard, and didn't stop anywhere, we could make it to Nachogdoches, TX. tomorrow night. We seem to find ourselves not stopping as much as we did when we started. I think we must be getting burned out.

We'll just have to see how tomorrow goes.

[zeebad1]

Today was mostly a "Rte 66" tour. We started on "Old Town Albuquerque," and then drove east, through downtown. We came across a church group, having a carwash to raise funds, so we got the car cleaned up.

On out to the east, searching out any old landmark I could find. There are quite a few, still in good shape, and many more in ruins, or gone completely.

We did visit a museum in Santa Rosa, with over 30 cars on display. I ended up with a "Rte 66" flag for the shop.

We did make a stop at the "Cadillac Ranch," and did get to play a little bit.

Ended the day, driving all the way through Amarillo, on Rte 66, and ended up tonight in Childress, TX. Another 430 miles, and will get to visit our son tomorrow, in Nachogdoches, TX.

[zeebad1]

And don't forget that you can go here to see many more of the days photos......

http://s445.photobucket.com/albums/q...20Road%20Trip/

[zeebad1]

We slept in this morning, and left Childress, TX around 9:30.

Not much for pictures today, as we traveled through Texas, to Nachogdoches, to meet up with our youngest son, that attends Stephen F. Austin University, and works in the athletic training department.

Traveling through Dallas was interesting, but went more smoothly than I had guessed. lots of roads, that go a lot of different places!

We passed a group of semis, that had some interesting looking trailers, and snapped a few pictures of them. They were from

http://www.gasfrac.com/

and I'd hate to guess how much was invested in each one of these.

Once we got to town, the first order of business was to go shopping for supplies. Imagine that!

I'm amazed at all of the 5th gen Camaros we saw today. I even took a picture of a black one at Walmart.

hanging out here for a couple of days, and then the final leg of our journey back to northern IL.

[zeebad1]

We spent the day with our son in Nacogdoches, TX. He is moving this week, so we got to help with packing & cleaning. 100 degree temps didn't make that very enjoyable.

We did visit the Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin, and took some pictures there. Nice little zoo, and about my size.

On the way back, we stopped at

http://www.collectable-cars.com/

and checked out the inventory.

My wife also got a kick out of a billboard she saw, and had to have a picture of that.
Fitting that we went to CC's Smokehouse, and had a delicious Sirlion steak for supper. (Sorry cows!!)


























More packing & moving tomorrow, and heading home Wed.





.

[jwillis]

The Woodward Dream Cruise runs this week in Troy, Michigan. Should be a cool event.......

[zeebad1]

We finally got the moving finished today. It's amazing how much stuff a 2 year college student can acquire in just over 1 year!

We ate lunch with Cory, shared hugs & tears, and headed north.

The whole time we were in Nacogdoches, the car seemed to wander quite a bit, but I just thought it was the grooves in the pavement. Once we got on some better roads, we could tell that it wasn't the roads, and there was definitely something loose in the rear suspension. The car would drive fine for a while, and then the back end would just dart from side to side.

We stopped at a garage in Timpson, TX. that had a 4 post lift, and we found that an upper control arm bolt had loosened up, and was less than finger tight. The left tire had the tread worn completely off too. I didn't look at the tires since we left Childress, and the tires had an equal amount of tread at that time.

The garage owner tightened the bolt, checked most of the others, and away we went. He asked for $10.00, and as I only had a $20.00, that's what he got.

It didn't take long too long to figure out that the problem was still there, and we started searching for a tire shop, hoping that we could at least find a tire to get us home.

The first 2 places that "Google" listed, didn't have anything, but could get one for morning.
The second shop sounded very willing to help, and could do alignment, if necessary. We were about 2 blocks from them, when we spotted

Eagle Tire
1104 E End Blvd S
Marshall, TX 75670

It was an old gas station, that had the pumps removed, about 5 garage bays, with 4 full of tires, and one with tire equipment. Not very impressive looking, but what caught my eye was the display of some big chrome truck rims, and mountains of tires outside.
I thought that it was worth a shot, so I pulled in, and was approached by a gentleman that could barely understand English. I did show him what I needed, and he took me into the office, where the manager spoke less English than the mechanic, but they quickly figured out what I wanted. It just so happens that they had (4) Goldway G2003 275/40R20 tires on hand, and I told them I'd take 2.




No lift on site, and they had me back up in front of the building, and jacked the car up with a floor jack. Once they got the rims off, I found that one of the toe-rod bolts had also loosened up, and was the cause of the problem. I borrowed a socket, and tightened the bolt, and all was good.
I don't know anything about Goldway tires, but am sure thankful for Eagle Tire, and the way they took care of me. I bet I wasn't there for 45 minutes. 3 guys jumped in, and got us back on the road.

We made it to Brinkley, AR. tonight, and have just over 600 miles to get home tomorrow.

Not much for photo opportunities today, but I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures of the shops we stopped at, the loose bolts, and the new tires.

One more day, so we'll see what tomorrow brings.

[Miter Wrench]

What a memorable trip with a nice photographic journal. Thanks for posting!!

[cdd1]

Originally Posted by zeebad1

This ain't gonna happen!! We bought the car to drive, and I don't want a picture of anything but the Camaro with the beautiful scenery surrounding it.

Amen, Brother. The car's meant to be driven.

I look forward to doing something similar with my wife some day.

[zeebad1]

We got home tonight, around 7:30.

It's amazing that I can spend 3 weeks and a day with my wife, cover 15 states, and still be on speaking terms!!!

Honestly, we had a blast, and learned that there's more to see in this country, than we can probably ever cover.

I now realize that I can leave for an extended period of time, and things don't completely come to a screeching halt.

Pretty much just a mission to get home today, without any stops.

Sheree had more than enough of the Rte. 66 memories, but one notable stop, that myself, and 2 of our sons visited 2 1/2 years ago was right on the way home. I showed pictures of all of us posing on this giant rabbit, and asked her if she wouldn't do it for me, would she for her sons. That's all it took for her to agree to stop by Henry's Rabbit Ranch at Stauton, IL. Even with the rain, she hopped up on the rabbit, and I snapped the picture. The boys got a kick out of that, as they remembered our trip very well that day.
That, and all of the Volkswagen Rabbits, along with tombstones for all of the rabbits that Henry has had over the years, it's quite an interesting place.

On to home, and total miles are 7263.3. All in 22 days!!

Back to work tomorrow, but we will always have many memories of this cross country trip!!

[Tucko]

Next time around, you'll have to check out Scotty's Castle, and Badwater (The lowest elevation in North America) in Death Valley....

[BD1]

welcome back ! Glad you and the wife made it. Duct tape is amazing stuff ! Just jokin. Thanks for keeping us updated.

[zeebad1]

Originally Posted by Tucko

Next time around, you'll have to check out Scotty's Castle, and Badwater (The lowest elevation in North America) in Death Valley....

Yeah, we crammed a lot into 22 days, and passed up many different places to see & things to do.

We do have a list, and will hopefully be able to do this again, and cover some of the things we didn't get to this time.

As I mentioned, things don't fall apart, and everything doesn't come to a halt when I leave, so maybe it will be easier for me to take off, and do this more often now.

We are looking forward to the next time already!!

Thanks for all of the kind words.

[zeebad1]

I just added up all of the fuel receipts for this trip, and thought that I would share.

We used a total of 302.5 gal., at an average cost of $4.045/gal.
Higher priced than I thought.

The surprising fact is that the car averaged 24.005 mpg over the whole trip.
I know that my 4th gen will run 28 mpg on the highway, but didn't think this car would do this well.

[mrsleeve]

looks like you had a great trip and congrats on pulling it off with out a hitch.

Those funky looking trailers you saw in TX are Fracking equipment for getting Natural gas outta shale rock, a mile or 2 under your feet.