[evil-G-nius]

It is a great view! House or lot...its a good spot

[sygazelle]

8

Originally Posted by 2000cs

Retired, but still have some commitments on the 24th that I have to be home for. And winter weather and park closures/limitations make for a less enjoyable visit. For example, Hoover’s web site says no tours, but we can still get close and see it, etc. We got engaged at Grand Canyon on a previous road trip, drove to Yellowstone and the Oregon/NoCal coasts, etc. We’ve already seen a lot. This trip was a really all about mom’s birthday.

It's really cool that you made the trip for your Mom.

I've only seen the Grand Canyon once and it was in the winter. It was overcast and you couldn't see into the canyon and we were about to leave disappointed. The ranger told us to just wait a few minutes. I'm glad we did.

[tranquility]

What a nice story. Must've been an amazing trip and I'm sure your return one will be memorable as well. My wife isn't fond of roadtrips so the furthest I've ever driven was Toronto to Montreal.

Your mom's place has a great view. You can tell that's Cali right there. Man, I really miss that State. More pix pls!

[2000cs]

Back home now. Will try to post some pics etc in the coming days.

Couple of observations:
Gas: premium paid $5.10 in CA (Norco), saw it higher. $4.90 in Kingman, AZ. $3.50 in LA and FL. What are you westies getting for the extra $$? It certainly isn’t better roads!

Not many cars on the road, lots of semis and work vehicles, west of DFW. East of there, pretty normal travel mix.

Hotels open and available, especially outside of major cities. Rates lower than I remember, but cleanliness not up to standard. I would have expected them to super-clean during covid; put a team together and go through the unoccupied rooms to take care of the grime in shower grout, etc. But found disappointment in all we stayed at. Two Hampton Inns (have declined in quality), two Comfort Suites (better than Hampton), one Best Western (the name continues to be a lie), one La Quinta (probably the best we stayed at).

Visited Hoover Dam, Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, plus parts of Route 66 on the way home.

[2000cs]

Pics from Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. The lake is very low, as you can tell from the intakes and the spillways, and water lines. I don’t know if it has come up - saw a story the other day that suggests it has recovered and more water will be going to southwestern farms again.

The visitor center was closed except for self-guided tours of the outside areas. No inside tours, which we knew from their web site. Still paid the usual parking fee for the garage ($10) although there are free lots on either side of the dam if you can find a space.

[Tommy-G]

I have been to the dam, but just looking at the photo of the bridge gives me the Heebie Jeebies

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

I have been to the dam, but just looking at the photo of the bridge gives me the Heebie Jeebies

I don’t like heights and I have a fear of dropping my cell phone into an unrecoverable spot, but Hoover is soooo cool and interesting to me (did you notice the transmission towers built out to bring up the generator lines?) that it was well worth it.

I have several more pictures but the ones I posted give a sense of it. However as with most large scale experiences, I have not figured out how to capture the size, grandeur and feel in photos.

And there were people walking across that bridge, taking pics of the dam, etc. Traffic that day was routed over the bridge (if you drive across the dam, there is a turn-around to go back) and we went toward AZ (right to left in the pic), which is the far side of the bridge. The side and center rails are so high that the dam wasn’t visible from the car seats. No sense of height on that bridge in a vehicle.

[e90335e36m3]

I drove from Charlotte to San Diego and back to Charlotte 7 times last year (each time meaning in one direction).

Love every minute of the drive. 2 days one way. Midpoint in Houston. Day 1 is about 1100 miles, Day 2 is about 1500 miles.

[No one]

Originally Posted by 2000cs

Here in So Cal we saw lots of people move away from anyone without a mask, even outdoors where many are masked.

I'd love this so much! So Cal, hold on, I'm coming!

Originally Posted by 2000cs

the fearful participated via Zoom instead of coming in person.

Still wearing muzzles, I'd presume.

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

People in fly-over country are the nicest you'll meet anywhere in the USA.

This just reminded me of the movie:

.

("-You don't know how hard it is: to lose the wife! -I know. It's almost impossible!" )

[ky0u]

Originally Posted by 2000cs

Gas: premium paid $5.10 in CA (Norco), saw it higher. $4.90 in Kingman, AZ. $3.50 in LA and FL. What are you westies getting for the extra $$? It certainly isn’t better roads!

Fun fact: our gas is also dog shit compared to the gas in other states. There's a reason we have 91 and ACN91 as diff options when tuning

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by e90335e36m3

I drove from Charlotte to San Diego and back to Charlotte 7 times last year (each time meaning in one direction).

Love every minute of the drive. 2 days one way. Midpoint in Houston. Day 1 is about 1100 miles, Day 2 is about 1500 miles.

What are you driving for these trips?

We took my wife’s XC60 (2018). It is top line with all the goodies, but we’ve found it is only good for one long day (8-10 hours). We’re fine after that day, but the next day if we do it again, we get fatigued and sore. My wife especially. Doesn’t matter who drives, etc, nor how many stops to stretch/walk around. Being older, our butts have migrated to our bellies, which no doubt affects seat comfort.

I bought a 2006 750Li which should arrive Monday. After some updating to the Nav and a few other tweaks, it will be the distance car. Worse fuel economy but a much better ride.

One of my quests is to find out which cars are really good for long, multi-day road trips. I used to love firm seats, but a distance ride is not a sports-car drive so unless the seats are perfect, I want something cushier (and my wife feels more strongly about it). I’ve driven two Porsches very long distances with no issues, but they don’t have the cargo/dog space for touring. My M3s were no better than the Volvo and noisier. My S60 Volvo (2021) was only good for about 6 hours so I sold it. Anyway, would love to hear what others have driven the distance!

[Tommy-G]

Originally Posted by 2000cs

What are you driving for these trips?

We took my wife’s XC60 (2018). It is top line with all the goodies, but we’ve found it is only good for one long day (8-10 hours). We’re fine after that day, but the next day if we do it again, we get fatigued and sore. My wife especially. Doesn’t matter who drives, etc, nor how many stops to stretch/walk around. Being older, our butts have migrated to our bellies, which no doubt affects seat comfort.

I bought a 2006 750Li which should arrive Monday. After some updating to the Nav and a few other tweaks, it will be the distance car. Worse fuel economy but a much better ride.

One of my quests is to find out which cars are really good for long, multi-day road trips. I used to love firm seats, but a distance ride is not a sports-car drive so unless the seats are perfect, I want something cushier (and my wife feels more strongly about it). I’ve driven two Porsches very long distances with no issues, but they don’t have the cargo/dog space for touring. My M3s were no better than the Volvo and noisier. My S60 Volvo (2021) was only good for about 6 hours so I sold it. Anyway, would love to hear what others have driven the distance!

You need

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by Tommy-G

You need

I did a long drive in a 1972 Cadillac Coupe de Villa, in about 1975. Newport Beach Ca to Salina KS. Fun road trip but unreliable car and a pig to drive.

[megf]

Back in 2012 my husband and I drove from NY to CA for a cross country move in my 2011 128i. I recommend at least one cross country drive to everyone. We took northern route from NY to hit Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse then headed south to hit the Grand Canyon. Also drove through Aspen, Independence pass, and the National Arches (our fav).

[2000cs]

A few more of Hoover Dam. Now, how do I rotate them?

[2000cs]

Painted desert and petrified forest. Again, pictures can’t do either justice, and of course winter colors are muted compared with springtime.

Petrified Forest is interesting. The signs, etc, say it was a Pangea forest, the trees fell into/across/along a stream and water/minerals set about replacing the wood with crystal/minerals. However, if you look at google maps, the north end of the park (north of I-40) looks a lot like a crater, and the forest area looks like Mt. St. Helens after the 1980 eruption. I want to dig in a bit more to see if there is a competing theory about an eruption/ash or meteor strike.

[2000cs]

More

[Topcarbon]

Illinois to california coast
One of the best road trips

[dougt.ah3]

I've driven from SoCal to PA and from Utah to PA many times. I tend to drive right through just stopping at a few rest areas for a quick nap. I fell asleep on my last two trips while heading home through Wyoming. One was with my BMW and the second with my F150 pulling a trailer. Both times I ran off the road and just clipped the side mirror on a road sign. Amazing that both times the mirror was the only damage, no other scratches. On my BMW the impact tore the mirror off and on my F150 it just folded it in.

Not doing this again on my next trip. I'm stopping for the night. I could have easily injured someone other than myself.

[540iSUP]

I recently came back from visiting Disneyworld. We flew and luckily had no issues. I totally see where you're coming from as far as Covid precautions. Things seemed more loose in FL than in CA.

[wdb]

I drove from eastern PA to the Bay Area in 2000. Took a week going out, northern route, saw a bunch of neat things like a town whose main street is on the line between Central and Mountain Time. Crazy Horse is tons neater than Mt Rushmore too.

Coming back east I really just wanted to get home. I did do a fun run of secondary roads crossing the Sierras, then put the pedal down on the I-roads. Had to stop for the night in Utah because a snowstorm had closed the interstate. Literally; they put barriers across so you had to exit. Still made the run in 58 hours total. Snoozed in a couple of rest stop parking lots, otherwise kept moving. I don't remember much about Chicagoland other than the taillights of semitrailers. "Welcome to Pennsylvania" was a fine thing to see, I only had 6 hours to go! Kissed the floor when I walked into the house.

[UncleWede]

Mead looks to be down about 100'