# Sticky  Official TCL Road Trip Thread List



## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

A collection of stories from those who've done the best thing with their cars: _drive them._

If you don't already see a relevant thread, post the link here and I'll update this first post in chronological order. Please add comments in the original threads.

~~~~~~~

*Date:* 2022-08-28
*Member: *beefjerky
*Car:* 2001 BMW 325ci
*Thread:* Sweet Home Alabama (Road Trip)


*Date:* 2022-07-30
*Member: *Dave_Car_Guy
*Car:* Audi S5
*Thread:* Road Trip: Audi S5 coupe to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks


*Date:* 2022-07-18
*Member: *kiznarsh
*Car:* 2005 Porsche 911
*Thread:* Japanese Whisky on Our Lips, Red Roses on Her Hips; 997 Along The Coast, Long Sweepers I Loved The Most


*Date:* 2022-05-01
*Member: *sandjunkie
*Car:* 2022 Porsche 718 Spyder
*Thread:* Bucket List Roadtrip in my 2022 Porsche 718 Spyder - Hwy 1


*Date:* 2022-04-08
*Member: *ghost03
*Car:* 2021 Vauxhall Crossland
*Thread:* We drove 1500 miles across two countries in a CUV with a scooter engine. GB road trip content.


*Date:* 2021-11-29
*Member: *beefjerky
*Car:* 2001 BMW 325ci
*Thread:* Smoky Mountains Trip


*Date:* 2021-08-30
*Member: *beefjerky
*Car:* 2001 BMW 325ci
*Thread:* NJ to Acadia in a "Racecar"


*Date:* 2021-07-12
*Member:* ragingduck
*Car:* 2018 BMW M3 CS
*Thread:* MY ROAD TRIP: A 333 mile drive up the PCH to my first track day at Laguna Seca!


*Date:* 2021-06-27
*Member:* kiznarsh
*Car:* 2019 Mazda Miata
*Thread:* Thousand Miles, Thousand Smiles, Platform Heels & All The Feels


*Date:* 2021-05-13
*Member:* CruznMalibu
*Car:* Chevy C7 Corvette
*Thread:* Road Trip... Tail of the Dragon (Video)


*Date:* 2021-03-28
*Member:* TurboMinivan
*Car:* Jeep Wrangler
*Thread:* The 2021 Easter Jeep Safari experience


*Date:* 2020-12-02
*Member:* kiznarsh
*Car:* 2019 Mazda Miata
*Thread:* November Delta Dances in November Rain


*Date:* 2020-08-10
*Member:* pawa_k2001
*Car:* VW GTI
*Thread:* Month long, last minute roadtrip in a VW GTI.


*Date:* 2020-08-01
*Member:* compy222
*Car:* Lexus GX460
*Thread: *Northern Michigan and Upper Peninsula Overland Trip


*Date:* 2020-06-25
*Member:* kaz02a4
*Car:* 2018 VW GTI
*Thread:* taking a road trip, not what you'd expect edition


*Date:* 2020-06-22
*Member:* beefjerky
*Car:* 2001 BMW 325ci
*Thread:* 7,924 Miles in a Bucket Seat (Road Trip)


*Date:* 2020-04-14
*Member:* landstuhltaylor
*Car:* 2013 VW Golf TDI
*Thread:* Ohio to San Diego in a new to me TDI


*Date:* 2020-02-09
*Member:* kiznarsh
*Car:* 2009 Porsche Cayman
*Thread:* Break In Your Michelins They Said. Drive 1,100 Miles They Said.


*Date:* 2019-12-01
*Member:* kiznarsh
*Car:* 2019 VW GTI
*Thread:* GTI Escapades - Episode 2


*Date:* 2019-08-16
*Member:* yeayeayea
*Car:* 2002 BMW M5
*Thread:* Annual Tail of the Dragon Roadtrip 2k19 edition!


*Date:* 2019-07-17
*Member:* Dr.AK
*Car:* Dodge Ram
*Thread:* Retrospective: Wild Atlantic Ram - A 5500km roadtrip through Scotland & Ireland in a Ram


*Date:* 2019-07-15
*Member:* adrew
*Car:* Toyota Corolla
*Thread:* Four Corners road trip


*Date:* 2019-07-14
*Member:* kiznarsh
*Car:* 2009 Porsche Cayman
*Thread:* California Canyon Carving Con Cayman


*Date:* 2019-05-27
*Member:* Duvel
*Car:* 1974 Toyota Celica GT
*Thread:* BaT story: one week with a 1974 Toyota Celica GT


*Date:* 2019-05-24
*Member:* LT1M21Stingray
*Car:* VW Scirocco
*Thread:* 25th Anniversary of Owning a Scirocco: Going 11/tents on a Scirocco European Road Trip - June 2019.


*Date:* 2019-03-17
*Member:* Sold Over Sticker
*Car:* Chevrolet SS
*Thread:* I went on yet another rally with TCL'ers, and this time I brought my dad


*Date:* 2019-02-11
*Member:* pawa_k2001
*Car:* VW GTI
*Thread:* MK6 VW GTI Alltrack build for overlanding, Montana first.


*Date:* 2018-10-22
*Member:* Shmi
*Car:* Audi A6
*Thread:* I moved to Phoenix and made a picture-heavy 11-day road trip out of it.


*Date:* 2018-10-18
*Member:* UncleJB
*Car:* VW GTI
*Thread:* I Took a Fall Drive Up to the White Mountains - Foliage Inside


*Date:* 2018-10-03
*Member:* YellowDieselGolf
*Car:* Skoda Octavia
*Thread:* I went to Europe. Did some car stuff. Took lots of photos.


*Date:* 2018-09-16
*Member:* Sold Over Sticker
*Car:* Chevrolet SS
*Thread:* DWA! Coastal Range Rally North Recap


*Date:* 2018-09-12
*Member:* InternetMeme
*Car:* Ferrari F40
*Thread:* Took my F40 to the 'Ring!


*Date:* 2018-08-31
*Member:* pawa_k2001
*Car:* VW GTI
*Thread:* Roadtrip in a salvage MK6 VW GTI V2.


*Date:* 2018-07-25
*Member:* adrew
*Car:* Ford E-350
*Thread:* 1800 miles in a E-350 Penske 16-footer (long, plus some NYC pix)


*Date:* 2018-07-05
*Member:* ChillOutPossum
*Car:* Mitsubishi Jeep
*Thread:* Internet Strangers Wheel Cheap 4x4s in Arkansas. And Do Stuff in a Cabin.


*Date:* 2018-06-25
*Member:* UncleJB
*Car:* Audi A8L
*Thread:* Family Vacation in Montana - Road Tripping in an '04 Audi A8L


*Date:* 2018-06-03
*Member:* kiznarsh
*Car:* Subaru STI
*Thread:* Turo, STI, Rockies, Short-Haired Brunette, and a 912


*Date:* 2018-04-15
*Member:* Cr4shT3st
*Car:* Dodge Challenger
*Thread:* Rented a V8 Challenger for an Arizona road trip and it was awesome


*Date:* 2018-03-22
*Member:* AndyG86
*Car:* Alfa Romeo Giulia
*Thread:* Tour of Lake Garda, Italy


*Date:* 2018-03-17
*Member:* hushypushy
*Car:* Subaru BRZ
*Thread:* Driving 1000 miles and going nowhere: Coastal Range Rally 2018 (hushypics)


*Date:* 2018-01-02
*Member:* azn
*Car:* Subaru WRX
*Thread:* I drove an Impreza WRX from (Key West) Florida to (Deadhorse) Alaska


*Date:* 2017-10-26
*Member:* I_like_waffles
*Car:* VW Golf + Chevrolet Spark
*Thread:* Euro trip 2017 & review of 2 rental cars


*Date:* 2017-09-25
*Member:* MartyMcFly88MPH
*Car:* BMW M235ix
*Thread:* Seven National Parks in a 2 series.


*Date:* 2017-09-19
*Member:* hushypushy
*Car:* Porsche Boxster
*Thread:* From Dusk til Dawn: Riding the train to Nevada and driving back in a Z3 M Coupe


*Date:* 2017-09-17
*Member:* rawk
*Car:* VW GTI
*Thread:* 'Abandoned' Mining Town / Car Graveyard in Nevada


*Date:* 2017-09-10
*Member:* westopher
*Car:* BMW M3
*Thread:* Driving down the PCH in a TCL darling.


*Date:* 2017-09-01
*Member:* johntesi
*Car:* Toyota Land Cruiser
*Thread:* 4 Leaf Springs, 180 horsepower, a Dog, and a Dream: Driving from Austin, Texas to the Arctic Ocean


*Date:* 2017-07-10
*Member:* Duvel
*Car:* 1980 Volvo 244
*Thread:* BaT win or fail? Cross continent in a 36-year-old car


*Date:* 2017-05-28
*Member:* adrew
*Car:* Toyota Corolla
*Thread:* To LA and back: 3000 miles in a Corolla (lots of pictures)


*Date:* 2017-04-18
*Member:* Nourdmrolnmt
*Car:* Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Van
*Thread:* Utah National Park Road Trip - 10 Days - 2000 Miles - The Photos


*Date:* 2017-02-18
*Member:* Bad Rabbit Habit
*Car:* 1980 VW Rabbit
*Thread:* My Coastal Range Rally story, or: Roadkill is more fun to watch than live.


*Date:* 2016-09-23
*Member:* johntesi
*Car:* Porsche 911
*Thread:* johntesi is driving a 32 Year Old Porsche All Over America with a Tent and a Bicycle


*Date:* 2016-09-11
*Member:* Dave_Car_Guy
*Car:* McLaren MP4-12C
*Thread:* McLaren Road Trip: Highway 108 to Mammoth Lakes


*Date:* 2016-08-27
*Member:* MylesPH1
*Car:* Volvo S60
*Thread:* A car as a memoriam, my brothers '07 Volvo S60, road trip from Philly to L.A.


*Date:* 2016-08-15
*Member:* Robin
*Car:* McLaren MP4-12C
*Thread:* 7 Weeks and 7000 Miles in a McLaren, aka the What, Me Worry? Road Trip


*Date:* 2016-08-04
*Member:* freedo84gti
*Car:* 1976 BMW 2002
*Thread:* Roadtrip! coast to coast and back in a 76 bmw


*Date:* 2015-09-10
*Member:* McMike
*Motorcycle:* Harley-Davidson
*Thread:* McBanagon's 4,500 Mile Road Trip


*Date:* 2015-07-10
*Member:* VadGTI
*Car:* Saab 9-5 Aero Wagon
*Thread:* EMERGENCY REQUEST, EMERGENCY REQUEST! Is there anyone near the Portland Airport/Vancouver area? Need help ASAP


*Date:* 2015-05-21
*Member:* pawa_k2001
*Car:* VW GTI
*Thread:* My 2 month roadtrip. Montreal F1, Pikes Peak, national parks, etc. In a salvage VW! (May 29th)


*Date:* 2015-05-15
*Member:* Dave_Car_Guy
*Car:* McLaren MP4-12C
*Thread:* McLaren Road Trip pics - Mendocino NorCal coast


*Date:* 2015-03-12
*Member:* mikegilbert
*Car:* Chevrolet Suburban & Hyundai Santa Fe
*Thread:* Decided to go on a road trip deep into Death Valley


*Date:* 2014-06-06
*Member:* kiznarsh
*Car:* 2009 Porsche 911 C4
*Thread:* Tapped the Rockies and Pike's Peak in a 997 C4


*Date:* 2012-09-06
*Member:* geofftii2002
*Car:* 1958 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I
*Thread:* 2400 miles, 2 guys, 4 days, 6 gallons of coolant, and a 54 year old Rolls Royce


*Date:* 2011-08-30
*Member:* Lupo TDI
*Car:* Peugeot 504, Volvo Amazon, Mercedes-Benz SL300, Audi S2 Coupé, Triumph TR4, Mercedes SLK 320
*Thread:* 3 days, possibly the best driving roads in the world and 5 random cars, or...


*Date:* 2010-11-24
*Member:* KahviVW
*Car:* Toyota Land Cruiser
*Thread:* Drive Across the Congo: Lubumbashi to Kinshasa in a Landcruiser


*Date:* 2010-02-23
*Member:* Jader Pack
*Car:* Suzuki Grand Vitara
*Thread:* I drove the Bolivian Death Road (LOTS of pictures)


*Date:* 2009-09-03
*Member:* Mikedav
*Car:* Hyundai Accent
*Thread:* 9000 Miles in a £400 Hyundai - Mongol Rally Final Report


*Date:* 2007-04-10
*Member:* Jader Pack
*Car:* Lincoln Town Car
*Thread:* You need a Lincoln Town Car -OR- My ice-road road-trip


*Date:* 2006-11-07
*Member:* UglyBastid
*Car:* Audi S4
*Thread:* What happens when you let 2 mk1 kids drive your S4 from NY to Seattle? (56k, not a chance)


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## Sold Over Sticker (Nov 29, 2009)

That’s so much cleaner. Thanks for tackling this Kiz. :beer:


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## Dave_Car_Guy (Dec 3, 2011)

Great, but I think you forgot to mention that additional posts will be added to the original post in date order. That’s your intent, right Kiz? So we should keep on posting up the road trip threads we have enjoyed...


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

Dave_Car_Guy said:


> Great, but I think you forgot to mention that additional posts will be added to the original post in date order. That’s your intent, right Kiz? So we should keep on posting up the road trip threads we have enjoyed...


Correct; clarification added.


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## UncleJB (Jul 3, 2002)

Honored to have made the list. Thanks for doing this. :thumbup:


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## Zembla (May 4, 2018)

Dammit.

You got me. Looking back on it, it was actually clear as day, and I walked into it eyes wide open.

Good job on bundling it though


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## The Sage (Jul 30, 2004)

Saw the F40 thread got rick rolled :laugh::screwy::thumbdown:


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## atomicalex (Feb 2, 2001)

Excellent post!!


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## TheDeckMan (Sep 26, 2004)

Awesome!


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## adrew (Aug 15, 2003)

One quick correction above: we did the Four Corners road trip in the Corolla

Here is the trip we took to California in 2017
[url]https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?8665105-To-LA-and-back-3000-miles-in-a-Corolla-(lots-of-pictures)[/URL]


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## mouseOfMars (Jul 30, 2002)

This one stuck out in my mind as one of the epic trip threads...

Date: 2009-09-03
Member: Mikedav
Car: Hyundai Accent
Thread: 
9000 Miles in a £400 Hyundai - Mongol Rally Final Report


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## geofftii2002 (Nov 6, 2001)

Firing up the Wayback machine... 

*Date: *9-6-2012 (!!)
*Member: *geofftii2002
*Car: *1958 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I
*Thread: *2400 miles, 2 guys, 4 days, 6 gallons of coolant, and a 54 year old Rolls Royce


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

adrew said:


> Corrections


Corrections made. :thumbup:


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

mouseOfMars said:


> This one stuck out in my mind as one of the epic trip threads...





geofftii2002 said:


> Firing up the Wayback machine...


Threads added...thanks!


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## mouseOfMars (Jul 30, 2002)

Date: 11-24-2010
Member: KahviVW 
Car: Landcruiser (don't know the YYYY)
Thread: Drive Across the Congo: Lubumbashi to Kinshasa in a Landcruiser


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## Cabin Pics (Mar 20, 2008)

Sold Over Sticker said:


> That’s so much cleaner. Thanks for tackling this Kiz. :beer:


This.

Although I will say, when I saw the other thread was locked I got excited. Thought maybe Emmett was back.


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## LT1M21Stingray (Sep 14, 2006)

Thanks for doing this. :thumbup::beer:


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## Shmi (Mar 25, 2009)

Cool idea. And glad mine made it :laugh: 

Thanks for putting this together!


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

mouseOfMars said:


> Date: 11-24-2010
> Member: KahviVW
> Car: Landcruiser


Updated.


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## VadGTI (Feb 24, 2000)

How did we all forget about these!??!?!!?

Jader Pack/jderpak's Alaska Ice Road adventure and his Bolivia Death Road drive! 12 years later, the pics still work!

https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthr...d-a-Lincoln-Town-Car-OR-My-ice-road-road-trip












https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthr...-Road-(LOTS-of-pictures)&highlight=death+road


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

VadGTI said:


> Jader Pack Threads


Updated.


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## Elite_Deforce (Nov 18, 2012)

A proper sticky post on TCL??? :thumbup:


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## yeayeayea (May 29, 2005)

Cabin Pics said:


> This.
> 
> Although I will say, when I saw the other thread was locked I got excited. Thought maybe Emmett was back.


I had a different reaction, one of confusion as to how the thread could have spiraled out of control overnight. 

Was pleasantly surprised though.


Will definitely take tons of pics and do a thread on my annual Roadtrip to TN/NC next month!


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## Nourdmrolnmt (May 8, 2006)

does this mean I should actually finish the utah thread?

It's sort of the first trip I did with my, now, fiancee.


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

Nourdmrolnmt said:


> does this mean I should actually finish the utah thread?
> 
> It's sort of the first trip I did with my, now, fiancee.


As long as this post remains a sticky, the chances of someone reading that thread is 87%.


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## O_loung1 (Feb 13, 2001)

you rock kiznarsh, thank you :thumbup::thumbup:


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## Duvel (Mar 11, 2015)

Date: 2017-07-10
Member: Duvel
Car: 1980 Volvo 244
Thread: BaT win or fail? Cross continent in a 36-year-old car

Date: 2019-05-28
Member: Duvel
Car: 1974 Toyota Celica GT
Thread: BaT story: one week with a 1974 Toyota Celica GT


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## Bad Rabbit Habit (May 5, 2005)

I’ve done one of these!

My other Coastal Range stories are hidden in HushyPushy or SoS threads. This one is the crazy one though.

Date: 2017-2-18
Member: Bad Rabbit Habit
Car: 1980 VW Rabbit
Thread: My Coastal Range Rally story, or: Roadkill is more fun to watch than live.


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

Duvel said:


> 2 Threads





Bad Rabbit Habit said:


> 1 Thread


Updated. :thumbup:


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## phatrabbitzz2 (Nov 22, 2003)

In addition to date, member, car and thread can we add location? That would give the area of where these road trips are, ie. CA SoCal to Norcal. Then maybe the order can be organized by starting location or country/state.


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## Lupo TDI (Mar 11, 2000)

Cool idea! 

I did this, might post some more.

Date: August 2011
Member Lupo TDI
Car: Volvo Amazon
Location: The Alps

Thread:
 https://forums.vwvortex.com/showth...&p=73306949&viewfull=1#/topics/5415440?page=1




VadGTI said:


> How did we all forget about these!??!?!!?
> 
> Jader Pack/jderpak's Alaska Ice Road adventure and his Bolivia Death Road drive! 12 years later, the pics still work!
> 
> ...


I asked him if he could rehost the pictures a couple of years ago, I’m glad they still are online. These were definitely epic trips!


Sent by pidgeon mail.


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

phatrabbitzz2 said:


> In addition to date, member, car and thread can we add location? That would give the area of where these road trips are, ie. CA SoCal to Norcal. Then maybe the order can be organized by starting location or country/state.


I thought about adding location but often times it was already in the title, and there's many ways of listing it (just the cities? just the states? etc.). But I can try to standardize it if people really want to see it.

Keeping the order chronological is still the best way as it's the quickest for people to see the newest thread in case they missed it. Burying a new thread in the middle when someone did a trip through Nebraska isn't going to get the most attention.



Lupo TDI said:


> I did this.


Added.


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## third_attempt (Dec 11, 2005)

I remember (but cannot find) a thread from at least 10 years ago... 2 guys drove a friend's B5 Audi S4 from NYC to somewhere west coast. They sealed the whole car in blue painter's tape, left little blue tape S4 tags all over the place. It's an old thread but a great one worthy of the list if it's not blackholed for some reason.


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## Lupo TDI (Mar 11, 2000)

third_attempt said:


> I remember (but cannot find) a thread from at least 10 years ago... 2 guys drove a friend's B5 Audi S4 from NYC to somewhere west coast. They sealed the whole car in blue painter's tape, left little blue tape S4 tags all over the place. It's an old thread but a great one worthy of the list if it's not blackholed for some reason.


Oh yes, I remember that one as well! That was the “muffler man” trip. Here it is:

https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2918517#/topics/2918517



Sent by pidgeon mail.


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## UncleJB (Jul 3, 2002)

Lupo TDI said:


> Oh yes, I remember that one as well! That was the “muffler man” trip. Here it is:
> 
> https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2918517#/topics/2918517
> 
> ...


Just read through that whole thing. Nice that the pictures still show up for the most part. Pretty funny road trip story. Someday I hope to have the time to make as many stops. Usually when I was driving cross country I didn't want to make time for that kind of thing because I just wanted to get to my destination. My wife and I got a picture of that PT Cruiser with the moose on top in Wisconsin when we went to MT on our honeymoon. :laugh:


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

Lupo TDI said:


> Oh yes, I remember that one as well! That was the “muffler man” trip.


Added.


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## NoGrip61 (Aug 8, 2005)

Thanks for doing this! Now I want to make some content...:thumbup:


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## Quinn1.8t (Oct 8, 2006)

Lupo TDI said:


> Oh yes, I remember that one as well! That was the “muffler man” trip. Here it is:
> 
> https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?2918517#/topics/2918517


Wow, awesome find! One of my favorites on here. And holy crap it went 23 pages! Times have changed...


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## freedo84gti (Sep 26, 2010)

heres mine

august 15th 2016
freedo84gti
1976 bmw 2002
i dont know how to do the fancy links but: Roadtrip! coast to coast and back in a 76 bmw
https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?8099482-Roadtrip!-coast-to-coast-and-back-in-a-76-bmw


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

freedo84gti said:


> heres mine
> 
> august 15th 2016
> freedo84gti
> ...


Thread added. :thumbup:

I'm also going to start listing the date of a newly-added thread in the "reason" text field at the bottom of the first post.


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## patrikman (May 10, 2008)

I didn’t do a thread or take hardly any pics but I just did 3hrs north of GB to the border of the UP and then stopped for a few days. Absolutely gorgeous roads (for Wisconsin) through the chequamegon-nicolet national forest. Gravel detours and dirt logging roads until you barf. The opportunities for fishing and mountain biking were literally endless, I could spend a whole summer and still only see a minute fraction of the area.


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## yeayeayea (May 29, 2005)

https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?9338233-Annual-Tail-of-the-Dragon-Roadtrip-2k19-edition!

It's pretty picture heavy, but heres a recap of my annual Roadtrip to the Tail of the Dragon :thumbup:


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

yeayeayea said:


> https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?9338233-Annual-Tail-of-the-Dragon-Roadtrip-2k19-edition!
> 
> It's pretty picture heavy, but heres a recap of my annual Roadtrip to the Tail of the Dragon :thumbup:


Added.


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## MartyMcFly88MPH (Feb 18, 2013)

Thanks for posting these. Looking back at my own trip feels surreal and really makes me want to go back up to Banff again. This time I think I'd rent a Sprinter or something.


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## Pizza Cat (Dec 2, 2006)

One of theses years I need to document my Montana trip.


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## Cabin Pics (Mar 20, 2008)

Pizza Cat!!!! said:


> One of theses years I need to document my Montana trip.


Yeah. You do.

Untitled by efrie004, on Flickr

Untitled by efrie004, on Flickr


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## Pizza Cat (Dec 2, 2006)

Cabin Pics said:


> Yeah. You do.


You’re right. Here are the highlights from the last two trips that you people care about.


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## Cabin Pics (Mar 20, 2008)

Pizza Cat!!!! said:


> You’re right. Here are the highlights from the last two trips that you people care about.


That was the best Turo rental evar!


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## Pizza Cat (Dec 2, 2006)

Cabin Pics said:


> That was the best Turo rental evar!


St Louis is so fancy!


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## welderdood (Feb 8, 2007)

*Maine Coast.*

Nice little 3 day trip up to Maine.


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## Lwize (Dec 4, 2000)

Six months since the last post - this thread deserves a sticky?


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## Dave_Car_Guy (Dec 3, 2011)

Lwize said:


> Six months since the last post - this thread deserves a sticky?


Well, two things to consider:

1) Road trips are more of a summer thing. Do as many people take road trips in sports cars between October and March? (eg: 6 months maybe shouldn't be a shock).

2) It is sticky because of the long-term continued relevance of some of the older subject matter, not the frequency of posts.

Just my 2-cents worth.


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## Pizza Cat (Dec 2, 2006)

Lwize said:


> this thread deserves a sticky?


Yes. If you don’t like it, don’t post in it.


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

Technically the last update was on 2/9 but since I just edited the first post, it doesn't show up as an update. Any new road trip thread will be on the first page for a few days and will get the attention it deserves, with the first post of this thread serving as a summarized list.


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## MylesPH1 (Aug 6, 2000)

kiznarsh said:


> Technically the last update was on 2/9 but since I just edited the first post, it doesn't show up as an update. Any new road trip thread will be on the first page for a few days and will get the attention it deserves, with the first post of this thread serving as a summarized list.


This. The date doesn’t reflect the activity of this thread, it’s still a good community idea :thumbup:


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## landstuhltaylor (Jul 21, 2011)

https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?9397633-Ohio-to-San-Diego-in-a-new-to-me-TDI


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

landstuhltaylor said:


> New Thread


OP updated. :thumbup:


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## Cabin Pics (Mar 20, 2008)

landstuhltaylor said:


> https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?9397633-Ohio-to-San-Diego-in-a-new-to-me-TDI


Wow.


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## syntrix (Aug 20, 2000)

Cabin Pics said:


> Wow.


Turtles?


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## gazoobajp (Aug 3, 2020)

Outstanding


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## Nourdmrolnmt (May 8, 2006)

As soon as the wife decides to upload some of the photos, I'll have a road trip of:

SF to Bend to Boise to Whitefish to Bozeman to Yellowstone to Jackson back to SF


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## bnkrpt311 (Apr 22, 2010)

Nourdmrolnmt said:


> As soon as the wife decides to upload some of the photos, I'll have a road trip of:
> 
> SF to Bend to Boise to Whitefish to Bozeman to Yellowstone to Jackson back to SF


Looking forward to that!


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## Zman86 (Apr 6, 2010)

Roadtripped from Southern Ontario, Canada to West Wendover, Utah last summer for Speedweek in our ‘72 bus. 7600km in 13 days. 











Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## CruznMalibu (Mar 11, 2010)

Road Trip... Tail of the Dragon (Video)


So at 10:00 am on Monday after viewing the weather forecast for eastern Tennessee I decided to pack my things for a little 1400 mile road trip. Left at 11:00 am and was checking into the hotel in Etowah around 9:30 pm. Some unlucky soul's Jeep broke down on the I-75 bridge that crosses the Ohio...




www.vwvortex.com





Tail of the Dragon - Corvette May 2021


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## bnkrpt311 (Apr 22, 2010)

Nourdmrolnmt said:


> As soon as the wife decides to upload some of the photos, I'll have a road trip of:
> 
> SF to Bend to Boise to Whitefish to Bozeman to Yellowstone to Jackson back to SF


Updates??


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## x(why)z (Aug 2, 2010)

We leave for Yellowstone on Tuesday morning. Finally finished building out our van and we're all set. We depart our place near Pittsburgh and head for Lake Michigan, then Iowa, South Dakota for Mount Rushmore/Crazyhorse, then on to the Grasslands, Bighorn, Yellowstone, the Tetons, Oglala, Lewis & Clark, then back to near Chicago, and home. My wife nor daughter have seen the American interior. We spend a lot of time on either coast and Alberta/BC, but not so much between here and Seattle. We're eyeing a fall or winter trip to the SW as our initial plans were curtailed by covid.


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## bnkrpt311 (Apr 22, 2010)

x(why)z said:


> We leave for Yellowstone on Tuesday morning. Finally finished building out our van and we're all set. We depart our place near Pittsburgh and head for Lake Michigan, then Iowa, South Dakota for Mount Rushmore/Crazyhorse, then on to the Grasslands, Bighorn, Yellowstone, the Tetons, Oglala, Lewis & Clark, then back to near Chicago, and home. My wife nor daughter have seen the American interior. We spend a lot of time on either coast and Alberta/BC, but not so much between here and Seattle. We're eyeing a fall or winter trip to the SW as our initial plans were curtailed by covid.


This sounds so epic. I cannot wait to start taking big trips with our kids


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## x(why)z (Aug 2, 2010)

bnkrpt311 said:


> This sounds so epic. I cannot wait to start taking big trips with our kids


I'm stoked. We took our then-18 month-old to Portugal and Spain just before covid and it was so great. Having the tiny humans in tow makes it even more fund somehow. Different, but fun. 

I'll post pics as we get underway.


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

x(why)z said:


> I'm stoked. We took our then-18 month-old to Portugal and Spain just before covid and it was so great. Having the tiny humans in tow makes it even more fund somehow. Different, but fun.
> 
> I'll post pics as we get underway.


Looking forward to seeing your thread!


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## Stromaluski (Jun 15, 2005)

x(why)z said:


> We leave for Yellowstone on Tuesday morning. Finally finished building out our van and we're all set. We depart our place near Pittsburgh and head for Lake Michigan, then Iowa, South Dakota for Mount Rushmore/Crazyhorse, then on to the Grasslands, Bighorn, Yellowstone, the Tetons, Oglala, Lewis & Clark, then back to near Chicago, and home. My wife nor daughter have seen the American interior. We spend a lot of time on either coast and Alberta/BC, but not so much between here and Seattle. We're eyeing a fall or winter trip to the SW as our initial plans were curtailed by covid.


That sounds epic!


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## x(why)z (Aug 2, 2010)

kiznarsh said:


> Looking forward to seeing your thread!





Stromaluski said:


> That sounds epic!


It's only 17 days or something, but three long stretches in the black hills, Tetons and Yellowstone. I'll for sure post pics! We're brining my wife's Z7, Canon AE1, polaroid, and an old German camera, too. My wife is an artist and she does this documentary/hyperreality stuff so we're intending on see a bunch of kitsch stuff along the way. Should be weird.


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## bnkrpt311 (Apr 22, 2010)

x(why)z said:


> It's only 17 days or something, but three long stretches in the black hills, Tetons and Yellowstone. I'll for sure post pics! We're brining my wife's Z7, Canon AE1, polaroid, and an old German camera, too. My wife is an artist and she does this documentary/hyperreality stuff so we're intending on see a bunch of kitsch stuff along the way. Should be weird.


The Black Hills are on our agenda for next summer as the first big trip with both kiddos. I'm anxious to hear about your experience in the area.


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## x(why)z (Aug 2, 2010)

bnkrpt311 said:


> The Black Hills are on our agenda for next summer as the first big trip with both kiddos. I'm anxious to hear about your experience in the area.


I've been once before when I was single and young. I loved it, but I loved everything when I was 25. I'll let you know how it goes. We've got 3-4 days there.


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## 2112 (Jun 21, 2004)

Roommate and I just finished a trip last week, from WI to South Dakota and Wyoming and back, to see the Black Hills, Badlands, and Devil's Tower, and a handful of other stops. Good trip.


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## bnkrpt311 (Apr 22, 2010)

2112 said:


> Roommate and I just finished a trip last week, from WI to South Dakota and Wyoming and back, to see the Black Hills, Badlands, and Devil's Tower, and a handful of other stops. Good trip.


Let's see a trip report!


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## Lwize (Dec 4, 2000)

I'll just leave this here:









The 20 Greatest Drives in America


A panel of drivers, enthusiasts and collectors chart the country's most iconic routes, from the PCH to the Tail of the Dragon




www.insidehook.com


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## ragingduck (Dec 9, 2003)

I just posted my road trip up the PCH to Laguna Seca for a track day. Amazing drive up one of the most beautiful routes I've ever taken:

20210609 - Launa Seca - Phone - 6276_100 by JMG, on Flickr

20210609 - Laguna Seca - 5506-Edit_100 by JMG, on Flickr

Laguna Seca 20210610 by JMG, on Flickr










MY ROAD TRIP: A 333 mile drive up the PCH to my first...


Growing up, Laguna Seca was one of those tracks in Gran Turismo 2 that I both hated and loved. I could never master the corkscrew and it both terrified and frustrated me. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would get the chance to drive that track in my own car on day. However, a...




www.vwvortex.com


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## RafaGti (Jul 25, 2006)

Back in April I drove the Corrado to the Wookies in the Woods event down by Deals Gap (Tail of the Dragon) on the NC/TN border. Great drive and an even better experience once there! Car took all the abuse I dished out like a champ!

Alexandria, VA to Robbinsville NC - 567 miles, plus all the runs up and down the Dragon and Cherohala. All said and done, it was a bit over 1,400 miles over 4 days. Not bad for a 28 year old car.


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## Zman86 (Apr 6, 2010)

Just drove from Camrose, Alberta to Southern Ontario in a ‘75 bus. 

4.5 days
3700km
23L of oil
580L of fuel










































































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## bnkrpt311 (Apr 22, 2010)

The shot with the flowers and big sky is fantastic!


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## Stangy (Mar 16, 2007)

Heading to Vancouver for a month of road tripping. Loop is as follows:

Vancouver City - Okanagan Valley - Whistler - Tofino - Courtenay - Victoria - Vancouver City. All in a rented Corolla with the wife and a 6m baby lol. Pray for me.

The rental car pricing is INSANE! Hoping to skip out on any snow covered roads, fingers crossed. 

I will post pics when I return.


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## Zman86 (Apr 6, 2010)

Stangy said:


> Heading to Vancouver for a month of road tripping. Loop is as follows:
> 
> Vancouver City - Okanagan Valley - Whistler - Tofino - Courtenay - Victoria - Vancouver City. All in a rented Corolla with the wife and a 6m baby lol. Pray for me.
> 
> ...


We did a 1500+km road trip with a 5 month old in August. It was interesting, but well worth it. Best advice I can give is have someone sit in the back to mind the baby. 


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## patrikman (May 10, 2008)

Just got back from a week in Florida with my wife, we went for a quiet vacation for our tenth anniversary. We had a pretty epic road trip while we were down there. Spent most of the time in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale but I did spend two days to drive the Overseas Highway to Key West and back.

As most of you know, rental cars are absolutely bat**** crazy right now. I’d in the past wanted to try Turo but always chickened out, not sure why. We wanted something fun, maybe a convertible. It’s Miami so you can spend thousands per day if you want. After filtering and filtering and scrolling and scrolling I decided to go cheapest to most expensive. After all, I was there to save a few bucks. Eventually I ended up with two cars. An NC Miata (auto) for $50 a day. Or this.











2012 500c with 161xxx miles. A little worn but ran good. Manual trans, $21 a day. $21. Per day. We had to pop the top to get the other suitcase in the backseat because the seats didn’t really like folding forward on command. I did get to sort of see (my first)Mazda Cosmo the first night driving past a Mazda dealer so that was fun. Tons of other really good carspotting, but I was driving almost the entire time so I didn’t get to take many pics like I usually do. If you follow me on Instagram I’ll post random spotting to my stories but these are almost 96% done while riding no handed on a bicycle.

Anyways, the trip from Miami to Homestead was boring. Then you hit the Everglades, which is…..also boring until you get to Manatee Cove. Then by the time you get to Key Largo it starts to be really amazing. Most of highway 1 is two lane, which can be infuriating at times because there are a lot of stretches with no passing and they were not generous with the passing lanes.

The scenery was amazing though, especially once you get south of Marathon where you get to see the old abandoned bridges. That was really neat to see but I’m thankful my wife took some pics for me.

This is what I believe to be part of the original railroad bridge destroyed during the great Labor Day hurricane (Hurricane 3??) of 1935. There had previously been a railroad all the way down to Key West, which is fascinating to me and I’m still reading up on it. The sheer amount of manpower and engineering requiring this and a highway in addition to that is mind boggling.









The original 7 mile bridge was the 8th wonder of the world. This thing is humbling, I’m not afraid of heights and I’m not afraid of water. But driving next to it gave me butterflies in my stomach. My wife was freaked out, for real.








We stopped at a place called Grainger Beach, on the road there we were buzzed by a few F16s. The views were awesome but the beach sucked. Haven’t seen a Bronco II in forever, this was definitely a sight for sore eyes. Nice mountain bike in the back, this person was living the dream for sure.










Key West was a horrible **** show of a tourist trap, I was bummed to see how commercialized it was. Even worse, our hotel room was on the first floor by the pool. What does that mean? If you’ve been to Key West you know that there are chickens. Chickens everywhere. You know what male chickens do in the morning before sunrise? I’ve never ever needed a pellet gun more in my life. I had the grandiose idea of staying up super late drinking beer and smoking cigars until almost 3am. Bad idea. It started around 6:30 am and lasted until about 9. Ugh.







The next day we groggily did a couple touristy things. Got some gifts and hit the road again, headed north. Sunday traffic was brutal. Family trucksters and brodozers towing fishing boats doing -2 to -10 under the limit. Broooootal.









After realizing I hadn’t dipped my balls in the ocean in Key West, I had to fix that. In my defense, I was appalled by the lack of beaches in Key West. Like why the **** does everybody go there? To buy some bull**** knickknacks on Duval St? To get drunk in the some bar that’s just like 8639 other bars in SE USA? I told the wife to find me a beach, because an hour or so out of Key West I had to pee anyways. And I couldn’t just get back behind all of the *******s I had just worked so hard to pass, this is Sombrero Beach on Marathon.









Would definitely recommend it, it’s only about 3-4 miles off the highway and depending on your situation you can be back on the highway in a half hour if needed. Clean bathrooms and outdoor showers. No changing rooms though.

Made it back to Fort Lauderdale safely. One night left to hang, spent most of it biting my nails watching the Packers trying to give the 49ers a W. Ended up getting some Primanti Bros and one last stroll on the beach after dark for a smoke. Last pic is dropping our Turo off at the airport, for sure picked this spot behind the Roller for the lulz.







Bright blue calipers and leather seats. Also, ****ed up ass rear bumper and several dents. Wtf? I’ve seen everything where I live that I saw in Miami, but the sheer numbers of everything was crazy. In traffic and everywhere there are Astons and Bentleys and RRs and Lambos. And all of their SUVs too. I thought I’d see more Ferraris than I did. Only one McLaren too. 911s were the most common non SUV Porsche.

I was appalled at the lack of classics though. The nicest I saw was this C10 on Virginia Key along Biscayne Bay. Perfect. :chefskiss:









The first night we were there, we decided to hit south beach and check out the Art Deco places and whatnot. This pic told me it was going to be a good week for a car guy.








Moments later, a C8 parked on our side of the street and a little boy exclaimed “daddy look at the Ferrari!” My wife laughed. It set the tone for the week, everything is not what it seemed. That’s Florida in a nutshell. If you feel good, you look good. It’s not hard to argue with that.


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## Stangy (Mar 16, 2007)

patrikman said:


> Just got back from a week in Florida with my wife, we went for a quiet vacation for our tenth anniversary. We had a pretty epic road trip while we were down there. Spent most of the time in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale but I did spend two days to drive the Overseas Highway to Key West and back.
> 
> As most of you know, rental cars are absolutely bat**** crazy right now. I’d in the past wanted to try Turo but always chickened out, not sure why. We wanted something fun, maybe a convertible. It’s Miami so you can spend thousands per day if you want. After filtering and filtering and scrolling and scrolling I decided to go cheapest to most expensive. After all, I was there to save a few bucks. Eventually I ended up with two cars. An NC Miata (auto) for $50 a day. Or this.
> 
> ...


Correct. Pricing is insane. We rented a basic mid sized SUV for 25 days and it was insane


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## bnkrpt311 (Apr 22, 2010)

Awesome trip @patrikman ! Florida is not on my bucket list but I appreciate the commentary you shared about your experience. The sheer amount of high end cars is crazy to me. I might see a 911 Turbo around here if I purposely look in the parking garages where the doctors park. Also, that C10 is just right. The boat storage behind it always give me a smile.


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## patrikman (May 10, 2008)

bnkrpt311 said:


> Awesome trip @patrikman ! Florida is not on my bucket list but I appreciate the commentary you shared about your experience. The sheer amount of high end cars is crazy to me. I might see a 911 Turbo around here if I purposely look in the parking garages where the doctors park. Also, that C10 is just right. The boat storage behind it always give me a smile.


It wasn’t our first choice for a trip, but my wife would have had to quarantine for her job if we left the country and Hawaii is too far for the amount of time we had. I wanted ocean and she wanted tropical. I’d never been to Miami or the Keys so that’s what we picked. The cars were nuts though, I’d never seen anything like that. Everywhere you went. We’ve got a lot of fancy stuff here but the sheer amount of luxury and exotics there is humbling. And don’t even get me started on the yachts. A Rolls is a drop in the bucket compared to most of that stuff.


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## Stromaluski (Jun 15, 2005)

patrikman said:


> It wasn’t our first choice for a trip, but my wife would have had to quarantine for her job if we left the country and Hawaii is too far for the amount of time we had. I wanted ocean and she wanted tropical. I’d never been to Miami or the Keys so that’s what we picked. The cars were nuts though, I’d never seen anything like that. Everywhere you went. We’ve got a lot of fancy stuff here but the sheer amount of luxury and exotics there is humbling. And don’t even get me started on the yachts. A Rolls is a drop in the bucket compared to most of that stuff.


Given the limitations, it sounds like Florida was a great choice. I've never been to the southern half of Florida and would like to drive all the way down to the keys at some point. Not really expecting a whole lot out of it, but just so I can say I've been kind of thing.


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## patrikman (May 10, 2008)

Stromaluski said:


> Given the limitations, it sounds like Florida was a great choice. I've never been to the southern half of Florida and would like to drive all the way down to the keys at some point. Not really expecting a whole lot out of it, but just so I can say I've been kind of thing.


Absolutely, it’s something I’ve always been fascinated by and I’m glad I checked it off.


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## GolfTango (Feb 15, 2001)

During our end of July/early Aug trip to TN, Google Street View got us twice!

Heading down on 81:









Then while leaving the condo:









And a bear eating garbage in the condo complex:


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## CruznMalibu (Mar 11, 2010)

Fall Color Drive / Michigan Keweenaw Peninsula








1400 Miles - 2 Days - Michigan's U.P. - Fall Colors...


Did a quick trip up to Michigan's U.P. - Porcupine Mountains / Presque Isle River, Waterfalls, and Keweenaw Peninsula. The odometer hit 70,000 on US 41 near Phoenix, MI. R.I.P. - DJI Mavic Mini ..... Was flying up the Presque Isle River had some great footage and on the return back down river I...




www.vwvortex.com


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## Stradguy93 (Mar 16, 2019)

Anyone taken a road trip to the Utah Big 5? I've seen a few out west road trips posted but not a cannonball Big 5.
Over the last few years I have done Big Bend NP, Arched NP, Corral Reef NP, Canyonlands NP, Bryce NP, Zion NP, Deadhorse SP, and Yellowstone. Can't suggest the west enough to people trying to plan a fun getaway trip.
Unless you're from the western US, then it's probably pretty normal to you.


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## Quinn1.8t (Oct 8, 2006)

Stradguy93 said:


> Corral Reef NP,


Coral reefs in a Utah?


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## Zman86 (Apr 6, 2010)

Florida was our 2020 destination, however that didn’t happen as the border was closed to Canadians. Glad to see it looks like fun though! Maybe we will get there in 2022…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Stradguy93 (Mar 16, 2019)

Quinn1.8t said:


> Coral reefs in a Utah?


Them aliens put them there.


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## Nourdmrolnmt (May 8, 2006)

I guess I could add a new road trip to this list...

NW Montana to Banff to Jasper back to Lake Louise.

Here's the route... if anyone wants me to try and assemble photos, I will..


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## bnkrpt311 (Apr 22, 2010)

Let's see the photos!


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

Nourdmrolnmt said:


> If anyone wants me to try and assemble photos, I will.


Make a thread, mkay? A single screen shot ain't gonna cut.


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## Stradguy93 (Mar 16, 2019)

Nourdmrolnmt said:


> I guess I could add a new road trip to this list...
> 
> NW Montana to Banff to Jasper back to Lake Louise.
> 
> ...


Need an entire 45 minute read with 50+ photos so I can pretend I'm on vacation while sitting in my office.


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## USMCFieldMP (Jun 26, 2008)

I've started plotting my next big road trip, but think I'm going to have to break it in two. Just too many things on the "want to see" list and I only want to do 2 weeks.

I have a handful of eastern national parks that I need to check off the list, so I'm really just trying to figure out how best to do that.

I had considered doing the Florida ones at the end of this month while attending the Rolex 24, but I'm not sure that'll work out since two of the Florida parks require a ferry or seaplane. Also, I was planning on road tripping to the race in my Viper, lol. Not sure I want to leave it unattended in a parking lot for a few days while off visiting the national parks.


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## beefjerky (Dec 18, 2014)

Nourdmrolnmt said:


> I guess I could add a new road trip to this list...
> 
> NW Montana to Banff to Jasper back to Lake Louise.
> 
> ...


Please post. Canadian Rockies are on my bucket list


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## USMCFieldMP (Jun 26, 2008)

I just realized that I completely forgot to post my last (big) road trip.

My girlfriend and I took two weeks out of June and drove around the western US to see a dozen National Parks and Monuments.










My noble steed: 2014 Jetta TDI. I miss this car a lot; wish I hadn't traded it in.

Day 1: We set out from Fort Worth, Texas on the morning of June 15; 1000 miles and thirteen and a half hours later... we made it to Badlands National Park with plenty of hours of daylight to spare.



















Day 2: a short drive to Mt Rushmore (US-16 and SD-87 are must drive roads in the area), followed by a drive through Bighorn National Forest, up the Beartooth Highway, and then stopped at a campground just outside of Yellowstone National Park.




































Day 3: Adventures throughout the east side of Yellowstone and down to our campsite in Grand Teton National Park.
Day 4: Hiking through Grand Teton National Park
Day 5: Exploring the western side of Yellowstone and then driving through a massive rain storm to arrive in Glacier National Park around 10:30 PM (it dipped to 36°F that night... June 19th).










The tree next to our campsite that we saw... shortly after I had assured my girlfriend that she didn't need to worry about bears coming this deep into the campground. 😂 That giant claw mark is probably 6-7 ft off the ground... and for scale, that tree was about 24" in diameter.





































Day 6: Exploring Glacier National Park. Unfortunately, Going To The Sun Road was still closed for snow plowing, so we never got the chance to drive down it completely. We then headed up to the Many Glacier area of the park and did the Iceberg Lake hike, before checking in at the Many Glacier Hotel (first night indoors since leaving for the trip).


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## USMCFieldMP (Jun 26, 2008)

Part 2...

Day 7: Since Going To The Sun Road was still closed for snow plowing and wasn't expected to be cleared... we left the park ahead of schedule and headed into the true wilderness of Idaho. US-12 through eastern Idaho is unbeatable. Great turns. Isolation. Beautiful Sawtooth Mountains. _Chef's kiss_ Surprisingly though, I didn't take a lot of pictures. I just basked in its splendor. Stayed in a small campground along US-12.










Day 8: Drove south through Idaho and into Twin Falls. Not a lot going on. Spent the night in a hotel.
Day 9: Driving south into Nevada and then cutting over through the Bonneville Salt Flats. Not sure why I didn't stop and take any pictures - because I wanted to... guess I was just in a hurry to get to the next spot. Drove through SLC and then headed south to Zion National Park.
Day 10: Hiked Angel's Landing bright and early in the morning, then got on the road to head down UT-12 and through everything along the way. Stayed in a very small BLM campground along UT-12 (Calf Creek Campground).
Day 11: Capitol Reef National Park. A gas station built into a "mountain" (giant rock). Moab. Arches National Park. Canyonlands National Park.























































Day 12: Driving through some Colorado backroads and canyons... pretty sure we drove past a religious cult house, lol... sorry, no pictures. Drove the roads around the north side of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (lots of superb curves) and ended the day in the campground on the south side. Pictures do not do BCotGNP justice... the depth and sheer drop of the cliffs is absolutely mind blowing.
Day 13: drove the Million Dollar Highway (US-550) through Colorado and down to Sante Fe. Enjoyed another night in a Hotel, Santa Fe Mexican food, and Meow Wolf.





































Here's my girlfriend mocking a dumb "look over there" pose that I often use in National Parks, lol.










Day 14: Very Large Array, White Sands National Monument (now National Park), and spend the night alone in a small National Forest campground off of US-82 (James Canyon Campground).














































Day 15: Our final stop: Carlsbad Caverns National Park... then set the cruise control and lets get home.



















Finally home, we laid out all the stickers, magnets (I collect a picturesque magnet from every National Park that I visit; she collects geological survey marker magnets), and other misc stuff that we purchased along the way. 😂


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## Stromaluski (Jun 15, 2005)

Looks like a fantastic trip!


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## bnkrpt311 (Apr 22, 2010)

Wow thanks for posting your trip @USMCFieldMP 

Your sticker collecting is exactly what I do when we take trips. We are planning a Badlands/Black Hills trip for 2023 so I was happy to see your photos. The campsite looks amazing. Any suggestions on what to do or see? We're planning on being there a week and staying in a state park cabin so we've got quite a few to-dos already but it never hurts to have too many options.


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## USMCFieldMP (Jun 26, 2008)

There are a few things in the area... including a National Park that most people don't even know exists (one you just never hear about).

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
Wind Cave National Park
Badlands National Park
A bit more of a drive, but Devil's Tower National Monument is a fun and interesting place too. Basically guaranteed to see a bunch of prairie dogs.
If you're visiting during the summer months, I recommend reserving a campsite ahead of time; the last couple times that I've been to Badlands, the campground is full by like 3 pm. I believe the Minuteman site only does tours with reservations now, as well.

Plenty of really scenic, twisty roads around Mt Rushmore, as well. Depending on the hour that you get there, you may not have a ton of fun on them though... a TON of family vans driving 15 mph. 😂 I always head north on US-16A right where it meets SD-36. Small tight road with great views and corners. There are a couple tunnels, log bridges, and keep your eyes peeled for the cutouts along the way that give a view of the monument.

SD-87 (Needles Highway) is a fun, scenic road too. On the map below, where it says "Crazy Horse", there's a monument there too. Private property and it costs a pretty penny to go in and see it, but at a minimum, it's kind of cool to drive past it. It's nowhere near complete... and I honestly don't feel like they've made much progress over the last decade.






































That's all I can think of off the top of my head right now. If you go in mid to late August, I believe that's about when Sturgis happens, so there will be a quarter million Harleys in the area. 😂


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## pawa_k2001 (Feb 3, 2003)

Fantastic trip! Glad you got to hike Angles Landing, starting this year it will be by lottery ticket only.


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## USMCFieldMP (Jun 26, 2008)

pawa_k2001 said:


> Fantastic trip! Glad you got to hike Angles Landing, starting this year it will be by lottery ticket only.


It was only a matter of time. That was actually my third time hiking it. I did it in 2012 and 2015, as well. When I got to the top in late July 2012, I was one of maybe 5 or 6 people up there. This last time, I was one of maybe 3 or 4 dozen. Ridiculous spike in traffic - a lot of loud/obnoxious people too, lol. Pretty much drowned out the feeling of being "in nature / in the wild". I guess we're supposed to blame Instagram? 😂

A picture from the top during my last hike to the top... lots of "models" posing in this shot. 😂


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## Stromaluski (Jun 15, 2005)

USMCFieldMP said:


> There are a few things in the area... including a National Park that most people don't even know exists (one you just never hear about).
> 
> Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
> Wind Cave National Park
> ...


I did Devil's Tower, Sturgis, Mt Rushmore, and Badlands National Park last year on my trip home from buying my Jetta. It was super cool. You are 100% correct about the prairie dogs by Devil's Tower. I was not expecting that at all before I got there.

I see your picture of Mt Rushmore on US-16 through the Doane Robinson Tunnel came out way better than mine did. I was honestly disappointed in my picture. It was such a cool sight in person and I was really hoping the picture would come out better.

Geographic center of the US is in that same area, as well.

My grandparents actually lived in Hulet, WY, which is the small town right next to Devil's Tower, back in the mid-1950s. My grandmother took a picture of a church there in 1956. I stopped at the same church last year.


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## USMCFieldMP (Jun 26, 2008)

Stromaluski said:


>


That's a cool place to stop and see. I would love to go through my great grandfathers multitude of pictures and find some stuff like that.

I'm also loving the Cup Edition. I wanted one of those real bad when they came out. I searched for one in 2018 when I first bought my MK6 Jetta TDI, but couldn't find one for sale anywhere. Might have to be the next car that I search out and buy.


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## bnkrpt311 (Apr 22, 2010)

Does anyone have any suggestions for trip planning tools? I've tried to keep folders of printouts in the past or spreadsheets for housing to-do's, things to pack, reservation info, etc. There has to be a better way.


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## USMCFieldMP (Jun 26, 2008)

For my last one, I made a rough daily itinerary in Word (leave NLT, possible hikes listed, etc) mostly as a way to track our time. It helped out a lot to plot days and what activities were possible.

For the route, I use a mix of Google Maps and Roadtrippers dot com. RoadTrippers used to be completely free, but now they have a "Plus" member ship with an annual fee to put more than 7 or 8 waypoints on a map, along with some other features. I subscribed when I did my 2 week road trip, just to make things a little bit easier. Since then though, I just started making my road trip maps for one or two days, so as not to go over the 7 or 8 waypoint limit. I'll probably re-subscribe when I start plotting my next serious road trip. The nice thing on Roadtrippers are there there are RT-specific reviews for visiting places and that you can narrow down what sort of things it shows you (Historic sites, scenic roads, weird roadside attractions, RV campgrounds, KOA's, etc).


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## Stromaluski (Jun 15, 2005)

USMCFieldMP said:


> I'm also loving the Cup Edition. I wanted one of those real bad when they came out. I searched for one in 2018 when I first bought my MK6 Jetta TDI, but couldn't find one for sale anywhere. Might have to be the next car that I search out and buy.


I help run the JettaTDICupEdition page and group on Facebook. I search for ones for sale pretty regularly and post any that I find on there, so it may be worth following if you're interested. Granted, that requires being on Facebook, which is a dumpster fire.


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## Stromaluski (Jun 15, 2005)

USMCFieldMP said:


> For my last one, I made a rough daily itinerary in Word (leave NLT, possible hikes listed, etc) mostly as a way to track our time. It helped out a lot to plot days and what activities were possible.
> 
> For the route, I use a mix of Google Maps and Roadtrippers dot com. RoadTrippers used to be completely free, but now they have a "Plus" member ship with an annual fee to put more than 7 or 8 waypoints on a map, along with some other features. I subscribed when I did my 2 week road trip, just to make things a little bit easier. Since then though, I just started making my road trip maps for one or two days, so as not to go over the 7 or 8 waypoint limit. I'll probably re-subscribe when I start plotting my next serious road trip. The nice thing on Roadtrippers are there there are RT-specific reviews for visiting places and that you can narrow down what sort of things it shows you (Historic sites, scenic roads, weird roadside attractions, RV campgrounds, KOA's, etc).


Another vote for Roadtrippers. The waypoints you add also don't have to be on their map. You can add a random address or anything like that, in the situation that you find something you want to visit, but nobody has added it to their list of attractions yet.

Few other websites to look for things to see are Roadside America, Roadside Architecture, Atlas Obscura, and DangerousRoads





Roadside America - Guide to Uniquely Odd Tourist Attractions


Home Page for Roadside America, travel tools and guide to unusual attractions, tourist traps, weird vacations, and road trips.



www.roadsideamerica.com









RoadsideArchitecture.com Home Page


RoadsideArchitecture.com features photos and information about buildings, signs, and statues from all over the United States.



www.roadarch.com












Atlas Obscura


Definitive guidebook and friendly tour-guide to the world's most wondrous places. Travel tips, articles, strange facts and unique events.




www.atlasobscura.com









World's greatest driving roads


dangerousroads.org offers more than 12.000 roads online. Discover the most spectacular, scenic and dangerous roads around the world. Drive the most exciting and dangerous roads by car, jeep, 4x4 or bike




www.dangerousroads.org


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## bnkrpt311 (Apr 22, 2010)

I might sign up for Road Trippers plus. I think that'll help my wife navigate from the passenger seat and have access to everything in one place.


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## USMCFieldMP (Jun 26, 2008)

Stromaluski said:


> I help run the JettaTDICupEdition page and group on Facebook. I search for ones for sale pretty regularly and post any that I find on there, so it may be worth following if you're interested. Granted, that requires being on Facebook, which is a dumpster fire.


I just liked that page. And saw that there is a White Cup Edition for sale nearby. Automatic though - I will only do a manual. Maybe I can talk my fiancé into selling her 2019 Golf and hoping into a TDI. 😂



bnkrpt311 said:


> I might sign up for Road Trippers plus. I think that'll help my wife navigate from the passenger seat and have access to everything in one place.


So, the last time that I did a RoadTrippers map, I tried out their directions and did NOT like them. I use Roadtrippers to plot the main route and find places to stop, but rely on Google Maps to find the BEST route print off hard, physical directions. They might have improved their app and their directions since then though.


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## Stradguy93 (Mar 16, 2019)

USMCFieldMP said:


> It was only a matter of time. That was actually my third time hiking it. I did it in 2012 and 2015, as well. When I got to the top in late July 2012, I was one of maybe 5 or 6 people up there. This last time, I was one of maybe 3 or 4 dozen. Ridiculous spike in traffic - a lot of loud/obnoxious people too, lol. Pretty much drowned out the feeling of being "in nature / in the wild". I guess we're supposed to blame Instagram? 😂
> 
> A picture from the top during my last hike to the top... lots of "models" posing in this shot. 😂


I hiked Angels Landing in late winter 2015 and there were MAYBE 6 other people at the top all resting and enjoying the view when I got there. I went back this year around the same time and if you looked up from the bottom of Angels Landing it looked like a chain of ants going all the way up, way too many people. Guess it got posted on an "influencers" Instagram lately and is a must do hike for the Gram now. I have heard similar stories from others, it was nice while it lasted.


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## Stromaluski (Jun 15, 2005)

bnkrpt311 said:


> I might sign up for Road Trippers plus. I think that'll help my wife navigate from the passenger seat and have access to everything in one place.





USMCFieldMP said:


> So, the last time that I did a RoadTrippers map, I tried out their directions and did NOT like them. I use Roadtrippers to plot the main route and find places to stop, but rely on Google Maps to find the BEST route print off hard, physical directions. They might have improved their app and their directions since then though.


The settings in the app gives you the option of what map source you want to use for directions. Mine is set to google maps. You click on a waypoint and click navigate it'll open google maps and give you directions to the address. When you get there, just go back to the roadtrippers app and do the next waypoint.



USMCFieldMP said:


> I just liked that page. And saw that there is a White Cup Edition for sale nearby. Automatic though - I will only do a manual. Maybe I can talk my fiancé into selling her 2019 Golf and hoping into a TDI. 😂


Haha, yep. Manual ones aren't as common. 60% of the 1,501 were DSG cars. Also based on the 200 cars on the registry, my estimate is that VW bought back 60+% or so of the cup editions sold, which means there aren't all that many left out there. I'm almost positive that cup editions didn't make the "fix and resell" cutoff like the newer ones did.

That being said, a dude up north just sold a NICE black, manual one. High mileage, but he spent a ton of money on it. Somebody got a good deal, for sure.


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## USMCFieldMP (Jun 26, 2008)

Stromaluski said:


> The settings in the app gives you the option of what map source you want to use for directions. Mine is set to google maps. You click on a waypoint and click navigate it'll open google maps and give you directions to the address. When you get there, just go back to the roadtrippers app and do the next waypoint.


That sounds right. If I remember correctly, my problem was that I wanted it to follow the specific route that I plotted (curvy road, etc), but it wouldn't do that when swapping to Google Maps. Google would just default to the quickest way to said waypoint, instead of following the route I had plotted on Roadtrippers. This was most obvious when I was around Mt Rushmore and wanted to take the scenic route. So I guess it's great for A to B... but if you have a specific route you want to take along the way, not so great.

And now that I'm thinking about it, I'm 99% sure it's a Google Maps issue. I've did a drive this past summer in my Viper and remember having issues with it. If you drag and drop the route on Google Maps and then send that map to your phone, it will not "remember" the drag and drop markers... it'll default back to the fastest route.


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## Stromaluski (Jun 15, 2005)

USMCFieldMP said:


> That sounds right. If I remember correctly, my problem was that I wanted it to follow the specific route that I plotted (curvy road, etc), but it wouldn't do that when swapping to Google Maps. Google would just default to the quickest way to said waypoint, instead of following the route I had plotted on Roadtrippers. This was most obvious when I was around Mt Rushmore and wanted to take the scenic route. So I guess it's great for A to B... but if you have a specific route you want to take along the way, not so great.
> 
> And now that I'm thinking about it, I'm 99% sure it's a Google Maps issue. I've did a drive this past summer in my Viper and remember having issues with it. If you drag and drop the route on Google Maps and then send that map to your phone, it will not "remember" the drag and drop markers... it'll default back to the fastest route.


Oh, that makes sense. FWIW, whenever I want to change the route in Google maps, instead of drag/drop to change the route, I add stops in the middle along my desired route to make the "shortest" route be what I want. You can share a trip with 17 stops, for example; but it won't share a drag/drop changed route. Not as easy to do when going back and forth between Roadtrippers and Google maps, but it gets the job done.


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## beefjerky (Dec 18, 2014)

Is this an appropriate place to post these? Went to the Catskills the past couple weekends. Didn't camp this weekend, but did last weekend in 4*. A little chilly. It's a very nice drive up I-287 into the mountains, not to mention the Catskills roads themselves.










Overlook Firetower. It was super windy, I was actually getting blown around. I hate heights, so being on a rickety tower over 100ft up was a little concerning. But it's worth the view









Echo Lake









200ft ice waterfall









Indian Head Mtn, little rock climb on trail trail then facing Overlook


















Red Hill Fire Tower









Hunter Mtn Fire Tower, highest tower in the region but not the highest mountain, which is Slide Mtn.


















I'm not one to post pictures of myself but I felt this is worth sharing


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## rs4-380 (Dec 12, 2000)

Did a straight-through from Maine to Northwest Florida with family. Navigator did great, I drove for all but an hour. Massaging seats definitely helped. Was getting over 19mpg before we had a stiff headwind cutting across Florida.


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## SLVRon (Dec 20, 2014)

From a trip last October. I didn't have as much time in the area as I wanted, so I hope to make it back this year. This is the Factory Butte area in southern Utah - the photo was taken from Moon Overlook Road. The plan when I make it back out there is either to connect this with the Cathedral Valley loop, or further north to Goblin Valley. Lots of practice trips have shown that off road gas mileage is about half my normal gas mileage - so ~240 miles from a tank as opposed to 500 under ideal conditions. I can carry about 4 gallons in 2 Rotopax, which gives me another 40 miles or so. All of this is important to know in advance of any multi-day (off) road trip


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## improvius (Mar 6, 2001)

Drove about 900 miles from Rochester, NY to Augusta, GA last month in my brand-spankin' new XC40 Recharge.

First and foremost, Volvo seats FTW. I have some hip and back issues, and I was very impressed that I didn't get sore from sitting for so long. The inside of this car is a pretty good place to spend some time.

Most surprising thing: I really liked Pilot Assist. I honestly didn't think I'd use it much when I bought the car, but I ended up having it on for the vast majority of the trip. The steering assist could be a bit smoother, but it works better than I thought it would. I was able to stay alert and focused on the driving, but my brain doesn't have to worry as much about staying in the lane and maintaining speed and distance from the other cars. I feel like it was easier for me to focus on the other traffic and what's farther up the road. The long highway driving seemed less stressful than what I'm used to.

Second most surprising thing: I stopped midway through and stayed overnight at a hotel in Staunton, VA. I picked this place because it has charging spots. Unfortunately, it only has one J1772 Clipper Creek and two Tesla destination chargers. I was worried the spot I wanted was going to be taken, and sure enough:










Imagine my shock at seeing my car's twin already hooked up to the charger!

But fear not. Fortunately, I planned ahead and picked this up:

TESLA TAP to the rescue!










This dongle lets me connect to the Tesla "destination" level 2 chargers. Turned out to be pretty handy that night.

Overall it was a pretty fun trip. My bladder needed to stop more often than the car did. (Hey, I was trying to stay hydrated.) I will say that I needed to plan all of the charging stops beforehand, so I can appreciate that the amount of organization needed to make an EV road trip may be more than some people want to deal with. Ideally you don't want to have any legs that require more than an 80% battery, as the charging rate really slows down when you get up to around 90%. The charging network has a ways to go before you can just casually pack up and drive wherever and whenever you want. But I'd definitely do this kind of trip again in this car - provided I can map out a decent map with plenty of charging stops.


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## Turbio! (Feb 21, 2005)

Most of my road trips these days are in my actual car, which is a '19 Subaru Forester, but my dad bought a Taycan Cross Turismo recently and he and I took a drive down to Santa Fe a couple of weeks ago. Interesting experience, and much less of a pain in the ass than one might expect.


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

Went to the first ever local PCA Acadia region Cars and Coffee that was put on in my province, usually they are always in Halifax and that’s about 2 1/2 hours away, this one was held just outside of Saint John NB an hour away from me. Got to meet some great folks and talk cars for a while plus drive my 911 for a few hours.

























Nobody can say that it’s a garage queen!


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## MAC (Dec 9, 1999)

Did this Friday with my stepdad in a '21 4runner. Immediate turnaround, no sleep. About 21.5 hrs, average 18.8mpg. Got a little bugged out on the PA turnpike on the way home. We had to swap seats 3 times.
The good news is, if you're from Philly and want to go to detroit, or the UP, there's no traffic. The bad news is, you go through Ohio 😁








Destination neighborhood -


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

With the kids gone to camp this weekend, we're planning a little getaway down to Halifax and the south shore, weather looks good and I'm planning on enjoying use of the Cabriolet - will post pictures of the trip next week.


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

Trip report from last night and today, the BMW has averaged 31mpg on the way down and the weather has been beautifu.

Drove to Peggy’s cove this morning on some great driving roads, stopped for lunch in Chester and had the best seafood chowder I’ve ever had then we took the coastal route back and went to a small brewery run by an Irishman near musquodoboit harbour called Harbour brewing company - their black IPA was solid and worth the drive. More food and booze tonight in downtown Halifax.


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)




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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)




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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

Looks like a great time! That area looks very pretty.


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## Lackey (Mar 14, 2000)

We spent many a weekend during the pandemic on daytrips and short, one-to-three road trips around North, Central and East Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. By my wife's count, I think we visited 47 towns/cities in 2021 alone. Almost all of it was in a 2013 Golf R that recently ticked over 150,000 miles. On the highway, I think we were averaging 26mpg or so.


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## Surf Green (Feb 16, 1999)

Loaded up the Thule, family, dog, and full size spare into the Trucklet, and took a 2 week, 14 State, 5,200 mile whirlwind roadtrip to the upper mid-west to tour a bunch of small/mid-size colleges for the kid.
Along the way, we checked off a few boxes and scoped out some spots we're liable to revisit and spend time exploring when she's out of the house. The UP landing on the top of that list.










Stop 1: St Ignace and Mackinac Island. At dinner, a local musician called us Fudgies. We didn't know what Fudgies were. Turns out... how did he know? 
In the morning, we lucked out and got onto the ferry that detours under the bridge. It was cool. Dog was not fond of the ferry.









Dog loved the fort. If she had been in charge, the British wood never have captured it so easily.









Mackinac Island, once you leave the bulk of tourists behind, is lovely.









Stop 2: Porcupine State Park in the UP. Spied our first freakishly huge Sandill Cranes on the way. Wife: "WTF was that? It's like a Heron... but people sized".
Lake Superior. or as we began referring to it as, "The ocean that doesn't make everything sticky and gross."









Lake of the Clouds.









Stop 3: Overnight in Duluth where we had some Culvers. Not bad.
Crossed the Mississippi in Brainerd MN. I was chronically late with the camera, and missed half the signs I wanted to capture.









Stop 4: Fargo and vicinity for some college tours. Doggo did not understand the tiny fluffy cow.









Also stopped in Grand Forks. We were all really digging the smaller upper mid-west city vibes.









Stop 5. After stopping in Brookings and Vermillion SD, we headed west for some vacation stuff.
The Crossing the Missouri.









Saw some random stuff on the side of the road. Tried unsuccessfully to get a picture of at least one Wall Drug billboard, but kept missing them. 









Met some nice folks at a local establishment. This guy seemed popular.









Stop 6. Wall SD and the Badlands.
Up until this point, the weather had been unseasonably cool. As soon as we stepped out of the car in the Badlands, it was 100 degrees.









Accurate representation of anyone outside for more than 5 minutes.









Saw some Bison.









The herd started getting a bit close, and we decided to leave.









Someone planted pretty flowers.










To be continued...


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## Surf Green (Feb 16, 1999)

Stop 7. Rushmore and Devils Tower.
You only stop here because you're in the area doing other cool things and you want the stamp. It's less about the 4 guys pictured and more about a dude with a jackhammer that defaced a mountain.









IMO, The giant tree stump carved by the alien BearGirl is way cooler.









We sidestepped Rapid City and stayed closer to Sundance at a secluded cabin surrounded by fields, cows, sandhill cranes, eagles, and antelopes.









Doggo loves moo-cows.









On the ridge about 5 miles west of us, the Fish Wildfire had just broken out.


















The glow to the east was a little unnerving. but we were never in any real danger.









Stop 8. Spearfish Canyon and Deadwood.
Doggo loves to swim.









There were a few motorbikes around.


















Stop 9. Laramie WY for another college tour.
Nothing but Wile E Coyote isht and moo-cow ranches.



















The drive home was uneventful. We stopped at the Platte River State Park in Nebraska to stretch our legs. The observation tower was cool.


















The first real traffic we hit was in Indianapolis.
While the hustle of the city was evident, it was completely different than the DC metro where people will continuously change lanes for the simple sake of changing lanes.

We knew we were in Ohio when people began tailgating us in the right lane of an empty freeway for no reason.

The final leg through the Western Panhandle of MD at night in the rain was the perfect way to pre-stress us for the workweek ahead.

The trucklet finished the 5,200 mile trip without any hiccups and the oil change monitor just dropping below 40%.
Fuel economy average was about 20.5 mpg, which wasn't great, but understandable considering the Thule and high speed limits.

I love my new/used Tokina.


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## bnkrpt311 (Apr 22, 2010)

That looks like a great trip! I always enjoy seeing other people's perspectives on places I know pretty well. 

My inlaws live in Grand Forks and I've got a couple of cousins that went to college there.


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

Beautiful part of your country that I haven't had the pleasure of visiting yet, looks like a nice long trip you guys had.


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

Awesome, thanks for sharing! I think that might be the longest road trip in the thread.

You've unlocked 52 internet points.


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## @McMike (Oct 9, 2002)

Mrs McMike just did 7000 miles for fun this summer. I flew to Denver and did the western loop with her. Long trip was long.


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

@McMike said:


> Mrs McMike just did 7000 miles for fun this summer. I flew to Denver and did the western loop with her. Long trip was long.


What was the premise of the trip? Was it partly work on her end or just a pure vacation?


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## @McMike (Oct 9, 2002)

newusername said:


> What was the premise of the trip? Was it partly work on her end or just a pure vacation?


Pure vacation. 

Her work allows senior employees to take sabbaticals, so she took four months this summer. 

She did 700 miles the first day to IL on her own, then stayed with family in NE and CO. 10 days later, I joined her in CO and we did that loop to WA and back. I would have rather the trip been on a motorcycle, but we still had fun. She eventually got bored with having to stop for photos of the car. She was getting pretty good at turning the wheel a half turn and ducking behind the dashboard. And yes, I told her about the "bored girlfriends in cars" thread.

She ended up seeing family and college/high school/work friends on the trip. She had a blast.


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## Seabird (Feb 8, 2002)

Lackey said:


>


 I have drunk many a Shiner here.


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

In the middle of a family vacation right now, many stops and lots of stuff to visit.

Here‘s the itinerary:








more details to follow as I find decent enough wifi to post is up. We’re currently in Lake George for the week.

day one was easy, left home around noon, drove the 4 hours to Bangor ME, parked the RV at the Pumpkin patch campground for the night, picked up groceries and went to Mason’s Brewing company for a really great meal and some good beers.










































also bought some of my favourite Maine brewed beers for the trip:


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

Day 2 - drive to Littleton MA minuteman campground, literally the tightest and most difficult to maneuver campground l‘ve ever been in, tough job to park as it was u- on a hill, used 4 low for the first time ever with my truck. 

















Day 3 - drove to the Alewife station and took the transit into Boston, first time I’ve been there since 2018.

we did the touristy hop-on hop-off thing, had lunch at Quincy market and the wife and kids rode the codzilla while I enjoyed a beer with my father on long wharf.


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

Day 4 was uneventfu, we drove from Littleton MA to Lake George, mostly through Vermont - easy two lane roads and nice scenery.
















set up camp at Lake George RV park and headed out to an old favourite brewpub, Adirondack brewing.
















the skies opened up after supper and a huge thunderstorm rolled through, I made a dent in the Sebago brewing stock.


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

Day 6 has been the best to date, we visited the Saratoga springs car museum and unbeknownst to me they had the coolest Radwood display with pretty much every poster car of my childhood!


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

Day 6, afternoon - no trip to any place is complete without a good meal and a cold drink, we chose Druthers brewing in downtown Saratoga Springs and it was well worth it.
























for anyone wondering what type of fuel economy a 1 ton diesel truck gets towing a 14000lb Fifth wheel, here is my total mileage and fuel usage to date (this includes unloaded mpg driving the average up a bit - I’m closer to 9.2mpg while towing @65mph).


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## bnkrpt311 (Apr 22, 2010)

Looks like an absolutely awesome trip!! Thanks for taking the time to share it with us


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## LT1M21Stingray (Sep 14, 2006)

newusername said:


> we visited the Saratoga springs car museum


Huh, I never knew there was a car museum in Saratoga Springs, which is not that far from my place (2-3 hours drive). Thanks for sharing.


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

Road tripping done right. 👍


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

Day 7 - spent the day at six flags with the kids (great escape park). It’s run down, half of the rides are closed and the food was terrible, we had fun anyways As it beats working.


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

Day 9, rented an 18ft 115hp boat and spent the day on lake Georg, you guys wouldn’t believe the beautiful properties we saw on there. Such a special place.
The previous few days were lazy days around the pool, drinking and BBQing.


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

Day 10 was relaxing with a nice view of the lake from a Pioneer Mountain and a pit stop at another brewery.


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

The last week of the vacation was spent in Burlington VT for three nights and in North Conway NH for 5 nights.

we hit up a bunch of breweries, shelburne museum, up my Washington and made great pizza. Also did a bunch of hiking.

photo dump in no particular order:


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

More views from NH and Vermont


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

A few food and beverage highlights
























































the last day before heading back I made BBQ pizza, it was great


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

Shelburne museum was great


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

Just like that after a little more than two weeks, we‘re home and I’ve burned many gallons of Diesel.


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## 2.0_Mazda (Nov 3, 2010)

Just came back yesterday from a week-long road trip from Montreal to PEI to Nova Scotia. First time to the Maritimes and first time driving 11hours in a row. Absolutely fantastic scenery and roads. Will try to share some here.










Confederation bridge: it's just a long bridge, quite boring.










PEI





















Nova Scotia, Cape Breton





































The Cabot Trail drive was fantastic. Not sure how to post a video but the roads were just perfect.











Stayed in an old mansion; started raining just as we arrived


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## 2.0_Mazda (Nov 3, 2010)

Since I can only post 10 pictures at a time...

Did W12 Touareg's come to Canada?











Some old people with binoculars











A blurry picture of a moose











Halifax











Peggy's Cove with random guy posing.










Another lighthouse










The only whale we saw up close










And another sunset










And for the mileage. Overall average about at 6.1l/100km (39mpg) and 3633km

*







*


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## Lackey (Mar 14, 2000)

Part 1.

Last month, we spent a few days on a drive through West Texas and New Mexico that my wife dubbed our "Rio Grand to Route 66" road trip. I didn't want to take my 152,000-mile Golf R so we rented a Chevy Equinox AWD. It got ... mileage and was comfortable cruising at 90-100mph on stretches of I-25. Our schedule was built around attending an annual Native American contemporary art show in Santa Fe, but rain, crowds and the lack of parking meant that when we got there, we just puttered around various Santa Fe art galleries and coffee shops. We did see Wes Studi walking down the street though, which was cool.

Knowing ourselves and our predilection for detouring into various small towns, we broke the trip into more nights than it needed to be. Our first night was in Midland, a big suburb surrounded by oil wells and related businesses and machinery. Our Courtyard Marriott was across the street from a very nice H.E.B. grocery store, so we got dinner at its included BBQ joint and stocked up on road snacks. Really looking forward for the Dallas-area to get its own later this year. On the way to Midland, we stopped in Merkel, Sweetwater, Colorado City and Big Springs, Texas. Someone in Merkel was all "Why are you taking pictures of our dilapidation?!" but otherwise the towns were cool.

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr


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## Lackey (Mar 14, 2000)

Part 2.

Midland is basically a big suburb without a city. I got a similar impression driving through Bentonville, etc., in Northwest Arkansas. It's got everything you need to live there but I'm not sure why you'd go there, except for family or business.

From Midland, we headed mostly directly South to Alpine and Marfa, on to El Paso. I'm used to the trees and rolling hills of East and Central Texas. Getting off the interstate out here was flat, flat, flat, dotted only with agriculture and oil derricks. The scenery picks up considerably as you drop south of I10 and get closer to the slow slung, rugged mountains that surround Alpine and Marfa.

The last time we were in the area was 2009, and Marfa in particular has grown particularly more artsy and posh. At least, in parts. We stopped at a gallery and bought some art and a Beto for Governor bandana that I will inevitably cry into in November, went a few blocks down the road and passed 30-plus cars in line at the food pantry.

We connected with I-10 in Van Horn, which has a large mural devoted to Jeff Bezos and his phallic rockets, and took the highway into El Paso for our second night. I've never been to El Paso before but want to go back. Really, really interesting city.

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr


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## Lackey (Mar 14, 2000)

Part 3.

El Paso is great. I want to go back. But we couldn't stay long because we had reservations at a hotel in Albuquerque that night and wanted to make some stops along the way. We got off I10 right after exiting El Paso and took New Mexico's Lou Henson Highway up to Las Cruces. The route took us through several sleepy little farm towns and the first of the day's several crossings of the Rio Grande.

After stopping at a coffee shop in Las Cruces too cool for whole milk, we took 185 up to Hatch. Running almost parallel to I25, the drive gave a great view of the river and landscape. In Hatch, we had lunch at Sparky's, a very over the top hamburger joint and checked out some of the many shops selling chilis in search of souvenirs for our mothers. I walked downwind of one shop roasting chilis in a big rotating drum and almost gassed myself.

Finally joining I25, we headed north to Truth or Consequences, where everything was colorful, and Belen, which wasn't, but that was probably due to the rain clouds that had rolled in.

Our longest stay of the trip, two nights, was at a Marriott in Albuquerque with one of those giant interior atriums and strong 80s-vibes.

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr


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## Lackey (Mar 14, 2000)

Part 4. 

We'd originally planned to spend the night in Amarillo after leaving New Mexico but with heavy rain forecast for Monday, we cut the trip short and drove straight home from Albuquerque. It's a long drive as is, but we made it longer by spending some time exploring Route 66 sights along the way. Google said Santa Rosa and Tucumcari were good prospects, so both got detours. 

We'd been to Cadillac Ranch the last time we'd driven through Amarillo and as it was raining at the time, we chose not to visit it again. We did stop at the smaller but similar in concept Slug Bug Ranch on the far side of the city, before jetting home. Would have liked to have spent more time exploring that part of the state, but we beat the heavy rain in Dallas by only 20 minutes or so as we were. The rains, which I've read did some $6 billion in damage to North Texas, cost at least one of my friends their home and car, so I'm glad we beat it into town.

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr

Untitled by James, on Flickr


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## Seabird (Feb 8, 2002)

My brother and I spent three nights in Van Horn back in the Summer of 86. My sister and her family had just moved to California and we took her 82 Monte Carlo out to her. The thermostat busted just outside of Van Horn and we had to wait three days for them to send the mechanic a new one on the Greyhound. I was only 14 and didn't know that you could just pull the thermostat out and let the coolant run. I suspect they were BSing us, just to get us to stay in town and spend a little money. It was an armpit, but not as bad as Lordsburg, NM.

And Beto is a moron. 

Sorry, couldn't help it.


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## beefjerky (Dec 18, 2014)

I have a couple to add to the OP database 
Tail of the Dragon 
NJ to Alabama


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

Lackey said:


> Last month, we spent a few days on a drive through West Texas and New Mexico that my wife dubbed our "Rio Grand to Route 66" road trip.


Great read and pics, thanks for sharing! As I was looking at the photos, I thought to myself "these seem like Fuji pics." 

I don't need any more cameras but I've been tempted to get a X100V for my every day camera; I know @x(why)z just got one and they're popular for a reason. I kinda get an analog vibe from the pics with the advantage of seeing them right away, although getting film developed has its own charm.


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## kiznarsh (Apr 10, 2007)

beefjerky said:


> I have a couple to add to the OP database
> Tail of the Dragon
> NJ to Alabama


Updated, thanks for the reminder.


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## Zman86 (Apr 6, 2010)

Made it to Peggys Cove in the bus today, about 2000km from home. Onto Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail tomorrow. 




















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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

enjoy Cape Breton, some really great stuff to see there. Check out Big Pine brewing if you have time on your way into 
Baddeck.


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## Lackey (Mar 14, 2000)

kiznarsh said:


> Great read and pics, thanks for sharing! As I was looking at the photos, I thought to myself "these seem like Fuji pics."
> 
> I don't need any more cameras but I've been tempted to get a X100V for my every day camera; I know @x(why)z just got one and they're popular for a reason. I kinda get an analog vibe from the pics with the advantage of seeing them right away, although getting film developed has its own charm.


Thanks! Fuji makes some great cameras and the technology has advance to a degree that you're not at as much of a deficit with a crop-sensor anymore. I appreciate them for their size and relative price and the user experience. An X100S was my gateway into the system a few years back when I got tired of lugging a bag of my full-frame Canon kit around on trips.


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## Zman86 (Apr 6, 2010)

newusername said:


> enjoy Cape Breton, some really great stuff to see there. Check out Big Pine brewing if you have time on your way into
> Baddeck.


Currently on the island, driving the Cabot trail tomorrow in some sort of way, haven’t figured out if we are going to do it all or not. 











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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

You can easily drive up the west coast to a bit past Chetican (about 20 minutes past) and do the skyline trail it’s super easy and one of the nicest views of the whole Cabot trail. 

Then you can double back and save a bunch of time - one your way back, pass through Inverness and stop in the Glenor, it’s the only Canadian single malt distillery around and it’s been there for like 33 years now and the tour is quite something. Glenora


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## Zman86 (Apr 6, 2010)

newusername said:


> You can easily drive up the west coast to a bit past Chetican (about 20 minutes past) and do the skyline trail it’s super easy and one of the nicest views of the whole Cabot trail.
> 
> Then you can double back and save a bunch of time - one your way back, pass through Inverness and stop in the Glenor, it’s the only Canadian single malt distillery around and it’s been there for like 33 years now and the tour is quite something. Glenora


Honestly too many things to stop at in one trip. Just means more reasons to come back! We would like to drive it in the fall. Heading home now, went from around North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Mactaquac Provincial park today. Awful drive, the wind was horrendous, and the baby is tired of being in the bus all day. 











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## impact (Feb 6, 2002)

Here's something for when you are not on the road - a road trip simulator in a browser: America — Road Trip Simulator


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## patrikman (May 10, 2008)

Spent Saturday driving around the north woods of Wisconsin and a brief short leg in the UP and back through my old stomping grounds on Saturday. Left at 6am, got back at 6pm. One rock chipped windshield, a tank and a half of premium and lots of good vibes. Saw lots of deer and about a thousand turkeys. We left in search of leaves, and found snow instead. Which was a little dicey as my friend in the M2 is on summers but it worked out ok. Even saw a snow man.

I had planned to take the Baja Turbo but in the midst of a front brake job Weds night I found out I had a couple of seized caliper pins which explains why I had uneven pad wear. I couldn’t get them freed up at all, might have to get different caliper brackets. So I took the Volt, and it worked out well. I hustled the **** out of that car and it kept up with the others pretty good. Slow car fast they say. About 450 miles in one day, which is probably the furthest I’ve driven in one day in 20 years. The car was smooth and handled well, and pulled hard up to the limit.

I’d never used Rallista before but it worked great, and I only lost signal once for about ten minutes but we were very remote at the time. Would recommend. Add an hour on to this for the first leg but you get the idea. Great day with friends.


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

While in St. John’s Newfoundland this week for my new office locations customer event, I brought my wife along to spend a few days tooling around. We visited a popular area called Dildo. Due to rental car shortages, I wound up with a Hyundai Venue, it’s such a bad vehicle to drive that we‘ve just been laughing about it the whole time driving it. I can’t imagine anyone going for a test drive and wanting to buy one, as my wife said “this is taking advantage of the poor”.


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## 4MotionMongrel (Apr 7, 2006)

newusername said:


> While in St. John’s Newfoundland this week for my new office locations customer event, I brought my wife along to spend a few days tooling around. We visited a popular area called Dildo. Due to rental car shortages, I wound up with a Hyundai Venue, it’s such a bad vehicle to drive that we‘ve just been laughing about it the whole time driving it. I can’t imagine anyone going for a test drive and wanting to buy one, as my wife said “this is taking advantage of the poor”.
> 
> View attachment 230284
> 
> ...


Just a few points....

1. That better be a hell of a bowl of chili for $12
2. Your wife is hilarious, sounds like some tihs my wife would say
3. Wouldn't believe that was a real place without pics
4. Your wife looks like she's seriously jealous or very concerned of your choice of beverage


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

Spent more time around St John’s.

signal hill and the hike around it was spectacular


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## newusername (Jul 26, 2016)

Also visited cape spear and a few breweries with friends


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