Six Days On The Road/What A Long Strange Trip It's Been

LocuMob · Feb 14, 2018

I bought my '66 Polara 500 on Feb 1st and set out to fetch it on Feb 8th. Joining me on this quest would be my stepson Jared, who would also be providing our tow vehicle, a 2007 Dodge Ram 1 ton dually Quad Cab. He changed the oil and picked me up and off we headed to pick up our trailer in Shenandoah Iowa, already loaded with a 1960 Chevy Impala. The seller, Wayne, sold me a parts car last year, and asked if I needed a bill of sale, and asked if I wanted to tow this out to LA and use his trailer, an aluminum and wood unit, when he heard I was heading to Oregon.

Wayne has 32 cars left to sell, he will keep the final 6. He had some Mopars in his stable.

We got a late lunch at restaurant Wayne recommend, and hit the road at 4:30 heading west. Nebraska is boring to drive through, no offense if you live there. Other than older vehicles parked all over the small towns we drove in, there wasn't much to be seen. That gave Jared and I a chance to talk about cars, and other things. He's not a radio listener, so we had plenty of good times b.s'ing throughout the trip. This would also be Jared's first venture beyond Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota. We made it into Wyoming and the 2nd different state for Jared. We went I-80 to avoid snow in the mountains of Colorado. I had worked the night before and had been up all but a two hour nap on the way to Iowa. Jared was tired so we pulled into a truck stop and got some sleep in the truck. We woke up to thick fog, and it was my turn to drive. We had gotten into the mountains and it was my first chance to drive a diesel truck. It had the Tow Haul option which came in handy. Driving in the fog was fun behind the big rigs that knew the route, just follow them and let the truck do it's job maintaining speed. The fog lasted for almost two hours before we were able to get back up to speed and chew up more miles going into day 2.

LeBaron1973 · Feb 14, 2018

Diesel's are great, we have a 2017 Ford Ranger Wildtrak Dual Cab 6 cylinder turbodiesel and it's been very handy, was great during our move.

All the best for the rest of your trip.

LocuMob · Feb 14, 2018

Day 2 we saw a nice sunrise as we carried along on our way to California.

By early morning we had made Salt Lake City, and a new state for both of us.

That metro area from Salt Lake City all the way down to Provo lasted a long time! Steady traffic in all lanes just a scootin' along. We were making good time.

Why are we parked here? During a stop for fuel, the attendant noticed a low tire on the trailer and he told us to use the free air hose at the shop. Cool, thanks! Wait, what's wrong with the tire on the other side?

We had no tread on the outboard edges of the tire, only the center. I grabbed a used tire to replace it, and hussled the attendant to cut me a deal on the other matching tire to replace our spare, which had a plug in the sidewall.

Back on the road and into Nevada, the last new state for me.

We had some great scenery along 1-15

None of the pictures I have do any justice to the amazing landscapes throughout the country. I love seeing new places. We made it a few hours down the road, and I woke from my nap to a bang. "We blew a tire!" I barked as I opened my eyes. The front tire on the passengers side blew completely apart, leaving shreds on the rim. Jared drives a Semi for a living and flung into action. I called Wayne and informed him of the last few hours and the tire situation. He's an easy going guy and understood and told me to buy a complete new set if I felt we needed to. Awesome to have someone else's equipment and have their support, rather than anger, when . something happens. We threw on the new spare and away we went, Vegas bound!

Vegas, I saw this sticker, which I as funny because you had jets taking off overhead every 15 seconds and couldn't hear anything!

The strip! Which wasn't the least bit exciting because our transmission wasn't going into either overdrive. We pulled into another gas station to diagnose the problem with help from a friend back home, cool the tranny some, and found a shop to read our codes to verify our thoughts. A high pressure sensor was tripped and some other code that sent the tranny into limp mode. The overdrive clutches had gotten hot during our day in the mountains, and the trans did it's job. We pulled the battery cables and let the trans cool for a few more minutes. Cables on, no codes and we had OD. Got on the road at dusk, heading to California, this is what we saw, and would continue to see all night.

It's city lights, but in the middle you can see the stream of headlights, right above the faint taillights. I couldn't believe the traffic, constant never ending cars and trucks. We made it to our meeting with the new owner of the Impala after having a Porsche flag us down as we almost lost a ramp for the trailer!

He was a happy camper! I just about took Jared out starting the car, I failed to realize it was a stick! Yeah, I know, look first. I was on the brake instantly so no one was harmed. Empty trailer in tow, we set out to reach the Pacific ocean. We chose to go around the twisty turning hilly roads and take the freeways, same amount of time and easier driving. Not! 11:00 at night and road construction blocked our exit, and another exit we tried sent us a mile back the other way to turn around and get to where we were headed. Then we hit a traffic jam as more construction closed lanes and ramps all along our route. Driving is crazy in the Los Angeles area,to say the least. I was behind the wheel as I had the tolerance and experience to deal with the driver's around us. We made it to the ocean, but it was after midnight and we decided to sleep in the truck, and found a lot. An hour later, some guy is knocking on the window telling us there's no parking overnight in their lot, recommends a nearby church. Worked for us and we got some decent slumber.

LocuMob · Feb 14, 2018

Day 3 we woke up and we saw our first orange tree.

And I got to explain Day Laborers to him as well! We headed to the beach, only a few blocks away, it was Jared's turn to be "baptized" in the Pacific!

We saw a ranger, so we headed back to the truck. He said nothing over 20 feet could be in the lot, but was super cool when he heard we were from Minnesota and it was Jared's first time in California. He let us stay for a few minutes more before we moved on.

I drove along in the concrete jungle, as Jared saw homeless camps and other oddities of west coast life. We climbed out of the canyon northward to fruit country.

That car is a Tesla model S. We saw a white one headed south 20 minutes after this one, and another white one about 30 minutes later. We would see one later in Oregon. That matches the total I've seen to date in Minnesota.

A driver waved at us to let us know our tire was going flat. A little nail in the shoulder lug caused a hole, and separated the tread. Jared once again went to work. He has enough to fix a semi, so cutting the spare free (rods don't work thanks to rust) wasn't too much hassle. Got it swapped and back in the road. We had no spare for the truck or trailer, with 2/3 the length of California to go. We had a vibe in the front end, didn't get the lugs tight enough. Torqued them down again and no more vibe.

Cleaning up old trees, I could feel the heat of the second fire through the door of the truck! The fruit fields lasted forever, it's surprising how much is grown in the valley.

That's my only (terrible) picture of Lake Shasta. What a beautiful area, and the lake is huge! More mountain fun, but no problems running empty. We made it into Oregon and on to my friend Brian's house, and I got to see my car for the first time.

LocuMob · Feb 14, 2018

Day 4. I got a solid 10 hours of sleep, in a bed! I woke up to Jared asking me why I wasn't outside looking at my car! Got up and ambled out to take a gander.

Solid body, quarters are awesome! The hood and driver's fender are replacements, the hood is blue underneath and I don't know yet what color the fender was. Looked in the trunk and there is a set of heads, an air cleaner, and a box of stuff, an A/C compressor for the added on system, a set of turn signals, a mint left taillight lense, the wipers, an alternator and starter. From windshield trim is in the backseat. Need some pieces for the front of the engine but nothing major. The passenger door wouldn't open, so I gave her a hard push and now it opens smoothly. The car has air shocks, those will be going away,along with the A/C setup, which they butchered the console to install. I have a spare console housing to fix that issue. Driver's seat chrome piece is broken, once again, I have a spare. I really haven't looked the car over very much yet. We got a tour of Brian's land, he has 34 acres, 5 on one side of the road and the rest across the street. He took us up the hill, along with a bench he wanted near the top of his hill. It was foggy and snowing, so the killer views were hidden, but I can imagine what he has to suffer with.

It was great to see my friend, being so close he helped me out with this deal. He showed is around the rest of his property showing his many great viewing areas. I'll be back for sure for a longer stay, hopefully soon. We had to go to town to get spares so we were roadworthy, but we stayed another night, and I helped Brian nail down his property lines, good to know those! He's got a great location in the hills with a creek in his backyard. Wildlife everywhere, it's very relaxing.

We talked til midnight and called it a night.

Carmine · Feb 14, 2018

Great and interesting write up!

LocuMob · Feb 14, 2018

Day 5 we loaded up the car. Good thing Brian has a side by side,we needed it to pull the car while Jared and I swapped pushing duties. Got it on and strapped down for it's journey. Put a small tarp over the windshield, them put a 12'x24' over the car. What a POS, it stayed on for the first 24 miles but the back came loose so we stopped. Some eyelets had ripped right off,and other were about to. We got some Duct tape and sealed the tarp as best we could. And away we went, northward so Jared could see the state. We made it to Washington at dusk, and Idaho shortly after that. I was kind of bummed that Jared didn't get to see Cour de Lane, I think it's a scenic area. Oh well. I slept through the mountains of Idaho as Jared dealt with the truckers, he thinks they're crazy the speeds they carried through the turns downgrade. We pulled into another gas station and called it a day.

LocuMob · Feb 14, 2018

Day 6 got started three hours later. We switched seats and I took over driving for the rest of the journey. Passed through the last of the steeper grades and chugged along through Missoula and the western part of the state. The tarp held up well, we only had to re-tape it once th day before, and we didn't touch it again. Glad I had it as the car got some salt splatter on it. We made the split for I-90 and headed back into Wyoming. We went along and I got the car even dirtier, to go see this;

I missed this 5 years ago when I got my '98 2500. I saw the signs and said to myself, why not? So what if the car gets dirty? It can be washed. It to the gate, and thought it was closed but noticed it wasn't so we paid the $20 and went up and walked 1/2 to 2/3 around the base. Beautiful views all over the valley, Jared was in love with the area! If he moves it's all my fault! We headed out and took a casual drive back to the freeway. We had some more time to talk about the next car(s) to get, hehe and about life in general. It was a great way to bond and get to know him better. We already had a great relationship before, but this was a great trip, a fun time even with the mishaps. I look forward to going on a road trip with Jared again, we travel well together thankfully. I couldn't have done this without his help, and I'm glad I got to share it with him, seeing new places and faces, the ocean, fruit trees, etc. It was a great way to spend six days together.

Scott

Carmine · Feb 14, 2018

LocuMob said:
It was a great way to bond and get to know him better. We already had a great relationship before, but this was a great trip, a fun time even with the mishaps. I look forward to going on a road trip with Jared again, we travel well together thankfully. I couldn't have done this without his help, and I'm glad I got to share it with him, seeing new places and faces, the ocean, fruit trees, etc. It was a great way to spend six days together.

Won't the future be great when robots can do all of this for us? That's why I hate all the *#!@¿ trying to suck the life out of "life".

Again, great story and pics.