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An Epic Road trip
On May 25th Brian Metzger flew down to Charleston and he and I left the next day, May 26th, on what would turn out to be a 10,900 mile road trip.
We took our time stopping at all the places your father told you he didn't have time for. You know, like the Seveirville Muscle Car Museum in Tennessee, or the Oak Ridge,TN Atomic Energy museum, the Gaylord Grand Ole Opry resort in Nashville or the Blues City Cafe in Memphis for Ribs and Catfish.
Yeah, we may have missed some places but if we read about them in the AAA tour book and it seemed interesting, we stopped. Used coupons at the welcome centers for reasonable rooms enroute but sometimes we had to step up to a better class of hotel. Some were awesome like the Corque Hotel in Solvang,CA or the Radisson in Longmont,CO. Some were just expensive like the Lodge at Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park.
"Annie" performed well, even better than I expected. We lost a weight off one of the front wheels but the Ford Dealer in Salinas, CA just wanted to sell me Rear Brakes! After another 7,000 miles I had them checked and they were fine. The front brakes are getting new pads Tuesday morning but the car does have 45,889 miles on it now.
Mileage overall was in excess of 24 mpg, the best was on flat Interstates at 25+, the worst on the Mountain Passes in California, Montana,Wyoming, and Colorado. But it was worth every penny spent, TBirds love mountain roads, at least I do.
The best National Park IMHO, YOSEMITE! Number 2 The Grand Canyon. I think Yellowstone is just too spread out and way too much walking for seniors. Glacier had the same problem as Yellowstone, drive for an hour then spend 15 minutes at a beautiful site. Then drive for another hour before you see the next one. Rocky Mountain National Park is the most underrated. The pass at the crest is magnificent and on the way Estes Park is gorgeous.
We saw about 5 Car Museums along the way and some odd Historic Sites like Promontory Point in Utah where the golden spike joined the Union Pacific RR and the Central Pacific RRs. Connecting Omaha, Nebraska to Sacramento, California was a big deal in 1869.
Brian and I saw all our relatives along the way, took 'em out to dinner, used their washers and dryers and just had a great time.
We each have 35 days of memories and hundreds of pictures and videos. I recommend road trips if you can get away from home long enough to do it right. Just don't rush, you need time to pick up a snowball at Ebbet's Pass on California Highway 4 and throw it at the driver.
Cal
We took our time stopping at all the places your father told you he didn't have time for. You know, like the Seveirville Muscle Car Museum in Tennessee, or the Oak Ridge,TN Atomic Energy museum, the Gaylord Grand Ole Opry resort in Nashville or the Blues City Cafe in Memphis for Ribs and Catfish.
Yeah, we may have missed some places but if we read about them in the AAA tour book and it seemed interesting, we stopped. Used coupons at the welcome centers for reasonable rooms enroute but sometimes we had to step up to a better class of hotel. Some were awesome like the Corque Hotel in Solvang,CA or the Radisson in Longmont,CO. Some were just expensive like the Lodge at Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park.
"Annie" performed well, even better than I expected. We lost a weight off one of the front wheels but the Ford Dealer in Salinas, CA just wanted to sell me Rear Brakes! After another 7,000 miles I had them checked and they were fine. The front brakes are getting new pads Tuesday morning but the car does have 45,889 miles on it now.
Mileage overall was in excess of 24 mpg, the best was on flat Interstates at 25+, the worst on the Mountain Passes in California, Montana,Wyoming, and Colorado. But it was worth every penny spent, TBirds love mountain roads, at least I do.
The best National Park IMHO, YOSEMITE! Number 2 The Grand Canyon. I think Yellowstone is just too spread out and way too much walking for seniors. Glacier had the same problem as Yellowstone, drive for an hour then spend 15 minutes at a beautiful site. Then drive for another hour before you see the next one. Rocky Mountain National Park is the most underrated. The pass at the crest is magnificent and on the way Estes Park is gorgeous.
We saw about 5 Car Museums along the way and some odd Historic Sites like Promontory Point in Utah where the golden spike joined the Union Pacific RR and the Central Pacific RRs. Connecting Omaha, Nebraska to Sacramento, California was a big deal in 1869.
Brian and I saw all our relatives along the way, took 'em out to dinner, used their washers and dryers and just had a great time.
We each have 35 days of memories and hundreds of pictures and videos. I recommend road trips if you can get away from home long enough to do it right. Just don't rush, you need time to pick up a snowball at Ebbet's Pass on California Highway 4 and throw it at the driver.
Cal
Canadian Provinces, 8 European Countries, 3 Caribbean Countries, Countless National Parks and have attended well over 100 TBN Events since 2001 and counting. Best of all ... fabulous friends.
I hope to spend at least two weeks doing much the same thing this fall. Hearing about your trip just keeps my steam up that much more to get rolling! Thanks!
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