Stan's Roadtrip, Central IL to Highway 1

So, here's the plan for today:

 

 

Great trip so far, Stan.  It seems every year some member of this site plans and then hopefully carries out a long distance trip, and the rest of us enjoy it vicariously.

 

Here's hoping for better weather for you.

 

Wonderful travelogue, Stan.  I hope you brought plenty of blue painter's tape.

I much enjoyed your great travelogue to date Stan.  Keep the notes and pictures coming.  I'm certain that we will all enjoy your posts.

Hoss

Great to be able to vicariously travel with you.  I look forward to checking in very regularly to follow your progress.

Stan--I'm loving this travelogue--please keep it coming.  What a wonderful adventure you are on and I  look forward to you sharing it with us all.  Thanks!!

Sure brings back lots of good memories, Stan. Good on ya. Wave to Buffalo Bill when you hit that big crest in Denver. Safe travels....looks like you might be headed for Spanish Fork for the night ? But why 950 miles planned for today ?

Thanks for posting Stan - most of us working stiff's never seem to have the time to do what your doing - glad to see your doing it - keep the updates coming.

Stan, you're a crazy Kerouacian. Keep that IV of jerky and nuts going and I'll see you in a few days.

We'll leave the light on...

Good so far, Stan!

 

Great cruising speed, low temp and low-ish RPM all make for a great trip, and your photos are wonderful (and I know how difficult it is to drive and snap a shot at the same time!)

 

Enjoy the ride - looks like you're having fun!

 

And thanks for the travelogue!

Safe travels Stan; and thanks for letting us come along for the ride!

Looking great, Stan.

Ted

Hey Stan, my wife and I are off on a road trip this week too.

Unfortunately, the IM is still in the shop, so we'll have to take another vehicle.  Not as much fun as the IM, but I can pack my mountain bike and the dogs get to come along too.

I'll be following your progress whenever I find a free Wifi.

 

 

Safe travels on your excellent road adventure, Stan! It's hard to beat the gratification of a long distance road trip in your favorite car! 

 

Keep it coming Stan, I love that you are doing this.

 

Even if you are disssing my hexbar. I wish many trouble free miles for you!

Way to go, Stan! When you get to Nevada, plot out your gas stations carefully. 

Today was a good day.

 

When we left our intrepid traveler-- he was snug in a Motel 6, somewhere in central Kansas. The speedster had plowed (not so happily) through Rainageddon, and he didn't make it as far as he had hoped.

 

The plan for today was to "make it up". It's good to have a plan, even if it's flexible.

 

The plan was to get to the junction of I70 and I15 in Utah, which is about 925 mi. I woke up about 5:30 CDT to clear weather. I checked the maps and I was on the back side of the system. The sad news was that the storm had broken in half, and parted around I80 like it was the Red Sea (which it looked like on the radar) and I80 was Moses and the children of Israel.

 

Anyhow, I wasn't on 80. I was on 70. I70 in western Kansas and eastern Colorado is not going to make anybody's travel guide. I resorted to taking pictures of grain elevators. They started out mighty in Kansas, and ended up pretty pathetic by Denver. See:

 

 

 

Anyhow, it took 'til 1:00 or after to get to Denver. Here's a state-line picture to prove I was there:

 

 

 

I've never been on I70 west of Denver. Eating lunch, I decided I was never going to do 70 again, as I find Nebraska much better than Kansas. Just outside Denver, 70 starts heading up, and I start thinking, "well, this is pretty OK". But it was only starting. I70 between Denver and... well... where I am tonight (Selena, Utah) was amazing. It's a stinking INTERSTATE highway, and it was astounding.

 

 

 

 

I crossed into Utah about an hour and a half before sunset:

 

 

 

Everything east of Green River is "OK", but nothing like what I had just been through. The sun started setting as I pulled out of a gas stop in Green River, and the landscape went nuts:

 

 

 

 

 

So anyhow, that's Day 2 in the books. Day 3's plan is to get to Chico, CA, to visit an old and dear friend before Jeanie flies out.

 

 

Your so inspiring! I can wait to see how your trip ends up. Keep up the great work of posting photos we all love seeing this stuff

Looks like a great day to roll on the miles!

A quick aside on the "tunnel shot": The I70 Eisenhower Tunnel, 50 mi west of Denver. Completed in 1979. 1700 ft long, 11,000 ft up. An absolute engineering masterpiece.

 

Next up: US50 through Nevada. "The Loneliest Road in America".

OO!  OO!  That's one of the coolest trips in America!  Almost as fast as taking the dreaded Interstate, and the towns along the way are really neat!

 

Enjoy the drive, Dear Leader!

At the risk of being dramatic, I'm sure Jim Ward would be smiling now.  I think a lot of us here can recall his famous trip.  He always comes to mind in situations such as this. 

 

Got dat dere beard going too!  Great adventure!  

Bob, you're absolutely right.  

 

It was Jim who took that first step (or maybe, "Rolled that first mile"?) for the rest of us and showed us that these little cars really COULD do long distance trips.....reliably, too.

 

Now, a bunch of people have been doing long-haul trips and having a great time (and the rest of us, right along with them via their photos.)

 

Pretty cool hobby (and group, too), isn't it?

 

Chico, CA!

My home town. Grew up there, left in 1996. Only been back a handful of times since then. A good friend still owns several restaurants / bars there. If you're in the area, visit the Madison Bear Garden (aka "The Bear") - I spent 4 years tending bar there while earning my undergraduate degree. 

This is a rough week in Chico, as today is the first day of the new school year.

Have fun and be safe!
Ted

Stan:

 

Perfect, buddy! Gods speed and stay safe. Are you running the 2110 from the bus on this trip?

Excellent day on the road! Safe travels, my friend! 

Bob, I think the answer to that is yes, but Stan will have to verify...

C'mon Stan, we're all awaiting the Tuesday Evening Motel 6 Report.

 

Loving this. I really want to do it in Bridget too --Coast-to-coast. Karen and I drove to Boulder last year in her Toyota and, man, that I-70 stretch from, oh let's say, Ohio to Denver is pretty brute.

 

We overnighted in Kansas City, enjoyed some BBQ with a friend of mine and it was still a long, long slog even in an A/C car, closed up.

 

Seeing a Speedsterster do it is inspiring and a little scary.

 

Shhhhhhhhhh............. Stan is sleeping

No Motel 6 report. Here I sit, poolside in beautiful Chico, CA, after a good meal and a night on a nice soft bed. I pulled in to Joel Schlotz's digs yesterday evening at about 7:00 PDT or so.

 

As you may recall, Labor Day was 925 mi. (+/-), and I stayed at a Rodeway Inn in Selena, UT at the junction of I70 and US50. US50 is called "the loneliest road in America"-- with a name like that, I had to give it a try.

 

The Loneliest Road in America" is a big title to live up to. It's a BIG country, and there are lots and lots of places without very many people. A substantial quorum of those places are in Utah and Nevada, and US50 does seem to do a good job of skirting the places where people might be hiding. 50 in Utah/Nevada is a series of long straight shots across desert valleys, and up and over passes. Lots and lots of passes. Services are every 100 mi or so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, anyhow I got across Utah and Nevada with great haste and prejudice. I was  a l m o s t  to I80 just before Reno, when Johnny Law decided I'd had enough fun for one day: 75 in a 65. You've got to be kidding me.

 

 

 

 

Anyhow, I proceeded across the line into California at the ridiculous posted speed limit (65? You're kidding, right?), proceeded down SR20 to the Sacramento Valley and up to Chico.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All tolled, about 710 mi (+/-) yesterday, and about 2400 for the trip out. It was another good day.

 

I pick Jeanie up in San Jose on Friday, and then on to Monterey, etc!

 

Thanks Stan, the trooper must have been having a bad day. Sorry about that. I had no such problem with the VW...I wonder why?

 

Not so much a bad day, as a quota. They were thick once I hit the population centers of Sparks/Reno.

Awesome Stan! Maybe we'll call you Iron(back)side from now on! Yep, Ironside Stan. Makes me want to do this as well, maybe on a smaller scale to start.

I was doing the same speed in a workzone (no work being performed) on the way back from Cory and Jeni's and paid $40. Hope yours is less.

Stan, do you debug in-between or wait to the final destination?  The look on your face is priceless as your the type of guy that plans everything out and the FUZZ was not in your plan. 

With 'Veteran' plates you get off with just a warning

Last year I did a thousand miles in one go, with two drivers, in a pickup truck, and I was totally bagged.  I can't imagine doing that amount of miles in a convertible.

Kudos to you, Stan.