penpen

hey guys,

in a few days, i will be leaving to pick up the latest and greatest addition to my stable: a 1996 gpw c2 whom i have affectionately dubbed... bunny.

as my first forray into the p-car world, i will be driving her x-country from detroit to seattle via the grand canyon, and any other fun roads that may tickle my fancy. here's where you come in: i want to make sure i get the most out of this trip... and that i don't miss any of the hidden gems the us of eh has to offer. so if there are any areas along this route, notably roads, that i simply mustn't pass up... please do enlighten me! ditto for any essentials, so far i've got the laptop + gps, lots o' cd's for the oem deck, plates, chargers, tire pressure gauge, an rs shift boot (tee), coupl'o quarts o' oil, maybe some new tires for along the way...

so yap.. lmk what you think. see you all soon on the open road...

here is the route so far:



cheers,
pen

Edgy01

What a great plan! Stop off in Alliance, Nebraska and head to Carhenge! (If you're that close you have to go,--it's on the north side of town).



Take 101 out of San Francisco, going over the Golden Gate, and head to Rt 1 and Stinson Beach. It's a great Porsche road but you must get on it very early or traffic will spoil it for you.

Stay with Rt 1 as it will lead you back to 101. That section is first rate with many good speed switch-backs.

I notice that you cut in and then stay on Interstate 5 entering Oregon. Instead, stay on Rt 1/101 and as you are way up in Northern California, take Rt 199 toward Grants Pass. It will take you to Rt 5 again, but the roadway is tremendous. Don't miss this section. (It's known as the Redwood Highway).

Your route takes you through Eugene, Oregon. Spend the night at The Campbell House inn close to downtown. Good safe Porsche parking there. Ask for Lydia.

Have a great time.

kjr914

Pen,
DME relay (You're stopped dead if it fails), good tunes, GPS for getting lost on side roads

Here's a thread that has some really good ideas:cross country tool kit

I'm jealous! I've done a couple of cross country drives and would LOVE to do it again. Even better, the next time is in the 993! Have fun!

Arena993

Pen:

Bring along a travel companion to share the journey. I may have an extra Smurf laying around.....

Mike

jaholmes

Stop in Grand Junction Co, and drive through the National Monument there. There are a few tunnels and lot's of twisty roads. Just look out for all of the cyclists.

Also, a suggestion is to take the back road to Aspen via Leadville CO and go over independence pass into Aspen. You turn off on I-70 at Copper Mt. This route is actually shorter.

Then the back road from Aspen to Delta Colorado then to Grand Junction and you will back on I-70. From Aspen go to Carbondale, then Paoina and to Delta. Between Aspen and Delta is Marble Colorado, Redstone Castle. Watch out for the cows on the road. The cowboys have figured out that the road is better suited for moving cattle then cars. The scenery is great. You can see the back of Aspen's Maroon bell. You may be able to get some Paoina gold.

Archilla

Pen,

Sounds like a great trip. I did a very similar trip almost 2 years ago; I bought my '96 C2 from a Rennlister in Massachusetts and my wife and I drove the car back to Los Angeles rather than having it transported. Looking back, I would not have done it any other way.

Your plan looks pretty good. As you can tell, there is not much in the way of good roads on the first half of your trip, or at least none that I found. I do have a few simple suggestions:
1) Check out the Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles in Lexington, NE (http://www.heartlandmuseum.com/aboutus/index.html). We just stumbled into this on our trip and it is a worthwhile stop. They have an impressive collection of stuff. It is right off Route 80, and there is really not much else going on in that part of the drive so it is a good way to break up the trip.
2) It goes without saying that after Colorado you need to pass through Zion and Bryce Canyon in Utah. Budget some extra time for this portion. You'll find some entertaining roads, but more than that, the scenery is just stunning.
3) Your current route seems to have you passing through Yosemite on Route 120. This is good, however, rather than continuing West, budget some extra time and head South to Route 41 after you pass through Aspen Valley and take it down to Oakhurst. From Oakhurst, take Route 49 North through the gold country region of California. You can stay on Route 49 until you get roughly as far North as Sacramento. The road is stellar, in my opinion, probably the best stretch of sports car road in the state. There are some interesting gold rush towns you can stay in along the way, like Sonora. There are also a lot of good side roads off of Route 49. I could easily spend a few days in that area thrashing all of the backroads.

In terms of preparation, it sounds like you have a lot of good advice already. I really didn't prepare much and had no problems. Of course, GPS, a cell phone, and a AAA membership with towing coverage can cover a lot of potential problems. The things that I made sure I had were a spare alternator and fan belt, as well as the required tools to change the belts if necessary.

Have a great trip.

-Ruben

Rinty

Have fun! And don't let the oil quantity gauge bother you.

mongrelcat

http://www.valentine1.com/
~or~
https://www.escortradar.com/store/passport-9500ix.html
(or, both. )

nile13

Lori, if you have a chance, swing by Santa Fe. A pleasant little town with a lot of artists and very relaxed spirit.

If you have a bit more time, definitely go further south and visit Carlsbad Caverns. Well worth the extra day, although it's really out of the way.

Terry Adams

An alternate if you want to head North from around Escalante. Gallatin highway, Yellowstone, MT 212 (about 4 hours RT from the NE exit of Yellowstone),

, Lewis & Clark trail.


MT 12

Stealth 993

Sounds like a great trip!! I can't wait to see the car! We will hopefully be having a Seattle 993 meet soon. Did you get the RS boot from Kie?

I would take RT 1 & 101 up the coast. If you get a chance hit up Moab Utah, there are a few great parks there! Worth the trip.

On the car, make sure you got enough oil, the tires have enough tread (check the inside of the tires!) & maybe a spare fan belt. between the cars tool kit & air pump you should be fine. The cars are AWESOME trip cars!!!! Oh, maybe a spare DME relay!!

jaholmes

Terry,
Is there a decimal missing, or is it 77 miles!

Terry Adams

Not even photo shopped.
A genuine 77 miles all alongside a scenic river.
Wish you guys coulda seen CP's grin - he was driving.

mcpiaseczny

If you want to break up the drudgery of the I-5 for the final home stretch, I have a recommendation for NF-25 from Cascade Locks on the Columbia River up to Hwy 12, which will bring you back to I-5. I haven't done this apparently it's really good.

And you already have the PCH on the itinerary so no need to talk about how awesome it is

penpen

ahhh excellent feedback, thank-you gentlemen!!! i will keep an eye out for a spare DME relay.. fan belt (really? w 26k mi?)... and the tires i'm waiting on tread depth measurements. (that's the only thing i'm really concerned about... ). i haven't had a chance while i've been wrapping up all the loose ends at work, but i'm gonna take a look at all these roads you are pointing out so that i can throw them in streets and trips and figure out how they will fit in. will respond individually too, i really appreciate the pointers

this program does support gps, and i have used it for my past 3-4 x-country road trips. highly recommended. i intend to straight shot as much as i can from detroit to denver. leadville yup (living at 10k feet!), grand junction, moab, grand escalante... ahhh good memories. i've done the oregon coast a bunch, and i have heard good things about 36 & 3 in norcal. 101 after legett has beautiful sweepers, but i love the tight and technical.. the redwood 'avenue of the giants' scenic bypass is beautiful... hrmmm. but around then i am kinda itching to get home too... i want to savour co / ut / az / nor cal as much as possible. i've always taken random routes through here and never have i been disappointed.. i just forget which way i went the last few times.

radar detector i am working on sourcing. with my track record, this should pay for itself by iowa. grr.

digicam of course, aaa will be re-activated in time... rs shifter courtesy of kiesan yes! ... then this that and the other, packing tonight... and we are almost ready to go!!! hurrah!!!

i can't wait to see my new horsey. *grins big*