On the road to Route 66 2012
04-07-2012, 09:51 PM
#31
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Tomorrow we load the trailer and get ready for the trek home. Good to have a few days' of short drives. We did come up on a high impact accident just after it happened. Amazing how good cars have become - no fatalities:
Took the dogs. (our cargo back to Canada) for a trip to Jerome. This was a mining town, the most productive copper town in AZ, which swelled to 15,000 population in its prime in 1814, and shrank to 50 when the mines cloes in 1953, leaving the largest ghost town in North America. It has now recovered as an a rts and tourist community with a population of 500. Often used as a plce for car clubs on scenic drives. In its heyday the NY Times calles in the most evil town in the US. It has numerous saloons and bordellos of course.
Took the dogs. (our cargo back to Canada) for a trip to Jerome. This was a mining town, the most productive copper town in AZ, which swelled to 15,000 population in its prime in 1814, and shrank to 50 when the mines cloes in 1953, leaving the largest ghost town in North America. It has now recovered as an a rts and tourist community with a population of 500. Often used as a plce for car clubs on scenic drives. In its heyday the NY Times calles in the most evil town in the US. It has numerous saloons and bordellos of course.
Last edited by Ronan; 04-08-2012 at 01:33 PM.
04-08-2012, 03:01 PM
#34
Rennlist Member
Been to Jerome many times...roads to and from it can be fun. Gotta go back...
04-08-2012, 10:52 PM
#35
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Locked and loaded and heading for home - 2400 miles or so with no detours. The first few hours are the toughest heading up to 7000 ft in a relatively short distance, but after that we should be OK. We have some forecast of bad weather and possibly severe thunderstorms fro Albuqerque through the Panhandle up to Oklahoma, but hopefully they won't be too bad. THree nights will do it, nothing booked yet. However, with a Great Dane and an Standard Poodle in the back, it will not be the Ritz................and we leave at 04:30 tomorrow.
04-12-2012, 03:11 PM
#40
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Its time for the long trek back , and we load up the rig with the dogs, bags, and ourselves. We have everything from a half ton jack to a set of golf clubs. The GVW of the whole thing is about 11,000 lbs, and the first part of the trip is a fair size climb from Scottsdale to the high plains of New Mexico and across the Panhandle to Amarillo. Unlike the outbound trip we will make very few detours. The weather forecast is uncertain although we will not likely hit snow as we did on the way down. We have a new set of tires and had the bearings repacked on the trailer, plus a full inspection. The trailer was a worry as it occasionally cadence braked quite violently, and we could not figure out the problem. After much head scratching, it transpired that the problem was the trailer controller mounted in the Cayenne. It is sensitive to radio signals are close range, and my blackberry in the dash pocket was interfering with it. Tires are pumped up to the recommended 50psi on the trailer and rears tires of the Cayenne.
We leave at sunrise, saying goodbye to the Saguaros and the Arizona,
The climb is about 90 minutes from 2000 ft above sea level to 7000, which robs engine power, so we experience a fair bit of third gear ascents The Tiptronic is handy for the downward long sweepers to hold hear.
As always, there are cars to be seen:
We stop for fuel at Meteor Crater. The sky is impossibly blue and the air is gloriously clean, The dogs are excellent travellers, with the Dane behind the rear seat and the poodle on the rear seat. The poor SL becomes our baggage and dogfood carrier
We pause briefly at the abandoned trading post at Twin Arrows, once a Route 66 institution, now a relic like so many.
The Continental Divide is the highest point in our journey . Geographically all rivers flow to the Atlantic Ocean system east of the Divide, and to the Pacific West of the Divide. It is marked by a trading post selling cheap crafts and jewellery that was more Hong Kong than Hopi......
The topography changes as we traverse New Mexico
As we drive onwards, the weather ahead begins to deteriorate , with the sky churning and random lightning flashes appear. In Texas and NM the horizons are endless, so the skies are very impressive.
We do see a couple of cars though...including this Cobra Daytona Rep:
This is a Crosley on the left I think:
In the distance we pass the Cadillac Ranch which I showed in a prior thread in detail:
We have done 730 miles. Time to call it a day. The weather forecast for tomorrow is not good as we pull into Amarillo
We leave at sunrise, saying goodbye to the Saguaros and the Arizona,
The climb is about 90 minutes from 2000 ft above sea level to 7000, which robs engine power, so we experience a fair bit of third gear ascents The Tiptronic is handy for the downward long sweepers to hold hear.
As always, there are cars to be seen:
We stop for fuel at Meteor Crater. The sky is impossibly blue and the air is gloriously clean, The dogs are excellent travellers, with the Dane behind the rear seat and the poodle on the rear seat. The poor SL becomes our baggage and dogfood carrier
We pause briefly at the abandoned trading post at Twin Arrows, once a Route 66 institution, now a relic like so many.
The Continental Divide is the highest point in our journey . Geographically all rivers flow to the Atlantic Ocean system east of the Divide, and to the Pacific West of the Divide. It is marked by a trading post selling cheap crafts and jewellery that was more Hong Kong than Hopi......
The topography changes as we traverse New Mexico
As we drive onwards, the weather ahead begins to deteriorate , with the sky churning and random lightning flashes appear. In Texas and NM the horizons are endless, so the skies are very impressive.
We do see a couple of cars though...including this Cobra Daytona Rep:
This is a Crosley on the left I think:
In the distance we pass the Cadillac Ranch which I showed in a prior thread in detail:
We have done 730 miles. Time to call it a day. The weather forecast for tomorrow is not good as we pull into Amarillo
04-12-2012, 04:53 PM
#41
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
The next day was when we had the most dangerous moment of all. Coming down a long shallow hill on a four lane highway. Semis in the right lane. We were in the left lane at speed of traffic, about 70 mph. At the bottom of the hill was a crossover from the opposite side of the highway for police use. An old pickup with a young driver took a short cut across the median, and without stopping pulled out into the fast lane ahead of us.
and...stopped right in the fast lane. He was looking around, baseball cap on backwards, wondering where to go. Full emergency stop, horn blaring, no option to pull around as there were semis in the other lane.We came to a stop, about six feet behind him, fully aware that we had to pull around into the moving lane before we were hit from behind.Acceleration with an 11000lb weight is not exactly dragster fast. Phil was driving at the time. This was the first serious emergency stop under load and it proved the value of the brake controller which allows you to adjust the trailer brakes for load conditions, and is very effective to avoid a jackknife. This happened in clear dry conditions , luckily as we had periods of very greasy roads.....more pics when I get a chance
and...stopped right in the fast lane. He was looking around, baseball cap on backwards, wondering where to go. Full emergency stop, horn blaring, no option to pull around as there were semis in the other lane.We came to a stop, about six feet behind him, fully aware that we had to pull around into the moving lane before we were hit from behind.Acceleration with an 11000lb weight is not exactly dragster fast. Phil was driving at the time. This was the first serious emergency stop under load and it proved the value of the brake controller which allows you to adjust the trailer brakes for load conditions, and is very effective to avoid a jackknife. This happened in clear dry conditions , luckily as we had periods of very greasy roads.....more pics when I get a chance
04-13-2012, 10:38 AM
#42
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
The next morning in Amarillo the fog is dense in the darkness at 5am. I drive out onto 40E, tracking the road markings. For 125 miles I neither pass nor am passed. The highway is deserted and featureless apart from the giant concrete cross in Groom TX , the light burning through the fog. We run through the dawn, the land getting greener as we traverse the rest of Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri, only stopping for gas and to exercise the dogs until get past St Louis into Southern Iowa.
Some large wheels at the local Kum and Go....
I like the way Peterbilt uses full size trucks in their signs. Saw this in several places
We stop for the night at Litchfield in Southern Illinois after a 700 mile run. There we discover a gem on old Route 66.
The Ariston Cafe was founded in 1924 along the side of what became Route 66 by Pete Adam. In 1935, 66 was rerouted, and he moved the restaurant to a new building that year, built at a cost of $4300. Despite the Depression, the restaurant prospered, at one time boasting a couple of gas pumps. Once again 66 was re routed, from the front to the back of the restaurant, so he simply moved the entrance to the other side.! Today, his son Nick, still runs the restaurant, largely unchanged, and it is being passed down to Nick's son. Nick shows us Route 66 books in a variety of languages given to him by their authors. The German books are autographed and annotated by German visitors, the Japanese in Kanji by Japanese Route 66 fans and so on. He tells me that Germans are particularly fascinated by Route 66 lore and are frequent diners. The food is very good, and the place looks much like it did in 1935. Prices are moderate, but not quite at the level of the original menu on the wall, when a steak was 85 cents. Unlike so many places along 66, business in booming. Here in Illinois, you have to look for historical parts of 66 and very little of it remains unchanged.
Another night in a cheap but clean Super 8 Motel.
Nick, the Proprietor:
Its below freezing next morning when we head out for our last 700 miles.
Our final day is a slog up through Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ontario. We arrive home at 8pm having done 2300 miles in two nights and three days.. The dogs are in excellent shape and the vehicles need nothing more than a wash.
Some large wheels at the local Kum and Go....
I like the way Peterbilt uses full size trucks in their signs. Saw this in several places
We stop for the night at Litchfield in Southern Illinois after a 700 mile run. There we discover a gem on old Route 66.
The Ariston Cafe was founded in 1924 along the side of what became Route 66 by Pete Adam. In 1935, 66 was rerouted, and he moved the restaurant to a new building that year, built at a cost of $4300. Despite the Depression, the restaurant prospered, at one time boasting a couple of gas pumps. Once again 66 was re routed, from the front to the back of the restaurant, so he simply moved the entrance to the other side.! Today, his son Nick, still runs the restaurant, largely unchanged, and it is being passed down to Nick's son. Nick shows us Route 66 books in a variety of languages given to him by their authors. The German books are autographed and annotated by German visitors, the Japanese in Kanji by Japanese Route 66 fans and so on. He tells me that Germans are particularly fascinated by Route 66 lore and are frequent diners. The food is very good, and the place looks much like it did in 1935. Prices are moderate, but not quite at the level of the original menu on the wall, when a steak was 85 cents. Unlike so many places along 66, business in booming. Here in Illinois, you have to look for historical parts of 66 and very little of it remains unchanged.
Another night in a cheap but clean Super 8 Motel.
Nick, the Proprietor:
Its below freezing next morning when we head out for our last 700 miles.
Our final day is a slog up through Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ontario. We arrive home at 8pm having done 2300 miles in two nights and three days.. The dogs are in excellent shape and the vehicles need nothing more than a wash.
04-13-2012, 10:50 AM
#43
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
There is of course more still to see on Route 66. I saw cars and scrapyards I would love to have examined, and missed better photos than I took. I did not have my camera with me when I saw two immaculate Cobras parked near a breakfast place in Arizona. They appeared original and were properly badged as Cobras, but cold have been continuation cars. They were certainly not kit cars. Then there was the very nerdy chap in a Ford Explorer who had the most magnificent baseball cap. A casual glance suggested it was a Superman cap, but a second glance and I realized it was........SuperJesus. A delight.
04-13-2012, 10:53 AM
#44
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
We did 2600 miles outbound, plus lots of travel in the layover. 2300 miles on the way back. Unloaded MPG driven briskly was 18.2, Loaded MPG on the return journey was 11.6. Oil consumption was zero. Total fuel costs for the WB and EB journeys was about $1400, with the most expensive fill up (premium) in Canada being $118 in Canada and $94 in the US.