2600 miles from Toronto to Scottsdale...the new trip (pics)
Discussion
It had been raining forever, it seemed, as we prepared to head down a little of 66 and a long way to Arizona. I have posted some earlier Route 66 threads and will not bore you with repeats. This time would be different. For business reasons we had to minimize the time away, and also set up the car to be a mobile hotspot, as my co-driver was working on a deal as we moved.
Monday:
All preparations were complete. The Cayenne was inspected at the dealer, and apart from a burned number plate bulb,nothing was required. Phil pulled the wheels on the trailer and had them balanced. It kept raining and raining.
Thursday:
We had hooked up the trailer and loaded the SL the previous night,checked that all electrical connections worked properly, ( Cayennes are notoriously finicky with trailer controllers and lights). At dawn we loaded the dogs,our stuff, and headed for Arizona. It was 5c and wet. The dogs are older, and the Great Dane in particular is almost 10, and sadly a less vigoruous dog than last year. I fear she will not have so many trips left, but she is game and very good natured. We settle her in her bed, the poodle on the back seat, and our almost 11,000 lbs pulls out into the darkness.
Into a watery Michigan morning:
A brief detour onto Route 66 to see the exceptionally kitschy blue whale of Catoosa:
As we were time constrained, we simply ran until we could not longer spell each other and covered Michigan, Indiana,Illinois and part of Missouri, about 924 miles. The Cayenne is pretty bulletproof and quiet, the V8 having no trouble. My wallet did have a little pain as we were averaging 11.5 MPG, almost identical to the previous trip. However, the least interesting part of the was over.
FRIDAY:
Through Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas we ran almost without stop apart from refuelling, stopping in Tucumcari NM in Route 66. The weather had suddenly improved and we were at last dry, with the whole rig utterly filthy. Tucumcari had some of the least interesting food on 66 as we found out, but has quite an authentic main drag.
A truck graveyard in Shamrock Texas
An unusual sight in Amarillo
Tucumcari NM
A few America inspirational messages here and there, but strangely, zero bumper sticker for the Obama-Romney fight. I thing the political climate is so toxic on both sides that people do not publicly declare.
At a New Mexico gas station...excellent
Then,highway 40 just stopped. Giant tailback for many miles. After an hour and half a mile we detoured for old 66.
The hamlet of Buddville is names for Bud Rice who had the trading post here and named the place after himself. After many years here, old Bud was gunned down by desperadoes in a botched robbery. The trading post, now closed, still stands.
Back on 40 we saw another survivor:
We decided to stop briefly at Gallup NM
The dogs had a look at John's used cars:
We had made exceptionally good time, so decided to detour to Monument Valley across the vast Navajo reservation
Then the fun began. We unhooked the trailer and headed into Monument valley at sunset, an unforgettable experience.
The truck was filthy, no idea why
IMG]http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n29/RMcG/Route%2066%20Fall%202012/file-62.jpg[/IMG]
Sunset fell and we called it a night
Morning of day 4 we left Monument Valley for Scottsdale AZ, our final destination:
Unhooked trailer where it will be stored for the winter, and washed the filthy vehicles
We are heading out for a bit of offroading in the Jeep, which lives here, before the return trip, which will have more of 66
2600 miles, three and a quarter days, 11.5 mpg.
Monday:
All preparations were complete. The Cayenne was inspected at the dealer, and apart from a burned number plate bulb,nothing was required. Phil pulled the wheels on the trailer and had them balanced. It kept raining and raining.
Thursday:
We had hooked up the trailer and loaded the SL the previous night,checked that all electrical connections worked properly, ( Cayennes are notoriously finicky with trailer controllers and lights). At dawn we loaded the dogs,our stuff, and headed for Arizona. It was 5c and wet. The dogs are older, and the Great Dane in particular is almost 10, and sadly a less vigoruous dog than last year. I fear she will not have so many trips left, but she is game and very good natured. We settle her in her bed, the poodle on the back seat, and our almost 11,000 lbs pulls out into the darkness.
Into a watery Michigan morning:
A brief detour onto Route 66 to see the exceptionally kitschy blue whale of Catoosa:
As we were time constrained, we simply ran until we could not longer spell each other and covered Michigan, Indiana,Illinois and part of Missouri, about 924 miles. The Cayenne is pretty bulletproof and quiet, the V8 having no trouble. My wallet did have a little pain as we were averaging 11.5 MPG, almost identical to the previous trip. However, the least interesting part of the was over.
FRIDAY:
Through Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas we ran almost without stop apart from refuelling, stopping in Tucumcari NM in Route 66. The weather had suddenly improved and we were at last dry, with the whole rig utterly filthy. Tucumcari had some of the least interesting food on 66 as we found out, but has quite an authentic main drag.
A truck graveyard in Shamrock Texas
An unusual sight in Amarillo
Tucumcari NM
A few America inspirational messages here and there, but strangely, zero bumper sticker for the Obama-Romney fight. I thing the political climate is so toxic on both sides that people do not publicly declare.
At a New Mexico gas station...excellent
Then,highway 40 just stopped. Giant tailback for many miles. After an hour and half a mile we detoured for old 66.
The hamlet of Buddville is names for Bud Rice who had the trading post here and named the place after himself. After many years here, old Bud was gunned down by desperadoes in a botched robbery. The trading post, now closed, still stands.
Back on 40 we saw another survivor:
We decided to stop briefly at Gallup NM
The dogs had a look at John's used cars:
We had made exceptionally good time, so decided to detour to Monument Valley across the vast Navajo reservation
Then the fun began. We unhooked the trailer and headed into Monument valley at sunset, an unforgettable experience.
The truck was filthy, no idea why
IMG]http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n29/RMcG/Route%2066%20Fall%202012/file-62.jpg[/IMG]
Sunset fell and we called it a night
Morning of day 4 we left Monument Valley for Scottsdale AZ, our final destination:
Unhooked trailer where it will be stored for the winter, and washed the filthy vehicles
We are heading out for a bit of offroading in the Jeep, which lives here, before the return trip, which will have more of 66
2600 miles, three and a quarter days, 11.5 mpg.
The Leaper said:
Great stuff, super pics!
Gotta get myself to Monument Valley...it's been on my must-see places list for too long now!
By the way, at UK prices I reckon the cost of gas here for that 2600 mile trip would be around $510.
R.
225 gallons in total..maybe $900 here. Not sure of UK equivalent.Gotta get myself to Monument Valley...it's been on my must-see places list for too long now!
By the way, at UK prices I reckon the cost of gas here for that 2600 mile trip would be around $510.
R.
DoctorX said:
Fantastic, love your posts. You're a lucky guy.
In some ways I feel as if my whole life has been on the road, and had jobs with huge travel since I was 21. I keep meaning to sort out my pre-digital photographs which have some interesting stuff, (there are thousands of them) but I probably never will....DoctorX said:
Fantastic, love your posts. You're a lucky guy.
In some ways I feel as if my whole life has been on the road, and had jobs with huge travel since I was 21. I keep meaning to sort out my pre-digital photographs which have some interesting stuff, (there are thousands of them) but I probably never will....
RedWhiteMonkey said:
The loop through Monument Valley is great fun. We did it in a Dodge Challenger earlier this year. Half way round a thunderstorm hit and the combination of valley dust, driving rain and wind turned our bright orange car even more orange.
Yes, did it in a car years ago...quite navigable. Never in the rain though
a311 said:
Great pics, sounds like an awesome trip thanks for sharing and hope your Great Dane gives you a few more years yet.
Very sadly, she left me today. No more trips. In her tenth year. She had shown signs before, but made it here. More old age than anything else. When she arrived at the house she became listless and stopped eating. Became unable to walk within a day and I kept her another day for my wife to arrive. We said goodbye to her this morning. She had more personality than any dog I have ever owned.
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