The mad planning for a mad road trip has begun......
Discussion
My wife does not wish to experience another year of winter misery in Canada, and has just bought a house in Arizona, (Northern Scottsdale) where houses are basically free these days. Work prevents me from wintering there.
There is a slight catch. We have a Great Dane and a Standard Poodle who are eight years old. There is no practical way to airfreight the Dane, so I am planning a 3700 km drive. (With a trailer behind for my wife's SL500, not a light car). The route will run Ontario-Michigan-Indiana-Illinois-Missouri-Oklahoma-Texas-New Mexico into Arizona. A mate of mine will co-drive with me, and we will store the trailer in AZ for the winter, so the return run will give us a chance to detour here and there with the empty SUV, pick up some blue highways,strange places, maybe a bit of Route 66. We will use a Cayenne S for towing which is very capable for the purpose, add a few spare wheels for the trailer as some of the states are very remote indeed. Lots of sponges,towels,some spare oil for the SUV, and the most worn out clothes we can find.
Turns out that there are very few places that take big dogs apart from Motel 6, which is a sort of earthbound Ryan Air. Also, some of the strips are surprisingly light on gas stations, so planning will be essential. Its a tossup which tires to use as it will be November when we run, so snows at the beginning of the trip will be melting in the desert. Likely we will run down on part worn all season tires, and get a new set in Az where they are a lot cheaper that Canada anyway.
There is some spectacular scenery on the way amidst long stretches of featureless highway, and Az itself is one of my favourite states, especially if you off road.
The dogs will be a challenge..they are not nervous but have never run this far before. A sack of dry dogfood and water will be packed so we will stop every three-four hours, and give them a walk every morning and evening. Am in two minds as to whether to sleep them in the 4x4..better for security, but not sure if it will be a bark/whinefest, so we will experiment if the temperatures are mild.
It will either be a bit of an adventure of a cross between National Lampoon's vacation and 28 days, but when it all happens I will post from the road here and there. Guaranteed something unexpected will happen crossing one province and eight states. I can imagine trying to find a Porsche dealership in Oklahoma
. Should be a few entertaining pics
There is a slight catch. We have a Great Dane and a Standard Poodle who are eight years old. There is no practical way to airfreight the Dane, so I am planning a 3700 km drive. (With a trailer behind for my wife's SL500, not a light car). The route will run Ontario-Michigan-Indiana-Illinois-Missouri-Oklahoma-Texas-New Mexico into Arizona. A mate of mine will co-drive with me, and we will store the trailer in AZ for the winter, so the return run will give us a chance to detour here and there with the empty SUV, pick up some blue highways,strange places, maybe a bit of Route 66. We will use a Cayenne S for towing which is very capable for the purpose, add a few spare wheels for the trailer as some of the states are very remote indeed. Lots of sponges,towels,some spare oil for the SUV, and the most worn out clothes we can find.
Turns out that there are very few places that take big dogs apart from Motel 6, which is a sort of earthbound Ryan Air. Also, some of the strips are surprisingly light on gas stations, so planning will be essential. Its a tossup which tires to use as it will be November when we run, so snows at the beginning of the trip will be melting in the desert. Likely we will run down on part worn all season tires, and get a new set in Az where they are a lot cheaper that Canada anyway.
There is some spectacular scenery on the way amidst long stretches of featureless highway, and Az itself is one of my favourite states, especially if you off road.
The dogs will be a challenge..they are not nervous but have never run this far before. A sack of dry dogfood and water will be packed so we will stop every three-four hours, and give them a walk every morning and evening. Am in two minds as to whether to sleep them in the 4x4..better for security, but not sure if it will be a bark/whinefest, so we will experiment if the temperatures are mild.
It will either be a bit of an adventure of a cross between National Lampoon's vacation and 28 days, but when it all happens I will post from the road here and there. Guaranteed something unexpected will happen crossing one province and eight states. I can imagine trying to find a Porsche dealership in Oklahoma
. Should be a few entertaining pics
There are all sorts of non dog-friendly things in Az..tarantulas are not an issue, but jumping cactus is. So, leashes it will be. If I could have airshipped the dogs I would have done so, but the Dane is too big, and its very stressful.I tried all avenues before deciding to drive them. OTOH they will not miss the snow and salt of a Canadian urban winter, and they have a big fenced yard to romp in. We will spell each other driving for three hour stints and run a 12 hour daily run. The house is an a reasonably civilized place so everything is paved and so on.
Still......beetling around in the brain is the idea of buying a Ford Raptor and keeping it there. I love driving off road there and have done it lots, generally successfully, apart from the time I got a Jeep washed away and had to walk seven miles to and hitch a ride on a sheep truck which was the first time I ever knew there were sheep there
Re prices of houses, relatively cheap but more downside to come. We did not buy a mansion..2000 Sq ft desert style house that was $750K in 2006 and we got it for $300k. Az was badly hit, but not as bad a Nevada and Florida which were disasters. We considered Austin, Tx which is a very nice place, but it was almost exempt from the housing meltdown. Az is a very right wing place so best not to get involved in political or especially gun rights discussions. The real estate agent urged immediate enrolment in the local gun club ( huge) where they let you plug away on a machine gun at no charge if its your birthday. However, there are lots of expats so its not a bad place. When this all gets going in November I will post updates from the road, of barfing dogs,flat tires, jack knifed trailers, car jackers, and trying to get a Cayenne repaired at the shade tree garage!
Still......beetling around in the brain is the idea of buying a Ford Raptor and keeping it there. I love driving off road there and have done it lots, generally successfully, apart from the time I got a Jeep washed away and had to walk seven miles to and hitch a ride on a sheep truck which was the first time I ever knew there were sheep there
Re prices of houses, relatively cheap but more downside to come. We did not buy a mansion..2000 Sq ft desert style house that was $750K in 2006 and we got it for $300k. Az was badly hit, but not as bad a Nevada and Florida which were disasters. We considered Austin, Tx which is a very nice place, but it was almost exempt from the housing meltdown. Az is a very right wing place so best not to get involved in political or especially gun rights discussions. The real estate agent urged immediate enrolment in the local gun club ( huge) where they let you plug away on a machine gun at no charge if its your birthday
. However, there are lots of expats so its not a bad place. When this all gets going in November I will post updates from the road, of barfing dogs,flat tires, jack knifed trailers, car jackers, and trying to get a Cayenne repaired at the shade tree garage!Edited by RDMcG on Wednesday 29th June 12:12
hornetrider said:
Surely you can air freight the Dane, it can't be beyond the wit of man?
Nope. There are several issues. THey will not ship at certain temperature ranges.Problem for Az. You can drive to NY and ship to LA on a special dog plane but that makes no sense. You can ship the dog freight if the temps are right, but planning for it at the shoulder season is a problem, and a 150Lb dog is not the easiest thing to move. Talked to everyone serving Toronto. Luckily, like most Danes, the dog is about as even tempered and non-neurotic as it gets. Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff