My First C10 (72' fleetside) - 2,100mi drive home - Photos

[1956cameo]

I guess I missed this when it was first posted in 2013. Awesome road trip and an awesome truck! I always wanted to do what you did. The very first 67-72 chevy truck that I ever bought was a 1970 SWB truck that I got in your hometown of Missouri City. My road trip was nowhere nearly as scenic as yours. I drove it from Missouri City around the 610 loop up to Crosby (By Humble/Atoscacita). The most scenic thing we saw was the chemical plants going over the ship channel. Houston is a great place to live, but like you said it ain't beautiful.

[Ekliptix]

Update: I moved back home to Canada (Calgary) from Houston, after 4 awesome years in the USA.

My Canadian buddy also living in Houston (ex coworker) was also planning to move back to Canada, so we each rented the biggest UHaul trucks we could, sold each of our houses, and towed 2 of my cars (C10, Z06) up to Canada. We each flew down a friend to co-drive. Our call signs were Idaho (my buddy) and my UHaul was Sea-Cow because it was slow and felt overloaded.

It was quite a trip.

We were all ready, up bright and early to get some miles under out belt. However, our UHaul would not start. 6 hours later, it was running after a mechanic replaced the starter on the engine, and a flat tire. Finally hitting the road with our 2 UHauls, we made it 200 miles before the transmission on our 2nd Uhaul overheated and stopped working. 2 hours later, a mechanic showed up, did not know what the problem was but the transmission had cooled down and we were able to limp both trucks to a town with a hotel.

Making preparations. Loading up the vette. I actually like these UHaul trailers. Built some wooden risers to let the bumper clear the front of the trailer.


The morning we were trying to leave. Dead starter right as we were about the start the trip.


Discovering it was not a dead battery.


A couple hrs, later waiting for a mechanic to fix the trans.




There was not enough room in the UHaul.




After letting the trans cool and limping to a town. Waiting for it to cool again before driving 1/2 mile to a hotel.


The next morning we got up, the air was cool and we managed 150 miles before the transmission in the 2nd truck overheated and quit again. Now we were stuck in a little town called Quanah, TX feeling the 100F heat. Uhaul agree to send another mechanic (2hrs away).

This is us waiting for the UHaul mechanic in Quanah. It was hot.



Not surprisingly, this new mechanic also couldn't find a solution. At this point, we've been fighting with UHaul to send us a replacement truck. They finally agreed, and said they'd have one to us the next day, to Quanah. So, we had a second night to spend there, waiting. So, we first tried turning the key on the trip at 6am the day prior. So far, we'd only knocked off 350 miles into our 2,300 mile trip. We were still in Texas haha.

The next morning, we decided to unload all the contents from the broken UHaul ourselves, into our hotel parking lot. This way, when the replacement truck arrived, we could load it and get on our way.

Little did we know, some of the 2,600 total population of Quanah thought we were having a yard sale, so they pulled in and starting looking through my buddy's items and asking about prices. There were at least 4 trucks that stopped in this way while we were waiting for the new UHaul to show up.





We made our own fun. My co-driver shown.


The new UHaul showed up, we got it loaded and the rest of the trip was super smooth.



















AT THE CANADA BOARDER!!


In Canada


Celebration in Canada.


A map of our memories from the trip







I Racewrapped both cars for the trip. Still, a lot of dust got in, although the paint is great.




Cleaned up


A photo with mine + my Dad's 71 big block.






And that's my trip home! I'm living in a condo in Calgary, downtown so the truck is in a heated parking garage downstairs (with a car wash!). It'll be hibernating for the winter.

[Ekliptix]

And a couple pics since being back in Canada (moved July 2015), because I like showing this place off.

























2 days ago, "curling" on a frozen river.

[Sklptrljay]

Excellent pictures. Canada looks beautiful, you and your dad's trucks too.

[95gATL]

That's an awesome story.
and even cooler trip back to Canada.
I enjoyed it.

[XwalkerX]

i like this thread.

good work.

[swamp rat]

Ok, the part about the yard sale had me laughing pretty good! Now the fishing shots... Wanna take a total stranger fishing with ya? J/K but that is some pristeen fishing!

[Ekliptix]

The fishing is amazing alright.
I did some lake fishing (peacock bass), beach fishing/surf fishing, and some offshore fishing in Texas and really enjoyed it. Fly fishing these cold water rivers, and mountain fed lakes is just different.

[71sierragrande]

Great road tales and documentation. Glad you enjoyed your time in the US, Canada looks like a blast, too.

Were you able to go very fast on the trip north? About 15 years ago, I rented a 14 foot uhaul moving truck and the trailer to haul my truck. When I picked up the trailer, it was completely covered in snow but I didn't think much about it at the time. Well, on the trip the trailer got squirrelly as hell at anything above 45 mph. I hated that thing and when I got to my destination after driving all night at snails pace, I wiped some snow off the trailer fender and I see a little warning tag that said "do not exceed 45 mph". What a POS, I have my own car trailer now that is smooth as silk at 80+.

[Shaky]

Nice story, nice pictures. I love Big Bend too.

[iGreek]

Damn, I have to admit...Canada looks pretty awesome. Gorgeous scenery.

That's crazy on the Uhaul experience. I've used there trucks tons of times and never had a problem.

[knomadd]

Thanks for sharing your adventure with us. I hope you're having fun back home.

[chevy72blu]

Thread of the decade?

Thanks for posting!

[Beaumont@]

Nice thread and nice truck. Could you please tell me where this exact spot is?
Thanks

[Ekliptix]

Right here bud: https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Lon...895d27f2349637

[Ekliptix]

And a cpl more photos from Canada, me snowmobile . Was a dangerous winter, 2 ppl I knew died in avalanches. It's been a mild winter in the city and I'll be busting the truck out very soon.

[Shaky]

You might want to consider posting your story on LMC's site. My buddy got 250 smackers for our little Alaska jaunt.

[SKT]

Originally Posted by chevy72blu

thread of the decade?

Thanks for posting!

.
.

X2!

.
.

[Stuntmonkey]

Great story mate. Nice to see another Canadian-Texas transplant back in Calgary!

That said, I didn't get to bring my truck back with me, and I sure do miss Texas house prices.

[crazycrew]

WOW!! Amazing road trip, both of them! Nice find on the truck! Mind if I ask what is it you do for a living?

[Ekliptix]

Hi, thanks. I'm in technical sales, selling software to engineers at oil and gas companies. Been doing it for 10 years.

Btw, I've been to Vacherie with my folks. Beautiful place.

[plastercracker]

some thing about these trucks and how they put a smile on your face ear to ear. must be the bow tie

[crazycrew]

Originally Posted by Ekliptix

Btw, I've been to Vacherie with my folks. Beautiful place.

No way man!! Thanks, yeah, it's a small little town that not many seem to leave once they've gotten older.

[Ekliptix]

Originally Posted by crazycrew

No way man!! Thanks, yeah, it's a small little town that not many seem to leave once they've gotten older.

I can see why. Angola was definitely a memory-maker, for the rodeo. Wow, it was crazy. Love the food in LA too.