Mike & Andy's insane road trip (56k should run in fear)

[Longhorn Man]

*To view this thread a little better, press the F11 button to go full screen and get rid of all the tool bars and junk at the top of your screen*
I spent over 16 hrs between picking from the 600+ photos, then resizing each one, adjusting the colors... playing with a couple shots... then uploding them, and the typing it all out. Please leave a note, let us know what your favorite photo was, give opinions, something. No joke... over 16 hrs. (not in one sitting.... but 10 of them were today on my day off)


It's crossed every single person's mind who is in "the hobby" at least once.
"wouldn't it be cool to buy an old car on the 'other' coast, and drive it home?"
Well... that's what Fine69 (again... we'll just call him Mike) and I did over the holidays.
It all starts with a text that mike sent me telling me he has another road trip for me to go on with him. A phone call verifys what i though. he got on E-bay and got a car.... in PORTLAND!
I'll pause while you look at a map and see where Oregon is... and Ohio.
OK, so the final plan was, fly out on december 25th... and be home by the 5th of January. That should be plenty of time toget in trouble... right?
Let me tell you... we tried.
We tried hard!
9:30, after goin to the Ex's house and doing the gift thing with my son (he got me a couple DVD's and a guns and roses CD... cool huh?) Mike calls and says he's waiting for me in my driveway. He lives 50 miles west of here, and was flying out of Columbus, so his girlfriend drove him here and took me to the air port too.

She let me drive since I know the freeways here and she doesn't.
Luckily, we got there with plenty of time top spare.

When doing this kind of thing, you need to take some things with you. Tools, a blanket, flash lights, more tools, a roll of tape, if the car is not so equipped, you'll want a boom box, or better yet, everything you need to install tunes in the new car. So i had all that (stereo, speakers, XM included) all packed in a handy dandy metal coleman cooler. Check it as luggage, and use it to keep the dew cold on the way home. Seems logical right?
Well, the whole time I was in the army, our duffle bags were able to weigh 75 pounds when we'd fly. Either something chainged, or that was something only military personel was permitted. When i tossed the cooler on teh scale.(wrapped in cardboard and taped up tight) it was 59 pounds.
Yeah... 9 pounds over.
The cat that was workin the counter asked WTH we had in there and we told him the story. e-bay, car on the west coast, fun road trips.... the whole bit. He told us it was supposed to be like $130 fee for the overweight luggage. I almost crapped my pants right there. Mike pulled out his credit card and said "we need the stuff in there, and don't have the time to be moving 10pounds of tools into our carry on luggage. The cat said merry christmas... and told mike to put his credit card away.
WOW! New best friend here!


He infomed us that the TSA guys would probably be interested in this package, since it was so heavy, and full of metal.
My face turned pale, and I informed him that I had "inappropriate stickers" on the cooler. I ran over to the TSA counter as they were cutting hte top of the cardboard open.
Now there faces were pale too.


It turns out these guys are seriouse, and have very little sense of humor when they open packages that look like this. See, I have stickers all over the cooler... and a few of them had these guys worried.
More on that in a sec.
Here I am while the TSA guy is inspecting everything in the cooler.


This was after a brief discussion of who had ownership of the package, and how they usually call the police when they see something like this... and howI should think twice about bringing something liek this into an international airport. The one guy actually seemed scared to open it.
This is what he saw when he cut the top open;

(photo taken at a later point)

So after inspecting every single piece in the box, and rubbing everything down with special equipment to pick up 'residue'... they figure we are just crazy car guys and not out to cause harm.
Good thing too. At one point, the guy looks at me and says "This is the point where we usually just call the police"

WOW! At least they take there job seriouse... and I honestly felt a little safer knowing this. We thanked them all for doing there job, and for working on Cristmas morning, and went on to eat before getting on outr flight.
I snapped this pic with my phone before the pilot told us to shut them off;


I'm not kidding you guys... the pilot's name.... get ready for this...
Richard Johnson... can you picture how mike and I were ready to pee in our pants from laughing so hard/ I'm not kidding... you just can't make this stuff up!
We fly to Chicago with no real problems... I had the window seat and got to watch, mike was stuck in the middle with some dorky guy sitting next to him.
Once we get on our connecting flight after a 30 min delay and a gate chainge that we almost didn't notice, we sit down 3 rows from the tail of the plane. I snap this one out the window;


About that time, we notice the family sitting right behind us has a todler that was getting scared and started to cry. The father was doing everything he could to calm his little girl, but she cried all the way to Portland.
At least, that's what Mike tells me. i went to sleep as soon as I realized the kid wasn't going to quiet down. I was snooring and drooling on my coat before we even pulled onto the runway.
Mike ended up with a nasty headache from it.
I slept GREAT!
At least mike got the window seat this time.

We get there, and within 30 min of landing, we get our stuff, and Brad (aka, Brad) shows up to take us to his place. Brad has bucket seats in his truck. It's also a 5 speed, and since Mike has shorter legs than I do... he got to sit on the steel wheel Brad placed on the floor in the middle.
My seat was quite comfortable.


We get to Brads, I get my camera out of my bags, and Mike starts documenting me opening the cooler.

[Longhorn Man]

I'm glad they didn't unwrap the whole thing...




I have this thing about stickers... I cover everything with them. I shoulda kept some of the TSA tape and put it on the cooler.

spoken by El jay later on...
That cooler has more stickers than a redneck's bumper

Thaks man!

So here's the crue at Brads... Myself on the left, Brad in the center, and that's mike on the right. The background is Brad's 67 short/fleet sitting in a BUNCH of snow (by there standards anyways)


Brad is a great guy. He was very cool, let us crash there for a couple nights, hung out with us, told us all kinds of stuff about the area, his work, only little tidbits about his girlfriend... not quite sure why that is though...
Even though he is a great guy... he is the kind of guy, that 99% of car guys don't like.
How many of you still have your first car?
Brad does.
Yeah... you hate him now huh?
To make things worse... it's a cool car, and it is very VERY close to being all original... or at least it apears so. Here's brad's 68 camaro.. still with the inline and powerglide... and yeah, even the hubcaps.

Here's brad's latest toy... a 68 chevy short fleet, and this sucker is NICE!


So on the morning of the 26th, we go to get the man-wagon. This thing is neat!


The first thing I notice... no cup holders.
"Umm.... this ain't gonna work. We need to get your money back mike."

[Longhorn Man]

Mike had never seen the left coast. So we ditch Brad's 67 in a Home Depot parking lot, and head for the coast.
Mike and I are looking at all the cool older cars that just don't exist back east. We see a Vega... with full quarter panels... then a 78-ish ford fiesta... those things rotted to the ground in 82 back east!
We head to this town that brad had mentioned... have to go through this mountain pass to get there. With all the snow they have been getting in the PNW this winter, it made for some beautiful photos... take a look at some of these!








I'm not kidding when i say these photos just don't show it all. Now remember... Mike and I are from an area that gets snow. We've seen it before... but the trees and everything made it.... well, down right pretty.
We stop at a spot where a sign says something about a scenic view while we were still headin up the mountain. We figure we'll get some cool photos, goof off a few moments, and get rolling.
Me;


Brad;


and Mike;


Nothing can go wrong.... right?

So I'm trying to get a good picture. I see it is all set up... so I get in position...


but these two have no clue what I'm doing, so they start goofing off... uh dude.... MOVE!


Now HERE's the shot i wanted to get...

Add another hubcap... and this could be a dealer's promo shot back in 76!

[Longhorn Man]

Now here is the "I told you so" moment. The snow on the side of the road was built up by the plows, and the foot or so of snow. It was about 5 to 6 feet tall. well, there was supposed to be something pretty to look at... so I do what any man would do... I climb up the mound of snow to look over.
As I am climbing up, Mike tells me
"Um hey butt nugget... you're gonna fall into the snow... you're gonna sink"
No sooner than I say "I'm fine, it ain't gonna happen douche bag"...
yeah, you already figured it out. I'm left standing 'balls deep' in the white stuff.


We climb in the car, and go to take off. Mike just looks at the throttle, and we get a little sideways, and we aren't moving very well. Brad and I jump out to push. As soon as we get out there, i roll down the window on the tailgate, and flip the daul action gate down... pick up style. I tell Brad that as soon as the car is rolling... to jump in.
No photo avalible... we were pushing a sherman tank in the snow
As soon as I jump back in, I shoot this shot out the back


And again without the zoom...

I realize, even though i can flip the gate up, I can't roll the window up. It's manual, and the crank is outside!
Brad climbs over the seat, and rides up front with mike. I decide to take some photos out the back. I flip the rear facing 3rd row seat up, and kick back for a bit.




Then I get the crazy idea, to flop the tailgate down again, lean out while gripping a seatbelt with one hand, and my camera in the other, and I get this shot. It looks like we were sitting still, but if you look at the gravel in the snow, you can kinda tell we were in motion. We were actually 30 - 40 MPH kinda motion...

Sweet huh?

Now the next 2 photos, they are a reenactment. I did thise to demonstrate How I got a few of the shots that I managed to get.
When you flip the rear seat in the up position, there's a fairly deep well to put your feet in. I stood in there with the tail gate up, window down like this;


And stood out the back like so;


Mike didn't know what I was back there doing. He's toolin down the road between 30 - 50 MPH, and I'm hanging out the back like that... but... look at the "over the roof" photos I got!

[Longhorn Man]

You can see the roof in the bottom of the photos, and the antenna on the right. I intentionally left them there when i was cropping... just to show the insane amount of effort to bring you these awesome photos!
I like this shot too... it's not an 'over the roof' shot... but it is 'out the open window on the tailgate' shot;


So we get to this small town... Mike is quoted calling it "quaint"... yeah, we called him ... GAY!
I would say it was a "cool" town, maybe even "neat"... but not "quaint"
Here's a shot of the main drag.


Mike spots a sign on a store front;

I think we need to go back in the warmer months.

We hit the coast... even though it's like 45 degrees... and a 20 MPH cold wind... we HAVE to walk the beach.
Oh yeah, and it's a law... you MUST wear cool guy sunglasses when lookin sexy on the beach;


Mike and Brad never got the memo I guess;



We screw around, take some pics;


and head back up to the town... Mike grabs a big ass rock to take home.
photo not avalible... it's just a rock the size of his head

We head back over the snowy pass, and take a bunch more photos... but I'll only post this one...



And then, soon, Brad leads us to Mr Frizzle Fry... We'll call him Frizzle Fry, since his name was also Mike... and that would just get confusing.
Group shot...
left to right, me, mike, brad, and frizzle fry.

[Longhorn Man]

ok... since Mr Frizzle is so modest... I'm forced to toot his horn for him.
This man has SKILL! I am not kidding guys, he has more tallent in his left boot, than I'll have in my life. You guys think I'm messin...
We all know him for his bad ass chopped up suburban... cal it a Tahoe, call it a Taburban, call it sweet as h*ll....


Did you guys realize he already made it a 4 door?
See, here is where the tallent comes in. Just adding a 4th door would be too easy for Mr Frizzle. So, he did it in suicide... and pillarless.
Yeah... see, i told you.... MAD SKILL!!!


For some unknown reason... we didn't bother getting any photos of his C-5 (I think it was 5) 64 c/10.
Yeah... you read that right. LS motor, vette chassis, body chaneled over the frame to the point where the frame is INSIDE the cab. INSANE!

Now... here's where the tallent meets the insanity.
Anyone ever heard of a Sunbeam? Cheack out this one. This little bugar is clean. I don't mean clean for it's age.... i mean it looks dang near NEW. Even the trunk floor is still blue like it was 35 years ago.

Those rims look badass on there huh?

Hey mike... did you see in the engine compartment?


Honda S-2000 engine and tranny.


This little sucker should be off the hook.
Frizzle, and his side kick mini-frizzle were great to chill with. If you get the chance to hook up with him.... DO IT.


We head back over to brads, where Mike and I hook up the stereo and the XM, and toss a couple speakers on the floor in back.

We also got an auto-zone console to hold the XM, and our cans of dew.
Good save. I woulda HATED having to hold my dew all the way home.

A good night's sleep, and we are ready to roll in the morning. Toss the first case of dew in the offending cooler, put some snow out of brad's 68 truck in it... hey, why spend money on ice?


Get directions to the nearest Safe Way and the freeway... and we're outta here!
Peace bro


Tail lights and tire smoke my man...


Guys... Brad is another one, if you get the chance, meet him. This man will bend over backwards to acomidate you... an honest to god great guy.
I can't say enough about him... Bradis good people. He can take the abuse, and dish it right back at you.
We aren't far out of town, when we see this little green AMC Javilin. This little car had massive vette style side pipes, lift shackles, some nice looking (at speed) chrome reverse wheels with white letter tires... looked like it was locked up in 75, and brought out last month. Very nice.
The thing that got my attention, the driver looked to be 25 at the most... and he was giving US the thumbs up!!!! Now how sweet is that?

[Longhorn Man]

So we think we are on track, but somehow we get off the planned route, and are headed south instead of west. We were headed to the Pacific Coast Highway... Rt 101. Well, when I figure out what we did, and where we were, we get everything situated, and head west. This is when i realize, that there is no wrong road on a trip like this. And even when you are on a road that was not part of the plan, good things can happen. Like spotting a cool car.
Most 'normal' people would not dig this ride. But, no one EVER said Mike or I was normal.
I think all this car needs, is a coat of wax, dropped 3 inches, some cool rims and tires, and maybe a performance exhaust system.
how sweet would it be then?


Rt 101 is a sweet road. I've traveled a bit of it in So-Cal too. From southern LA up to Ventura. it's a beautifull area, however, i think this norther part may have more to offer. However, it was seriously lacking in hot chicks in skimpy swimwear though. So-Cal gets the nod on that part.
So back on the right road now,and the scenery picks up. Cliffs, and shore line and all kinds of stuff you just don't see everywhere you go.


Along the road, there's places to stop and pull over. Places to look at the view, places to smoke if you are on a non smoking flight... like I was...


Look one way, you see this;


The other way, and you see this;


Loved this house... Could you imagine hearing nothing but the waves crashing on the rocks all night?


Sometimes, the fog and mist would help the photos. This shot took me 3 times toget it right... that's a light house, not a car...



Came upon this diner. Neither of us even mentioned stopping, but it was a neat looking place though.


A little more driving, and a bunch of not-so-awesome photoslater, it's getting dark and we see this...


Kewl... the state of confusion.
Crash at a hotel for the night. In the morning, stop in for there free crappy continental breakfast and meet this older couple. They are headed from san-fran, to portland. Cool. They were actually headed further, but portland was there goal for the day. Real nice couple. No idea why... but here they are.

[Longhorn Man]

We talk and B.S. with them for a bit, and head out. It's raining and kinda miserable out there. Not long into cali... we see this
I initially took the pic with the camera, but I also did it with the cell phone. This one is off the phone, the camera's pic was comprimised due to rain on the lens.



I always knew the trees were big... but I had no idea the rest of the vegitation was so big. look at the ferns around me... I'm 6 foot tall...


Here's mike... again, on the cell phone camera...


Mike has WOOD!!!
I grabbed a smaller one later on at the next redwood forest.


Now, this next stop kinda surprised us both. We round this corner, and BAM! What the heck?
Look at the size of these things... the wagon is parked at the right for size comparison.


Was a place called Trees of Mystery in Klamath California.
I was smoking underneath babe the ox, and I had to pose for this shot. i noticed the paint was worn from where my feet were, so I can only assume this is a common thing.
At least, I sleep better thinking that.

(I know I'll catch crap for that shot... but at least i had the balls to post it!)

Now... back to more seriouse stuff. We stop at another redwood forest, and I see the perfect tree for the ever so popular photo.


The size of these things can not be apreciated on small photos...


The lighting was real poor, and it was raining, sosome of the photos aren't good at all... but when i saw this 8 foot tall stump, I had to climb it.Getting up on it was no problem... but, I had to jump off, and the landing kinda put me in pain. Not back wrenching pain... but my back was hurting though.


Back on the road... I saw this sign, and i just couldn't help myself. Even have a caption... but I can't type it on this forum;

[Longhorn Man]

Now, i have no clue if this is the Hooker Creek or not, but it was an interesting view. we stopped, took a bunch of photos, had a smoke or 3, climbed down to the water, collected cool looking rocks to add to my 'junk from the road'...


Down the river a bit, we see this rock. It looked so out of place, and was neat the way it broke in 3 like this. I don't know if it was due to falling, or if it was sitting there and the dirt underneath eroded away causing it to crack and break from it's own weight... but this thing was HUGE... 30 - 40 feet was my guess.


Back through some more redwoods. Ignore the light distortion on the upper left/center... that's reflections on the windshield. Many, if not most if the photos were taken from within the car.




More road, more not-so awesome photos... and then we are in Sanoma county. I knew that ment we were getting close to San-Fran. I few photos of the vinyards... but nothing impressive like I got last time i was out there. Then again, stuff was still growing at that time.
We see a car pass us... 3 totally HOT ladies in it. They are all 3 checkin us out... but wait, then I realize... they were laughing at us! No no no... that can't be true... they were driving a saturn... they COULDN'T be laughing at US!
We go through a tunnel, and pretty much as soon as we come out, I see the tips of the golden gate above the trees and stuff. I tell mike to get ready.
I'll tell you what.... Mike did an awesome job here. He turns on my camera, and tells me the batteries are dead. No place to stop, no way for me to find the camera case that had the spares... He locates the case, digs out the new batteries, pulls off the tri pod mount, gets them in and powers up the camera just in time to get this shot...


He actually got a few photos from within the car... but we got so many pics of the G.G. that it was hard to pick what ones got posted.
So we pay the toll, locate a parking spot and hightail it to the bridge before it gets dark.




Now we have a heck of a hike to get back upon the bridge. At least it was dry and 60-ish degrees out. just warm enough to start sweating on the hike up the hill.


It is actually starting to get a little dark in these photos... my camera does AWESOME in low light (to a point) conditions... you can see the lights are on up on top of the bridge.


To show what i mean on the lighting... a shot to the west...

[Longhorn Man]

On the looooong uphill walk from the dock (seen in the next photo) where we took the photos of us with the bridge in the background... Mike is quoted saying "I shoulda worked out that one time that i almost did."


More from up on top...


We both tried many shots like this next one... We use my camera, my call, but... his camera gets it best though. I had taken a few from directly underneath it, straight up, they were neat, but not postable...


We do the tourest thing... calling our friends and family and stuff... i think every call started off with "You'll never guess where I'm calling you from"
Yeah... friggen tourists.
My baby sister did offer this advice though. She said if you drop your keys... kick them over to the Oakland side before picking them up. Not even 10 min later, mike drops his camera. I have never seen a guy bend over and snap back up so quickly. if you've ever seen the movie Legally Blonde... then you know what I'm talking about... bend and SNAP.
I see this sign... and it makes me wonder...

So I spit off the side.
I can tell you that it takes an honest 12 to 15 seconds for it to drop from my mouth to the water. Crap only a guy would do.
As gay as it sounds... it's kinda cool being up there in the evening. Woulda been cooler with a hottie red head instead of mike... but oh well.
Now, we cruise on into San Fansico. we don't spend much time... we are both dead tired, and want to get to El Jay's house by pitsburg.
Let me tell you something... it was FUN cruising that big 'ole wagon in the city. Everyone has small hondas and 'green' cars like that toyota that isn't green at all... (prius) and we have this 2 1/2 ton car that is 3 times the length of anything else in town. The wagon also has a brand new daul exhaust with short glass packs and an H pipe... when you lean on the fast pedal, that 360 will BARK out the pipes. Rolling around town, up and down the hills, if I needed to move over a lane, I'd just turn on the signal, blip the throttle a moment, and all of a sudden... everyone would get out of my way. it was like magic! Pulling some of those hills with the pipes barking, echoing off the store fronts... memories that may never fade.
We had grabbed a 2009 Atlas from Wally World when we were at brads for $5. In San_fran, we discovered that the signs on the freeways don't match the signs on the map. I came to the conclusion that the maps were right, and San Fran was just waiting till the last min to fix there signs... I mean, a $5 map can't be wrong... right?
So we end up stopping at a gas station for directions. Now I know California has movie stars everywhere, and even more has beens laying around... but when we walked into the gas station, and mr miyagi showed us how to get there... I felt honored.
wax on, wax off.
We finally get to El Jay's... Larry. The sign on the front door told me we were gonna enjoy the visit.

Larry had some rules for us... and he was pretty dead set on them.
no smoking in the house, and if you are gonna wait for him to get you a drink.... you'll die from thirst.
Cool. I can handle that.
Now...remember what Mike said at the GG bridge... about working out... well, he got his one day workout now.


Mike was on a roll. he started talking about the signs that weren't posted on the freeway
gettin all P.O.'d and we were both so tired we may have well been drunk. He was on a roll. Most the stories can't be repeated on here due to graphic content... anyone who knows him... or me... knows what i mean. Lets just say I was laughing my ass off.

After a GREAT night sleep, (and a shower) larry was making us some awesome eats in the morning. (oh, and had a fridge full of dew too!)
Larry's shirt had me laughing...

Jerry jones... Larry's nephew if I remember right, showed up for breakfast, hung out for a but, but had to go to work. He said he'd try to get back before we left.
We were checkin out his 2 trucks... a C/10 long step... pretty awesome looking small block, and almost put back together after a little frontal impact.

[Longhorn Man]

And his driver for the moment.... a pretty clean C/2500 Siera grande (big block too!)

Very droolable.... original survivor. Dash hasn't even been cut... but I can fix that though.

No idea what was goin on here...


So far, all we've done was add oil, and a rad cap. installing the cap only pointed out the next weakest link... a loose lower rad hose. Upon tightening that, we saw a belt that was lookin pretty bad... so Larry takes us to his local mom and pop operated car quest store. Seemed like cool ppl, the lady didn't need the computer much, the guy was buisy taking care of buisness customors, her dad (80 year old man) was delivering parts.
I wish there were more places like this still in buisness. And in MY opinion... Larry gets a pat on the back for helping to KEEP these people in buisness.





Get back to Larrys and i see a sweet lookin rig on the curb...


Group photo time...
Left to right, you know who mike and I are... then Larry (el Jay) and on the right is Jerry (Jerry Jones)


Get the work done on the wagon... and head out for the best burger on the face of the planet.... yep...

[Longhorn Man]

Whle in there eating, this dude pulls upin a b!tchin 69 short step... I was taking pics of it when he came out of the in and out... turns out he's had it since 72. It had fresh green paint when he got it... and it's been wearing off ever since... then again, that was ONLY 37 years ago.


Tried telling him about the board... but his eyes kinda glazed over a bit when I spoke of the newfangled internet thing.
So, with directions in hand... a full belly, and windows down... it's time to take off.
Tail lights and tire smoke


I've never been one for taking photos of nature... nature is more of a back drop for a pic of something cool... like a car, or a truck, even better, a pretty lady. But, the stuff we saw in the next 24 hrs on the road, were breathtaking.
Jerry and Larry gave us directions to Sacremento via the scenic route. I'm not sure it it is a river... looks more like a canal to me... but it was beautiful. I think it was CA rt26? Either way... it was tough to just pick a few of the photos to use on this thread.
Some people never realize how tall these suckers are;


Who can resist a lobster with a top hat?


The road went back and forth across the water... draw bridges all over, and no 2 alike.


I'm not sure if they were moving the pyramids, or just some dirst... but look at how still the water is... made for some great reflections shots.
Remember, this was with me looking out the window rolling at 40 - 50 MPH;


Tell me this don't look like a jigsaw puzzle...


Just looked like a nice pic...


Stopped fora tic... just for more photos..

[Longhorn Man]

even our shadows are dead sexy!


I guess it's a new tradition... no texting while driving on new years day?
Actually, I plan on modifying it nad putting it on my phone, then text it to ppl when I know they are driving.
On the second... i guess everyone can go back to texting as they drive.


Now it's getting dark... as we head to reno


We get to Reno... see a parking garage that says free... swing the 'ole boat in there and head for the top...


Mike gets me trying to get some more roof top photos...


Now... when you are in a place like this, you need to have your picture taken. That's just how it is. i don't make the rules.
Now, you don't just hand your camera over to any schmuck on the strip... thieves are everywhere, and you don't want them seeing the photos you took of your girlfriend.
Here's how i do it.. look for the slow overweight guy... ask him to take your pic. At least you can catch up to him in a foot chase and find out if you can kick hios ass or not.


Mike said something about wanting to meet up with some guy on the reno 911? I'm not sure exactly what it was...


So we go into a casino, and I spend my life savings. Yep... a whole dollar.
I just don't see the atraction. But, I can say I did it.
Where they got me hard was at the gift shop. 11% sales tax.... wow!


We burn the midnight oil... cruising all night I can't remember if I drove or not... that probably means Mike was driving... I like to think I'd remember that. But, we did get to Utah just as the sky was starting to light up.
It was actually still pretty dark on these next two photos.


I don't have many dreams... I tend to keep it real. Expect little, and get less. It's a lifestyle.
However... visiting the salt flats has been a life long dream of mine... and the last few years, I've wanted to go and compete.
one down... one to go!

[Longhorn Man]

There's 2 things goin on in this photo that you can't tell... one... I am happy as a puppy with two pec... umm, nevermind.
yeah, I'm happy. That, and it's COLD! Man... 20 degrees or so, a nice cold breeze... my camera was actually acting stupid out there...


Going down the road to where they race... i take this photo...


I was looking at it, and I thought it would lend it's self well to playing with...


Can things get better than this?


There was only one other person there. Some English guy. Left his wife at a hotel so he could come out here at the crack of dawn to take pictures... and he asked to shoot the wagon. We were more than happy to pose it.


I've always loved it when the light hits the mountain (or rocky hill) but not the ground... always looked neat to me.


looks like water... looks like snow... nope, it's salt.
trust me. When no one was looking, i licked it.


I can still hear the cherry bombs barking!


Another one I had to play with...


Trying to look like I knew what I was doing. I know i DID know how to knock a chunk of that salt off under the sign... got it in a glass jar here now.

[Longhorn Man]

even though we BOTH wanted to run it on the salt.. we decided not to. We left after a while, and had to stop for one more photo...




I was awaked... I think


Something about this... i decided to get a photo while mike was gassing up. Set it up on the tri pod, and shot it. I didn't mess with the colors one bit on this photo. All i did was tinker with the contrast, and brightness. Those colors are real (sky mostly)


Now... these next three are the best of 7 or so photos. Color wise, I did the same as above... messed with the brightness, and the contrast... THAT'S IT! No color adding, no reflection adding... no photo shop... heck, I couldn't do that stuff if I tried.
Also remember... again, 60 MPH, out the passenger window...

[Longhorn Man]

Now... we got into Wyoming, and the scenery was so booring, the camera stayed in the case. All we could do was come up with phrases about how much it sucked.
Stuff like

Wyoming... a great place to take a dump

Wyoming.... it sucks worse than ohio!

About the only thing we saw worth taking a photo was the 19 year old at the hotel. Then again, this was the first chick we saw in Wyoming that had LESS facial hair than I do!
I don't mean to offend anyone from Wyoming... or any chicks with more facial hair than me... i'm just sayin...
As far as Miss Wyoming goes... she was workin the counter, and had some creepy guy buggin her... mid 40's, kept hittin on her hard. Askin "how do you like older guys" and everything. She asked us to hang out with her a bit till the creepy guy went back to his room. She seemed like a cool enough girl. She was greatfull that we hung out with her for a bit. Mike was dead tired, so i stayed at the desk for an hr or so till her mom picked her up.
Photo taken the next morning when we were leaving.
And yeah... she said the car sounded bad ass!


After that, we were supposed to meet up with Glock35... Bob. But, due to the time of evening we woulda been hitting Cheyenne, he had to pass. Turns out, he was going out of town with the wife the next day and they had to get things ready... get rid of the kids, pack, they were eating dinner when I called.
Basicly he picked a chick over us.
We see how it is Bob.
We did see a sign... kinda made us wonder what kind of safty laws they have there. When the billboard advertised of a place, that sold liquor... and FIREWORKS...
Something doesn't seem right on this idea. I dunno... maybe it's just us.
So we shoot through Cheyenne, and soon enough, we see a sign that makes us think better things are ahead.


uhhh... we were wrong.
We were SO wrong!
Let me tell you... 90 miles into Nebraska... we were starting to mis WYOMING!
No joke.
Wel heck, look for yourself!

I started to notice a bunch of dead trees.
I guess even trees need a little excitement to keep from dying of BOREDOM!
Here it is... the absolute most excitement we saw...


About the time I was getting ready to stab myself, you know, to end my suffering, and to keep Mike entertained... he noticed we needed some fuel.
Cool.
An exit ramp might be fun.
The sign at the truck stop/gas station/feed store/general store (they also had a subway!) kinda said it all. Not the big stupid sign... the one above it.

[Longhorn Man]

So we notice the shine on the 'ole wagon isn't looking so good, due to road sald, grame, and all the crappy weather in the PNW. We ask the lady running the gas station/general store if there was a car wash around, she just says something like "oh yeah, we got one in town" and kinda motions to the north-ish.
Cool... nothing like step by step directions from someone so full of cheer.
yeah... what ever.

It wasn't too hard to locate, there's only 8 or so streets in this town, and I think only 2 of them would let you out of it.
I let mike watch while I wash it.
Wait... I think I got screwed on that one... it was still cold out.




I think we heard banjos as the glass packs were screaming letting everyone know that 'the outsiders' have left town.

The sun is going down as we keep trucking towards the east.



Mike wakes me up... in Iowa I think... he's havin trouble staying awake. I start smacking him with a hammer for a bit... it seems to hold cure boredom sometimes.
We see a gas station that has a real funny name... we'll get to the name later. It was too late to hit that exit... but there was another one shortly.
But first... I knew I was in redneck heaven when i saw this wagon.
I don't know if I wanted to laugh, cry, or just act like I didn't see it.


So we pull up, get gas. Go inside. We both get hats with the store's logo on it. They had T-shirts, long sleave T shirts, girls hats, even had boxers with the name all over them. This is another one of those things where you'd think someone... the founder.. the loaning banks... ANYONE woulda said something...


Again... I'm just sayin.

[Longhorn Man]

And yes... for the record... when i was trying to chug the last of a can of dew...Mike said something funny, and I started to choke on my drink.
So I recovered from that, and I head in a low sinister voice...
"andy choked at the kum & go."
Yeah... I spewed dew all over the inside of the windshield, the dvr door panel, the dash...
The carbonated water did do wonders on my sinuses though.

So the sun starts to come up. I'm not quite sure where we were. Iowa... Illinois... indiana... even Ohio... you seen one... you seen them all.
Although, they were a bit more fun than Nebraska. I mean cummon... I discovered in Nebraska, that if I try real hard... I can fart the alphabet. Any fool can burp it.... but only the real cool guys can fart it and keep in tune.
However.... don't try too hard. An emergency PIT stop may be required.



So anyways.... the sun was coming up...


kewl

i did figure a little later... we werent in ohio yet...


So around noonish, we roll into Urbana. Mike is home.
I on the otherhand, I still had 50 miles left... and those 50 miles from his house to mine, are ALWAYS the longest 50 miles known to man.
You know... I'm not even 100% sure of what DAY we got home. the first... maybe the second? I dunno.
I do know we drove like 3300 miles.
Hey mike... you need an oil chainge dude.

So now I know many of you are asking.... would you do it again.
Well duh... hells yeah!

And there's some of you asking how many empties we had in the back of the car.
Well, I hate to disapoint... but we never counted them.
But we DID get a few photos for you though...










CLICK ---->HERE<---- TO OWN A PIECE OF THE STORY!!!!

[stllookn]

Whoa....dude...AWESOME PICS and commentary! I think that is a tear in my eye...no wait...it was just the dog farting!!!!! My vote for the best pic is the one of TSA opening the COOLER OF DOOM!

I'm going to haul all my sh$$ to Frizzle's place and just send him a monthly stipend!

[68 Stepside]

I still find it freaky that I was clicking the vote button on the salt thread when you texted me about this one.

Awesome pics man.

[El Jay]

GREAT tale, Dude!
And even better, it looks like I beat Jerry to it!!!!!!!!!!!!
When are you guys coming back?

[fastwillie 696969]

how much for this road trip cost --
i know its priceless being with a friend and bonding is real cool
but if you dont mind telling how many bones ??????$$$$$$$$$$

[toomanytoyz]

Well worth the Wait...............

Thanks Guy's.........

Rick

[GMCjunkie]

WOW!! Looks like yall had fun!! Great pics!! Even tho Mine and Candaces trips were usually out of necessity, I really do miss the road trips to Galveston in the Burb. Glad yall made it back safe and sound (not necessarily sane )

[463]

thanks guys, it's all about the trip, the good times and the bad, it's history in the makeing here and now. thats living life to the fullest makeing friends and a ton of laughs to boot. trips with no real agenda are the best. thanks it was very kool write with up and pics.