Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast Road Trip !!!

[wagnerda]

Heading out for an “Atlantic-to-Pacific-to-Atlantic” road trip !!!

Left Maryland the end of last week heading for the South (Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama) then coming across thru Mississippi and Louisiana, then turning a little North across the corner of Arkansas then West thru Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and on to California…Then back thru Nevada, Utah, Colorado (with a stop in Denver to pick up my sister), then Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota (for my Dad’s Birthday—he’s getting up there in years so always nice to stop by) then down thru Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio (with a stop at the Airstream factory for the “factory tour”) then down thru Kentucky, Tennessee to the Outer Banks of North Carolina (my absolute favorite place in the USA…) and then back up the coast to Maryland by the end of the month… So, a fairly ambitious schedule for 4 weeks, but will see how it goes….

Attached should be a picture taken last nite at the KOA in Meridian, Mississippi… Nice place and I was on a little hilltop in the pines, and could hear a bit of traffic as the KOA is about a mile off the freeway (I-20).

I will send tidbits as I get them… Wave if you see me on the road --- 19 footer towed by a blue Ford Ranger ext cab 4x4…. Shoulb be in Arkansas today...

Best regards, Dave

[TIMEMACHINE]

Bon Voyage!!!

We did something similar last year, but instead we started out from CA. I agree, the Outer Banks is beautiful and has became my favorite as well.

While in Arkansas, you might want to check out the Crater of Diamond State Park, you get full hookup for $15/day in a beautiful woodsy campground. You can dig for diamond for additional $7/person all day, and if you find it, you keep it!!!

Have a great time and enjoy every moment. Best of luck...4 weeks time is extremely aggressive. We did it for 6 weeks, but we did stay at the Outer Bank and Jackson Center, and Yellowstone longer than expected.

Keep us posted on your adventure.

[thecatsandi]

Nice trip but why the hurry?

[Boondocker]

Sounds like a great trip. Be gentle with your TV out here in the west-towing here is a bit harsher than east of the creek at St Louis- and wave if you pass through Lawton OK. Keep the pictures comming.

[bobkelly]

Have a great time and post your favorite new spots after you complete this epic journey

[Goin camping]

Have fun be safe and where in Ca. Are you going?

If you hit Southern Ca. let us know.

[wagnerda]

Hi again,

Yes, 4 weeks is short but it is the best I could get as part of my “negotiated travel agreement”… You see, while I am “retired”, my other ½ is not and she only has a set amount of vacation time so the best deal I could “get” was that I was “allowed” 3 weeks to be “loose” on the hiways and then she will fly out to join up with me for the last week (to include Ohio & the Outer Banks)…

So, I took what I could get…. And yes, I felt “guilty” (sort of J ) when I pulled out of the house and headed South, but…..

Anyway, I am now at the first KOA inside of Oklahoma on I-40….

Hopefully a pic is attached – they have a nice wifi here so I will see if I can access it (my Verizon Broadband card don’t work from here but it did work in Little Rock today so must just be good in cities ???)

Anyway, gotta go toss on a burger and make some chow… Will see if I can send another posting after dinner tonite.

regards, Dave

[Fyrzowt]

Sounds like a great trip, enjoy! I'm jealous.
Dave

[wagnerda]

Hi again,

So, since I am cruising by myself I figured I would take in a few places that my wife wouldn’t be too interested in anyway so when I passed thru Augusta Georgia I stopped by Ft. Gordon (Army base) where I was stationed back in the 70’s. They let me drive on base (I have a valid DoD sticker on my truck) and even found my old barracks.. They are still there from 30+ years ago and looked the same. I can’t say for sure I knew which of the 5 or 6 bldgs was my old one, but it was one of them.

Then, as I drove past the parade grounds (a big, huge grassy field for you non-army types) it gave me a “flash-back” to the 70’s… I all of a sudden remembered all the times I had to mow the grass on that parade grounds. One summer in the mid-70’s I had finished my training and was waiting to ship out but my security clearance wasn’t done yet so I was in “hold-over” status, which is like being in limbo except you get to go whatever “they” tell you to do – which in my case was I cut grass for 4 months in the hot Georgia sun…. But, I was really lucky because at the time I was an E-4 (Corporal) so I got a riding lawnmower….

Anyway, I had forgotten about that memory for 30 years until I drove past the field… Not sure yet if “awakening” that memory was good or bad… J

Anyway, tomorrow – around noon Tuesday – I plan on swinging by Lawton OK to at least see the main gate of Ft. Sill – I was also stationed there in the 70’s…. One of the the nicest memories I have of Ft. Sill is that on Saturdays we could always sleep in a little and I remember laying in my bunk in the barracks – 70 men to an open bay in WWII style barracks – anyway, we were over somewhere near the cemetery and on Saturdays they always had funerals and I remember laying in my bunk and hearing them play “Taps” over and over for each funeral…. Sort of a weird memory I guess, but actually, “Taps” is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs ever…

At any rate, Lawton OK and then I think heading for Amarillo ??? Isn’t that where somebody buried 10 Cadillacs in the field ??? Gotta go and see it…

Regards, Dave

Attached photo from Ft. Gordon (no pics allowed inside Ft)

[TBRich]

Hey Dave...

Nice trip...are are really travelin'! You have the very same AS we do...if you hit SoAZ on I-10 through Tucson...give a holler!

TB

[wagnerda]

Hi again,

I took a swing down thru Lawton, OK to stop by Ft Sill to see if it had changed much in 30+ years... The answer is, no, looks about the same -- the Fort that is, the city of Lawton is way different than I remember and much bigger etc etc.

The funny thing was I entered Ft Sill thru the main gate off the freeway coming down from Oklahoma City - it was a Toll road ?? when did that happen ??? I thought we only had toll roads out East.

Anyway, I entered thru the gate and the normal inspection routine where they stick their head inside trailer to make sure it is not full of nefarious characters etc etc, before driving on base. Anyway, it must have been a slow day at the checkpoint because I ended up giving a full tour and explaining all about Airstream (in particular this 19 footer, the battery capacity, water, towing), etc etc -- like I was a salesman on the lot... I think we went thru about every option and feature in the trailer... (I have the sound package, satellite radio, etc)

Anyway, they were really interested (one of the 2 guys had previously had a Winnebago) so if they should now go and buy an Airstream I think A/S owes me a commission... :-)

byebye

[wagnerda]

Well, my wife always says I am just like Chevy Chase in the movie “Family Vacation” where everytime he sees some detour for the “World’s Largest Ball of Twine” etc he will take it…

So, today I saw this sign (photo below) and took the side road… Anyway, it was nice – the location is in Ft Sumner, NM. They have had a problem with people stealing the tombstone so they more or less solved the problem...


Regards, Dave

[Ganglin]

Sounds like a great trip, enjoy! I'm jealous.
Dave

Ditto what Dave said. Enjoy - sounds like a great time...

[wagnerda]

Un-hitched for a while to drive around and see the sights.... No luck again with my Verizon "Nationwide" Broadband card... Good thing I can still get local Internet hotspot... :-)

regards, Dave

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by wagnerda

.. No luck again with my Verizon "Nationwide" Broadband card... Good thing I can still get local Internet hotspot... :-)

regards, Dave

If you have a cell signal the card should be working fine. Call tech support.--- Oh and dont forget trying to use it inside the AS will weaken the connection a good bit.

[pmclemore]

RE your broadband card - I have found that if I can't get a signal, I'll send it though the wizard process. Often, that fixes the problem.

Thanks for your trip report.

Pat

[wagnerda]

Aliens everywhere !!!

Made it in to Roswell, New Mexico... I couldn't decide if I should just bob-tail it down there or tow the Airstream, but in the end I decided to take the Airstream with me in case any aliens came along because I figured that the Mother ship would just think I was another Aluminum Survival Pod and not mess with me....

And a nice lady at my previous stop told me to make sure that I had a full gas tank before heading down New Mexico Hwy 20 because "there was NOTHING in-between".... She was right... The first picture below is about midway down Hwy 20... I pulled over to the side of the road just to take that picture because I wanted to show how isolated it was....

In reality, there was no need for me to pull over. I could have stopped dead-center in the travel lane, got out my lawn chair, set up my BBQ grille right on the yellow line, lit some charcoal, waited for it to grey over, tossed on a couple burgers, fried them up, and then eaten the whole deal, loaded everything back up, then taken my picture and it wouldn't have mattered..... I didn't see a single solitary thing for a whole hour on that road -- not even a cow in the field.....

Driving along there I was glad I had done a few things like replaced the serpentine belt etc etc on my truck before I left home.... Nothing like driving down an i s o l a t e d hwy to make you think about vehicle maintenance...

Anyway, Roswell is way bigger than I thought it would be.... My appologies to everyone who lives there, but the perception etc that I always had was a very small town with a bunch of weird people and everything "alien"....

But there is McDonald's, KFC, and just everything, just like civilization... But there is also a couple weird places that are "on the fringe"... :-)

regards, Dave

[wagnerda]

Hi again,

I took Hwy 380 west from Roswell as it is indicated on my Rand McNally as a "scenic route"... It was, and gave my truck a workout, but it was a nice drive.

I took 380 about 100 miles over to I-25, then took that north to Los Lunas and got off on Hwy 6 going west. Wandered around for about an hour going 30 or so miles on what was maybe old #66 I think, and even had to wait for a while for some movie being shot out in the field - or grassland as it was not a field really.

Looked like they were shooting some Western movie.. Anyway, they had 3 Sherriffs cars out there with all the traffic stopped cause I guess it would wreck the scene to here some truck going by...

Anyway, ... Grants, New Mexico -- and my Verizon card has connected !!!

beybey

[Relentless]

Keep up the posts. Really fun to go along with you, if even virtually.

John

[wagnerda]

Hi again,

I got my pictures loaded in, so here is one along NM Hwy 380 west of Roswell. The road had lots of up/downs, and I think was around 6000~7000 feet altitude because it was getting up there...

It is listed as a scenic route and it was really, really pretty in thru here... Especially up around "Capitan, NM".... and there were a couple of signs about "land for sale"... I wonder if I could talk the wife into...........anyway...

My nice little 4.0 litre V-6 pulled along just fine, and in reality you wouldn't have wanted to go any faster than I did.... Lots of curves at 20~30 mph then foot to the floor and pull up the hill at 30~40 mph which was about right.

My truck is an automatic (4 speed plus an overdrive) which actually gives you the best towing capacity for a Ford Ranger. By getting the extended cab, and the 4x4 options, you get 16 inch wheels vice 15, plus the automatic gives you the extra sized radiator and an auto trans oil cooler. The 4x4 also drops the gear ratio to 4:10 rear ends which is nice for these hills.

Anyway, hotter than Hades out here and it towed every hill with water temps right in mid-range so no prblms at all... The truck has 58,000 miles on it so before I left I had a transmission flush and a radiator flush to get everything ship-shape....

One thing I do wish is that the Ranger had a bigger fuel tank on it. It has a 19.2 gallon, but out here I am getting 13.5 mpg towing on Interstate, but only 12 mpg towing thru the mountains so my fuel gauge is below 1/2 after just 100 miles...

Not a problem out East where we have gas stations everywhere, but are you all aware how far some gas stations are apart out here ??? I know you are, but in reality it is an issue for us from the East.... You need to remind Easterners to top off their tank before heading outta town because "it might be awhile.."

best regards, Dave