65h, 5000km's and I'm back!
09-Apr-2011, 01:22 PM
#1
65h, 5000km's and I'm back!
This may belong in a different section but since It's about my trip in my car....
Trip 1 across the country to get my 87 CRX out here started at 8:30 pacific time on Wed monring. Afeter getting to the ferry way to early and not getting to the mainland till just after noon, the morning started out feeling un-productive.
The old carb'd engine in my car leaks just a little at the carb and having a mere 30L tank, I was maxing 400km's per tank, But I did keep seeing the same few cars with alberta plates that were on the same ferry as me so that made me feel a little better about where I was vs how long it was taking. Still too early in the trip to be thinking about how much longer it would take I was alone and my mind was stuck on calculating how far I can get with how much gas I have and trying to time it out so I'd hit towns I knew would have gas, and taking into consideration for the towns that everything is closed early. I didn't wanna end up sleeping at a gas station for 10h just to get one tank of gas but that would be a better option vs running out some where random.
I was making good time and knowing that my engine tends to runn a little hot, it had been doing pretty good so far but as night fell and I cleared the pacific rim mountains with no real issues I was getting to the bigger Rockies side, timing it out again to give me the cool night air to help keep the car running smooth things were great till I got to Banff park area, then the snow started. Between the snow and the dirty roads the the lines were non existant. I got about 80-100 ft behind a transport and found that he was doing a great job of clearing the road long enough to keep me happy and that got me most of the way through the mountains, then I was upset to see him signal as he left the highway, I began to slow and thing another will pass me and...wait it instantly cleared up. I dorve for a while still and made it to Calgary around midnight.
Doing this trip on a serious budget and a need to get here ASAP, I decided to sleep in short brakes, in the car and not bother with paid accomodation. The first attempt at this didn't work as welll as it used to for me when taking a lunch time nap at work, 15-16h in a car seat, maybe not so comfy as it would be after 4h at work. Between that and the sketchy-ness of a town where cabs won't stop for you, you have to call and they'll keep on going right on past if you don't come out of a building after the get there, I decided to get back on the road and look for a rest area on the trans Canada, and near Medicine hat I did.
I had some pillows and a blanket and after a lot of fussing found a half decent way to sleep laying across the two seats, not bad but not great, after a rediculously boring drive through the prarries, I made it from Alberta through to Thunder Bay with nothing in between really. I Knew there was a rest area there at a Terry Fox look out point (I've now done the drive 4 times so I know a few places along the way) and decided at 6'3" I needed more leg room to sleep this time and looking back into my trunk I move the pass seat forward and folded it that way as well, stuffed my backpack down between the seat and the hump, the trunk in a 1G rex is completely flat, and laying on that diagonal I was able to get surprisingly comfortable and slept longer then I planned but I guess I needed it.
I woke up yesterday morning (Now friday) and drove through till Sualt St. Marrie but stopped for a lunch break at Old lady bay along the way, Lake Superior as I was driving along really gabbed my attention so I found an excuse to stop for a bit and let the car take a break too.
I had another small nap just after the Sue and then with one last gas stop in Sudbury I was on the home stretch. finally after 65h I was pulling off the 400 and onto the 401, never thought I'd be so glad to be in crazy traffic but there i was.
Now I have a ton of crap to take care of while I'm here because I need to fly back next friday and get my other car and truck ready for the trip so My GF and I can do it again. I'll be sure to take longer breaks next time though.
Here's some pics I took along the way!
My cars right before I left, The huge (for an EH3) rims were givin to me by a good friend to get the car rolling again that's another story though, the car will need to be lifted for the trip as the 215/45R17's are less then 1cm from the fenders as it sits.
Then again THESE are some big tires
Being that I drove through the mountains at night I didn't really get any good photos, I took a few but nothing came out great, this one from the 1st rest stop though, I'd like to play with this toy!
This monster province, this was really just over half of the way there!
A few of Old Lady Bay, these things are like 30 ft high
I know what your thinking in this one. "Is that saf... a CRX in the back ground?"
After that point I was just set on getting here so I put the camera away. Glad to be back! There gonna be a meet this Wed?
Trip 1 across the country to get my 87 CRX out here started at 8:30 pacific time on Wed monring. Afeter getting to the ferry way to early and not getting to the mainland till just after noon, the morning started out feeling un-productive.
The old carb'd engine in my car leaks just a little at the carb and having a mere 30L tank, I was maxing 400km's per tank, But I did keep seeing the same few cars with alberta plates that were on the same ferry as me so that made me feel a little better about where I was vs how long it was taking. Still too early in the trip to be thinking about how much longer it would take I was alone and my mind was stuck on calculating how far I can get with how much gas I have and trying to time it out so I'd hit towns I knew would have gas, and taking into consideration for the towns that everything is closed early. I didn't wanna end up sleeping at a gas station for 10h just to get one tank of gas but that would be a better option vs running out some where random.
I was making good time and knowing that my engine tends to runn a little hot, it had been doing pretty good so far but as night fell and I cleared the pacific rim mountains with no real issues I was getting to the bigger Rockies side, timing it out again to give me the cool night air to help keep the car running smooth things were great till I got to Banff park area, then the snow started. Between the snow and the dirty roads the the lines were non existant. I got about 80-100 ft behind a transport and found that he was doing a great job of clearing the road long enough to keep me happy and that got me most of the way through the mountains, then I was upset to see him signal as he left the highway, I began to slow and thing another will pass me and...wait it instantly cleared up. I dorve for a while still and made it to Calgary around midnight.
Doing this trip on a serious budget and a need to get here ASAP, I decided to sleep in short brakes, in the car and not bother with paid accomodation. The first attempt at this didn't work as welll as it used to for me when taking a lunch time nap at work, 15-16h in a car seat, maybe not so comfy as it would be after 4h at work. Between that and the sketchy-ness of a town where cabs won't stop for you, you have to call and they'll keep on going right on past if you don't come out of a building after the get there, I decided to get back on the road and look for a rest area on the trans Canada, and near Medicine hat I did.
I had some pillows and a blanket and after a lot of fussing found a half decent way to sleep laying across the two seats, not bad but not great, after a rediculously boring drive through the prarries, I made it from Alberta through to Thunder Bay with nothing in between really. I Knew there was a rest area there at a Terry Fox look out point (I've now done the drive 4 times so I know a few places along the way) and decided at 6'3" I needed more leg room to sleep this time and looking back into my trunk I move the pass seat forward and folded it that way as well, stuffed my backpack down between the seat and the hump, the trunk in a 1G rex is completely flat, and laying on that diagonal I was able to get surprisingly comfortable and slept longer then I planned but I guess I needed it.
I woke up yesterday morning (Now friday) and drove through till Sualt St. Marrie but stopped for a lunch break at Old lady bay along the way, Lake Superior as I was driving along really gabbed my attention so I found an excuse to stop for a bit and let the car take a break too.
I had another small nap just after the Sue and then with one last gas stop in Sudbury I was on the home stretch. finally after 65h I was pulling off the 400 and onto the 401, never thought I'd be so glad to be in crazy traffic but there i was.
Now I have a ton of crap to take care of while I'm here because I need to fly back next friday and get my other car and truck ready for the trip so My GF and I can do it again. I'll be sure to take longer breaks next time though.
Here's some pics I took along the way!
My cars right before I left, The huge (for an EH3) rims were givin to me by a good friend to get the car rolling again that's another story though, the car will need to be lifted for the trip as the 215/45R17's are less then 1cm from the fenders as it sits.
Then again THESE are some big tires
Being that I drove through the mountains at night I didn't really get any good photos, I took a few but nothing came out great, this one from the 1st rest stop though, I'd like to play with this toy!
This monster province, this was really just over half of the way there!
A few of Old Lady Bay, these things are like 30 ft high
I know what your thinking in this one. "Is that saf... a CRX in the back ground?"
After that point I was just set on getting here so I put the camera away. Glad to be back! There gonna be a meet this Wed?
10-Apr-2011, 12:14 PM
#5
oh yeah, though I did put a fresh bottle of lucas in there while in the mountains. the car runs a little rich and that ruins the oil. Even worse at the higher altitude, it's not like the carb can really compensate like an EFI system would. After the lucas I didn't burn a drop of oil.
12-Apr-2011, 11:53 AM
#8
I'm kinda glad it wasn't more exciting, The first time out I made it out there with the only car issue being I had to pick a bird out from the grille where the Fog lights go, but on the way back a large rock in Lake Louise decided I needed to spend a couple days in Calgary getting a new rim and front LCA. Last year I drove out with my father and the first night near Sault st. Marie my gas gauge dropped a little quicker then I had expected and we ran out of gas. A crazy chick actually stopped for me, a taldo big bearded man (even bigger beard then I have now) at 11:30pm in the middle of nowhere and not only gave me ride to the next gas station, she gave me a ride back to my car as well. Didn`t really think much of the gas, but decided to not run anywhere near empty and just filled up more often but then a few days later while driving under ominous skies waiting for another crazy storm the car began to sputter like it was out again but I had over half.
I had blown the old motor out of my EH3 after 582,000k and 2 days before I left I installed a d15 vtec that I had laying around for 2 years and never actually seen running. With the help of a friend, who of course delegated me to working under the car stuff and he would help up top. Fair enough, the fact that he was giving me a place to do the work already was great but he had damaged the gaskets for the fuel line into the rail and that had started to leak. In the parking lot of a Princess auto after having run in to buy the one wrench I needed and trying to MacGyver a gasket, a few attempts and as I closed the hood with a cliche crack of thunder the rain started pouring down so hard that by the time I ran back and tossed the tools in the hatch, closed it and got in the car myself, I was soaked right through.
Figures I take the car I own that I trust the least and aside from having to blast the heat to help keep engine temps down, it ran great the whole trip.
I had blown the old motor out of my EH3 after 582,000k and 2 days before I left I installed a d15 vtec that I had laying around for 2 years and never actually seen running. With the help of a friend, who of course delegated me to working under the car stuff and he would help up top. Fair enough, the fact that he was giving me a place to do the work already was great but he had damaged the gaskets for the fuel line into the rail and that had started to leak. In the parking lot of a Princess auto after having run in to buy the one wrench I needed and trying to MacGyver a gasket, a few attempts and as I closed the hood with a cliche crack of thunder the rain started pouring down so hard that by the time I ran back and tossed the tools in the hatch, closed it and got in the car myself, I was soaked right through.
Figures I take the car I own that I trust the least and aside from having to blast the heat to help keep engine temps down, it ran great the whole trip.
13-Apr-2011, 11:30 AM
#10
As I rolled off the 401 toward my Dads place, Even though I'm no stranger to this drive, it still feels like int's not possible that I'm there yet. This was the fastest I've driven across and the first time I did it solo, so I'm sure that had something to do with it, 3 days stuck inside my head, I imagine it was like 3 days in solitary, but with a better view.
I'm super glad to be back, but I also wanna hurry up and get back, 2 of the most important parts of my life are still out there, and while on is my EH3 and it probably doesn't mind too much, the other is the bride to be and she has no one out there really other then a few work friends and the boredom is getting to her. She's even trying to take up knitting now! When I get back early May, then I will be crazy excited to be back!
I'm super glad to be back, but I also wanna hurry up and get back, 2 of the most important parts of my life are still out there, and while on is my EH3 and it probably doesn't mind too much, the other is the bride to be and she has no one out there really other then a few work friends and the boredom is getting to her. She's even trying to take up knitting now! When I get back early May, then I will be crazy excited to be back!
08-May-2011, 01:28 PM
#11
Second trip is done, I'm back now with both cars and living in my new place here is town. only got some crappy cell phone pics of the drive the second time. I would have stopped to take some good ones but I was so over the drive from the start that I just wanted it to end. This time I wasn't alone. My cat rode shotgun and my GF was driving a old Chevy pickup with a U-haul trailer following behind me at 90km/h the whole way. The truck had too much weight behind it and was killing us on gas and my Civics clutch is going and slips when I go faster then that. Add in the parries flooded out again this year so we had to go up north into snow covered highways even though it's May and black ice mixed with worn summer tires is not fun.
Glad to be back, if I don't sell the CRX soon I'll try to stop by the next meet on Wed with it, if it does sell then I'll try to get the Civic running (properly) by then or I'll be at the next one for sure!
Glad to be back, if I don't sell the CRX soon I'll try to stop by the next meet on Wed with it, if it does sell then I'll try to get the Civic running (properly) by then or I'll be at the next one for sure!
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