[flash]

And how do I choose and where do I draw the line
Between shortest route and necessary pain?
And how do I know and where do I get my belief
That I will get there all right again?

What words do I use to try and explain
To those who've witnessed all these years?
And what does it mean to know all these things
When the love of the 968 is best shared over a beer.
When the love of the 968 is best shared over a beer.

Standing at the gas station
With my 1/4 pounder right in my hand,
Talking to all the people
Who could never understand.

I am a pilgrim for a car's love,
A pilgrim for a car's love,
A pilgrim for a car's love,
I am a pilgrim for a car's love.

It's like living in a nightmare,
Like looking in the blackest hole,
Like standing on the edge of nothing,
Completly out of control.

Now what have I been thinking all these years?
Airplane flights are nearly free.
Like a blind man walking 'round in darkness,
I am a pilgrim for a car's love,
I am a pilgrim for a car's love.

lol - i thought about Josh Bales' song, but that just wasn't as much fun - anyway................

As everybody probably knows by now, I'm heading to Hershey for the big event. I will be dragging the car, and Daryl will be driving with me. We will travel across the country, and stop along the way to see anybody who wants to connect with us.

I'm still working on schedule, gas stops, yada yada, but I thought this would be a good chance to see how many stops I needed to make.

The route will be 40 east to OKC and onto 44 through to St Louis where we change to 70 to the DC area where I will crash and get ready to head to PA and spend a couple of days at "the barn".

We are already going to hook up with Bob Blackwell in Albuquerque.

Anybody else?

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[94SilverCab]

There will be ice cold Newcastle at the end of the rainbow !

Jay

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[flash]

i'm striking out on software to lay out the route - either it isn't for mac, or i have to buy it, which i am not quite yet inclined to do without first seeing what somebody else thought of it

it's sure a pain manually though - i'm here with my maps, dividers, and calculator

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[stewhatch]

I hope we get to meet at Hershey this year Flash. I usually park (in shame) away from the stable of garage queens but may break with tradition this year.

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[flash]

looking forward to it

lol - yeah - park with the group - more fun that way, regardless of how you prep the car - heck, it rains every other year - nobody expects anything

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[94SilverCab]

Stew,

Last year I didn't even have time to wash. I paid Greg Coe to wash my car and I wiped some quick detailer on it. Come and enjoy, you won't be judged...we're the party having the most fun (Check out Central PCA's website if you don't believe).

Jay

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[stewhatch]

Jay- I have been duly reassured. Thanks and I look forward to meeting everyone in person this year.

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[PorscheDude]

Stew have no shame. Not all of them are garage queens.
In fact, you should try to come down for the detail day at Darryls.

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[flash]

well, i found a couple of packages that look like they would do what i want, but i have to upgrade my system software to run them, which means i couldn't run the OS9 stuff i have, which means new software to replace those............

arrrrgh

i'm now going to look into something that allows me to run windows stuff on this machine - lol - with my luck, it will probably require the same system upgrade though

i probably could have done it all by now with the map and dividers

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[banditsc]

Go for more of an adventure, stop at each states rest stop and pickup a new map and figure out the route while you are driving. No need for all that computer stuff....

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[flash]

lol - yeah - we're not sure yet exactly how we are going to do it - we have plenty of time, so we could really make this a lot more fun than the insane dashes i've made in previous years - besides, i'll still have to do the 2.5 day dash home with the wife, and being a bit more rested, or at least less burned out on driving, is probably a good idea

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[Anchorman]

It's really not much more complicated than "Go east, young man" and then follow the smell of chocolate. Something like that, anyway. We settled the country without GPS support, so I have no doubt that you can get to Hershey the old-fashioned way.

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[flash]

lol - i've done this before, so i realize that it isn't complicated - i could just jump in and go, like i have before

i'm trying to relieve some of the stress of worrying about fuel stops every 150 miles, which is where you have to start looking for fuel when you are towing, getting 10mpg, and have only a 25 gallon tank - that's just too stressful to go through every 2 hours - it also kills a lot more time than needed when you stop that often, so as to not run out (yes, i carry a 5 gallon can, but that's only 50 miles)

on top of that, you can't necessarily use every gas station - when you are towing, you have to think about things like "can i get in there, and if i get in, can i get out?"

i'm also trying to coordinate the over-night stops to coincide with fuel stops, so as to not waste more time that needed - each fuel stop is good for 15 minutes at best, as i check the load and trailer each time, yada yada - add food stops in there, and you could easily spend 2 hours a day on stops - that's a lot of ground lost

lol - is the anal retentive/OCD thing becoming obvious yet?

so, i am trying to lay it out with those things resolved in advance, so i can just enjoy the ride and not have to worry about all that stuff

i am looking into removing the spare and sticking it in the trailer, installing a suburban tank in the rear, and plumbing it into the primary tank - i would use an electric pump, and flip a switch and basically refill the primary tank while driving - i can't just interrupt the fuel line like i have in the past, due to all the emissions stuff

i could add anywhere from a 25 gallon to a 37 gallon tank in the rear, and added to my 25 gallon stock tank, would give me anywhere from nearly 500 to over 600 miles in range

a couple more things i am doing should result in better economy too - at 75mph i get about 10 - the things i am adding to the denali and the trailer should get me up to 11 - if i drop down to 65, i get better mileage, but it's a wash in stop time - the cost is also a wash, as it means an extra hotel room -

musing for a moment, if i do though drop to 65 though, that would mean that i could get about 750 miles on a fill if i go with the big tank - lol - pretty sure my own "tank" would need emptying though long before i emptied the fuel tank

i'm thinking that the 25 gallon secondary tank would do it, and help insure that i don't over fill the primary tank - the only thing stopping me right now is figuring out where to put the second fuel gauge

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[Anchorman]

Now that my son and I are towing a 45' trailer with an F350 crew cab dually turbodiesel, I fully understand the fueling issues. There has been more than one occasion where we've pulled off an interstate to go to a diesel station only to realize that we couldn't get in and out, and got back on the highway for another shot later on. That said, though, unless you have software that tells you not just where diesel is, but where truck stops are, you're still going to have to use your eyes and take your chances. We only have one tank, I think it's a 28 gallon, and our mileage is about yours - so our range is about 250-300 miles, and we start looking for fuel at 150-175. It's a bit of a pain, but we can't consider adding a tank as the total weight of our rig is already approaching the requirement for a CDL. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif[/img]

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[flash]

yup - all the same considerations here too - weight is an issue for me, as it goes to load limit - another 200# on the tail is not what i would prefer, but neither is waiting for somebody to bring me gas

not sure which way i'll go yet - last time i blew this off because i ran out of time - i think i have the time this year, but i am sure spending a lot of money - i'll have to go back and see where i am on that, before i make the wife nuts - when i get the trailer over here next week, i can then look at the bearings and brakes, and see if i have to do those, which will factor in heavily

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[flash]

well, i think the map issue is resolved

as it turns out, google maps does what i want - i'm on a mac, and the options were not obvious - also, it seems i can access that from the iphone, so we should be good to go

thanks to banditc for helping me out with this - i probably never would have found the stuff

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[rxter]

"It's really not much more complicated than "Go east, young man..."

That's what they told the Donner party.

   

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[Anchorman]

...but they were heading west.

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[flash]

i'm just waiting now on the last super cool parts for the trailer to arrive, and then i can drag it over here and start working on it - because i am taking a few chassis braces with me, i need to finish up some of the interior accouterments - i also want t take a look at the brakes and hub bearings, as i have not done that since i bought it, and i've put about 20k miles on it

i'm now looking for some air dam material for both the denali and the trailer - basically this wants to be stiff rubber - i want to add a 3" skirt at the bottom of the denali bumper cover, and a 6"-8" skirt around the bottom of the trailer, to reduce the amount of air getting under both of them, and thereby improve the aerodynamics, and hopefully pick up some fuel economy - anybody know of a source?

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[Kim]

I need to plan something this exciting. My drive will be 2726 miles total (about 4400 km) and I haven't put even a moment of thought into it except that I need to fix a split CV joint boot first. Maybe the drive east is more prone to excitement that the drive west. Let's hope that driving an 18 yo car with over 325,000 km on it is not too much excitement on its own.

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