So I had to take a parts car out to Oakdale, CA on my open trailer and pick up a 65 Hemi B-Body in an enclosed trailer to take to Tennessee. I left Sunday around noon and my first stop was to see Reed Koepe in Kearney, NE so decided to stay the night there and head west the next day. Well so much for I-80. Wyoming was going to get 8-12 inches of snow, so I went south through Denver and all was fine until I hit Utah, snow all the way to Ely, NV and teens temp! Get up the next day and head to Oakdale through a pass in the Sierra's outside of Carson City, this is with my new 2wd Cummins truck. The pass was almost impassable, they made me buy chains or I would have had to go 100 miles out of the way, they were happy to sell me them there and install them for $240! After I barely made it through the pass one of the chains broke but luckily I stopped and took it off before any damage. Snow and rain all the way to Oakdale, got the parts car off the trailer and headed to Bakersfield for the night. Get up this morning and the GPS told me to go through another pass instead of the normal way to Boulder City, NV because the roads were clogged with Truckers Protest vehicles! So I went through this unbelievable pass on California 178 that was almost closed due to snow and idiots with Honduhs not being able to go up the hill! Took me two hours longer to get to Vegas. Get that all done, and it started snowing in Vegas! Headed out through Hoover Dam down to Kingman, and the signs said I-40 was closed from Ash Fork to Williams, so everyone had to get off AZ 89 and head south. On the way south I heard I-17 was closed going up to Flagstaff! So I called my good buddy who lives in Mesa but also has a house in Sedona and he said go on and stay there for the night, nothing like an awesome long time friend and Mopar man! So I will see if 17 is open in the morning, or stay another day in Sedona...LOL
Holeeeee CRAP! It sure sounds like you have some bad JuJu...everywhere you turn, you find trouble. Have you ever seen "The Adjustment Bureau"? Interesting movie. Matt Damon is a guy that stumbles onto a strange "dimension" where hidden agents in the city create events to steer people into a predetermined destiny. If they veer off course, the agents create obstacles to get them back on course. That is just Hollywood fantasy BUT sometimes it sure seems like someone is putting up roadblocks to intentionally slow me down or to get me to take a different path.
Winter driving in the West! The weather over the passes will change in just a few hours from sunshine to snow. I've been stuck in snow and then enjoying the weather with the sunroof open just an hour later.
Is that the first time you have seen Lake Isabella? I wonder if the GPS was wrong?I would think any truckers protest would have been on #5 going over the pass into L.A., not Hwy 58 going to Mojave I've heard many horror stories about GPS navigation systems suggesting routings that get them lost or stuck Especially up here in Oregon in the winters. Same thing down there in the summers on trips off the main highways in the deserts and mountains
Ya it is a little different out here compared to back east. Back east when a road is closed you can just go a few miles to the next road. Out here the next road may be 200 miles away.
Is that the first time you have seen Lake Isabella? I wonder if the GPS was wrong?I would think any truckers protest would have been on #5 going over the pass into L.A., not Hwy 58 going to Mojave I've heard many horror stories about GPS navigation systems suggesting routings that get them lost or stuck Especially up here in Oregon in the winters. Same thing down there in the summers on trips off the main highways in the deserts and mountains
You mean the former Lake Isabella? It looks like Lake Mead even worse, not much water left out there besides all the damn snow! You think it would melt and fill the lakes! As Frankie said, I generally do live in an alternate dimension...LOL! I hope I can climb I-17 and head east quickly today, only 2500 miles left to get home...
Is that the first time you have seen Lake Isabella? I wonder if the GPS was wrong?I would think any truckers protest would have been on #5 going over the pass into L.A., not Hwy 58 going to Mojave I've heard many horror stories about GPS navigation systems suggesting routings that get them lost or stuck Especially up here in Oregon in the winters. Same thing down there in the summers on trips off the main highways in the deserts and mountains
You mean the former Lake Isabella? It looks like Lake Mead even worse, not much water left out there besides all the damn snow! You think it would melt and fill the lakes! As Frankie said, I generally do live in an alternate dimension...LOL! I hope I can climb I-17 and head east quickly today, only 2500 miles left to get home...
Take the Southern route. We traveled back & forth between Detroit & Phoenix from 1984-1992 - at all times of the year. Phoenix, thru Tucson, out through Bensen AZ, across the bottom of NM & into El Paso, then 10 & 20 all across TX., around DFW, then out through Texarkana. Through Little Rock & up to Blytheville, through the boot heel of MO, up through Illinois, etc. You'd have to modify a little to get to TN. A little longer, but WAY safer if no snow & ice! Good luck.
Your comment on the chain cost reminded me of a story from many years ago. My mother and her friend were going to Tahoe from the bay area. heading up the hiway (50 I think) There were people offering to put the chains on for 20.00. She felt that was outrageous and drove further up looking for a BETTER deal. When they reached the chains are mandatory point she wound up paying 40 or 45.00 LMAO, Don't quote me on the numbers but the percentages are spot on
Altitude is not your friend in the winter months...one reason why I carry a road atlas when traveling. I've never used GPS. Weather reports are critical to travel. That said: I've spun the tires on my dually on the Interstate in AZ in April. Been snowed in 2 1/2 days in WY in September, Interstate closed.
My advice here is to take a southern or lower-altitude route if at all possible.
Is that the first time you have seen Lake Isabella? I wonder if the GPS was wrong?I would think any truckers protest would have been on #5 going over the pass into L.A., not Hwy 58 going to Mojave I've heard many horror stories about GPS navigation systems suggesting routings that get them lost or stuck Especially up here in Oregon in the winters. Same thing down there in the summers on trips off the main highways in the deserts and mountains
You mean the former Lake Isabella? It looks like Lake Mead even worse, not much water left out there besides all the damn snow! You think it would melt and fill the lakes! As Frankie said, I generally do live in an alternate dimension...LOL! I hope I can climb I-17 and head east quickly today, only 2500 miles left to get home...
Take the Southern route. We traveled back & forth between Detroit & Phoenix from 1984-1992 - at all times of the year. Phoenix, thru Tucson, out through Bensen AZ, across the bottom of NM & into El Paso, then 10 & 20 all across TX., around DFW, then out through Texarkana. Through Little Rock & up to Blytheville, through the boot heel of MO, up through Illinois, etc. You'd have to modify a little to get to TN. A little longer, but WAY safer if no snow & ice! Good luck.
Been on every route possible to Phoenix when I worked for a major car collector for 5 years toting his stuff around. I just got done with 35 straight hours, I did have an hour in a Walmart parking lot in Memphis. I-40 was a sheet of ice from OK City to Memphis, I decided to keep going as I know what happens when traffic starts back up the day after an ice storm in Arkansas and Oklahoma! Probably half the journey was at 40 MPH on I-40 !
Well.....the good news is, the transmission is still in the truck! Have a safe and fun rest of your trip.
5,015 miles this trip so far when I got to the motel tonight in LaGrange, KY... I just post this stuff for everyone's amusement, especially the one's still stuck in a cubical like I was for years. I have made up for it in spades over the last 15 years...LOL
Well.....the good news is, the transmission is still in the truck! Have a safe and fun rest of your trip.
5,015 miles this trip so far when I got to the motel tonight in LaGrange, KY... I just post this stuff for everyone's amusement, especially the one's still stuck in a cubical like I was for years. I have made up for it in spades over the last 15 years...LOL
January of '91 I was stationed at Vandenberg AFB, CA, and had taken the wife and kids home to Michigan for Christmas. Heading back we went through the central route instead of through LA. Got to Mojave, where the airplane graveyard is, and the were terrible winds coming off the mountains, 30 mph steady with gusts to 60 but temps were in the 60s. Heading the 20 or so miles up to the top of the pass at Tehachapi, it was foggy as soon as the elevation started to rise, and the temperature began to fall. The road started to get icy, and traffic slowed to a crawl, but I kept moving in the fast lane since the right was full of truckers. the antenna on our '89 Caravan got to be about 1/2" in diameter with ice streamers off the back. Almost an hour to go that 20 miles, then we get almost to the summit and break out of the top of the fog into bight sunlight from the San Jouquin Valley. One of the wildest hours of driving in my 40 years behind the wheel...
Sounds like quite the adventure.. last Friday I was taking an excavator bucket on a trailer from North Jersey to Upstate N.Y. ( about 35 miles northwest of Binghampton ) for modification. The weather was dry when I left and all the way there until I got to with in 5 miles of my destination when it began snowing hard and it continued pretty much the whole time I was there ( I had to wait for the modification to be done ) resulting in about 3-4 inches of snow. Luckily the truck I was driving had 4WD. On the return trip I went about ten miles and the roads and weather were dry and they stayed that way all the way back. Strange ...must be the lake effect snows or something. The worst driving situation I had was back in the early 80s I was driving a van for my employer at the time from North Jersey to Western Pa when an ice storm hit a few miles west of Allentown Pa. and I ended up sitting ( and sleeping ) in the van for 7 hours due to traffic being at a dead stop. Another time on the same style trip a blizzard hit Western Pa near my destination and I ended up getting the last available nearby hotel room and I ended up coming home the next day ( a Saturday )
Just got home an hour ago, 6 days and 6 hours 5725 miles and made it home alive! Driving the country is always fun until you get back to Illinoise, unbelievable how everyone wants to race you to the stop lights here, not so much in the rest of the country. You want to race me and I have a Cummins truck pulling a trailer? I really get bad looks when I beat them...LOL! I have now seen enough snow in the south to make up for the lack of snow we have had up here this year. Keep the driving stories coming, they are always awesome!
transmission still good ? almost 60 years ago, i thought i would like to be a trucker. today, i'm glad i turned into a machinist instead. cool story Rhino ! i always enjoy road trip stories.
Oh yeah, Indy then down to Fayettville, GA then to Daytona Beach, then up to Norfolk, and over to Bristol, TN before going home again. Leaving straight from Indy...
A couple years ago I had to go to Reno NV from MN to trailer a truck I bought back home. Traveling on I-80 through Wyoming in the late part of January was quite scary. Fresh blowing snow made it a bit sketchy on the way out with an empty trailer. On the way back I was trying to get through the whole state of WY during daylight hours. Snow covered roads with occasional black strips of asphalt that I would try to keep my tires on. It got dark before I made it to Laramie and the blowing snow was huge flakes that my headlights were illuminating so much that it made it near impossible to see the road. I had to ignore the snowflakes and totally concentrate on the semi taillights a half mile ahead of me so that I had some idea where the road was and where it was taking me. White knuckle driving big time!
A couple years ago I had to go to Reno NV from MN to trailer a truck I bought back home. Traveling on I-80 through Wyoming in the late part of January was quite scary. Fresh blowing snow made it a bit sketchy on the way out with an empty trailer. On the way back I was trying to get through the whole state of WY during daylight hours. Snow covered roads with occasional black strips of asphalt that I would try to keep my tires on. It got dark before I made it to Laramie and the blowing snow was huge flakes that my headlights were illuminating so much that it made it near impossible to see the road. I had to ignore the snowflakes and totally concentrate on the semi taillights a half mile ahead of me so that I had some idea where the road was and where it was taking me. White knuckle driving big time!
When I went on this trip I was going to go all the way out I-80, but they were talking 8-12" of new snow so I did the southern route through Denver which was fine until I hit Utah...
I have friends, Father and Son, that bent up their 24 ft. enclose car trailer and 2001 Dodge 3500 4x4 dually getting off the # 70 going south onto the #15 at Cove Fort Utah when they got onto that bridge to fast in January several years back. They had picked up a 1970 428 Cobra Jet Mustang that was all apart from a Widow in Denver, I had advised, warned, them to go south to the #40 from Denver and come home to SO CA that way but they didn't
I have friends, Father and Son, that bent up their 24 ft. enclose car trailer and 2006 Dodge 3500 dually getting off the # 70 going south onto the #15 at Cove Fort Utah when they got onto that bridge to fast in January several years back. They had picked up a 1970 428 Cobra Jet Mustang that was all apart from a Widow in Denver, I had advised, warned them to go south to the #40 from Denver and come home to SO CA that way but they didn't
Suckers for punishment. I've only driven I-70 west from Grand Junction to I-15, but there's some big pulls just on that section. Plus the Ike Gauntlet to the east. Pretty sure I-40's a lot flatter. Hell of a lot more truck traffic on 40 vs 70. Both times I ran I-70, it would have been very easy to leg it along at 90-100, as traffic was way thin. A 2010 Nitro will happily run 85 all day. But, when it sees a grade like the San Rafael Swell, it gets real easy to wish you had another 60-70 hp on tap.
I have friends, Father and Son, that bent up their 24 ft. enclose car trailer and 2006 Dodge 3500 dually getting off the # 70 going south onto the #15 at Cove Fort Utah when they got onto that bridge to fast in January several years back. They had picked up a 1970 428 Cobra Jet Mustang that was all apart from a Widow in Denver, I had advised, warned them to go south to the #40 from Denver and come home to SO CA that way but they didn't
Suckers for punishment. I've only driven I-70 west from Grand Junction to I-15, but there's some big pulls just on that section. Plus the Ike Gauntlet to the east. Pretty sure I-40's a lot flatter. Hell of a lot more truck traffic on 40 vs 70. Both times I ran I-70, it would have been very easy to leg it along at 90-100, as traffic was way thin. A 2010 Nitro will happily run 85 all day. But, when it sees a grade like the San Rafael Swell, it gets real easy to wish you had another 60-70 hp on tap.
I-40 is a pot hole laden piece of crapola! From Kingman to Flagstaff it is basically destroyed and my kidneys are just now feeling better! I will never take that route again!
I have friends, Father and Son, that bent up their 24 ft. enclose car trailer and 2006 Dodge 3500 dually getting off the # 70 going south onto the #15 at Cove Fort Utah when they got onto that bridge to fast in January several years back. They had picked up a 1970 428 Cobra Jet Mustang that was all apart from a Widow in Denver, I had advised, warned them to go south to the #40 from Denver and come home to SO CA that way but they didn't
Suckers for punishment. I've only driven I-70 west from Grand Junction to I-15, but there's some big pulls just on that section. Plus the Ike Gauntlet to the east. Pretty sure I-40's a lot flatter. Hell of a lot more truck traffic on 40 vs 70. Both times I ran I-70, it would have been very easy to leg it along at 90-100, as traffic was way thin. A 2010 Nitro will happily run 85 all day. But, when it sees a grade like the San Rafael Swell, it gets real easy to wish you had another 60-70 hp on tap.
I-40 is a pot hole laden piece of crapola! From Kingman to Flagstaff it is basically destroyed and my kidneys are just now feeling better! I will never take that route again!
I only drove that stretch twice, and the last was a dozen years back. I don't recall it being smooth, now that you mention it, but it was a dozen years better than it probably is now.
I have friends, Father and Son, that bent up their 24 ft. enclose car trailer and 2006 Dodge 3500 dually getting off the # 70 going south onto the #15 at Cove Fort Utah when they got onto that bridge to fast in January several years back. They had picked up a 1970 428 Cobra Jet Mustang that was all apart from a Widow in Denver, I had advised, warned them to go south to the #40 from Denver and come home to SO CA that way but they didn't
Suckers for punishment. I've only driven I-70 west from Grand Junction to I-15, but there's some big pulls just on that section. Plus the Ike Gauntlet to the east. Pretty sure I-40's a lot flatter. Hell of a lot more truck traffic on 40 vs 70. Both times I ran I-70, it would have been very easy to leg it along at 90-100, as traffic was way thin. A 2010 Nitro will happily run 85 all day. But, when it sees a grade like the San Rafael Swell, it gets real easy to wish you had another 60-70 hp on tap.
I-40 is a pot hole laden piece of crapola! From Kingman to Flagstaff it is basically destroyed and my kidneys are just now feeling better! I will never take that route again!
I only drove that stretch twice, and the last was a dozen years back. I don't recall it being smooth, now that you mention it, but it was a dozen years better than it probably is now.
They haven't touched it since. I drove it all the time from 2006-2012 and it was rough, but nothing like it is now...
Especially up here in Oregon in the winters.
Have a safe and fun rest of your trip. 
... it's still early
