Oregon to Altanta Trip

[kaneboats]

Very cool adventure. Glad you had a safe ride and got to hang with Russ. When you get on Lanier on a weekend you are going to want a bigger boat.

[mmandley]

Very cool adventure. Glad you had a safe ride and got to hang with Russ. When you get on Lanier on a weekend you are going to want a bigger boat.

Nice thing is I don't have to go out on the weekends, I'm there all week lol

[sandm]

nice writeup and pics Mike....

[viking]

Thanks for sharing. Was a fun read.
I zipped down to Colorado Springs in the late 90's and watched a race. Back when Rod Millen was dominating and the top half of the course was still gravel. We had to get up to our spot and settled as the sun came up cause once the race starts there's no leaving so you are there for the duration. We drove up to just were the tree line stops and settled on a wide sweeping turn with some shade. Was AWESOME!

[KG's Supra24]

I would love to drive Pike's Peak aaaaaand just finished watching the street outlaw guys.

Happy to see you land a great transitional place! Congrats and cheers on the lakefront!

[mmandley]

Thanks guys, I really have no complaints about the trip, I knew the Vette would do great as I am pretty through with maintenance on her. You just never know with a 23yr car how she will do being pushed like I pushed her. I ran more then 4k miles on her and I wasn't easy on her lol. Several times she saw 100+ passing people, going up Pikes is a workout for a car as well with the altitude changes and slowing down so much around curves.

Most of the trip she was getting 23-26mph even and I was impressed about.

My only real complaint was when I was south of Colorado Springs and I hit a huge storm front for about 20 miles, it rained so hard I had to slow down and the top started leaking where the roof hinges in half at the fold down. They say all convertables leak so i guess she fits right in.

Been in GA since Saturday and its beautiful here, been pretty cloudy the last 3 days but for me it feels normal LOL A lot more humid them I am used to but its ok. Burned through a tank in 250miles, normally I get 300 so I am using for fuel for sure, I think its the 55mph traffic then you stop at a light and wait, then race to 55+ again to stop 2 miles laters.

2x already I almost got hit and honestly thats my biggest fear driving the Vette. I had a lady over run the stop light and decide 2 minutes into the red light she wanted to back up, I had to lay into the horn to get her to stop before she backed up the nose of the Vette, yesterday I had a truck try to merge when I was right next to him, I was looking at him the whole time, he didn't even try to look out the window to see if anyone was there.

If the Vette gets wrecked I know the Insurance will total it, they only see 10K value and 40% is 4K, it would cost 2K just for a hood and thats before paint.

I am here today and fly back to Portland Wednesday after my second big interview, hoping I land one of these jobs so I am employed.

I am looking forward to the next trip after July 4th, thats the final trip here and I plan to have the Mojo in that slip ASAP.

[mmandley]

After the July 4th weekend at Lake Billy Chinook we loaded up and headed SE.

Was an interesting and slightly more expensive trip then I was expecting. Didn't leave OR until Noon on the 5th due to loading up the truck and boat after the long weekend.

We rolled out and everything was going great.
Filled the truck up the first time and I looked at the trailer tires and they had a little uneven wear to them but nothing I was worried about, all the tread on the tires looked fine and everything seemed good.

About 30 miles away from the fuel stop the Drivers Rear trailer tire exploded, sounded like a shotgun going off. Pulled over and it was destroyed. Folded my fender up, I was so pissed. So I got my tools out and changed it.

It was around 7pm at that time. The plan was to get to Boise the first night and about 30 miles before Boise, Boom, Passenger rear tire exploded and folded that fender up as well. Now I am beyond pissed. I have no second spare, both my fenders are bent up, and its about 930 at night.

After calling Emergency roadside and being told its $700 to bring a spare, if they even have one, we are only 11 miles from a little town with a tire shop and hotels. So I rolled the dice, drug the boat down the freeway at 10mph on a flat. I figured if I destroyed my mag wheel its only $150 vs $700. It was a long hour drive lol.

Around 1130 we roll into the Hotel and get set up for the night.

Next morning 8am sharp I am waiting at Les Swab and buy 5 more new tires. 4 for the trailer, 1 extra spare on a generic rim. After that no issues with tires the rest of the way to GA.

What we decided at the tire shop, the reason for the tires blowing is the max capacity of the tires is 1750lb and the Mojo,trailer, batteries, stereo, and 400lb of shot is almost maxing out the tires. They were only 3 years old but basically started separating. To fix this problem I think I will be looking into 15inch rims or 16s so i can get a heavier weight rated tire.

Our trip direction was OR through Salt Lake City, past Powell to Phoenix. That was first couple days. Then we went to El Paso for a day. After that it was the Long drive across the Great State of Texas, we went thought West Texas, then Middle Texas, past by Ft Worth, Dallas, and into East Texas. Lastly we went though Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and into GA.

Both vehicles ran awesome, typical Claudia VW TDI filled up about every 3rd stop while the truck was every other stop. On average the truck was getting 12.5mpg and that's with the truck fully loaded in the rear, and pulling the boat.

I didn't take to many pictures on the way. But i have a few.

Claudia running blocker for me, she would pull out when we needed to pass people to no one was sneaking up on me lol.



Drivers Rear tire




Passenger rear tire

[mmandley]

I ended up putting the Drivers side rear tire back on the passenger side to tow it to town because it had most of the tread on it.

After we reached the hotel it looked pretty bad. Surprisingly the rim doesn't have a scratch on it.



Stayed in Phoenix as her sisters ranch.



Finally made it and got to spend a little time relaxing. It was worth it.

Oso loves the dock out back and now knows how to jump of it, fetch his toy, swims back to shore, and then walks back to the dock lol.



This view never gets old.

[kaneboats]

Ha ha. Oso's in dog heaven right there.

[Mikes]

Cool writeup Mike glad you made it! I'm sure you will enjoy lake life.