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  #1  
Old 06-10-2010, 01:43 PM
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Default LA-Albq-KC-Chicago-Winnipeg-Calgary-Boise-LA WVO Roadtrip

Hi all,
Well it's almost the end of June again, and we are getting ready for another monster WVO road trip again. This time we are taking a route that loosely follows Route 66 and the middle portion of the Trans-Canadian Hwy. Here's a map that tentatively follows our route. At the current tally, the trip would be more than 5500 miles. We will begin our journey on June 19 and end it around July 4th.

In the past, we've met up some great greasers like CG, Skeeter, Mike, JeffNLisa, Norman, Brian, and many others. It's great to see all the different types of conversions and filtration setups. If you are on our route, shoot us a PM or comment on this thread and we'll try to meet up to talk grease.

8900-mile Alaska Roadtrip

5500-mile New England Roadtrip

All other trips from 2005-2008.

We should be able to pack all of our grease with us. However, it may be close at the end. If you have a few cubes to spare, send us a message especially if you are in Idaho, east Washington, Oregon, or Northern California. But by our calculations, we should be very close to pulling this off with limited contributions.

So if you are on the route, with or without grease, send us a note and we'll meet up. As others from the previous trips have noticed, as long as we have no mechanical problems (knock on wood), we tend to move quick. So send us your info quickly so that we can set up our itinerary.

One last thing, we are looking for sites to see. Our typical places of interest are roadside oddities, various battlefield sites, technology museums, National Parks, Historic Sites, or NASA/Space testing places, Mines, Caves, Hikes, and other unique places.

Thanks a million,
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Old 06-13-2010, 10:34 PM
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Default Sites...

We're still looking for roadside oddities on the path...

Know of any places like this near you?...

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  #3  
Old 06-19-2010, 09:04 PM
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Cool And we're off...

Start: Los Angeles 201818 miles on the odometer, 10pm Friday the 18th.
Well, we got started on the trip on Friday. We left 4 hours later than expected due to custom modifications to the car. Plus we had to reload the car because it was sitting pretty low when we left.

Near Lake Havasu, CA. 202099, 2:45am Sat.
Added 1.75 cubes. I guess we were running a bit fast and also we are really loaded up. We estimated better mileage on vo, but ran the tank dry by accident. We did a system purge with about a thousand moths and desert flies swarming our flashlights. Thankfully, one didn’t do the tempting dive into vo funnel, as has happened in the past.

Kingman, AZ. 202145, 3:30am-6:45am Sat.
As with all these trips, we always get a first-day issue. This one came very early. In some of the other threads, I had posted my issue with a diesel-side fuel problem, which I thought I had worked out. Well, after running the vo side dry, I must have got some air in the diesel system or something. We were having some power issues up hills and the speed maxed out at 70 mph even down hill. We thought we could make it to Flagstaff and do some repairs there where supplies could be more prevalent, but after passing Kingman and some truck stops, it seemed more logical to tackle it right away (in the dark) instead of in the Arizona sun.
I had packed a spare generic fuel pump and several useful parts, like fuel hose, clamps, wire, switches, etc. Within a few house of diagnosing the issue (even considering dropping the tank in the parking lot), we found that putting a pusher pump at the stock diesel tank fuel pickup was the best solution for now. This way, if there was a small air leak in one of the fuel lines from the diesel tank, at least I’m pressurizing the system, rather than sucking air.
The only thing we didn’t have on hand was an in-line generic fuse housing. I tried asking some of the 24-hour trucker shops and auto supply stores there, but none of them knew what an in-line generic fuse housing was. One manager insisted that my fuse housing was under my dash. I didn’t want to argue with him, but I said I was just putting an auxiliary electrical thing on my car, like fog lights or a transfer pump. He just repeated my fuse box was under my dash several times. Ugh.
We fabbed up a homemade fuse holder out of some spare electrical end plugs and electrical tape. We also set up some wooden block supports so that our diesel pusher pump hoses wouldn’t become pinched by a cube in the back seat or other heavy item. The diesel pump now resides inside the dummy tire rim.
Now we have two pumps on individual switches, one pushing vo and the other pushing diesel, which really makes purging air out of the system easy. So far it’s appearing to resolve the power loss problem.

Petrified Forest National Park, AZ. 202400, 11:45am Sat.
Added 1.5 cubes.
Petrified wood:


Albuquerque, NM. 202643, 5:40pm Sat.
We’re a little late getting into Albq, but we made it before it got too late. Lots of pics from the road from Flagstaff to Albq. Ordered a pizza from a local restaurant and asked for a “pizza with the works.” The clerk didn’t know what that was, so they put on the manager, who said, “We don’t have something like that. However, we have a ‘special’ pizza with onions, peppers, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, and olives.” I guess I that’s not the works.









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  #4  
Old 06-21-2010, 10:40 PM
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Albuquerque, NM. 202668, 2:45pm Sun.
Added 1.25 cubes.
We met up with some friends while staying on the original Route 66. After some great breakfast, we headed over to the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. Not bad. It had been recently reinstalled the exhibits into a new building and several original bomb housings were on site. Also, they had two missiles that were “broken arrows” and were accidentally dropped from a bomber over Spain.
We were losing time so we took off from Albq to Amarillo. Originally, our plans involved heading up to Los Alamos, but that got cut so we could be back on pace.



Amarillo, TX. 202950, 10:10pm Sun.
Added 1.5 cubes.
On one of these trips a few years ago, we travelled the US south. We noticed that in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida had dozens of abandoned cars along the side of the highways. Well, now we have another state to add to the list: New Mexico. The east side of NM had 19 abandoned vehicles, and we drove through it in a few hours. Crazy. Really nice scenery on the trip though…

A friend of mine from Texas mentioned a campy steakhouse when I was preparing for this trip. We got an eyeful of billboards for this place all the way from Albq to Amarillo, so we figured why not do the tourist thing. The name of the place was something like The Big Texan or Texas Roadhouse. I don’t know. It’s right off of I-40, it was packed with hundreds of tourists. Usually we avoid these traps at all costs, but it was after 8pm on a Sunday and something to do. To be honest, the food was pretty good. From my experience, those places with dozens of billboards are less than good, but this place had some decent grub.
Also, as advertised, if you eat a 72 oz steak (and all the sides, which is cleverly hidden from you prior to consumption), you get that meal for free. We watched two people attempt the feat, but both failed with a few ounces left. Something about watching a person gurgle up-and-down a laptop-sized stake that makes your own meal less appetizing.

Cadillac Ranch…
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  #5  
Old 06-21-2010, 10:41 PM
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Perryton, Texas. 1:20am Mon.
When your GPS shows the “Budget Inn” in Perryton, move onto the next hotel. This place was pretty bad, about as bad as that place in Springfield, Ohio, but at least that place in Ohio was cheap. The guy would barely budge on the price even coming in after 1am, and when we walked into room, it was dirty, had exposed electrical, and appeared to have extreme water damage.

Liberal, Kansas. 9:30am Mon.
Initially drawn into the city to check out the tourist trap, “Dorothy’s House from the Wizard of Oz,” the Liberal Tourism office directed us to their local Aviation Museum. The place was pretty nice, and considering its remote location, it was very extraordinary. They had wartime, record-breaking, and experimental aircraft. Also, they had a repair shop accessible to the visitors which was in the process of restoring new planes, autogiros, helicopters, models, and rockets. For $7, it was a reasonable price too.

Also that Liberal Tourism office suggested a different route to our journey. Originally, we planned on driving northeast to Wichita, however they suggested we visit the Monument Rocks National Landmark. Then we could take the I-70 east, and see several other sites along the way. The Monument Rocks are really the must-see geological destination in Kansas; the whole west end of the state is flatter than a pool table, and then out of nowhere are three-story crumbly rock formations and arches. The road is a bit rough though, so if it rains and you don’t have four-wheel drive, you may want to avoid it. We saw only one other car there, so I imagine if you get stuck or breakdown, it would be a long wait until the next person comes along. Also, the road way is suffuse with cattle. And they had no intention of yielding the right of way.






Oakley, Kansas. 203285, 4:38pm Mon.
Added 1.25 cubes.
Oakley has the Fick Fossil and History Museum adjacent to their library. We thought we’d check it out, since a lot of the rock formations and fossil discoveries from the Monument Rock area were stored there. It was nice, if you are in Oakley with the kids for an afternoon or if you have family history in west Kansas, but don’t go out of your way if your GPS pops this up as a suggestion. If you don’t really have anything invested in the history of Oakley, a lot of the information provided doesn’t translate to the everyday traveler. One note though, props to the mural artist(s).


Fort Hays, Kansas. 6:10pm Mon.
We are always up to check out a fort or old military site. The gals in Liberal suggested we check out this site and hit up the tour. Upon arriving, we learned they weren’t even open on Mondays. Luckily, the gate was still open, but no one was conducting tours. So we did a self guided tour which was well laid-out.
Unlike Fort Pulaski, the Citadel in Halifax, Fort McHenry, and other forts we’ve visited, this is not a walled complex. It was a clustering of officers’ quarters, barracks, and other remnant foundations of demolished structures. It had a vibe similar to visiting Kenesaw Mountain tracking Sherman’s march.


Heading to Topeka or Kansas City. 9:04pm Mon.
On the march…
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  #6  
Old 06-25-2010, 09:51 PM
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Rest area 30 miles west of Topeka. 203555. 10:10pm Mon.
Added 1.5 cubes.

Cameron, MS. 203840. 7:12pm Tues.
Added 1.25 cubes and 6.06 gallons of D. Met a cutter, a woman from Maryland driving a fried early-80’s Mercedes 300D. Lots of black smoke.

Ellsworth, IA. 204060. 11:15pm Tues
Added one cube. Three tornados surround us on the I-35 as we head north. 77 mph wind gust try to tip over a rig in front of us. Luckily we get thru the storm without issues, and the rig only tips about 60 degrees on it side.

204284. 3:10am Wed
Added one cube.

Wisconsin. 204425. 6:10am Wed-9:15am Fri
Added one cube. Installed new timing belt, tensioner, top roller, valve cover gasket, water pump, thermostat, thermostat housing, o-ring, water flange.

Duluth MN. 204725. 3:50pm Fri.
Added 1.5 cubes.

Fort Francis, ON. 10:42pm Fri
Crashing out for the night.

I'll post some pics later, when I get on a faster internet connection.

We are still looking for sites to see in central Canada. Any suggestions?
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  #7  
Old 06-30-2010, 12:13 AM
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Default Updates...

Rest area 30 miles west of Topeka. 203555. 10:10pm Mon.
Added 1.5 cubes.

Topeka, KS. 10:44pm Mon.
While cruising through Kansas, we stopped off at the Brown vs Board of Education site. It was long closed for the day, but we still could check out the grounds and get a few pics.


Leawood, MO. 9:59am Tues.
Nothing like a BBQ breakfast to start off the day. We got word that the best barbeque in KC was Gates. Since we needed to get off to an early start, we made the devastating decision to eat about 4 lbs (348 kgs) of ham, ribs, and brisket at 10 am. Really good food, but if you want to go there, it was hard for the GPS to find the place. Also, the accents were super thick. I only understood about a quarter of the words spoken to me. Missoura.


Excelsior Springs, MO. 12:00-2:30pm Tues
Prior to the trip, we found some interesting sites in northeast Missoura. First off was heading up to Excelsior Springs. They have some interesting history, notably the hot springs spas set up in the works projects of the 30’s to cure people’s buttholes. One piece of architectural interest was the Hall of Waters. It’s an amazing piece of Art Deco work, and there is a self-guided tour of the grounds. One downside was that they were doing a lot of work on the outside and inside. I’m sure it’ll be in primo condition once they wrap up the maintenance. Check out the dilapidated pool in the basement if you bend the rules a little. If you have time, go visit the museum next to the Hall as well-they had some really nice people that toured us through an old-timey bank full of E.S. memorabilia. No pics of the bank allowed though. Here’s the hall:


Kearney, MO. 3-ish. Tues
Jesse James’ ranch. It’s a lot more lush and less desert-like than Hollywood would have you think. You could drop bank for the 1-hour “tour” or just wander around the premises with a thumb up your butt. We chose the latter.

After the ranch visit, we were informed of the grist mill nearby. It’s a landmark designed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, so naturally we couldn’t contain our excitement. If the ASME says “jump,” you say “affirmative.” Actually, the mill was pretty nice. The grounds are quite expansive, encompassing the owner’s house and various other structures nearby the mill itself.


Weston, MO. 4-5ish. Tues
Lured by the largest ball of string in the U.S., we found the Irish pub housing the ball much more appealing. Good food, service, and drinks at O’Malley’s. Definitely stop in if you are in the area.

And Weston was actually a nice town. It’ll be a shame when a bypass is laid.


Cameron, MO. 203840. 7:12pm Tues.
Added 1.25 cubes and 6.06 gallons of D. Met a cutter, a woman from Maryland driving a fried early-80’s Mercedes 300D. Lots of black smoke.
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  #8  
Old 06-30-2010, 12:17 AM
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Default And more...

Winterset, IA. 9:30pm Tues.
Here’s where the Duke was born.


Ellsworth, IA. 204060. 11:15pm Tues
Added one cube. Three tornados surround us on the I-35 as we head north. 77 mph wind gust try to tip over a rig in front of us. Luckily we get thru the storm without issues, and the rig only tips about 60 degrees on it side.

The lightning was flashing so much around us, it was probably striking 20 times a second. Here’s a pic I took of a flash near the car:


204284. 3:10am Wed
Added one cube.

Wisconsin. 204425. 6:10am Wed-9:15am Fri
Added one cube. Installed new timing belt, tensioner, top roller, valve cover gasket, water pump, thermostat, thermostat housing, o-ring, water flange.
In the process of getting at the thermostat housing, we fractured the “water flange” off of my 1998 VW Jetta TDI. It’s a bit annoying, because the elbow is made of plastic and there is no documentation on how to remove it. So pulled the pin out and then gave it a little twist. Not the right move. There is a hidden tab on the rim of the elbow, and if you torque it, you’ll bust it along the edge. The best move is to pull the elbow off without any twisting. There is a o-ring seal on the inside of the elbow and it connects to the thermostat housing. So just pull. No twist.
Here’s the damage:

It put us back a day, because we had to drive to Minneapolis from the north-central part of Wisconsin to the Luther VW dealer to get a new replacement “water flange” part. Nice place; normally I can’t stand the dealer, but these guys were very informative, prompt, and had all the parts they claimed to have. I can’t say that much for the VW dealers in Los Angeles.

Duluth MN. 204725. 3:50pm Fri.
Added 1.5 cubes. Had a loose hose, and it was squirting D all over the passenger side of the engine compartment. Tightened ‘er up.


Fort Francis, ON. 10:42pm Fri
Finally made it across the border. We got there at a reasonable hour in International Falls, and we thought it’d be a simple jump across the border like always. No way. Normally we get no problems with Canadian side of the crossing, but this time we got a full search of everything. They pretty much took out everything and searched it all. Except the veg. Crazy, they wasted so much time on trivial things like underwear and receipts, but left 17 cubes of grease completely unsearched. We had nothing worth searching anyway, but I would have thought the priorities would have been reversed.
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  #9  
Old 06-30-2010, 09:58 PM
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Fort Francis, ON. 204890. 8:45am Sat.
Added 1 cube.

One thing I forgot to mention before entering Canada was this place that had “LIVE NUDE MINNOWS” in Minnesota.


Five miles west of the Peg, Manitoba. 205226. 8:03pm Sat.
Added 1 5/8 cubes. We drove up from Fort Francis and were only a few kms from the turn off for the Trans-Canada Highway when a couple flagged us down. Turns out one of their cars had a flat tire. It looked like the stock jack they were using wasn’t cutting it, so we helped out with my hydraulic jack. Also, their dummy tire was a bit low on pressure, so we used my cigarette lighter pump.

Lots of oddities on the way from the Ontario border to the Peg. The top hat really completes this piece.

Instead of heading directly into Winnipeg, we circumnavigated the city to approach Lower Fort Garry on the northeast side of town. It’s becoming apparent the next few days will be driving through farm land and flat prairie.

Fort Garry was pretty interesting. It’s one of those national sites where they have a dozen people acting like it’s 1850. We kept encouraging those Canadians to revolt against the English, and we ended up getting a few of the wenches in trouble.

The PEG.

After hitting up the fort, we were told to visit the Forks district. I guess it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t that awesome either. It was just a bunch of shops and places for Canadian posers can figure out ways of justifying the time they wasted on their skateboards. They even had some sort of event where a flock of wallflowers showed off their skateboard moves. The announcer was really hardcore when he continually remarked after every trick with “Oh my gosh.” Canada.


From Winnipeg to Yorkton. Sat.
We ran into some storms and showers for the duration of the trip to Yorkton. We were stuck in the Forks for an extra hour because of a major downpour in the city. After grabbing some sushi, we set up to run the two blocks to our car in the rain. No biggie. On the way out of the restaurant, the owner insisted that we use her umbrella to get to our car. She was rather insistent, but we maintained that it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Just outside the restaurant under a canopy, we got ready to sprint over to the car, and another woman insisted that we take her umbrella. It was getting a bit weird. She said she trusted us to bring the umbrella back. After being barraged with Canadian kindness, we relented and took an umbrella. Crazy.

And more:
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  #10  
Old 07-05-2010, 06:40 PM
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More on the way to Yorkton, SK
The clouds would open up occasionally. It was strange, because the clouds formed so close to the ground.

If you’ve cruised the Yellowhead highway, you probably know about all the grain silos scattered throughout the countryside.

We are taking the Yellowhead highway because a visitor center guide at the border of Ontario and Manitoba mentioned that the Trans-Canadian Highway was CLOSED! Turns out by Medicine Hat, a part of the freeway was washed out and they are working on making a detour. She speculated that there wasn’t even a detour now, and potentially they may even make a frontage road of sorts possibly within a few weeks. !!! I literally asked, “So you have only two east-west roads in your country, and one is washed out??!” She responded “Yep.” So now the trip is all about the Yellowhead. We plan to take this northerly highway all the way from where it begins in the Peg over to Jasper National Park. That’s pretty much 80% of the total strip.
Another pic of the low hanging clouds:


Yorkton, SK. 205495. 9:00am Sun.
Added 1.5 cubes. Well we cruised into Yorkton around midnight and it’s really the only major town before Saskatoon. We stayed in a hotel that wasn’t that good but also not that bad. We’ve stayed in worse. I forget the name now, but I’ll post it later. Had to get on the road early, so we could hit up Saskatoon during the day, and then make the long drive past Edmonton, if possible.

On the way to Saskatoon, SK.
The Yellowhead is basically just a two-lane county road called a highway. And the traffic is predominately semis and late-nineties Crown Vic’s. It get’s pretty dry and the radio reception is negligible. At least the gaps in reception are less than the trip on the Alcan Hwy, but it’s still annoying to have nothing to listen to. So to break up the long stretches, they put dozens of these “Historical Markers” all over the place. These are good places to add a cube too, if necessary.


Saskatoon, SK. 205712. 4:39pm Sun.
Added 0.75 cubes. Cruised into Saskatoon around noon. Surprisingly bigger than I expected, especially at that latitude.

Ended up at a tourism center and they suggested we visit the Westward Expansion Museum. We’d seen brochures about this place and it appeared to be one of those places where they reenact the early 20th century.

The inside of the WEM:

They had a chapel from the original town, otherwise the place was fully recreated. The strange thing about this place is how underrated it is. No one told us that it’s the largest museum west of Toronto until we left. The section where they had all the recreations was only a fraction of the whole museum. It’s really nice. They had a section of old Saskatoon autos and even a Model T with the tractor option. Here’s a pic of an old powerplant for early twentieth century farm lighting.
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