Montreal - California Revisited! 7K+ miles (21 days - 2012)

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vincent9993
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Montreal - California Revisited! 7K+ miles (21 days - 2012)

Post by vincent9993 »

Here we go again! This trip will allow us to claim having visited all 49 continental states with our Berrien Nostalgia Dune Buggy.

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We're leaving 6:00am (EDT) on July 5th and heading south west.

  • July 5th 6:00am (575mi) St-Léonard, QC to Chambersburg, PA
    July 6th 6:00am (542mi) Chambersburg, PA to Anderson, SC
    July 7th 6:00am (516mi) Anderson, SC to Gulfport, MS
    July 8th 8:00am (129mi) Gulfport, MS to Baton Rouge, LS
    July 9th 6:00am (574mi) Baton Rouge, LS to Brownwood, TX
    July 10th 6:00am (570mi) Brownwood, TX to Albuquerque, NM
    July 11th 6:00am (532mi) Albuquerque, NM to Lake Havasu City, AZ
    July 12th 6:00am (247mi) Lake Havasu City, AZ to Riverside, CA
    July 13th
    July 14th
    July 15th 14:00pm (246mi) Riverside, CA to Las Vegas, NV
    July 16th
    July 17th
    July 18th 6:00am (523mi) Las Vegas, NV to Durango, CO
    July 19th 7:00am (327mi) Durango, CO to Colorado Springs, CO
    July 20th
    July 21st 6:00am (339mi) Colorado Springs, CO to Sidney, NE
    July 22nd 6:00am (472mi) Sidney, NE to Oacoma, SD
    July 23rd 6:00am (632mi) Oacoma, SD to Rockford, IL
    July 24th 6:00am (582mi) Rockford, IL to Mississauga, ON
    July 25th 6:00am (353mi) Mississauga, ON to St-Leonard, QC
Total distance planned: 7,159mi Excluding local trips and Big Bear cruises.

Next up, booking of hotels.

Stay tuned for more planning updates.
Last edited by vincent9993 on Fri Jul 13, 2012 1:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
Vincent Parisien
MC Director - MC 2696
Long Haul League, '69 Kick-Out-S.S., '59 Berrien Nostalgia, '73 Manxter (in progress)
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Page 1 - Montreal - California Revisited! 7K+ miles (21 day

Post by FulsGld »

I like this. Looking forward to following your trip...
Gary Berry
Prosser, WA
1971 Turista
1969 ManxVair
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DIESELDOOG
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Location: Northern Illinois

Page 1 - Montreal - California Revisited! 7K+ miles (21 day

Post by DIESELDOOG »

Vincent & France are using a SPOT locating device on this trip.  To follow their progress go to this link:
http://share.findmespot.c...O2pq1X3Q1jFeejMnJumnvYuR

07/07/2012 (Saturday) - Vincent is having difficulty getting SPOT to track. 
It will be at least 07/09/2012 before SPOT support can be contacted to get a fix.

07/09/2012 (Monday)  - SPOT came back on line at 08:08am today.  Tracking Vincent has resumed.

===============================================================

Day 01 -- Montreal, QC to Chambersburg, PA.Thursday, July 05, 2012

We left Montreal at 6:02am this morning under a blue sky, but a little cold (64 F) for the Mrs. (so, shirt with short sleeves, shirt with long sleeves, fleece and a coat). Mr. preferred to show that he was tough so he left with a shirt with short sleeves. The clouds appeared when we arrived near Candiac.

We arrived at the Lacolle’s boarders at 6:53am. The customs agent asked us: Where are you going? We answered: California. SILENCE….He repeated: California? We answered: Yes. So it seems that he didn’t know what to say…he gave us back our Nexus cards and bye bye gang. Before we went through the Adirondacks, Vincent decided to put his fleece…good call. Surprising but we didn’t get rain when we go through the Adirondacks. I need to let you know that Mrs has a cold…so the Kleenex is her best friend. Half way through the Adirondacks, the sun was more present. Mrs decided to take a short nap….I should say a long nap. When I woke up it was funny. I had on a shirt with short sleeves, shirt with long sleeves, fleece, a coat and the blanket from my brother-in-law Alain 1st. The mercury was now at 88F…it was time to remove some clothes.

Thanks again to our friend Keith for his genius idea to get the EZ-pass…not having to wait anymore at the tollbooths it’s wonderful. When we arrived near Carlisle (PA), there were large storm clouds. When we looked the radar imagery on the GPS, we had a doubt that we would get wet….so it was time to take a decision. Stop and put the top (at that time it was more than 101F) or take a chance and drive without the top. We decided to go with the second option and thank God, we got wet for 30 seconds. Can you imagine what we would have looked like if we had put the roof in this heat? Two chickens in a plastic bag. We arrived at Chambersburg (PA) around 5:45pm. Total distance: 634 miles (1020 KM). Tomorrow our destination is Anderson in South Carolina. Happy birthday uncle Lionel, hope you spent a wonderful day. Good night.

Vincent et/and France

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Day 2, July 06, 2012  Chambersburg, PA to Anderson, SC.


We left Chambersburg PA around 6:10am this morning. The sun was there and the mercury was about 73 F (23 C). We don’t really have anything special to report today. We passed through several states (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina) and further we went, warmer it got. Oh yes, today we hit the 100 F (38 C). I want to pass a message to the passenger of the vehicle who thinks that they are cool because they put their feet on the dash, take two minutes to think of what would happen if you had an accident and the air bags burst….ouch!!!!

Between the trucks (God there were a lot this morning) and the blown tires, I could tell you that my man worksed hard today…you are my champion.

Around 1:30pm we had enough of the sun so when we stopped fueling we took the opportunity to put the Sombrero (or bikini top) that came from T.J. Kustoms, did you know that? Some freshness was good, believe us.

I think that my man will be happier today because it seems that we don’t have any alcohol restriction like yesterday. Unknowingly, the hotel that I chose was on the side of the highway where, into the restaurants, no alcohol was served….this is why we went to the other side of the highway for dinner. To be in South Carolina without the Rioux/Dumouchel family is definitely not as fun …we miss you gang. We arrived at the hotel around 5:10pm…it is nice to arrive earlier than the previous years. We have time to relax before dinner while we transfer the pictures and videos and start the resume.

Little thought today for Marie-Jeanne and Wilfrid.

Total distance for today: 575 miles (925 KM). Destination Tomorrow: Gulfport MS.

Have great vacation to those who are leaving this week-end.

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQwo1emE0U0[/youtube]

Vincent et/and France
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Day 3, July 07, 2012  Anderson, SC. to Gulfport, MS.

We left Anderson SC around 6:15am, so 10 minutes before sunrise. The mercury was at 66 F (19 C), it was very humid and very foggy. We really got almost all weather, fog, wind, sun, cloud, humidity, heat but thank god no rain.

We got a complaint to do to Mr. Robert J. Bentley. Who is Mr. Bentley? The Alabama’s governor. How come you don’t have a sign saying Welcome to Alabama when we are on the Interstate 85 between Georgia and Alabama? We even watched the GoPro video to be sure…really no congratulations to you Mr. Bentley. In addition, what we saw in Alabama, well….we will not make a detour to come back …really ordinary (if you stay on the interstate as we did). If you pass by Alabama, try to take another road than the Interstate 85 because really not much to see.

After lunch, we put the Sombrero (top who provided from where? Oh yes from T.J.Kustoms). Again today we arrived earlier at the hotel (who is located just in front of the Gulf of Mexico), at 3:58pm (okay 4:58pm Montreal time). Again, we got time to relax.

Oh yes, do not worry if you are not able to follow us with the Spot. My wonderful husband locked his account and we need to wait until Monday to unlock it. For our Canadians friends, if you travel to the States, want to put gas and pay with your credit card and at the pump the zip code is required, just put 00 and the three numbers of your postal code. So if your postal code is H1Z 3A2 you just need to put 00132. This didn’t work all the time but half time….we will see tomorrow.

Visited States Today: South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.

Mileage today: 550 miles (885KM)

Tomorrow’s destination: Louisiana….short day of 130 miles (210KM).

We hope Francine that you spent a wonderful day today for your birthday.

Bonne soirée / Good evening.

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Day 4 July 08, 2012  Gulfport, MS to Baton Rouge, LA.

[quote="vincent9993"]Another day of our trip that ends. We could say that today was a different day from the other ones. First, we watched the F1 race on the Web (congrats to my favorites two drivers Webber and Alonzo). Secondly, we left the hotel around 9:00am (usually we've already been on the road for three hours). The sun was there but with a lot of clouds. We knew that the weather would not be as nice as the other days but it was okay (I am Claude’s daughter who loved to drive in the rain). We drove along the Gulf of Mexico…I can tell you that we saw some really nice houses. The more we drove west, the more the skies were threatening. We stopped to put the full top and few minutes later, the rain started. Because it was relatively warm, I’d say that it was not very pleasant.

We had to go to Madisonville in Louisiana to meet Michael (Murzi) a guy from The Samba forum. He chose a restaurant overlooked a river, it was really nice. Before going to the restaurant, his wife told him: “You will go meet and have lunch with people that you don’t know?” He replied:” It’s been 10 years that I know them on the forum”. It is very pleasant to meet people that are following us for so many years and more, Michael is a really a nice guy. I am sure that he will remember me because the lady splattered him with her lemonade…not so good for a first impression.

After the lunch with Michael, we went to our hotel in Bâton Rouge. A few minutes after we arrived, it started raining….a huge deluge with lighting and thunder like “Ti-Claude” loved them (and I also like). We decided to let the storm pass before going out again.

We had two choices, go to New Orleans or Lafayette. We decided to go to Lafayette….wrong choice. On Sunday, nothing really much to see…it is rather deserted. We stopped to ask where we could see attractions and they told us that we saw pretty much everything. We went back to Bâton Rouge. For the return trip, we passed again on the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, 18.2 miles long (29.29km)…very special. For those who knows me, I am more the type of person who say the glass half full, so for the New Orleans visit, it will be for next time (with my own dune buggy) and if we had decided to go there today, it would have been under the rain, which was not the case for the travel to Lafayette.

Total distance today: 274 miles (441KM)

States visited today: Mississippi and Louisiana

Tomorrow destination: Fredericksburg TX (We should met Brian and Bryan)

À demain / Talk to you tomorrow.

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Last edited by DIESELDOOG on Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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vincent9993
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Page 1 - Montreal - California Revisited! 7K+ miles (21 day

Post by vincent9993 »

Appologies for the spot link, looks like my account locked. We're 200 from destination.
Vincent Parisien
MC Director - MC 2696
Long Haul League, '69 Kick-Out-S.S., '59 Berrien Nostalgia, '73 Manxter (in progress)
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Page 1 - Montreal - California Revisited! 7K+ miles (21 day

Post by manxvair »

Nice job avoiding that debris, that could have hurt!. Wow I'll bet everyone who follows your travels wish that some day they could do what your doing. Please keep the reports coming. Safe Travels we will see you in Big Bear.
Mike Dario
Mohave Valley, AZ
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Page 2 - Montreal - California 2012 (Days 5, 6, 7, 8) Going

Post by DIESELDOOG »

07/09/2010, Monday, Day 5
Baton Rouge, LA to Fredricksburg, TX  (574 miles)



Oh boy, oh boy oh boy….

Pretty stressful day today. We left Bâton Rouge at 6:15 this morning without the top but we knew that it would be required at Lafayette. When our radar imagery on the GPS shows red, it means: “Hold on, it’s going to be rough”. Well for 30 minutes we had torrential rain, thunder, lightning and water in huge quantities… Thank god, the Dune Buggy never let up. Had this amount of rain fell in Montreal, many roads would have been closed due to flooding for sure. We will remember our passage at Lake Charles in Louisiana.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy…

We then headed for Houston to meet Brian and Bryan, Vincent was able to trick the weather and navigate through the menacing clouds on either sides and we managed to drive without the top …good thing since the heat was pretty high when the sun came out.

We met up with B&B but had to wait for the rain to pass (which had just started) since Brian only had a Bikini top and no windshield wipers and Bryan did not have a top. We took the opportunity to chat even if it meant to fraternize with the enemy (Brian is a Toronto Maple Leafs fan and he was proud to have his jersey with him).

Once the rain stopped, we headed out to lunch in a really nice Mexican restaurant. The waiter even spoke to us in French… I took the opportunity to try my Spanish a little… We all laughed. The meal was great but my god, it’s true what they say that everything is bigger in Texas… My appetizer (that I chose because I was not very hungry) could have served 3 people!

After 2 hours of great company, we departed since we still had 355KM (220 miles) to do to get to Fredericksburg. For the rest of the drive, we spent more time taking on and off the top than driving (or almost). We were a little too audacious when we tried to avoid a big cloud but failed… We had to stop on the side of the road to put up the top and the inside got pretty wet (so did we). About 80KM (50 miles) from our hotel, we had to put up the top, the radar was indicating red again, we remembered what that meant from the morning. Oh my god, the wind was crazy and the rain was coming down hard… If there was still sand/salt left from our visit to the Outer Banks from last October, I can guarantee that it’s all gone! At one time, we did not notice the water accumulation… The “pitoune” at la ronde or Splash Mountain at WDW were small compared to the amount of water we threw up!

Finally we arrived at the hotel safe and sound around 6:40pm and Vincent earned 2 beers today! BTW dinner at Navajo Grill in Fredericksburg was great… Good food and the vegetables were fresh.

States visited today : Louisiana et Texas
Distance covered : 858KM (533 miles)
Destination tomorrow : Santa Rosa NM


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======================================================================

Day 6 - July 10, 2012
Fredricksburg, TX to Santa Rosa, NM


Another wonderful day just ended up. We left this morning Fredericksburg at around 6:45am. We removed lot of water on the dune. Thank god we left without having to put the roof. We passed through a field of wind mills….there were thousands. We even followed the propeller wind turbine, it is really big. When we drove, Vincent told me: “I don’t know on what I am driving but it crack”. Few moments after, we stopped to take a picture of the dune in front of a house/jail abandoned. At that time Vincent told me: “Oh boy, these are big grasshoppers, this is on what I rolled and it is not cracking but crunching. Once again, it is true that everything is bigger in Texas…even the grasshoppers.

When we stopped to change the GoPro’s card, I told Vincent: « I will drive for a while and you will sit on the passenger seat and take pictures.” It was really cool…but at the end of the ride, at 0.6 mile (1KM), guess what? We ran out of gas, oh yes out of fuel. Thank god we had our reserve. It is the second time that we run out of gas and both times it was during our California trips.

When Mrs went back on the passenger seat, it was too windy for her, it was incredible. The wind was really hard and of course it was from my side. Vincent proposed to but the top and this for three reasons: stop the wind, dry out the top and because rain was coming. The top finally dried because it didn’t rain a lot.

When we passed through Sumner, we were looking for Billy the Kid…but it was for nothing because he is indeed dead…is tomb is at that place.

We enjoyed the day today because it was not on a highway and really little traffic.

First oil change completed by my man tonight…the dune is feeling better.

States visited today: Texas and New Mexico

Total distance for today: 601 miles (964 km)

Tomorrow’s destination: Kingman, AZ (Warning from National Weather Service : Excessive Heat where we are going…it should be 108F)

Talk to you soon.

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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sliRp6N39vA[/youtube]


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Day 7, July 11, 2012
Santa Rosa, NM to Kingman, AZ.


Today we could say that we saw different landscapes. We left Santa Rosa around 6:15am under a sun shyly hidden by fog. It was a little bit chilly this morning, only 68 F (20 C). We must say we were pretty high (we were over 7,000 feet or 650 meters). We regularly passed from 5000 feet (465 meters) to 7000 feet (650 meters) it mean a lot of coastline.

We drove more often without the top. We put it on when there was 120 miles (200KM) to go to our hotel because the radar indicated “red” where we were going. Finally, it didn’t rain that much, but the top was required. We could say that we were hit by the rain for about 30 minutes. The remaining of the time, the sun was gorgeous (like you could see on the pictures). We were surprised to see “green” landscape in Arizona. We pass through the Kaibab National Forest, hence the fact that we saw green.

We arrived at Kingman around 4:45pm. Rare thing, Vincent has agreed to walk to go to the restaurant…4 blocks from the hotel…Congratulations honey.

Oh yes, today I didn’t drive…I offered to Vincent to take his place so he could relax but he didn’t accept…may be he was still afraid of yesterday??? The trick with the three numbers of your postal code with the 00 in front well it didn’t work often…too bad.

Hope mom you had consistency at bowling today...

States visited: New Mexico and Arizona.

Total distance: 613 miles (987 KM)

Tomorrow destination: Riverside CA where we will spend 3 nights.

À bientôt / Talk to you soon.

Vincent et/and France

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Day 8, July 12, 2012

Kingman, AZ to Riverside, CA.



What can we say for today….first it was the birthday of our niece Cassandrine who is now an adult. Yes, 18 years old today for Cassie. Vincent and I hope that you spent a wonderful day and above, that you ate cake ha ha ha.

Because we only had a day of less than 300 miles (500 KM), we decided to take it easy and left Kingman AZ around 8:00am (after all we are on vacation no?). The weather was unsure…Vincent didn’t know if we should keep the top or not. Because it was really hot and humid, I took the decision to not put the top.

The morning was still crowned with hills and wind, but this time the wind was from Vincent’s side. I can tell you that he worked hard my honey in the hills, wind and the engine that wasn't cooling too quickly. But we accomplished our mission to go to California and we are really proud of ourselves. Remains now to return safely but we still have 13 days so we will enjoy them.

We were able to drive until 12:20pm before putting the top and thank god because the mercury indicated 104F (39.9 C). Also luckily that it was cloudy because we didn’t want to imagine what it would have been if it were sunny. You will be able to see in one picture (attention, this is Montreal time, you need to remove 3 hours) that the mercury already indicated 102.3 F (39.1 C). We drove a while but it was really too hot and it was only cloudy, no rain, so we removed the top (ouf…fresh air was more than welcomed).

We arrived at our hotel (magnify place that we will show you tomorrow) around 2:00pm. We dropped our stuff to our room and went back on the road (we didn’t get a full day on the road) and we went to San Diego. More beautiful coastline and breathtaking scenery. Driving through orange’s field it’s simply magnify and pleasant to smell.

We got back at our hotel around 7:30pm to have dinner at the Trattoria Restaurant (that we knew from our last trip in 2009). The atmosphere and the food are still good.

Visited States: Arizona and California

Total distance: Unknown (the LCD of the speedometer is shying (too humid)

Tomorrow: Another oil change because the oil that Vincent put last time was the 30 because didn’t have 40. After we will go to Big Bear Lake to registry for the week-end.

Bonne soirée / Good evening.

Vincent et/and France

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sh865uOq_8[/youtube]
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Day 9, July 13, 2012

Riverside, CA.


Another beautiful day of our adventure ends. Today we started it on while relaxing. We left the hotel around 9:45am to go to Walmart (for the oil and pan), at Laundromat (to wash our clothes), after that to Auto Zone (for the High Temp RTV Silicone) and finally to Car Craft (for the gaskets)… relaxing yes??

We had lunch at the Mission Inn Restaurant, very good pasta with broccoli, asparagus, tomato and olive miam miam. After that destination Big Bear to the Tanda Camp for the registry but more to see back our friends and meet new ones. Of course we met with great pleasure our friend Bob Hunter…always friendly. We also met Larry. He didn’t remember us but we remembered him. In 2009 he gave us a oil cap. On site we saw beautiful buggies but I need to admit that I prefer the gun metalflake grey dual sport, okay maybe because of the color which is the same as my dune buggy that I am building presently so what….it is a really nice dune buggy. It is always funny to see people calling us by our first name like we know them, but in reality it is them who know us via our recap on the buggy’s forum. Another funny thing, all our American friends asked us the same question: “What are you doing to be able to get so many vacation days?” “Us if we take more than two weeks in a row, so bye bye job at our return”…

After couple of hours, we went back to our hotel. The descent from the mountains with view on the valley is simply breathtaking…it is so nice with the sun, the mountains, the city, brief impossible to do not love it. Oh yes at Tanda Camp the temperature was at 68F (20 C) but down it was 93F (34C)…small difference no?

We had dinner at the Mexican restaurant of the hotel. Very good food.

Good night dear friends and talk to you tomorrow.

Vincent et/and France

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[youtube]http://youtu.be/LkK6jeW85J0[/youtube]

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Day 10, July 14, 2012

Big Bear Lake, CA.


Wow, incredible, magnificent, memorable, unforgettable. This is how we could resume our day. First, the weather was gorgeous…beautiful sun weather more than comfortable, not too hot, not too cold, and just perfect. We left the hotel around 5:45am for Big Bear Lake.

The day started with a show & shine. We were all parked by category. There were all kinds and all colors. People are really sympatric, we feel really welcomed and we appreciate it. We had to vote for the dune buggy that we preferred by category and the results will be revealed tomorrow morning.

Today people learned that Winnie and Bruce would not be with us. Bruce is recovering from a surgery. He is now in its third week of convalescence. We had the chance to see Winnie and Bruce on Thursday. It was the goal of our visit near San Diego. We talked with them for about one hour and got the privilege to visit their house and where the dune buggies are assembled. Really too bad that you were not with us today, but Bruce you need to listen what Winnie is saying to be in a good shape soon. Do not forget that I should be back to California but this time with the “real” dune buggy i.e. my Kick-Out SS.

We reunited with our french friend Ray who lives in New York. He was there with is yellow Kick-Out (serial #2). We met him in 2009 and at that time he was picking up his Kick-Out. He is really nice and it is always a pleasure to talk with him.

Today we beat the previous record of the number of dune buggies. We were 138 buggy. WOW. We got to choose which ride we wanted to do, they had 7 different ones. We choose the orange one i.e. medium. We followed our leader Scott. In that ride, we were 33 buggies. I can tell you that it is really cool to see so many buggies at the same time. It is incredible the number of people who followed us on different forums…few of them told us: “we were talking of you yesterday, we are proud to meet you”.

Mrs appreciated the ride even if she talked to herself often. We were climbing the hill, we were on the edge of a cliff and when the edge was on my right, I felt small in my panties.

It was hard to choose from the 600 pictures that we took today but we hope you will enjoy them. We want to thank life to be able to enjoy all those nice things and meet people that are so nice….THANK YOU.

Tomorrow we are leaving Mission Inn (snif snif) direction Big Bear Lake for the last goodbye to our friends and for the reward ceremons, after that, destination Las Vegas.

Have a nice evening and talk to you soon.

Vincent et/and France

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Day 11, July 15, 2012

Big Bear Lake, CA to Las-Vegas, NV.


We left this morning the hotel (very sadly) around 7:45am. The sky was rather cloudy but there was no appearance of rain. We drove towards Big Bear and after 10 miles (16 km), the sky became so blue and the sun shone. We arrived and Camp Tanda around 9:20am to say goodbye to our friends for one last time before two years.

The award ceremony and the drawing of gifts started around 10:00am. We can assure you that there were great prizes. We won the award, the one called “Came the farthest to get here”. To get to Big Bear Lake (on Friday), we drove 4,200 miles (6,760 km). At the risk of repeating ourselves, people are so friendly, we feel as if we knew them forever. There’s even a group of friends, the night before, who took a picture of themselves drinking a beer (or a drink) with their thumbs up. They showed us the picture this morning and told us they had taken it in our honor….we were really touched.

We left Big Bear Lake around 1:00pm to go to Las Vegas. It was the first time that we drove from the opposite side of the mountain and we can tell you that the road is really nice. We stopped around 2:40pm to put the top because the radar indicated “red”. Actually something funny arrived. At the stop, while Vincent was putting the top, a car stopped about 650 feet (200 meters) in front of us, a guy came out from his car really quickly, he seemed to have a need to pee (really quickly). He saw that we were there so he went behind is car. There was car coming from that side so he went to the driver side and again a few cars were there. He decided to go back in the car, passage rear side. Moments later he emptied a bottle…I laughed so hard but I found it really disgusting.

Subsequently we had to find something to do to kill the time in the desert (we had to cross Death Valley). We tried to remember the name of the exits, or at last to be able to pronounce their name…really hard to do but really rewarding at Scrabble (please refer to picture #7822). After that, the other attraction was to watch the thermometer and it kept rising. You will be able to see on picture #7845 (remember this is Montreal time so in reality it was 4:05pm) that we were in solidarity (and even more) with our friends in Quebec who are experiencing heat wave. To represent you how hot it was, take a hair dryer, put it in the warmest and stronger setting and aim the air in the face for about an hour.

Once we crossed California and as we entered Nevada, the south side of the highway 15 (we were heading north), there was a traffic jam of 17 miles (27 km), I can tell you that this is really long.

For our entry in Las Vegas, we removed the top. The weather was sublime. We arrived at our hotel around 5:45pm. I must still take some time to get used to noise and the special atmosphere in Vegas…really all kinds of people here.

The got the odometer back. So the total distance for today was 273 miles (440 km). Since last Thursday, we drove 976 miles (1,570 km)

Tomorrow, nothing special scheduled for the moment, we will decide when we will get up. At 7:00pm we will see the show Love from the Cirque du Soleil. Do not forget, Tuesday morning Vincent will finally be able to enjoy the gift that he received for his 40th anniversary (5 laps of Ferrari, 5 laps of Porsche and 5 laps of Lamborghini) on the Vegas race track.

Have a nice evening and talk to you soon.

Vincent et/and France

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=================================================================================================

Day 12, July 16, 2012

Las-Vegas, NV.


Today was a different day. First, we woke up later (7:30am). After, we relaxed and enjoyed. We wanted to see Hoover Dam so we decided to go later for breakfast because we didn’t want to have to take a lunch.

The Hoover Dam’s visit was great. We were not able to take a tour (not available today) but no matter what, it is really impressive. We are really in two states (Arizona and Nevada). I can tell you that going through Hoover Dam with the Dune is an attraction by itself…people were taking pictures of us, it was really funny. If we talk weather, we could say that the visit was done under a wonderful sun and 106 F (41 C). It was not so bad because on the Strip in Vegas it was 114 F (46 C). It is really impressive the size of the construction and when you realize that it was done in 4 to 5 years….we should engage the workers to come in Montreal to build the new Champlain Bridge…it will be faster.

After the visit, we went to the Outlets (more specify to Izod). Not that Mrs needed anything but she could not miss it. During the time that I was inside, Vincent was waiting for me outside. When he was cleaning the dune, few Asian people (all women) stopped and took picture in front, beside and even in the dune. The funniest part was that everything was filmed on the Go Pro. You can see the video of 2 minutes…really funny.

After shopping, we went back to the hotel because the show Love was at 7:00pm (19:00). We were able to talk (via Facetime) and see my brother Guy, his spouse Nathalie and my two nieces Cassandrine and Augustine (who is now one year older today). She got the honor of a song from Vincent and I….poor Augustine. We hope that you had a wonderful day. After, it was Vincent’s parents who called us via Skype. During dinner, we called my sister Louise and my brother-in-law Alain.

What can we say about the show…W O W!!! For those who like the Beatles, it is really a show that needs to be seen. We didn’t have enough eyes to see everything.

Tomorrow we will go to the race track where my man will be able to enjoy his birthday present. He can’t wait…me neither.

Have a nice evening and talk to you soon.

Vincent et/and France

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[youtube]http://youtu.be/SUd3eDRULlQ[/youtube]
Last edited by DIESELDOOG on Fri Jul 13, 2012 3:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by vincent9993 »

Day 13 - July 17, 2012
Las Vegas Speedway - Exotic Racing


The long awaited day for Vincent has now gone. Yesterday morning, we left the hotel around 9:00am to go to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The weather was perfect, the sky was clear blue, no clouds (it was like this for the entire day and evening) and the sun brighter. We both had butterflies in our stomachs. You all know the saying: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” so unfortunately for you, you will not know more on Vincent’s experience at the Exotics Racing.

After that, we took a video for those who never came to Vegas and saw the Strip or if you prefer, Las Vegas Boulevard. The mercury was at that time was 114F (46 C). For dinner, we went to the Trevi Restaurant at Ceasars Palace. To digest the delicious dinner, we went for a walk in the Caesars’ boutiques. We stopped in the photos gallery of the works of Mr. Peter Lik. His images are simply gorgeous. Take the time to do a search on the Web; you will be able to understand what we want to say.

When we returned to the hotel, Vincent made a deposit at the Blackjack table. He played for about 30 minutes, but we will not be able to extend our stay.

Okay joking aside, here is the recap of the Exotics Racings’ experience. I can tell you that my man didn’t have enough eyes to see the entire nice cars at the same place. When they were on the track, he had goose bumps. You could see on picture 8082 that a passenger was into the Corvette Z06 (Power: 505hp, max 200 mph / 0-60mph in 3,7s). To know who it was, you need to look picture 8116. The Corvette was driven by the champion of Drift racing in Japan, Rudy Ibanez. He is really good because he is able to control the drifting…it is really cool. Now, I am turning it over to Vincent.

I need to tell you that I was really impressed by the serious and the professionalism of the company. Everything is coordinated from the hip. All the staff members are a remarkably kind. After a briefing of 20 minutes where they explained us the difference between each cars, that they will never have a Bugatti Veyron (too expansive) and neither a Prius (not enough exotic), my butterflies were more activate when the instructor mentioned that the gearbox of the Ferrari 458 Italia, one of the car that I would later drive, was very impressive. Outside, the weather was around 104 F (40 C), no humidity and a little wind.

After the briefing, I really laugh when I saw France really anxious as Rudy was doing laps on the track….yes; France did two laps in the Corvette with Rudy (gift from me). After the two laps, she was smiling from ear to ear and would have done more laps I am sure.

Now seriously, before the start, all drivers, with their guest, had to do an orientation lap of the track in a Porsche Cayenne. At that time, the instructor explained to us where we should break and accelerate as well the rules of conduct.

The first car that I drove was a Ferrari 458 Italia (Power: 569hp, max 202 mph / 0-60mph in 3,3s) and the color was red (yes France I will specify the color). My impressions: WOW…the shift is unimaginable, it is really an experience. The acceleration sound is incredible. What my instructor had told us was right, driving this car is really easy.

The second car was the Porsche 997 Turbo S (Power: 530hp, max 195 mph / 0-60mph in 2,6s), color grey. My impressions: Quick…the shift is more rudimentary than in the Ferrari. It was with that car that I took more insurance and I passed other cars.

The third car was…..the Lamborghini Aventador (the Murcielago was no longer available and it was better like this, I didn’t have to make a decision on which one to take). Specification: (Power: 700hp, max 217 mph / 0-60mph in 2,6s) color green. My impressions: Holy Crap…the power of this car is unimaginable. I constantly activated all the driver aids (ABS – ESP etc). This car is much heavier than the two others. France told me that she was able to see that I was faster in that car. I passed a few cars and I also put two tires off track (whoops). To better enjoy this car though, we should go on a longer track, like Tremblant…it would be incredible.

Finally, the last exotic car (yes we got a forth one) was a Dune Buggy 1959, red color (Power 40hp, max 78 mph (with the tail wind) / 0-60mph in 18.4s). My impressions: This is really not going fast, but I have the merit of saying that I built that car and few instructors mentioned that would have really liked to try it on the track.

I would like to thank all the people who contributed to this gift, and a special thanks to France who had the idea…you know well your man…I love you.

So now it is time to go we are going on the road again, we should leave around 6:00am, destination Durango in Colorado.

Good day everybody.

Vincent et/and France

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iONxLLrVdY[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtGgdpXX614[/youtube]
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=blo0X7DCmf4[/youtube]
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=sTmnLQERtLA[/youtube]

Day 14 - July 18, 2012
Durango, Colorado


Today we left Las Vegas around 6:25am…the bell boys of the hotel were skeptical that the entire luggage would fit in our dune buggy…if they knew how we are now experts. It was bright sunshine this morning, the streets were rather deserted…people are still sleeping at this early hour.

The day was quite long, 12 hours of driving for a total of 14 hours (including our breaks). The fact that it was so long is due of the extreme heat (we beat our record, today it was 129.4F / 54.1 C) at lunch time at Lake Powell in Arizona (really nice place and surprising in the desert), all the hills (at one time we were at 8,419 feet / 2,566 meters) and the wind was strong. I can tell you that Vincent worked really hard to keep the dune on the road (due of the wind) and ensured the engine would not over heat (due of the hills and the extreme heat)…he is the best. We didn’t regret our day because the scenic were simply sublime.

These are the states that we went through: Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Arizona, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, don’t worry, you will not have pictures of each time we crossed a state…we went to four states at the same time, yes this is not a joke, we went at the Four Corners’ monument at the junction of the four states.

Total distance: 570.4 miles / 918 KM

The hotel at Durango is at 6,635 feet / 2,022 meters.

Tomorrow we are leaving for Colorado Springs where we will pass 2 nights.

Talk to you soon.

Vincent et/and France

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63CQSEfxZaU[/youtube]

Day 15 - July 19, 2012
Colorado Spring - Colorado


It's nice to here you are enjoying our daily recaps, sometimes it means we stay up late to get it all posted. Feel free to criticize or provide feedback or ask anything you'd like us to answer or cover, France and I enjoy reading your comments.

Today it was a roller coasters day. We left Durango around 7:40am under a beautiful sun; it was chilly a little bit 17 C (63 F). A friend at Big Bear (sorry we can’t remember his name), suggested to us to pass by Silverton where we will have no choice but to take the Million Dollar Highway. Its name got few origins but the two that we know are; the cost in 1920 to build one mile was one million dollar and the second (the one that we preferred) is that there is one million dollar worth of gold-dust in the fill-dirt used for the road bed. It is really a remarkable road that needs to be seeing. You need to not be afraid of heights or fear of heights…the view is breathtaking. Here is why we said that our day was like roller coaster:

Summits that we climbed:
- Cerro 7,952 feet / 2,424 meters
- Blue Mesa 8,714 feet / 2,656 meters
- Trout Creek Pass 9,484 feet / 2,891 meters
- Monarch 11,305 feet / 3,446 meters
- WIlkeron Pass 9,514 feet / 2,900 meters
- Coal Bank Pass 10,661 feet / 3,250 meters
- Molas Pass 10,915 feet / 3,327 meters

Either the city of Divide is at 9,168 feet / 2,795 meters.

I can tell you that the engine ran well this morning but in the afternoon it was harder….the wind was unbelievable.

At Colorado Springs (place where we will spend two nights), it was 114 F / 46 F. Our hotel is at 6,674 feet / 2,034 metres. The total distance for today: 365 miles / 587km.

To be sure that we will not have any trouble to climb Mount Evans on July 21st, Vincent did another oil change to give a chance to the Dune Buggy.

Tomorrow, we should have a look around Colorado Springs…nothing special.

We hope that you will like the pictures…it is hard to share with you in a few pictures, all the beauty that we see. The video really needs to be seeing.

Oh yes, Vincent said that it's obvious we are now in the mountains and we left the desert because the cold water from the faucet is actually cooler than the hot water which was not the case in the desert.

Good evening.

Vincent et/and France

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phpBB [video]




Day 16 - July 20, 2012

Colorado Spring - Colorado - Pikes Peak Climb


For those who know well both of us, you know that we are not doing things halfway. Tomorrow we should climb the Mount Evans (the highest mountain with pavement in North America with an altitude of 14,265 feet (4,348 meters). To be sure that we will not have any problems, we have decided to practice by climbing the second highest mountain with pavement in Colorado, Pikes Peak. The altitude of that one is only 14,115 feet (4,303 meters). To help the engine, we decide to do the visit early in the morning (around 9:00am). This was a very good decision because when we came back from the top, they had more people on the road. The landscape is simply magnificent (how many times did we say that during our trip, oh well…). The curves are phenomenal and often we got the impression that we will fall into the void. At this altitude, we really feel that oxygen is not the same…the slightest movement makes us feel it. We tip our hat to those who climb the Kilimanjaro (19,341 feet / 5,895 meters). We also had a thought for the Manx who raced on that road in 1966 (Ted Trevor and Don Wilcox). Might be a real thrill….

After that, we had lunch at Manitou Springs. This is a really nice town; we will come back for sure to see more.

After the lunch, we went to see (without landing) the Caves of the Wings. Because it was quite hot, we said that we will come back one day.

After, destination Seven Falls. We decided to land to see that place. It is really a nice location but at that time of the day, it was 114F (46 C) so we went only half way…it is really nice but too hot (I know, you will say that we are not tough).

To give a chance to my husband to relax a little bit, we came back to the hotel and he took a nap when I was starting the recap and choose the pictures.

For dinner we went to the Colorado Mountain Brewery (I don’t know why). Really nice place with good food, of course Vincent enjoyed the two beers that he took.

Total Distance: 100.5 miles (162 km).

Tomorrow we are going to Kansas, after the Mount Evans of course.

Have a great week-end and talk to you soon.

P.S. Our prayers and thoughts are with all the family of the people who died or were injured at 60 miles (100 km) from here (Aurora shooting at the first presentation of the new Batman). Be brave!

Vincent et / and France

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[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=zWWHUeEolH0[/youtube]
Vincent Parisien
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Post by manxvair »

pictures and video are awesome, weather looks beautiful. Thanks for the updates, wishing you safe travels.
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Post by Ed-Chenal »

The photos are very good.  Thank you for taking the time to post the photos, videos and narrative.
Have a safe and cooler trip.


Ed
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Post by Scott-Drolet »

Hi Vincent & France. It was great seeing you guys again at Manx on the Banx.  I'm glad you both got home safely and missed the horrible storm.

I'm starting to lay down the driving plans from Valley Center, CA to Nags Head, NC for next year's trip. How many miles a day do you think is about right driving a  buggy?  I'd like to get there as quickly as possible, then take a little more time driving back.  It looks like it'll be 2,677.42 miles there (according to Mapquest) and a little bit further coming back (2855 miles) since I feel compelled to stop in Lynchburg, Tennesee to see my good friend Jack Daniels on the trip back Image
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Post by Tom-Kathleen »

Scott - how many (well deserved) long distance awards are they going to need next year at MOTB?  LOL  Tom
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Post by Scott-Drolet »

I'm thinking of at least three for buggies from this coast:-)
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Post by vincent9993 »

Scott Drolet wrote:Hi Vincent & France. It was great seeing you guys again at Manx on the Banx.  I'm glad you both got home safely and missed the horrible storm.

I'm starting to lay down the driving plans from Valley Center, CA to Nags Head, NC for next year's trip. How many miles a day do you think is about right driving a  buggy?  I'd like to get there as quickly as possible, then take a little more time driving back.  It looks like it'll be 2,677.42 miles there (according to Mapquest) and a little bit further coming back (2855 miles) since I feel compelled to stop in Lynchburg, Tennesee to see my good friend Jack Daniels on the trip back Image
Hi Scott, that's fantastic!  The most I've been able to do on a multi-day long haul is 666 miles.  Remember that I'm the only driver (France is only starting to drive stick).  With 2 capable drivers, it may be possible to break the 700 mile barrier.  Do note that as you travel east, you have to deal with time-zone change and you loose 1h every few days.  You also have to deal with the rising sun in the morning.  The only good thing about driving east (other than meeting great friends), is you should have a tail wind (normally blows west to east).  With a flat windshield, the wind will play a role on a long drive.

When we plan our trips, calculate a 15 minute stop every 2h and a 1h stop for lunch.  We also need to add 1h of loss misc time along the route.  The key to completing these trips is discipline, you have to drive and not smell the roses or stop for bathroom breaks every 15 minutes.
We also noticed that GPS don't factor in trafic lights.  If you're traveling through cities or towns, plan to loose at least 1minute per traffic light on average compared to GPS time of arrival. 

You should also be ok for trafic congestion through the center of USA, we only ever ran into real congestions on either coasts. 

After a long 600+ miles, you may want a shorter day to recover.

If you play by the VW rule book, you should also consider an oil change after 2,000 miles (You can stretch to 3K but monitor the oil closely, smell it and taste it). 

I highly recommend you have your gear and closes FedExed to location, it's going to save a lot of time not having to haul all your extra luggage to your room every night.

One last thing you need to consider, France has told me to remind you that you are obligated to keep a log/diary and post it every night.  Plan for at least 30min to 1h every night to properly recap your day's activity.

There's much more info I could share with you and would be honored to discuss/review your plans as you get closer to a commit.

Good luck and congratulations for considering the endavour!

  
Vincent Parisien
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Post by Tom-Kathleen »

Scott - I agree with Vincent & France's comments. But, I think you could travel much further each day if the car is comfortable & the weather cooperates.  When Kathleen & I drove the Manxter to the Big Bear event in 2007, it took us 4 1/2 days.  We could have done it in 4 days, but we had to make a large detour to avoid flooding in Arkansas & Missouri.  We split the driving and got @ 8 hours of sleep every night.  Back then the car only had a 1915cc VW motor and only liked to cruise at @ 65 - 70 MPH.  We went up to 750 miles per day.

This year, I drove the "Great White Whale" (box van) back from San Diego to CT in 4 days by myself.  This included at stop in Anderson, SC to pick up something from Chris Lewis.  The truck only likes to go @ 70, and once again, I got @ 8 hours of sleep every night.  Your mileage may vary. 

One other trick I have found over the years of long distance driving is to work around large cities.  If I am comming up on a large city at the end of the day, I will take the time to get on the far side of that city so I don't have to deal with the rush hour traffic the next day.  I have had great luck this year with Days Inn hotels, cheap, pentiful and nice.  Making this trip in October would also make it easier, very few people are on vacation at that time of year, and the weather would be cooler.  Tom 
Last edited by Tom-Kathleen on Thu Nov 15, 2012 10:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Montreal - California Revisited! 7K+ miles (21 day

Post by vincent9993 »

Day 17 - July 21, 2012
Colorado Springs, CO to Kansas, KS


We left this morning (with regret) Colorado Spring around 6:15am. It was a little bit chilly; 63F (17 C), but the sun was gorgeous. We dressed warmly because we were concerned that the Mount Evans’ climb will be cold. We had two major objectives for this trip; go to California for the Big Bear Bash (completed with success) and climb the Mount Evans the highest pavement mountain in North America (not complete). We went to the start of the road to climb Mount Evans but we turned back. Why? Well there was a competition of bikes and the road to get to the summit was closed until 2:00pm. It was too late for us, so we headed for Kansas. As you know, we always see the glass half full, so yes we were slightly disappointed, but having climbed the Pikes Peak yesterday, we were happy. We will come back to climb the Mount Evans and this time it will be with my dune buggy.

We drove most of the time the Interstate 70. Oh boy the landscape was so different compared to the last days. The mountains and the forests are really things of the pass. We don’t know why, but even if it was not as hot as when we passed through Death Valley (remember it was 124.5F / 51.5C), we found it more painful today. The mercury indicated 109.5F / 43C but the wind was incredible. We thought that the other days the winds were high but it was nothing compared to today. How could we explain this to you? Okay take a big fan for stables, put it in front of stove. Start the oven at 400 F / 205 C and when the little red light turns off (this is really important to be sure that the heat will be right), open the door of your stove and start the fan. Put yourself in front of the fan for about 3 hours and you will well know what it was for us today.

Oh yes today I drove a little bit the dune buggy. I need to tell you that I prefer when I am the co-pilot/photographer. Between the verification of the oil pressure, the oil temperature, the dozen of big trucks who pushed us on the side and be sure that we are not driving too fast to give a chance to the engine, this is not really relaxing. I think I will imitate Celine Dion. I will have my own car (dune buggy Meyers Manx Kick Out SS) but I will also have my own driver ha ha ha.

For dinner we went to the Crazy R’s Bar & Grill. Due to the fact that Goodland is a really small town, the choice is a little bit limited. We need to tell you that this restaurant was the “hot” spot for a Saturday night (and maybe the only one open). The food was good and the beer as well. At 7:30pm it was 97 F / 36 C…still hot enough no?

Altitude of the hotel: 3,708 feet / 1,130 meters

States today: Colorado and Kansas

Mileage: 362 miles / 582 KM

Destination tomorrow is Fulton in Missouri.

Have a great evening.

Vincent et/and France

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==============================================================

Day 18 - July 22, 2012
Kansas, KS to Fulton, MS


This morning we left Goodland KS around 5:15am. We wanted to avoid having to drive too much in the heat. You will see two pictures of the sunrise…it was much nicer in person oh well. At 10:30am it was already 100 F / 38 C. The first three hours were a copy/paste from yesterday (talking landscape). The wind was not as strong. We were surprised to see so many oil wells…we would say that we saw more here than when we crossed Texas. We saw as well wind mills. After that, we began to see the green.

After lunch, it was really too hot (114 F / 46 C) so we decided to put the bikini/sombrero top (that comes from: Http://www.tjkustoms.com) It seems that we need to drink a lot when it is hot, so that's what we did. In two hours we drank 6 bottles of Gatorade.

We needed to add half a liter of oil…the dune buggy also needed drinks. It worked hard today with that heat. We will try to leave early tomorrow as well to give it a chance.

Nothing really special to report except that the Missouri’s landscape looks like our country, but warmer. Here, they didn’t try to find complicated names for their exits (see picture DSC_9930).

For dinner we went to the Post Office Bar & Grill downtown of Fulton, it is a really cool place and the food is okay. People are really nice.

The little video will show you our “friends” when we came back from the restaurant. There were just beside us. Not really sociable but it is okay…they do not really know us.

Altitude of the hotel: 861 feet / 262 meters

Total Distance: 593 miles / 954 km

States today: Kansas and Missouri

Destination tomorrow: Rockford Illinois. We should meet friends during the day and have dinner with Jayne and Joe other friends. We are looking forward.

Have a nice evening.

Vincent et/and France

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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp9yQhM9rnw[/youtube]

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Day 19 - July 23, 2012
Fulton, MS to Rockford, Il


Today we left Fulton MO around 5:15am; we wanted to drive as much as possible before it was too hot. We need to tell you that the sky was more covered today and this was better like that. When the sun was more present, it was really hot. We arrived early at Rockford IL (around noon) and the firemen arrived at the same time…not sure if it was to welcome us. Seriously, it was a false alarm, everything was under control.

We were supposed to meet David around 4:00pm; we decided to visit the Japanese Garden at Rockford. W O W, really nice. It was really hard to pick only few pictures, they are all nice. I need to admit that during the tour, it was EXTREMELY hot. Vincent was sweating. Like he mentioned to me, he never sweat as much from his head…it is hard to believe that when he works it is not as intense ha ha ha. Diane and Guy, I need to let you know that I saw a big similarity with when we went to Cypress Garden in 1978…one exception, the stupid clown was not there. It was around 108 F / 43 C but with LOT of humidity.

After that, we went back to the hotel to take a nice shower. After direction Dairy Queen to meet Kelli and David, a really nice couple that we met last year. We talked for a little bit more than one hour. We really hope that they will be able to join us in October at the Manx On the Banx (MOB).

After, Jayne and Joe came to meet us at the hotel and we went together for dinner. It was a really nice dinner well watered and really pleasant. We highlighted Jayne’s anniversary (July 24th). They are such a nice couple and spent the night with them was more than pleasant. We can’t wait to see them again in October at MOB.

We can tell you that talking with two nice couples; this helped us to accept that we only have two more days on our wonderful trip…the time flys so fast.

States Today: Missouri and Illinois

Distance: 397.6 miles (640 KM)

Altitude of the hotel: 888 feet (271 meters)

Tomorrow destination: Woodstock Ontario…yes back to Canada

Have a nice evening.

Vincent and/et France

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Day 20 - July 24, 2012
Rockford, Il to Woodstock Ontario


Today we wanted to leave early Rockford IL because again, we wanted to avoid driving in the heat. We left the hotel at 5:15am and bang, the wish of the resident vow fulfilled, it began to rain but to rain with wind, lighting thunder, bottom line it was really not nice (plus it was really dark). We stopped under an overpass to let the storm pass. After 30 minutes, we decided to go hit the road again…it was still raining hard, lighting and thunder were still present but it was not as dark and the wind was less violent.

The weather was ugly until 11:00am. After that, the sun came out and stayed with us until the end of the day. After lunch, we drove without the top and we enjoyed the sun. Crossing the boarders went relatively well. We were a little bit surprised to see so many cars in the Nexus line; there might have been around 6 in front of us, usually not that many. The customs agent didn’t seem to know which question to ask us. So it went relatively fast, less than 6 minutes.

We can confirm to you that the Canadian wind is as strong as the USA wind, but for me, I prefer the Canadian one, because it is from Vincent’s side. Regarding the Canadian manure which is spread onto the Canadian fields so it didn’t smell better than the USA manure…dam it stinks and it is worst when it’s windy.

To complete today’s recap, see below the different type of people that we met when we drive so many hours with the dune buggy:

The «Thumbs up»:

Those who give us a thumb up in appreciation

The «Rubber Necker»:

Those who turn their head to see us as long as possible.

The «Bubble Head»:

Those who shake their head several times when they passed beside us.

The «Hypocrites»:

Those who remain in the blind spot of the dune buggy. When they passed beside us, they head down and we can see that they are looking if the picture that they just took is good or not.

The «Horners»:

These are the one that we love the least. When people honk after us, we always wonder if there is something wrong with the dune or if we have a problem, grrrr.

So on this, we will wish you a good evening, stay tune until the end because tomorrow on our last recap we will provide statistics.

States visited: Illinois, Indiana and Michigan

Province: Ontario

Distance Today: 540.8 miles / 870 km.


Talk to you soon.
Vincent et/and France

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Day 21 - July 25, 2012
Woodstock Ontario to Home


This is our last recap. WOW….we did such a nice trip. Today we left Woodstock ON around 6:25. It was a little bit chilly (59 F / 15 C) but the sun was beautiful. The wind was softer today. I asked Vincent to put the top on because it was too cold for me. We forgot the huge traffic in Toronto and we were right in rush hour…with the top, the sun on us, it was really starting to be too hot. We stopped to put gas and we removed the top.

Nothing really special on the road during the day. When we arrived in Quebec, what did we saw first was??? Yes the wonderful orange construction cones, Vincent’s friends.

We arrived at our apartment around 3:10pm. We are really proud of ourselves. Mission accomplished. We now have all 49 continental American States visited with our dune buggy. Thanks to Joseph Sellars our new friend since Big Bear who gave us a collectable Manx Hot Wheel from Hawaii…he knows that we will not be able to visit that state with the dune….thanks Joseph.

I am really lucky to have such a good husband. I have full confidence with him. I know that I will know how to repair a problem if we got in one, but thank God we didn’t have anything. We are a really a good team. Now, we need to see if the “real” new dune buggy (mine who should be ready at the latest next spring) if it will be able to do the same thing…



Next year we will not really do a long trip (we will probably go to Carlisle Pennsylvania in May and North Carolina in October). We are supposed to highlight our 15th wedding anniversary in Germany for the Oktoberfest (I know one who will be in paradise). Of course we will be (if God wants) in North Carolina from October 8th ‘til 14th 2012. We hope to see our friends from the West Coast join us with our East Coast friends. We REALLY hope that Winnie and Bruce will be able to join us.

TODAY

Provinces visited: Ontario and Quebec

Total Distance: 441.1 miles / 710 KM

Thanks for your dedication to follow us and hope to talk to you soon. Now it is time to go to bed because we are both working tomorrow…yes all good things come to an end. See below the stats for the trip.

FOR THE ENTIRE TRIP

États Visités/ States visited : 23
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvanie, Maryland, Virginie, Caroline du Nord, Caroline du Sud, Géorgie, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiane, Texas, Nouveau Mexique, Arizona, Californie, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana et Michigan.

Provinces Visitées/ Visited Provinces : 2
Ontario et Québec

Hotest temperature :
54.1 C / 129.4 F (Arizona « Lake Powell »)



Kind of beer drank by Vincent :

Blue Moon, Shock Top Belgian White, Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan, Abita, Rio Blanco Pale Ale, Lobo Negro, Shiner Bock, Kingman Ale, Corona, Dos Equis Ambre Ale, Kirin Ichiban, St Pauli Girl, Stone Pale Ale, Durango Brewing Dark Lager, Durango Brewing Wheat, Laughing Lab, Seasonal Brew Cream Ale, Ole 59er Amber, Michelob Ultra, Northern Light Lager, Brother Benedict’s Bock, Broad Axe Stout, Duke of Wellington Ipa, Wag’s Wheat American Wheat, Two Pull, Speciality 1 (Sprite avec / with Northern Light Lager), Speciality 2 (Brother Benedict’s Bock avec / with Northern Light Lager), Stella Artois et Kasteel.


Total Cost of Gas:
1,403.58$

Gas used:
1,382.626 litres / 365.251 gallons

Average Cost:
1.02$ / Litre
3.84$ / Gallon

Consumption:
9,625 litre/100
22.64 MPG

Total number of oil liter:
11 pintes / liters

Total number of pictures:
3,667

Number of pictures that we shared:
440

Finaly the total distance for the trip :
13.310.6 KM / 8,270.8 milles en 21 jours/days.



Vincent et/and France

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