I got home Thursday November 11 -- driving the 700+ miles from San Francisco to home with only brief stops for food and restrooms. The homing instinct is powerful and I was enjoying a beautiful drive up 101 to Crescent City, then over the beautiful 199 to Grants Pass and then lots of straight freeway home.
I'll add the final numbers sometime soon, but the trip ended up being around 4500 miles -- and the Smart Car was outstanding and fun. As I often say, it's not much as a car, but as an all-weather motorcycle it is great. Other than the nail in the tire in St. George, Utah -- the only other malfunction was a broken piece of plastic latch for the back tailgate. The only symptom was that it was difficult to open the tailgate for a few days -- and as I was passing through Santa Clara on my way to San Francisco, I stopped at a Smart dealer and was treated royally. I was back on the road within an hour with the warranty fix -- and enjoyed free coffee and wifi while at the dealership.
Deb returns home from the east coast on the 21st and we are already talking about where we might make our next Smart Car trip -- the Alaskan highway to Anchorage is on the list!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Wed-Fri, Nov 3-5 - LA/Solvang/Morro Bay
Descended into Los Angeles basin from Big Bear on Wednesday to connect up with and spend day/night with son Neal and daughter-in-law Anna and their first baby (due in February). Enjoyed a fantastic day of visiting including on the grounds of "The Huntington" library, art collection and gardens. Spent the night at a hotel near the LAX airport where they had a 6:15am flight out on Thursday back to the east coast. Truly a highlight of the trip -- family always trumps scenery!
The Smart Car held her own on the nasty/clogged freeways of LA -- but she is definitely not designed/built for them. She is always fun to fit into tiny parking spots that no one else can get into. The freeways of LA reminded me of some of the less-fun parts of when we lived in Los Angeles in the 80's -- where too little law enforcement allows outrageously aggressive driving and speeding. I usually drive 6 to 10 mph over the speed limit -- but in LA that's the equivalent of standing still.
We left LA on the coastal route (highway 1) and enjoyed a leisurely pace to the fun, touristy destination of Solvang where we stayed at another Worldmark that we've stayed at before.
Deb posted a few photos from our stay in Los Angeles and drive to Solvang here.
This morning (Friday, Nov 5) we are driving to my home in Morro Bay -- and will be in the "central coast" area of California staying with family until Tuesday, November 9. As prearranged, Deb has a flight out of the nearby San Luis Obispo airport on Tuesday morning to visit in Neal/Anna in Williamsburg, VA; one of her sisters in Richmond, VA; and then her dad and other family in West Virginia. After dropping Deb off at the airport -- I'm going to continue the drive solo back home -- with a couple nights in the downtown San Francisco Worldmark.
The Smart Car held her own on the nasty/clogged freeways of LA -- but she is definitely not designed/built for them. She is always fun to fit into tiny parking spots that no one else can get into. The freeways of LA reminded me of some of the less-fun parts of when we lived in Los Angeles in the 80's -- where too little law enforcement allows outrageously aggressive driving and speeding. I usually drive 6 to 10 mph over the speed limit -- but in LA that's the equivalent of standing still.
We left LA on the coastal route (highway 1) and enjoyed a leisurely pace to the fun, touristy destination of Solvang where we stayed at another Worldmark that we've stayed at before.
Deb posted a few photos from our stay in Los Angeles and drive to Solvang here.
This morning (Friday, Nov 5) we are driving to my home in Morro Bay -- and will be in the "central coast" area of California staying with family until Tuesday, November 9. As prearranged, Deb has a flight out of the nearby San Luis Obispo airport on Tuesday morning to visit in Neal/Anna in Williamsburg, VA; one of her sisters in Richmond, VA; and then her dad and other family in West Virginia. After dropping Deb off at the airport -- I'm going to continue the drive solo back home -- with a couple nights in the downtown San Francisco Worldmark.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Mon/Tues/Wed - Nov 1-3: Big Bear and Southern California
Took as many backroads as we could find, across the Mojave Desert out of Las Vegas but ended up with about 60 miles on straight, boring I-15 into Barstow before being able to climb into Big Bear, CA where we will stay 2 nights at yet another Worldmark condo. Here is the route we took. Here are the few photos Deb took.
We will watch election returns here Tuesday night and then head into Los Angeles on Wednesday to connect up with our son and daughter-in-law who flew out from their home in Williamsburg, VA to attend a friend's wedding.
We will watch election returns here Tuesday night and then head into Los Angeles on Wednesday to connect up with our son and daughter-in-law who flew out from their home in Williamsburg, VA to attend a friend's wedding.
Sun Oct 31 - People Watching in Las Vegas
A free day off the road -- so we took the shuttle to the Las Vegas strip and enjoyed walking a bit and people watching a lot. It was especially entertaining because today being Halloween, many of the casino staff and tourists were costumed. I added about $17 in gambling losses to the local economy and Deb took $7.50 in winnings. There was certainly no visible evidence that the US economy is still struggling from the amount of activity on the part of the strip that we visited. In fact we were astonished that many of the shows were sold out especially when considering the exorbinant show prices ($82 for cheapest seats). We passed on attending any shows because one show would have cost about what we've spent on gas for the entire trip so far -- or more than two nights accommodations. But there is no doubt that Vegas is definitely a great place to watch people.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Sat Oct 30 - Nail In Tire -- Then Sin City
It was wonderful to awake to the warmth of sunny St. George, Utah -- and enjoy a couple block walk to a great cafe followed by a visit to a local farmer's market. Because we knew we didn't have far to go today and no stops we wanted to make -- we had a relaxing morning that gave us time to enjoy watching the first hour of Jon Stewart's "Rally for Sanity" in DC. Of course I was delighted to see the opening musical act of rap and rock music to include a guy playing a sousaphone (I took this photo of the TV with my phone).
We got out the door a little before check-out time and were only a few blocks from the motel when I noticed the tire pressure monitor warning light. Good thing I don't believe in jinxes but it was just a little odd luck to realize that I had just posted on this blog about how the Smart Car had given no problems and even specifically mentioned the tire monitoring system. Anyway, a quick check of all tires led to the discovery of about 1/2 of the proper pressure in the front passenger tire -- and a nail right smack middle of the tread.
We used the GPS to guide us to a nearby and busy Big O Tire shop. The friendly salesman explained that I would have an up to a 2 hour wait unless I was interested in going to another Big O shop just a few miles away. He even called the other shop to make sure they had no wait time. So, off to the other shop where a very friendly staff immediately took care of the punction. $17 and about 1/2 hour later -- we were on the road again with a patched tire.
Taking some scenic route advice from the manager of the Big O -- we proceeded on the freeway so we could traverse the Virgin River gorge -- the most expensive length of freeway in the country through a beautiful gorge. Details of the passage and the construction are here in wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_15_in_Arizona
After getting through the gorge, we continued on the freeway in very windy conditions until we exited to take a backroad along Lake Mead Recreation Area into Las Vegas where we had prearranged a Worldmark condo for two nights.
Friday, Oct 29 - Zion National Park and St. George, UT
Deb and I were both pretty confident that we'd been to Zion National Park when the kids were small but after today's visit there, we've lost some of that confidence. Seems like we would have better remembered the sheer cliffs and spectacular beauty. Now we're thinking that perhaps we'd only been to Bryce! Oh well! We'll figure it out from old photo albums at home. One thing is definite -- we had never been on the Scenic Highway 9 access to the park -- built in 1930 including a mile long tunnel called the Zion-Mt. Caramel Tunnel.
Here is our route for the day. We started the day with a side trip through the Dixie National Forest. It was here that we pulled into one campground looking for a rest room -- but upon not finding one, returned to the main road. When approaching the main route, I noticed a car coming at a pretty high rate of speed -- so elected to await its passing before getting back on the main route. Within a mile after getting back on the road, we rounded a corner to see the same car that had flown by us turned around and up on the hillside in what was an obvious spin-out. We, along with another car with a solo male occupant pulled over to see if we could be of assistance. The car that spun out was driven by a female who appeared to be in her mid 20's. She was able to move her car to a safe spot -- dragging some plastic -- whereupon she exited the vehicle, broke into tears -- and explained that she was rushing to and late for work and the cars' failed shocks made it difficult to control. I noticed a baby's car seat in the rear of the car -- and asked her about any other occupants -- and she explained that her baby was at home. I checked all the tires, confirmed her observation about bad shocks by watching the car bounce when I compressed them, and put the dragged body part into the trunk. As she tried to calm herself, I learned from the driver of the other car that stopped that he was a solo tourist from Hamburg, Germany who had actually observed the car go out of control. He was appreciative that we had stopped because he felt his command of English was not good enough to have been helpful. Shortly, the woman expressed her appreciation for our stop/help and continued on her way. We too shuttered thinking how lucky the woman had been to spin out where she did as elsewhere along the road the outcome would not have been favorable.
With that excitement behind us, we arrived on the very scenic entrance to Zion and traveled into the park where they are well equipped for crowds by limited all exploration of the valley to free shuttle busses that run every 8 or so minutes. We rode the shuttles to the furthest point in the park -- took a short hike -- and then back to the museum and our parked car. Zion is truly amazing and I must add it to the "not-to-be-missed" list.
As planned, we continued our journey into St. George, Utah -- and found one of the top rated (tripadvisor.com), inexpensive motels for the night.
Here is our route for the day. We started the day with a side trip through the Dixie National Forest. It was here that we pulled into one campground looking for a rest room -- but upon not finding one, returned to the main road. When approaching the main route, I noticed a car coming at a pretty high rate of speed -- so elected to await its passing before getting back on the main route. Within a mile after getting back on the road, we rounded a corner to see the same car that had flown by us turned around and up on the hillside in what was an obvious spin-out. We, along with another car with a solo male occupant pulled over to see if we could be of assistance. The car that spun out was driven by a female who appeared to be in her mid 20's. She was able to move her car to a safe spot -- dragging some plastic -- whereupon she exited the vehicle, broke into tears -- and explained that she was rushing to and late for work and the cars' failed shocks made it difficult to control. I noticed a baby's car seat in the rear of the car -- and asked her about any other occupants -- and she explained that her baby was at home. I checked all the tires, confirmed her observation about bad shocks by watching the car bounce when I compressed them, and put the dragged body part into the trunk. As she tried to calm herself, I learned from the driver of the other car that stopped that he was a solo tourist from Hamburg, Germany who had actually observed the car go out of control. He was appreciative that we had stopped because he felt his command of English was not good enough to have been helpful. Shortly, the woman expressed her appreciation for our stop/help and continued on her way. We too shuttered thinking how lucky the woman had been to spin out where she did as elsewhere along the road the outcome would not have been favorable.
With that excitement behind us, we arrived on the very scenic entrance to Zion and traveled into the park where they are well equipped for crowds by limited all exploration of the valley to free shuttle busses that run every 8 or so minutes. We rode the shuttles to the furthest point in the park -- took a short hike -- and then back to the museum and our parked car. Zion is truly amazing and I must add it to the "not-to-be-missed" list.
As planned, we continued our journey into St. George, Utah -- and found one of the top rated (tripadvisor.com), inexpensive motels for the night.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Smart Car - Status Report - October 29
In two days (October 31) we will have owned the Smart Car for exactly one year -- and today we rolled past 12,000 miles for the year. It continues to be a blast to drive -- and it has performed great during this trip. Tonight I added up our gas stats -- and we are getting an average of 43.3 miles per gallon for the 2,621 miles we have completed on this trip (it does require premium fuel so those extra few cents need to be calculated when comparing to a car that gets by on regular -- the average cost of fuel to date has been $3.24 per gallon). It is probably worth mentioning that we have had zero problems with the car -- have been pleased that the automatic tire pressure monitor alerted us to low pressure because of the altitude and cold weather -- and the only service we've ever had done to the car is an oil change. Because the car comes with and uses synthetic oil, the oil changes are at 12,000 mile intervals -- but we had the oil changed before we started this trip just so we wouldn't have to be bothered with it during the trip.
The car is lots like a motorcycle in that it attracts attention and begins conversations at almost every stop -- and its little engine has easily managed the wide range of roads we traveled.
The following photo of "Nuggle" was taken today at the same spot I took a photo of my motorcycle on October 17, 2009 and posted here: http://ontwotires.blogspot.com/2009/10/day-44-whole-lotta-nothing-that-way.html
The car is lots like a motorcycle in that it attracts attention and begins conversations at almost every stop -- and its little engine has easily managed the wide range of roads we traveled.
The following photo of "Nuggle" was taken today at the same spot I took a photo of my motorcycle on October 17, 2009 and posted here: http://ontwotires.blogspot.com/2009/10/day-44-whole-lotta-nothing-that-way.html
October 29, 2010
October 17, 2009
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