San Francisco to Seattle to Vancouver & back or bust!

[ckeen74]

Hi all,

Lest you think I spend all my time working on the Alfetta as opposed to driving it, tonight I'm taking the car on a 2-week road trip up to Seattle with my girlfriend to work for a week, doing a quick detour to Vancouver and then another week in Seattle. Keep your eyes open for a faded red Alfetta with euro bumpers (mostly on I5) and blue CA plates.

On an insurance note, can any of you recommend good mechanics along the route in case the worst happens? Isn't there a place called Ralli-Round somewhere in Oregon?

I'll try to post updates with pics as we travel along, providing I have internet access.

Thanks!

[73veloce]

Cool trip!

Mechanics in Wa. along I-5....

Alfa of Tacoma...downtown Tacoma
RalliRound...in Seattle just off I-5 at lake Union
Wes Ingram...1 hr north of Seattle in Burlington...just off
I-5

Have fun!

Mike

[ddoyle]

I am near Roseburg Or. 3 hours south of Portland. Right off of i5, Will help if I can.

Dan

[ckeen74]

Thanks for the tips and offers of help! Here are a couple pics of the trip so far:



Emeryville



Picnic just north of the I5 /505 junction. No mere plebes, we.... just disregard that rusty dented car in the background.


One incident so far... just after we left our picnic, I was messing around with the radar detector plug in the cigarette lighter socket, and the whole thing fell apart, shorted and sent blue sparks out (and a small flame, i think) and melted the connectors. Alternator light came on, so I pulled over in the almost-dark. Waited for the socket to cool, disconnected the bits, and the car fired up, thank god.

Further updates to come when I next have internet access.

[alfa soon]

Wow Chris, looks like a fun trip. Did you pack the novelty giant rubber hitch-hiking thumbs? Don't worry too much about the electrical misfortune, there is a fuse protecting the important stuff from situations like that. See you next week.

Alfa Romeo Sprint Speciale

[junglejustice]

Hey Bud!

Make sure to stop-off at a very cool place called Group 2 Motorsports in Seattle (4442 27th Avenue West, 98199 - if you wanted to MapQuest/Google it...) Tell Joe and the boyz I sent ya!

Also, feel free to give me a buzz if you need help with something (or just when you are around!) I am ALWAYS up for a beer with Alfa people and there are some cool car-stuff that I can share with you when you are here! (425.941.4747)

Cheers, JvR

[67duetto]

Hey Chris,

Good luck with your trip. I just completed the one-way from Seattle to San Francisco in my GTV1750. Yes, you should visit Group 2. Joe and Chris are nice guys. There are lots of nice places to visit in between. Your Alfa will love the "hillclimb" around Mt. Shasta.
To eat a lot in Vancouver, very good food.
Have fun!

Leslie

[sfalfa]

Chris - the new bumpers look great! I'll bet you even saved a few MPG's by swapping them out before the trip!

[ckeen74]

So I arrive in Seattle last night around 7. Just did the tally, slightly over 24mpg was my mileage, and fortunately this Alfa takes regular with no pinging. Second mishap in Redding - I pulled out the hand throttle (which is connected to a sure-start) and the cable snapped. Luckily the car even started the next morning by Crater Lake (in spite of near-freezing overnight temps) - just needed a bit of extra cranking. I'll post some pics when I next get a chance - hopefully tonight.

I'd love to check out Group 2 or meet up - I'll need to see how that fits into the schedule though, I'm working this week and part of next. Hmm, maybe that would be a way to draw my Seattle friend into the Alfa fold.

[ckeen74]

Here are a couple of pics from the road:

Fort Klamath, OR (notice that both the house and car are worse for wear!):



Crater Lake, OR - that's a snowdrift in May:



Office Covered Bridge near Eugene, OR:



I know, I know, there's no proof of me having made it to Seattle. Trust me, we're there

[Grant]

HAHa, awesome photos Chris! Your car looks really cool! I actually like those wheels. If you ever want to lower the front to euro spec, let me know. I could make a run up to help you...the job isn't too bad.

[ckeen74]

Hi Grant,

Thanks for the offer, I really want to do that... feels like I'm driving a motorboat. That makes me think about rebuilding the front end too.... I'm not sure whether reupholstering the interior is above or below that work in the need rankings, these long roadtrips put a fair amount of stress on 30-year-old sun-damaged cloth.

Chris

[spdrcr]

If you run into problems on your stint towards Vancouver, give me a shout, as I am about half way between Seattle and Vancouver (sort-of). Makes me want to make a road trip in my Milano again. It's been about five years since I took it down to San Diego from Bellingham.

[ckeen74]

Thanks, we made it up earlier today - drive went well, and we weren't questioned too extensively given the condition of the car! It's all downhill from here... you know, going south and all

[ckeen74]

Well, I'll have to post some pics in a final update later, but the car made the whole trip (2800 miles!) without any further issues. It's really quite elastic between 80-100, although I wouldn't know since I never reached those speeds. Seriously though, it's a pretty good long-distance freeway cruiser, and once I get rid of the exhaust vibration at 70 and the exhaust leak that required us to have full ventilation all the time, it'll be a great long-distance car. Who knew I'd be driving a car I got for $250 on craigslist this far (okay, to be fair I've put some work into it since then)...