Transcontinental Road Trip Redux - Page 5

HeavyMetalAlfa · #61 (**permalink**) 07-29-2009, 06:57 PM

Great trip, beautifully documented. I love the pics of the big mountains with the Alfa posed proudly in the foreground. Being from the same part of the country as yourselves; our mountains kinda usta been that gig, they just kinda wor down a bit!! [a little Maine back woods slang for effect] The scenery with rugged, ragged mountains is a thrill to us New Englanders !!

Great thread, thank you !!

**Cintos** · #62 (**permalink**) 07-29-2009, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyMetalAlfa

...Being from the same part of the country as yourselves; our mountains kinda usta been that gig, they just kinda wor down a bit!! ...

HeavyMetalAlfa · #63 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 10:03 AM

Yes, truely, the Kancamangus is a magnificent drive !!
There are a few other big bumps that we call mountains around here.
On my endurance run home, I took 90, and I wish I had gone with my first thought of 84 to 80 instead. Though 90 DID have some beautiful scenery in the first part, it got boring after mid Montana. I did, however, get to tag a few more states, so that I think I can now say I have driven an Alfa in all of the 50 connected states of America!!

**Nicola** · #64 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyMetalAlfa

...Though 90 DID have some beautiful scenery in the first part, it got boring after mid Montana. I did, however, get to tag a few more states, so that I think I can now say I have driven an Alfa in all of the 50 connected states of America!!

**Cintos** · #65 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyMetalAlfa

... On my endurance run home, I took 90, and I wish I had gone with my first thought of 84 to 80 instead. ..

HeavyMetalAlfa · #66 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 04:00 PM

I meant the Lower 48 !!

Been there, drove them !!

Rt 2?

**Nicola** · #67 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 06:02 PM

Yeah, US Route 2 -
Nice road - no controlled access like 90 and the other interstates - Those were the roads....

HeavyMetalAlfa · #68 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 08:14 PM

Yeah Cintos, I always get my miles driving FROM the Convention !
I usually get a car somewhat near the convention, then drive it home. And the Blue one was purty, from 30 feet! Yep, a good 30 footer! Great mechanicals though, I drove it HARD and it smiled the whole way,,,.

I'm lookin' up RT 2, must be a car at the western end that I can use..

**Cintos** · #69 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyMetalAlfa

I usually get a car somewhat near the convention, then drive it home. And the Blue one was purty, from 30 feet! Yep, a good 30 footer! Great mechanicals though, I drove it HARD and it smiled the whole way,,,...

HeavyMetalAlfa · #70 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 08:34 PM

I did 2 days at 12 hours of driving, then 2 15 hour days. A bit of an endurance run !!
Saw a lot of beautiful sights in parts of it though. I do love a road trip, though that return was a bit extreme !!

**Nicola** · #71 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyMetalAlfa

Yeah Cintos, I always get my miles driving FROM the Convention !
I usually get a car somewhat near the convention, then drive it home. And the Blue one was purty, from 30 feet! Yep, a good 30 footer! Great mechanicals though, I drove it HARD and it smiled the whole way,,,.

I'm lookin' up RT 2, must be a car at the western end that I can use..

Russ Bellinis · #72 (**permalink**) 08-01-2009, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cintos

Interesting observation! While in Portland, I had the opportunity to peek into the "trunk" of the pretty yellow '98 Spider. After stowing the top, there was the typical tall, thin expanse that could probably hold one of our three bags. Style over function....

Any interest in starting a petition to encourage the manufacturers to make a 2-seater that could actually be used for road trips? No doubt, that reality is probably why we saw so few other "sports cars" on the trip.

- Michael

**bennetts77833** · #73 (**permalink**) 08-27-2009, 09:16 PM

Mike and Kathy (and Gordy and Heavy Metal Alfa and all):

Just discovered your Transcontinental Road Trip threads (both) thanks for the great documentation of the trips. Good job.

Diana and I were on the Lake Huron Mille with you and on both the following Pre-Convention Tours ('tho this year for the first time in 31 national conventions we drove from Texas in a rental.) I Have been trying for a couple of years to figure out how to get the great trip planning advice from fellow Alfa Owners that you generated for your convention trip this year. We are not real skilled at using the AlfaBB.

Noticed you guys do panoramic photos. Enclosed two of ours from the Mt. St. Helens Tour. The vertical pan is a scenic overview we were taken off road to get. The wide panorama is our lunch stop on day three at the HofstadtBluffs in Toutle River
Valley, which forms a spectacular, panoramic backdrop to the Mount St. Helens,
Forest Learning Center, this is a view from the Visitor Center Restaurant.

Anyhow, great journeys in your Alfas. We will be back on the road in our automatic spider with its new crankshaft, pistons, rods cylinders, rings & valve guides and our automatic Alfetta sedan with its rebuilt auto transmission and overhauled air conditioning(Heavy Metal Alfa), we talked, you played the guitar and I sang the 'Don't have an Alfa at the Alfa Convention, Blues' in the Portland parking lot ca Midnight (Friday? night, Saturday Morning) good to meet you! bjb

**Cintos** · #74 (**permalink**) 08-27-2009, 10:00 PM

Greetings bjb:

Thanks for reminding me what a great time we had on the Largo Huron Milli. Kathy and I certainly missed the camaraderie of fellow Alfisti during our long solo drive west.

Since you mention the "great trip planning advice": yes it was VERY helpful. But it was only after we got home that I saw the posts in the hosting Oregon chapter's AlfaBB forum. That would probably have been another great place to raise the 'help!' flag.

Our BB is wonderful, but often a challenge to find the right spot to start a thread. Perhaps we could use a new forum just for road trip planning. But wait - the problem is there are too many forums already!

Thanks for the pano shots. Here is one more from the Beartooth run. The location is near the top of the initial climb out of Red lodge, looking back northward. Here is a link to a bigger version: Beartooth Climb Outlook North

Also below is a Google Earth graphic showing this switchback stack. The starburst shows the photo location, and the view is looking towards the lower LH corner. Boy, I'd love to do that again!