The following is a tale of my adventuresome weekend to New Mexico to
pick-up the donor vehicle for my 1961 hybrid project.
Friday:
Left Camp Pendleton at 2:04pm driving a borrowed F-150 with a 16' trailer
heading for Santa Fe, New Mexico. Got stuck for two hours on the 91 freeway
before getting to the 15. Once I got on the 15 it was smooth cruising.
Stopped for dinner (NOTE for Ben: Did NOT eat at Tommy's) in Barstow and
filled up the dual tanks. Made Flagstaff, Arizona around 10:30pm filled-up
the tanks, Wahoo 14.8 mpg, back on the road. Crossed the Arizona-New
Mexico state line at 3am and took a one hour power nap at the first rest
area.
Saturday:
Got up at 4am and hit the road. I had a goal..I wanted to make Santa Fe
by 8am. I got into Santa Fe at 8:30, called the guy selling me the Rover
and waited for him to meet me. We drove up to his place and spent about an
hour loading it onto the trailer. Back on the road about 10am. Stopped
for fuel in Albuquerque. $1.245 per gallon, (Why is fuel .40 cents cheaper
in NM?),(Ok all the Brits on the list are fuming now that fuel is soooo
cheap in the colony). Back on the road. Decide I want to eat dinner in
Flagstaff and make that my destination. Don't remember where I stopped for
fuel next but my mileage has dropped off to 11.68 mpg. IT IS REALLY KEWL
SEEING THE SII GRILL IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR! :-) I make Flagstaff at
6:30 and grab a shower at the Sinclair Little America. I highly recommend
them, the nicest showers I have ever had at a truck stop. After the shower
I head into Old Town Flagstaff and find an Irish pub and watch Duke stomp
Maryland while having a Guinness and a 1 pound steak that was awesome. Back
on the road at 9pm and heading West trying to make the California border
before stopping for a nap. I didn't quite make the border and settled for
a K-Mart parking lot about 40 miles short around 11pm. How white trashy
can I get?
Sunday:
The real adventure begins, California Drivers. I get up around 4am, top
off the front fuel tank and hit the road. Cross into California and eat
breakfast at Barstow. I get back on the road and suddenly I realize
everyone is driving way too fast. As I head down the pass heading towards
LA I watch a car pass me then go out of control and over the edge into the
abyss. What a mess. F**king California drivers. It's about the same way
heading all the way down the I-15. Foggy and people driving at about
90mph. I make it to Camp Pendleton at 11am, off load the rover, return the
trailer, than back to futz with the rover.
Decide to check the chassis ID# against the title. It's not the same.
This is going to be a nightmare to straighten out. Tomorrow I will deal
with that. Now to go home and take a nap.
What a trip...1700 miles...123 gallons of fuel...6 hours of sleep...3
meals...a title for a vehicle I don't have and a vehicle that I don't have a
title for.
I look on the bright side, according to the New Mexico DMV neither vehicle
exist. They have been purged from their records. According to the
Washington DMV I can register the vehicle, but I have to wait three years
for the title and do a stolen vehicle search for it (NO I AM NOT TELLING YOU
THE ID NUMBER ;-)) And I will still be left with a title that maybe I can
find a use for down the road...hmmmmmm.
Cheers,
Nick
1972 SIII 'Grommit'
1961 SII Turbo Diesel Coil Hybrid Project 'yet to be named'
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Apr 03 2001 - 22:03:59 EDT