I'm back
03-16-2006, 11:48 PM
#14
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2002
Location: California
Posts: 22,465
Originally Posted by cymfc3s' post='808311' date='Mar 16 2006, 03:46 PM
Dude, thats awesome! You are brave for travelling all that way in a British car. I would NEVER have attempted that in my MGB. Mike and I probably would have ended up stranded in Shafter.
i remember going over the bridge and it was so windy, i couldnt breathe, it was like the hand of god pushing me into the seat!
03-17-2006, 05:46 AM
#15
Super Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: VA
Posts: 2,532
Awesome pics! Cool road trip! You could be like a modern-day Charles Kuralt. Take a video camera next time!
Anyone else notice how 94t looks just a little too limp-wristed there in front of the Hollywood sign? Or is he just "acting?"
Anyone else notice how 94t looks just a little too limp-wristed there in front of the Hollywood sign? Or is he just "acting?"
03-17-2006, 04:34 PM
#17
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Tulsa, OK
Posts: 3,346
As told from my passenger:
thought i should probably post something about the epic road trip that i just returned back from a couple of days ago before any of it escapes my memory.
Where to begin? My friend Dan, pictured on my new default picture with me, is a "car enthusiast" as he would tell you or any cop. He enjoys restoring old Mini Coopers to glorious new beings. He recently restored a rare Mini Cooper truck and was selling it to some dude in CA. The Dude in CA however, could come out to see the Mini so Dan decided to drive it to him. This is where i come into the picture. I have nothing to do when i am not working. (though even when i am working i often have nothing to do, but that is beside the point). So i said to Dan, "Dude, ill go with you, road trip!".
Thus, the trip was born. Unfortunately, i would not be able to make the entire trip because i had to work on Tuesday and Dan wasnt planning on arriving in CA until Wed. Therefore, we concluded that Albuquerque, NM (the Land of Enchantment) was a good middle of the trip stop with a decent airport that he could leave me at.
I then woke on at 4:15am on Sunday morning (after going to bed at 1am) to catch a 6:07am flight to Dallas, and then onto Tulsa. I arrived in Tulsa at 11:03am and was picked up by Dan. We immediately left the airport for the trip... no hanging around. I first stop was to be Oklahoma City where we would meet up with some other Mini enthusiasts. On the way there however, we were nabbed by the man, or the 5-0, or in this case the '93 Chevy Carpice Classic with lights on top for blasting through town at 53 in a 45. Now, mind you, the speedometer on the Mini is +/- 5mph, so we thought we were pretty good. Not so. Luckily, this elderly copper "doesn't get too excited about 53 in a 45," so we were let off with a warning. Comically during this process, the officer came to my window... the "driver's side", but in reality i was the passenger, because this is a right seat drive vehicle. Not to common in Backwoods, OK. This threw him for a loop.
We made it the rest of the way to OK City uneventfully and had a good time checking out Dave's other Mini's... he has like 7, all restored and beautiful. We left there and the fun began again. The Mini didnt like the hot weather and all the extra weight she was carrying around so it began to run suspiciously hot. Dan, being the car guy, decided to flush the radiator and replace it's contents with water and some "liquid ice" substance. This did not do the trick, so 30 miles later we replaced it with just water. This did not do the trick, and we were driving about 50mph... and it was flippin windy. So, Dan, being the car guy once again, decided to take out the thermostat and havea free flowing system! i didnt even know what that meant, let alone that it was possible. That pretty much did the trick, sort of. It still ran hot for awhile, but head warping hot, so we were in the clear.
We proceeded westbound and before we knew it found ourselves at the uninspiring Texas state line. Once in Texas however, things really started to heat up, literally. As many of you may be aware, wildfires are destroying the panhandle. As we drove, the air became heavier and thicker and drier, filled with smell of burning grass and wood. Before we knew it we could see the glow of red fire in the distance. It was about 12am by this point and it was pitch black outside. We drove farther and came to a dead stop in traffic. Apparently they were shutting down the interstate and everyone was forced to exit. We followed suit and got some gas at a local station. While looking for some snacks i heard some employees talking about all the towns they were evacuating in the area, that the fires were out of control and everyone had to leave. I was pretty amazed at this, and though we might have to turn around. I told the news to Dan and he didnt flinch.
We drove down the street a little way and there was a frontage road along the interstate that no one was blocking. No one was driving down it either. Odd. Hundreds of card everywhere, and no one else tried the frontage road. Well, before i knew it, we were on it... on our way to New Mexico. We were easily the only people out there, no one on the road with us and no one on the interstate. To be honest, it was uneasy feeling, but Dan seemed thrilled about it, so i said ,what the hell. We continuted down this road and eventually we caught up to the fire. The smoke was thick and we started to feel it the backs our throats, but we pressed on. We could see the fires about a mile away, clearly visible from the empty roads, aside from the occasional fire trucks. As we drove one, i became more uncomfortable, sure that the 40mph winds would throw fire over our tiny Mini filled with gasoline in the bed. Ha! But as we drove the fire came closer and closer until it was literally burning the fence posts next to freeway. We drove past cops and firemen and no one ever attempted to stop us, so drove on, into the fire. It became cool after while, and eventually we started seeing a rogue trucker here and there, also pressing onward. In total, this lasted for about 75 miles, and not once did anyone attempt to stop us, even though the interstate was shut down. How bizzare it was!
We eventually reached the New Mexico boarder and by this time (1am ish) it started to get bloody freezing. You see, it was about, oohh, 35*F outside... but reallly windy, and the Mini is verrry drafty... oh, and it has NO HEATER. And let's not forget to mention that it was 80 in Tulsa, so i, in my brilliance was wearing shorts, sandals, and a polo with a light fleece. Luckily however, Dan brought a small space heater to keep us warm. Oh how we were happy to have that, so at the NM boarder Dan gets the space heater and hooks it up to the inverter in the Mini.... and BLOWS the inverter... Now, we not only have no heat, we have no extra electrical output for our music. But, we pressed onward.
As we climbed our way into the NM high plains, the temperature plummeted, settling around 20*F. Let me tell you, it was painfully cold. The laptop we had with us still had some battery power and was producing a little heat... so it was on my lap, Dan had pants on... and shoes and socks, and a jacket, bastard. I did have a pillow on my legs. Good God, it was cold. I mean, cold. This went on for hours... and by this time i had been awake for over 26 hours. I could take it no longer. I started falling asleep for 5 minutes a time... each time waking up in more pain and colder than before. It hurt. It was the kind of thing that got to be realllly funny that we were that cold and there was nothing we could do about it, but it wasnt funny at all. But we sure did laugh about it, i think now that we were delusional from all the smoke and exhaustion. As we stopped for our last tank of gas before Albuquerque Dan decided he was going to fix the inverter by opening it up. he had found one of the two fuses was blown and figured if the metal from the other fuse could touch that one, then it would work again. Or something like that. So, he screwed a little metal screw between the two fuses, linking them together. As i got into the Mini and saw this craftiness, he looked at me with a devilish grin, and said, "I 'm being all McGuyver with this in here." That didnt sound good to me, but, what the hell. Dan then turned the inverter on... and BANG! BLUE FLAME! White smoke! And that was the end of our inverter.
We made it to Albuquerque and found a 24/7 wal-mart where dan bought a new inverter and i contemplated buying new clothes for my trip home because my uniform had been trashed in the mini, i decided against it, and just looked like a pilot instead. we arrived at the airport at 5:30am, 27 hours later from when i left Philly. dan crashed out in a lobby for three hours and i found myself on a 7am American flight to Dallas. I was asleep before we left the gate and woke up when the wheels touched the ground in Dallas. I made it back to Philly at 4pm from Dallas and drove the 40 minutes home to Delaware. I guess this is what is to be 24, and have nothing else to do. Good times.
thought i should probably post something about the epic road trip that i just returned back from a couple of days ago before any of it escapes my memory.
Where to begin? My friend Dan, pictured on my new default picture with me, is a "car enthusiast" as he would tell you or any cop. He enjoys restoring old Mini Coopers to glorious new beings. He recently restored a rare Mini Cooper truck and was selling it to some dude in CA. The Dude in CA however, could come out to see the Mini so Dan decided to drive it to him. This is where i come into the picture. I have nothing to do when i am not working. (though even when i am working i often have nothing to do, but that is beside the point). So i said to Dan, "Dude, ill go with you, road trip!".
Thus, the trip was born. Unfortunately, i would not be able to make the entire trip because i had to work on Tuesday and Dan wasnt planning on arriving in CA until Wed. Therefore, we concluded that Albuquerque, NM (the Land of Enchantment) was a good middle of the trip stop with a decent airport that he could leave me at.
I then woke on at 4:15am on Sunday morning (after going to bed at 1am) to catch a 6:07am flight to Dallas, and then onto Tulsa. I arrived in Tulsa at 11:03am and was picked up by Dan. We immediately left the airport for the trip... no hanging around. I first stop was to be Oklahoma City where we would meet up with some other Mini enthusiasts. On the way there however, we were nabbed by the man, or the 5-0, or in this case the '93 Chevy Carpice Classic with lights on top for blasting through town at 53 in a 45. Now, mind you, the speedometer on the Mini is +/- 5mph, so we thought we were pretty good. Not so. Luckily, this elderly copper "doesn't get too excited about 53 in a 45," so we were let off with a warning. Comically during this process, the officer came to my window... the "driver's side", but in reality i was the passenger, because this is a right seat drive vehicle. Not to common in Backwoods, OK. This threw him for a loop.
We made it the rest of the way to OK City uneventfully and had a good time checking out Dave's other Mini's... he has like 7, all restored and beautiful. We left there and the fun began again. The Mini didnt like the hot weather and all the extra weight she was carrying around so it began to run suspiciously hot. Dan, being the car guy, decided to flush the radiator and replace it's contents with water and some "liquid ice" substance. This did not do the trick, so 30 miles later we replaced it with just water. This did not do the trick, and we were driving about 50mph... and it was flippin windy. So, Dan, being the car guy once again, decided to take out the thermostat and havea free flowing system! i didnt even know what that meant, let alone that it was possible. That pretty much did the trick, sort of. It still ran hot for awhile, but head warping hot, so we were in the clear.
We proceeded westbound and before we knew it found ourselves at the uninspiring Texas state line. Once in Texas however, things really started to heat up, literally. As many of you may be aware, wildfires are destroying the panhandle. As we drove, the air became heavier and thicker and drier, filled with smell of burning grass and wood. Before we knew it we could see the glow of red fire in the distance. It was about 12am by this point and it was pitch black outside. We drove farther and came to a dead stop in traffic. Apparently they were shutting down the interstate and everyone was forced to exit. We followed suit and got some gas at a local station. While looking for some snacks i heard some employees talking about all the towns they were evacuating in the area, that the fires were out of control and everyone had to leave. I was pretty amazed at this, and though we might have to turn around. I told the news to Dan and he didnt flinch.
We drove down the street a little way and there was a frontage road along the interstate that no one was blocking. No one was driving down it either. Odd. Hundreds of card everywhere, and no one else tried the frontage road. Well, before i knew it, we were on it... on our way to New Mexico. We were easily the only people out there, no one on the road with us and no one on the interstate. To be honest, it was uneasy feeling, but Dan seemed thrilled about it, so i said ,what the hell. We continuted down this road and eventually we caught up to the fire. The smoke was thick and we started to feel it the backs our throats, but we pressed on. We could see the fires about a mile away, clearly visible from the empty roads, aside from the occasional fire trucks. As we drove one, i became more uncomfortable, sure that the 40mph winds would throw fire over our tiny Mini filled with gasoline in the bed. Ha! But as we drove the fire came closer and closer until it was literally burning the fence posts next to freeway. We drove past cops and firemen and no one ever attempted to stop us, so drove on, into the fire. It became cool after while, and eventually we started seeing a rogue trucker here and there, also pressing onward. In total, this lasted for about 75 miles, and not once did anyone attempt to stop us, even though the interstate was shut down. How bizzare it was!
We eventually reached the New Mexico boarder and by this time (1am ish) it started to get bloody freezing. You see, it was about, oohh, 35*F outside... but reallly windy, and the Mini is verrry drafty... oh, and it has NO HEATER. And let's not forget to mention that it was 80 in Tulsa, so i, in my brilliance was wearing shorts, sandals, and a polo with a light fleece. Luckily however, Dan brought a small space heater to keep us warm. Oh how we were happy to have that, so at the NM boarder Dan gets the space heater and hooks it up to the inverter in the Mini.... and BLOWS the inverter... Now, we not only have no heat, we have no extra electrical output for our music. But, we pressed onward.
As we climbed our way into the NM high plains, the temperature plummeted, settling around 20*F. Let me tell you, it was painfully cold. The laptop we had with us still had some battery power and was producing a little heat... so it was on my lap, Dan had pants on... and shoes and socks, and a jacket, bastard. I did have a pillow on my legs. Good God, it was cold. I mean, cold. This went on for hours... and by this time i had been awake for over 26 hours. I could take it no longer. I started falling asleep for 5 minutes a time... each time waking up in more pain and colder than before. It hurt. It was the kind of thing that got to be realllly funny that we were that cold and there was nothing we could do about it, but it wasnt funny at all. But we sure did laugh about it, i think now that we were delusional from all the smoke and exhaustion. As we stopped for our last tank of gas before Albuquerque Dan decided he was going to fix the inverter by opening it up. he had found one of the two fuses was blown and figured if the metal from the other fuse could touch that one, then it would work again. Or something like that. So, he screwed a little metal screw between the two fuses, linking them together. As i got into the Mini and saw this craftiness, he looked at me with a devilish grin, and said, "I 'm being all McGuyver with this in here." That didnt sound good to me, but, what the hell. Dan then turned the inverter on... and BANG! BLUE FLAME! White smoke! And that was the end of our inverter.
We made it to Albuquerque and found a 24/7 wal-mart where dan bought a new inverter and i contemplated buying new clothes for my trip home because my uniform had been trashed in the mini, i decided against it, and just looked like a pilot instead. we arrived at the airport at 5:30am, 27 hours later from when i left Philly. dan crashed out in a lobby for three hours and i found myself on a 7am American flight to Dallas. I was asleep before we left the gate and woke up when the wheels touched the ground in Dallas. I made it back to Philly at 4pm from Dallas and drove the 40 minutes home to Delaware. I guess this is what is to be 24, and have nothing else to do. Good times.
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