Road Trip May 2-May 10

[PLRX]

CA Hwy 36

Last Monday I decided to hit the road. I retired on April 27th and my head was playing tricks on me so, the best was to get away for few days. The plan was to go north, hit CA Hwy 36 and hit PCH and 101 south. The first day, I drove on I-5 North and stayed the night in Red Bluff.

Notice the 140 miles sign, it will make a great Bomber Run and I think I will do one there. It would be a NoCal run. The road is in good shape its a great scenic drive!!

I went thru 3 different road works, stopped for about 5-10 minutes each. The drive to Igo was a rough drive and not great.


























Stay Tuned for more!!

[PLRX]

[PLRX]

Mattole Rd, Big Trees, Big Fpot and drive-Thru Tree

WARNING, Never Never drive on Mottole Rd. It was 66 miles of rough road.

It is an abandoned road that drives along the Pacific Coast and I only saw a truck and a BMW.

I was at sea level and that is the closest Betty Boop has been to the ocean.

The Rockefeller Forest made me wonder. The sun does not penetrate that place. Hollywood should go there and make a horror movie because the place is naturally scary. Kudos to the people that laid asphalt there.

The Big Foot store was a trip. Some funny siht for sale there.

[PLRX]

I drove south and found the Drive-Thru tree. That was cool, since I was a kid I wanted to do that. Beware, to get there I had to put Betty Boop on 4X4 and axle lock.



















The second day I stayed at Gerberville, its a small town about 20-25 years behind. Here is their #1 movie theather.



Whos that old man? He is about 65-70 years old. Humped on a bike from the Rocky Mountains and was heading south on the PCH. He was riding about 75 miles a day he said.

Yeah, that's what I said.

[mike100]

I was wondering where you had been...Is the silver car running? I see you have been doing the big trips with the 95.

[PLRX]

Originally Posted by mike100

I was wondering where you had been...Is the silver car running? I see you have been doing the big trips with the 95.

The Silver Ghost has been on stands since Feb. Finally I got the bushings and a new toe rod system for the rear coming. The first order never made it to my door and that took 5 weeks to clear the claim blah blah blah. The differential is ready to go, this was a curse...or maybe meant to be. Initially, the plan was to take The Ghost on this trip. That differential had issues and maybe was better this way.

I just emailed Magnaflow, the brackets on the mufflers came off and it is a design flaw. I already experienced that problem with the exhaust system on my 96.

Magnaflow welds the muffler bracket on top of the muffler and that is a very thing sheet of stainless steel.

[Wathen1955]

Nice trip and pics. Now you'll have to fill us in on the breakdowns.

[Frizlefrak]

Great pics Pete.....looks like you had a great trip. Only thing you needed was a green C4 with Texas plates as a wingman....

[PLRX]

Originally Posted by Wathen1955

Nice trip and pics. Now you'll have to fill us in on the breakdowns.

The muffler's brackets and last night I raised the driver's side tire just to give it a shake down and is not the bearing. That clunking noise got to be a blown shock. I had nothing but bad news with Bilsteins Heavy Duty. I have to lift the whole rear end and do a visual and detailed inspection.

[PLRX]

On May 4th after I left Gerberville I headed North and stopped at The Trees of Mystery. There is no Mystery there is just a tall MOFO tree and to see it it costs $14 so I looked at it from the parking lot and saved my money.

There was the Statue of Paul Bunyam and I forgot the name of the Blue Ox... WGAF

Headed North and made it to Oregon and there I saw the old car, it was nice but, the glare messed up the picture.

[PLRX]

I stopped at the Oregon's visitor's center and I was wondering WTF is to do in Oregon then this lady was talking to her husband about the Spruce Goose. As you know it was the plane built by Howard Hughes and it used to be in Long Beach. Well in 1993 I was reassigned to MCAS El Toro, CA (Irvine) and I went to the dome to see it and they told me that it was just relocated to Oregon so, I visited the Queen Mary instead.

I decided to head north and visit the Evergreen Museum. I had to go back south back into CA, hit the US 199 and north on I-5. To drive into McMinnville, Oregon was a PITA. I had to take three different back roads and I was wondering why anyone would move that airplane to this "far away" city.





May 5th
Finally I got to see that beast and yes, it is extremely big. I was able to go inside but walking around the plane is not allowed. There are many different planes there, a Mustang, old & newer airplane engines, a diner, gift shop and other airplane hardware.

Next to the Spruce Goose museum is the Aerospace Museum and the first Godamthing I noticed was a ZR1 There was more airplanes, missiles, rockets etc etc.

[PLRX]

[PLRX]

[Corvette_Mike]

Cool pics. You do take nice road trip pics. I ejoyed all the airplane pics. Thanks.

[PLRX]

May 5th and 6th

I left the Evergreen Museum and I figured I should visit Washington. Its only 30 minutes away. Whoever had the contract to lay asphalt in Oregon and Washington FAILED. Every mile is on a different angle. You drive for about two miles with negative caster then, positive caster. Initially I thought I needed an alignment but, it was not Betty Boop.

On my way to Washington I decided to fill up and yes, it is against the law to self-serve fuel in Oregon but, no-one sticks a dip stick in Betty Boop but me. The guy was cool about it and told me that if he would get caught the car owner and the gas station would get a fine. He stated he has never been or seen anyone get a "ticket" yet.

Washington State is very green and clean. Oregon......from CA to Portland there is almost nothing.

I stayed in Spokane on the night of the 5th and the weather report said rain I got up early on the 6th and took off, drove thru Idaho and got to Montana before 8:00 AM. Jesus H. Christ...Montana oh my God people were telling me the thruth there is not a GD thing there and I drove the whole state from west to east into Wyoming. From the Montana state line, Wyoming and to the South Dakota State Line there was nothing there either.





























Now, after I've been driving many hours of boredom, this was the most exciting scenery I had in Montana. Look at it very close.

[PLRX]

May 6th and 7th

After the mental breakdown in Montana and Wyoming I finally made it to South Dakota. There was nothing until I made it to Rapid City. I made it to Super 8 motel and drove up to Mt. Rushmore to get the sunset view. The entrance was open but the Memorial was closed. Finally after 37 years since the first time I saw a picture and told Dad that I wanted to see it I finally made it there. I was able to snap some pictures and at 8:30 PM they turn the lights on and looks pretty cool.

Around 9:30 PM I drove to Crazy Horse, I thought they had lights on the mountain so I took a chance. I got there and the gate was coned off but, nothing is impossible for Betty Boop I got to the top and the security guard was pretty pissed that "this car" was driving in there.

"Hey...HEY-Sir, this place is closed",

"Oh sorry, the gate was wide open, I saw a car driving off so I figured you were open" "Can I see the Crazy Horse?"

"No"

"Don't you guys light that shit up?"

"NO!"

By now the guy was furious and I wanted to laugh at him, so I left

On Saturday the 7th, I drove to Rapid City to fix the Mufflers. They were hanging, thanks to the axle bracket/springs otherwise it would have been dragging on the road. Magnaflow's Flaw cost me $80. I left and visited the Memorial ($11) and I was lucky, the place was technically empty and was able to maneuver Betty Boop around the parking lot for a perfect shot. I went inside bought souvenirs and watch a video clip with the history of Mt. Rushmore. I took lots of pictures there and I left. There was a pair of goats right outside the main gate, drove off and re-visited Crazy Horse (). The place was empty and I was able to maneuver in the upper parking lot for RVs for the perfect shot. I entered, watched the video clip, bought souvenirs, took a rock from the pile and left.

[PLRX]

Friz, thanks for telling me about Neddles Hwy. it was long but, great scenery.

[PLRX]

Now, I'm very serious. Look at this donkey and I swear, who does it looks like?
Look at the donkey's face only.









There were about three like this one. If those twisties were a woman I would marry it right now. I had Betty Boop pushing her limits and at the time I thought I had a broken bearing.



Now, I'm not into motorcycles but, I know right from wrong and these connections are not right . LOL

[PLRX]

May 8th

Left SD in the morning and took me few hours to make it to Wyoming and about a month went by and finally made it to Utah. Screw Wyoming.







Once I made it to Utah, I sent Jon a PM, I filled up and went to Wendys to eat. I noticed the place was empty and I realized it was mothers day. I didnt get to meet Jon but, I didnt miss the Rain Hail, Snow storm. I was able to get down the m ountains on time. It was already 37 F.













Made it to the border with Nevada and stayed there for the night. It rained all night long.

[Frizlefrak]

Pete....we did virtually the same trip last year (albeit in a Malibu, not the Vette). Some gorgeous scenery up there, and Mt. Rushmore is something everyone should see. I thought you might enjoy Needles....Sweetsie is the one who told me about it. Western Montana / Idaho / Yellowstone area was breathtaking.

Great pics.....man you are the master of the pic thread!