Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 15:17:17 CDT
Reply-To: Joel Walker <JWALKER@UA1VM.UA.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Joel Walker <JWALKER@UA1VM.UA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Highway Driving Vanagon Style?
In-Reply-To: <v04011706b1af0a2e88d5@[144.92.18.157]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
On Thu, 18 Jun 1998 12:52:23 -0600 Robin Davies said:
>Question for the group in response to recent (long)trip reports:
>How do you choose your route from point A- point B?
since i'm generally in a hurry to get somewhere, not having enough time to
just go sight-seeing, i usually pick interstate highways. But!! i try to
avoid big cities, if at all possible. or at least, to plan the route timing
so that i avoid any of the three daily rush hours at those cities. if this
means leaving at 0300 in the morning, well ... ok. (although, getting the
old bod out of the sack at oh-dark-thirty ain't nearly as easy as it used
to be!!!). if it means stopping for lunch a good bit early and waiting out
the rush hour before i get to the big city, ok, that works also. :)
>interstate. Yes, Leslie can go 70 mph and suck gas with the finest, but I
>fear for her survival. If I have a choice I'd rather cruise the State and
i try, well, lots of times, anyway, NOT to drive 70 mph, but rather about
65 mph. actually about 3800 rpm is what i like. i try to find some big trucks
that are driving about that speed and hang behind them. this means that the
speed demons have to avoid US (not just ME!!) in the righthand lane. you can
get in front of the trucks and stay ahead of them (watch the downhills!) or
hang in back of them ... either way. but you don't get to see too much
scenery in back. if you have a cb radio, you can even pick the conversation
you like. :)
>Interstate is the only answer. Anbody else have I-phobia (probably
>Freudian-dates back to travelling as a child along the mighty Autobahn in a
it's not the highway itself, it's the human hordes that inhabit them!! the
maniacal motoring public, who think their lives are incomplete unless they
are doing 90 mph on your bumper!! which is why i prefer to hang around the
big trucks ... at least MOST of them are courteous and careful and have had
some driving training. yes, there are dufuses in 18-wheelers, no doubt about
it. and more and more of them each year. but if you watch carefully the way
they drive, and try to give them the same courtesies and room, most of them
are pretty good drivers. at least, a lot more so than the drivers in the
automobiles around you.
note: none of this applies to the little trucks, like the u-hauls or delivery
trucks. those morons are completely insane!!
>the Bimmers and Porsches rip past). My point? Do I have one? The Madison to
>Cape Cod trip is impending. Do I risk blowing another rod through the
>engine case on the Interstate (I know it could have happened anywhere) or
>plan for an extra day or five and take the two laners? And what about that
>draw to the PNW? Will Leslie ever see Horseshoe Bay in B.C.?
if YOU feel more peaceful on the 2-lanes, by all means drive them. plan for
gas early and more time to stop over. or take the interstates only after the
rush hour has subsided, or get up waaaay early and leave before it starts.
on the eastern seaboard, however, there are places where the rush never stops.
:( but on the backroads, you have to plan out your fuel stops, cause there
aren't nearly as many stations left open ... and the ones that are don't
open that early or stay open that late. usually, if you can hit the small
towns during "business hours", you'll be ok.
the next best thing, time-wise, to an interstate is the old Federal Highway
system ... the US highways. but many of these turn into city boulevards and
are badly marked nowadays, so you have to be careful and allow extra time
for getting lost.
the trick is finding what is comfortable for you and your bus and going with
that. just because everybody else drives 80 or 90 on the interstate does NOT
mean you have to. you do need to NOT create a blockage if you can help it
... which is why i hang with the trucks. THEY are creating the blockage, and
i'm just kinda "surfing" along with it. ;)
just remember the old Zen saying:
"i can't drive but one car at a time." :)
joel
