Road trip tips

[CoriBug]

Hi all.

This trip to Irving will be my first real road trip, both ways (we drove from LA to Fort Collins through Vegas in a Camry). So does anyone have any advice for a trip this long? We're coming from Ft Collins(northern Colorado) to Irving and back. We're planning on bringing sandwich fixins, fruit, veggies, winter and summer clothes, car detailing supplies, etc, etc (I have a long list!) I'm taking Daisy in to the dealer next week to top off all fluids, check belts, hoses, tires and will get at least a couple quarts of oil.

Anything in particular I should bring??

Thanks.

[Oyveychris]

Lots of film (or a big memory card), and tons of music! Led Zeppelin is excellent road trip music. Also, bring a cooler with lots of cold drinks...Good luck and be safe!

[CoriBug]

Thanks!! I will bring my mp3 player, just need a car charger. And lots of water, juice and Coke!!

Cori

[Whitacre]

Hey there,

Just finished a road trip from Houston Tx. To Vancouver Washington...i never want to do it again (at least through oregon) and let me tell ya, music is a big helper and a must have!

It sounds like you have the maintence thing down for your car. Detailing stuff is a good idea because you WILL get something dirty or broken. Lots of food that makes you either not tired, or wakes you up is a good idea. Remember to not eat big meals or lots of fast food, cause you will tire out from the processing of it, and thats not good while driving.

On that note, make sure to have plenty of rest. Its worth stopping for just an hour or two for a nap. It will last a lot longer for you than just trying to keep on truckin'.

Just remember that road trips are an experiance...and with that experiance usually comes something wrong. Something will undoubtedly go wrong. Be it small or huge. It will happen. That is part of the rules of road trips. I of course want nothing bad to happen to you and your family and beetle...but being prepared is the best thing.
Enjoy that diesel! Make sure to keep the car full when you are leaving large city areas...you never know how long it could be before the next fill up...I tried to keep at least half a tank in my car while driving through New Mexico and Arizona...

Goodluck, jam out, and be safe!

[kcfoxie]

Napkins!! Don't forget napkins!!

[hoonbug]

When I drive to Sydney these days (the bug occasionally bites), I try to break it up into no more than five hours of driving a day, and a stop over in the middle. There's little point in trying to break a landspeed record - just arrive there not too screwed up.

I take small bathroom trash can bags with me so I can get rid of food wrappers and so on without dropping them on the floor, which is particularly handy if you're into red bull or similar. On that matter, no more than a few red bulls a day - there is a lethal dose for those buggers.

I prefer driving with water, my iPod on album shuffle with car charger, and M&M's in a cup. When the M&M's run out, time for a break.

Andrew

[marvins_dad]

If you can - Caravan with others!!!
I think you guys were talking about meeting up with folks along the way. Caravaning really does help the trip go by...if you do make sure all cars in the caravan has an FRS radio so you can communicate between cars to make the time go by faster.
When you travel in a group like that it's much easier because if there are any problems along the way you have a little support team.
In our caravans to Roswell we have never had anything go wrong, but I have heard those that have from other caravans - and they were glad that there was another car there to help them get the supplies or help they needed.

See you in Dallas (Irving) Soon!

[CoriBug]

Thanks for all the great advice. Whitacre, good point on diesel. Sometimes I forget that small towns not on the highway might not have any!! I think we're mostly going to stick to I-70 and I-35 so we should be ok. I'm trying to be prepared for things that could happen, but I'm glad I'm not going by myself!! My mom loves the sun and she loves cars, so I'd be in trouble if I didn't bring her along too!

I don't think we can have too many napkins/paper towels!! Definitely bringing plenty of those. I'll add small trash bags to my list. I have a small car trash collector but that won't be big enough.

Hey Antoine, is a cheap FRS radio ok or should I splurge a bit? I don't want to spend too much. Do you know if Mary(rubie)has one? I'll pm her. We're going to hook up in Oklahoma City on Friday.

Thanks again!!

Cori

[The Cheat]

Bring Red Bull.

Lots of it.

Coming from someone who's marathonned from Cali to Connecticut, stop halfway. Your body will thank you later. I ended up passing out in the driveway still in the car after my marathon trip and didn't wake up for 24 hours. Not good seeing as how my ex wanted to drive her new buggie!

Other than that, lots of good tunes, and make sure you enjoy the ride!

[vdubbugman53]

hey me and my girl friend both have bugs and we live in fort collins too. is there any colorado caravans going if not i say we get one going i know there is prolly a few ppl in the springs that will join in if not looks like it is just us 3.

[Toad]

If you want a fast ans easy trip, all i gotta say is, if you can, get a Co-driver. SO one of you can drive and one of you can sleep, play with the radio/laptop and etc, and you guys can switch periodically.

My co-driven road trip was the best and funnst one ever. Mostly becuz i wasnt alone in a car for 12 hours straight.

[The Cheat]

Originally Posted by Toad

If you want a fast ans easy trip, all i gotta say is, if you can, get a Co-driver. SO one of you can drive and one of you can sleep, play with the radio/laptop and etc, and you guys can switch periodically.

My co-driven road trip was the best and funnst one ever. Mostly becuz i wasnt alone in a car for 12 hours straight.

That was a fun roadtrip, eh Toad?

[yellowherbie]

Camera. Take lots of pics for us! Enjoy the road, and be safe!!!

[marvins_dad]

Originally Posted by vdubbugman53

hey me and my girl friend both have bugs and we live in fort collins too. is there any colorado caravans going if not i say we get one going i know there is prolly a few ppl in the springs that will join in if not looks like it is just us 3.

Check out this thread - you guys can bring it back to life!
http://www.newbeetle.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4240

Also, Cori - I got the cheapo's the first time around and they weren't that good or I didn't know how to talk into them properly - but on our first Roswell trip I was told by my other caravan folks that it was really bad so I went and paid $10-20 more and got a GFRS radio that has a slightly larger range and they seem to be pretty good.
I wouldn't say go spend $200 on the most expensive, but maybe instead of spending $20 - look at a grade up and get the middle of the line.

Again - make sure folks in your caravan are going to have theirs and make sure you guys set a frequency ahead of time.

Seems many NB clubs use channel 6 (we found that out in Roswell LOL) - if your radio has privacy codes, don't mess with them, just keep it simple with channel 6 no security code.

[Misfit]

Bring something to sit on. You'll need it after a long trip & the show can be draining depending on the weather. Sunblock & a hat of some kind is always a good idea in Texas.

[mentalVdub]

don't tunnel vision on getting to your destination.

enjoy the trip along the way!

[CoriBug]

You guys are so helpful. Thanks!! Yeah, gotta remember the sunblock. right now it's 25 and snowing. Antoine, I think we're just going to use the cell phones. reception will probably be spotty(even though we won't be that far apart!), but that's ok. See you soon!!!

Cori

[dgoldbe2]

I just completed a road trip from Aspen, Colorado back to Austin.

My recommendations are water, and energy food (bagels, granola bars, etc.) and coffee.

We did the trip in one day (19 hours), and the main thing is that if you spend more than 8 hours in the car, stop and get out for at least one meal.

When we make the trip to Aspen and back, we always stop for dinner and get out of the car.

Also, coming from Ft. Collins, you should see if coming down 25 to Raton, NM, and working your way south-east to Abilene and I-20 wouldn't be a better drive.

My route to Aspen includes that route, and it is much preferrable to interstates. All of the towns there get lots of truck traffic, so the diesel should be good. Even the towns up in the mountains after turning off of I-25 at Walsenburg. More importantly, there will be far less traffic than I-35, which always has traffic.

[CoriBug]

Hey thanks David. We might come back that way, since our friends live in Albuquerque. We want to see the bombing memorial in Oklahoma and I have a goal of visiting all 50 states, so that's why we're going through Kansas. But thanks for the tips. Wow, 19 hour drive in one day!! I think I would prefer to walk everywhere for awhile after that!! (sorry Daisy!)

Cori

P.S. How much is diesel going for in Aspen these days?

[dgoldbe2]

Originally Posted by CoriBug

P.S. How much is diesel going for in Aspen these days?

In Basalt (where i was staying, 12 miles from Aspen), diesel was $2.97/gal

In Westcliff I think it was a bit cheaper, but that is east of the mountains.

When I got into NM it was comparable to mid-grade unleaded.


As far as the drive goes, yeah. It is long. Dinner break usually gets extended to 1.5 to 2 hours. But the thought of two long days straight driving, seems far less appealing than one long day plus one day of recovery at our destination.