Trip Diary
Day 1: Calgary to Butte
We left Calgary at 9:15 loaded up with Gas and Starbucks, and pointed south. We made it to the US border ok, and then sat in 42 degree sun and baked for an hour waiting to pass through! This was the first time that day when the Bakers were happy to be in the Explorer.
The first mechanical problem happened in Shelby - spot the irony!!! One of my alternator bolts had come lose and the alternator slipped and started wearing through the belt. We managed to fix this and start off agin - straight into pouring rain. This was rain of biblical proportions - we could barely see the road through the spray! Again, the Bakers were happy to be in the Explorer!
Once we passed through 3 more of these rain storms, we met winds that nearly blew the car off the road. It was so strong, we had the Explorer running interference trying to take out the debris before we hit it in the Cobra. Despite their best efforts, we still managed to collect a good few tumbleweeds into the grill and engine bay. In fact, the wind and sand storm was so strong it has taken the black powdercoating off the roll bars!!!
Eventually, after 12 hours driving we made the hotel.
Day 2: Butte to Salt Lake City
We had a bit of a well deserved sleep in, and packed up the cars to head to Salt Lake City. We swapped drivers and the girls took the Cobra, and didn't want to give it back! With Ash driving, we seemed to make much better time and the Explorer has now set a new speed record to towing an engine!
Before reaching the hotel we stopped to fill up with gas and pulled up alongside 4 corvettes - none of which would even acknowledge our existence. Very strange.... [Smile]
Overall, this day was less eventful, and after 450 miles we made it to the hotel (with comfy beds!) safely.
Day 3: Salt Lake City to Las Vegas
One word can describe today - HOT. We saw a constant 45 degrees for a large part of today, but the car ran perfectly with no overheating issues. With the girls driving and the guys in the chase vehicle, every trucker they passed was honked at and waved as they tried to get every Big Rig to pull the air horn.... Travis and I just hid in the Explorer...
The bit of excitement today was when Ash was driving and the wind pulled the hood completely open at 80mph blocking her view of the road! She looked through the hood scoop to see ahead and Monique directed the traffic around them to get to the shoulder. Phew! Nicely driven by Ash and some duct tape should fix the problem (I didn't get around to putting the hood latches on - I think I will now...)
The girls then drove into Vegas and made quite an impression as they stopped outside of the Luxor!
|
