Mini Trans America Zoom

[MazdaTom]

A couple weeks ago I loaded up my car, including my 2 Siberian Huskies and headed to St Louis. The purpose of the trip was to meet my brother in law in St Louis so he could take HIS Huskies back. My wife and I have been taking care of them for the past several years, but it was time for him to take them back.

I rolled out of my driveway at 4:07 am on Friday morning. There were some snow flurries in the air, but nothing sticking to the ground….. yet. Traffic was non-existent this time of morning. The dogs were settled into the back seat. Astro had his head on the center console between the seats and seemed comfortable there for the long haul.

The route I take when heading toward Kansas from Denver starts off with taking a 2 lane highway that goes through a couple small towns before meeting up with I-70. About halfway to I-70, all the small towns are done with and I am faced with about 35 miles of hilly 2 lane highway. This route can be especially fun. The snow flurries were still hanging around but I could really only tell when I had my high beams on- and even then, there wasn’t enough snow present to not use the high beams. There was a really stiff cross wind and as I popped out behind some of the hills or clumps of trees, I could really feel the wind push on the car. As the miles start to pile up, so does the snow. While going up one hill, the transmission downshifted and I got a tach full of wheel spin. OH BOY! The road continues to get worse and my decision to leave the General Exclaim UHP tires on for this trip is starting to be seriously questioned. The wide contact path, slick roads and stiff cross wind makes for a very intense drive.

By the time I get to the interstate, the highway was completely snow covered in what I would guess was about 3” of snow. As I approached the turn for the onramp, I turned the steering wheel and the car continued to go straight. GREAT! I slid off onto the shoulder and my tires finally got the traction they needed when they dug into the underlying dirt. The posted speed limit on I-70 through eastern Colorado is 75 mph. I was doing 50. There was a decent path worn into the approximate area of the right lane which made for easy going. After about 30 miles of that, I got in front of the snow storm and kicked the speed up to about 80.

More wind. Lots of dead deer line the highway. But at least that wind is a crossing tail wind.

My first stop was at the first exit inside the Kansas state line in a town called Kanorodo. Get it- Kansas…. Colorado…..? I found a field to let the dogs run. Holy crap, it was cold and windy.

I stopped again in Quinter, KS and took some pics. Stay tuned.
My first gas stop was in Hays, KS. 320.9 miles. 4 hours and 7 minutes elapsed time. 25.79 mpgs.

Not far outside of Hays, KS, with the cruise control set at an indicated 75 mph (posted limit in KS is 70) my radar detector erupts in an alarm of Ka band and I was greeted with a state patrol car sitting very well hidden just over the rise of the overpass. I see him pull out behind me and I say: “you’re gonna pull me over for 5 over?!?!?!”. Sure enough. License and insurance please. It seems I was doing 80. I forgot about the speedo error due to the larger wheels/tires. Oops. That’s a $105 lesson I won’t soon forget.

More wind and dead deer.

At about mile 546 I decided to record a snap shot of my gauges. Here’s what I found while at 70 mph indicated:
Transmission hot side: 165*F
Transmission drain plug: tick over 100*F
Oil pressure: 55ish psi
Oil temp: 225*F
Water temp: wacked! The needle twitches. I think I need to check the connection at the sendor.
Intake air temp: 55.2*F

Second gas stop is somewhere in Missouri at 668.1 miles (345.2 on the tank). 10 hours and 42 minutes of elapsed time. 12.598 gallons. 27.4 mpgs.

Not long after that gas stop it started to rain. Big time. This was a typical mid-western down pour. Oddly enough, it didn’t seem to effect the flow of traffic and we all continued along at 70 mph.
12 hours and 40 minutes after I pull out of my driveway, I shut the motor off in the hotel parking lot in O’Fallon, MO. 781 miles.
Check into the hotel, grab some beers and a burger, more beers while watching TV, sleep a couple hours and then I was back in the car at 4:30 am headed west. YAY! This time without 2 hairy passengers in the back seat.

The rain was still hanging around and so was that wind. But now that wind was a crossing head wind. More dead deer.

Not far out of the St Louis area, a small doe pops up out of the center median and begins to cross the interstate in front of me. Had I not done anything, I’m sure I would have nailed it. Instead I got hard on the brakes and started honking the horn. As soon as I got on the horn, the deer started to hustle off to the side. Credit the Hella Supertones? If I wasn’t awake before, I was then.
More wind and dead deer.

First gas stop for the day is in Kansas City. I don’t remember which side of the state line I was on. 321.4 miles on the tank, 208.4 on the day’s return trip. 3 hours and 10 minutes elapsed. 11.864 gallons. 27.1 mpgs. The head wind isn’t effecting me too much.
Now Wichita, KS isn’t exactly on the way back to Denver from St Louis, but since I lived there I had to make a side trip. Plus there was a BBQ joint in Wichita that I was craving. I cruised the old neighborhood and it made me even more happy that my family and I moved out.

My old SCCA region was having an autocross on Sunday, but they were setting up the course on Saturday. I stopped by, threw on the heavy winter jacket and a hat to stay warm and tossed some cones around. That wind was fierce.

Second gas stop in Stafford, KS. 290.7 miles on the tank, 499.2 on the trip. 10 hours and 11 minutes elapsed. 12.174 gallons. 23.9 mpgs. OUCH. Wind blows.

To get back to the interstate from the event site, I had to cut in and out of some small town on a couple 2 lane highways. Between 2 such towns, I had the speed ratcheted up around 90 mph. Once again, my radar detector erupts in a hail of Ka band alarm. I grabbed a foot full of brake pedal and quickly started shedding speed. I could see way up in the distance a car coming toward me and then it went off onto the shoulder. More Ka alarms. Sure enough, it was another KS state patrol. Just to eff with him, I made sure my speed was about 5 mph under the limit as I passed with my middle finger pressed up against the glass. I first detected him at least a half mile away- if not more. I’ve heard police radar is really only effective out to a quarter mile or so. Not this time coper!

More wind and dead deer.

The rest of the drive is very uneventful.

3rd and final gas stop for the return trip was in Limon, CO. 328.8 miles on the tank, 828 on the return trip. 15 hours and 12 minutes of elapsed time. 13.19 gallons. 24.9 mpgs. I hate wind.

16 hours and 42 minutes later with 81.1 miles on the tank and 909.2 miles on the return trip, I kill the engine inside my garage. 29 hours and 22 minutes of total “trip” time.

[MazdaTom]

Time for pics! My first stop in Kanorado, KS- not long after getting out of the snow storm:



I think this was an old gas station.
Letting the dogs run in Kanorado, KS:


Because of the cross wind during the snow storm, the snow build up was only on one side of the car:

To get an idea of how windy it was, check out the flag:

Here's where I almost got stuck. Once I got out there, I figured I might as well take my pictures while I was there. Very strange colored dirt hill though:

How to get rid of the unsightly wheel gap:


When I turned around to get out of that muddy mess, the tires flung mud up onto the car:

Check out the chunk of mud on the trunk lid:


First gas stop in Hays, KS:

I dug some of the mud out of the wheel wells:

What better place for a wind farm than windy KS!


Hurst:

Going from snow to sun to rain all in the same trip:

This concludes the pictures from Friday- DAY 1.

[MazdaTom]

Saturday pictures:
Cattle pens along I-35 in KS.


Overpass:


Notice the great expanse of NOTHING:


The Dream Lifter:

This airplane is a modified 747 built specifically to fly around the world and haul pieces of the 787 Dreamliner back to the Seattle area for final production. Here it is in Wichita, KS to pick up the Section 41 (the first 700 inches or so of the airplane- basically the fuselage including the flight deck and back to the end of first class).

I went through Kansas City too early for lunch, so in Wichita I stopped by an old favorite at Hog Wild (I used to live in Wichita.... a little FYI):


An old Navy base in Yoder, KS:

The Navy?!?!?!? In Kansas?!?!?! Crazy, I know.

Some overpass on I-70 somewhere in KS:


Random blurry picture:


Interstate sunset on I-70 in KS somewhere:


Once in CO, I pulled over on a VERY dark country 2 lane highway. It was a clear night and I tried to photograph the stars- and boy where there a bunch out there. WOW! But I guess my camera can't keep the shutter open long enough to capture stars. I did get a decent pic of the moon rising. I had to brighten up the pic and play with it a little, so it's a little grainy. The reflection is because I used the roof of my car as a tripod.

[Colombia28]

Thanks for the photos and story! I enjoyed both.

[Huzer21]

That looks fun. I had pictures of my cross country CO-NY trip on my old laptop...stolen. Grr. Thanks for posting the pics!

[323Bf]

omg... there are some great highways!! there you can drive fast... on our highways you only drive maximum: 130km/h = 81 m/h

but i drive mostly about 135 m/h.... *gg*

and you have also very great pics!!

[mazdaman-G-]

Thanks for sharing, enjoyed the story and pics!