bert425 Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Jimmy "Winslow, AZ? WHY?!?!?!" Bo gaaaaaaaaaaaaah! way to make us feel old! "Take it Easy" -- the Eagles: Well, I'm running down the road tryin' to loosen my load I've got seven women on my mind, Four that wanna own me, Two that wanna stone me, One says she's a friend of mine Take It easy, take it easy Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy Lighten up while you still can don't even try to understand Just find a place to make your stand and take it easy Well, I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me Come on, baby, don't say maybe I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me We may lose and we may win though we will never be here again so open up, I'm climbin' in, so take it easy Well I'm running down the road trying to loosen my load, got a world of trouble on my mind lookin' for a lover who won't blow my cover, she's so hard to find Take it easy, take it easy don't let the sound of your own wheels make you crazy come on baby, don't say maybe I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me, oh oh oh Oh we got it easy We oughta take it easy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodie Warrior Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 Those pictures of the fireworks coming off the Stratosphere are absolutely stunning This is a great trip report. Holiday time in the southwest looks like a great time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vonni Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 That seems like such a cool and fun trip! I'd love to do a Road Trip like this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arby Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 We had a blast and can't wait to do it again sometime. Thanks, everyone! Our next big trip will probably be to Colorado in the next couple of years. We call 'big trip' anything that takes more than 16-18 hours to drive to. New Years in Vegas is on my bucket list. I heard its a pretty damn good time and the fireworks are insane throughout the strip. Is that right? I was crazy busy on the strip and it looked like they were having a blast. By the time the party got going well we were back in our camper drinking our own much cheaper alcohol. I was too exhausted by the time the fireworks went off that I didn't leave our camp site so I couldn't see. That is one regret of mine from this trip. Jimmy "Winslow, AZ? WHY?!?!?!" Bo We needed gas and they have a Flying J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Nice trip. We always used to take family car trips when I was a kid. Never across the whole country but we have covered most of the West. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coreysaysyo Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I love seeing trips like this where you are with your family Sometimes you couldn't ask for anything more :') But yeah me and my dad go all over the place going to parks and what not and it just makes me feel good when I see others doing this. Makes me feel happy to see family that gets to spend there time together, and in what better way then enjoying a family road trip It just gets me excited for the new trips me and my dad will take together and the new places we will get to check out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TyRush Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Wow fantastic trip and report! Love all the awesome photos and the Western landscape is truly beautiful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownStreak Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 If you are ever doing a long drive out near Vegas again, you should definitely try to route yourself to drive I-15 through the tiny slice of NW AZ. Why? Because that tiny corner is the Virgin River Canyon and as a trucker who has driven in every state except Hawaii (duh), Alaska (duh), Maine, and South Dakota, I can say that I-15 through the VRC is the most spectacular interstates drive in the country (during the day! at night its like 'I want my mommy!'). Northern California on I-5 near Mount Shasta is probably my 2nd favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arby Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share Posted January 26, 2014 ^Thanks! I will certainly do that next time we are in that area. There certainly will be a next time because I still have plenty of credits to pick up in that area of the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Coleman Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Nice tr. Always wondered what a full silver bullet que looked like and now I know. Don't think I would want to experience it in person though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1badgmc Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 [attachment=42]1287-0104.jpg[/attachment] Max speed 195!? What do you have powering that rig? lol Great report for a great trip. I grew up in an RV family. Before my parents bought their first travel trailer in the early '80s, they borrowed my grandparents' trailer. I traveled with them well into my 20s. I have tons of great memories of those trips. Now I have my own trailer for my wife and kids and I and my parents have moved up to a motorhome, but most of the time when we go camping, we still all go out together with both RVs now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arby Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 ^I had it lockup on me about a year ago and when I reset it, that new max speed showed up. I love keeping it on there to see people's reaction. Our RV is actually governed at 75 MPH. It's awesome that you are able to share the experience with your family! We started out with a travel trailer and weren't real fond of moving to a motor home. Now that we have gotten used to it we do like it even more as it works much better with our lifestyle and our love of road trips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1badgmc Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 ^I had it lockup on me about a year ago and when I reset it, that new max speed showed up. I love keeping it on there to see people's reaction. Our RV is actually governed at 75 MPH. It's awesome that you are able to share the experience with your family! We started out with a travel trailer and weren't real fond of moving to a motor home. Now that we have gotten used to it we do like it even more as it works much better with our lifestyle and our love of road trips. I had a 132 max speed on my Garmin for a while, but that wasn't an error. We have a 31' trailer we pull with a Suburban 2500. The rig is pushing 50' and can get a bit hairy sometimes. The trailer is also pushing the max towing weight of the Suburban too. I'd love to get a Duramax dually and a nice 5th wheel and have the better maneuverability, but we use the Suburban as transportation for everyone when we travel with my parents. I'd be happier if GM had the nads to put the Duramax in the Suburban 2500 as an option instead of just the 6.0L gas. Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arby Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 I had a 132 max speed on my Garmin for a while, but that wasn't an error. No comment. I used to be a wild driver when I was younger but I"ll save those stories... We have a 31' trailer we pull with a Suburban 2500. The rig is pushing 50' and can get a bit hairy sometimes. The trailer is also pushing the max towing weight of the Suburban too. I'd love to get a Duramax dually and a nice 5th wheel and have the better maneuverability, but we use the Suburban as transportation for everyone when we travel with my parents. I'd be happier if GM had the nads to put the Duramax in the Suburban 2500 as an option instead of just the 6.0L gas. Oh well. Nice setup! You're sitting better than I was. I had a 33' ultralight trailer and a Ford F150. While the truck was rated to pull the trailer, it certainly got hairy quite a few times. After we priced a good HD rig and a 5th wheel, we decided to go with a motor home. I've been really happy with my 6.8L V10 gas engine. It has all the torque I really need and I've only had to climb one hill with the pedal to the floor and I couldn't accelerate - that is the 11 percent grade hill heading to Knoebels from Hershey while towing my car. I had my eye on a nice diesel pusher but my wallet didn't line up with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 ^I might be able to get you a deal on that diesel pusher as I work for Cummins! After reading your report I did some digging on used motor homes because I started having an itch to get back into some RV travel. I saw a really sweet 31' 1995 Class C in mint condition with only 29k on Ebay last week and it turns out that it was being sold right at a motor home dealer here in Buffalo! I put in a bid, won the auction and then they told me after I won it that they had already sold the RV. There was nothing in the auction that stated that the product could be sold and would/could void the auction. When I called them, they acted surprised that the auction was even on Ebay and didn't even know that I had placed a bid! And two days later, I'm getting messages from Ebay to pay the seller, even though I had cancelled the sale after they told me it was sold and I had politely asked them to straighten it out with Ebay so it wouldn't shed a negative on my buyer status rating. Needless to say, I wasn't overly impressed with their lack of knowledge from their "Internet Sales Manager" and would choose to not do business with them in the future. Really? You have an item up for sale on multiple websites (I checked) with an auction on Ebay & you don't bother to check and take the ads/sale down after you have sold the item...and your title is Internet Sales Manager? Fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arby Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 It would have to be a REAL GOOD deal as they start out about double of what my current unit retailed for. I just looked at the specs, though, and I see it puts out 1150 lb-ft of torque with a Cummins 9L ISL and an Allison 3000 6-speed. Wow! I thought my current 450 lb-ft was good. Anyway I looked at a diesel pusher every which way I could before we bought this one and there was no way I could budget it. Now that I look at the floor plan on the 41' pusher, I kind of like the floor plan on my 36' gas unit better with 1 1/2 baths. That has already come in handy a few times... That sounds like a great class C! It sucks that they messed you over so much like that. There really still are a lot of great deals out there on RVs since the economy is different than it was pre 2008. I know I got a killer deal on mine. I wish you the best of luck on your continued search (with anybody BUT that dealer ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1badgmc Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Nice setup! You're sitting better than I was. I had a 33' ultralight trailer and a Ford F150. While the truck was rated to pull the trailer, it certainly got hairy quite a few times. After we priced a good HD rig and a 5th wheel, we decided to go with a motor home. I've been really happy with my 6.8L V10 gas engine. It has all the torque I really need and I've only had to climb one hill with the pedal to the floor and I couldn't accelerate - that is the 11 percent grade hill heading to Knoebels from Hershey while towing my car. I had my eye on a nice diesel pusher but my wallet didn't line up with it. My dad pulled a 19' travel trailer with a crew cab dually. lol I'd rather have more truck than I need, even though I feel my Suburban is barely adequate for the job. We had a 2010 Suburban 2500 (current Suburban is a 2011) and 27' trailer that we lost in Indiana in 2012 when we got t-boned by a drunk driver. Let's just say the Suburban held up very well against the '94 Nissan Sentra that plowed into us at about 60 mph. He hit right on the b-pillar between my seat and the back seat where my 2-year-old daughter was sitting. The Suburban was totalled, but was still able to drive 1/4 mile to the tow yard under it's own power. The trailer was jack-knifed into the Suburban. It crushed the front corner of the trailer, twisted the frame and knocked a couple holding tanks loose. It was totalled as well. My wife, daughter and I walked away. They both had small scratches from seatbelts, but I didn't have a mark on me. The driver that hit us was not wearing a seatbelt, not to mention being plastered, and didn't survive. He was a 53-year-old whose license had been suspended for over 20 years for DWIs. The cops said that when they got the call, they knew it was him and hoped he hadn't killed someone else. But that was the event that got us into our current setup. We only have a couple small trips in it so far. Sometime we'll get it out for a long haul. I especially want to spend some time exploring the western states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arby Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Wow, I'm glad you all are ok. That's quite the story. Fortunately we've had a lot of good luck other than destroying a tire on our towed car on the way to Texas last April. We now carry a full size spare for my car. The southwestern states are beautiful in their own right, albeit quite different than easterners such as myself are used to. Hopefully you can make it out there soon! We look forward to checking out the bay area and northern California. Right now I'm penciling in a 2015 trip to CO (our fav place) and then continuing west to CA after a few days. If the timing works out well, we'll also likely head north into Oregon and Washington. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1badgmc Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Wow, I'm glad you all are ok. That's quite the story. Yeah. We were lucky. I sometimes think that Fate put us there to finally take that drunk off the roads for good. Fortunately we've had a lot of good luck other than destroying a tire on our towed car on the way to Texas last April. We now carry a full size spare for my car. At least it was just a flat. Good call on the fullsize spare. The southwestern states are beautiful in their own right, albeit quite different than easterners such as myself are used to. Hopefully you can make it out there soon! I spent most of my traveling time growing up in the midwest with a couple trips to the Smoky Mountains and a trip to Florida. I'm a huge Route 66 fan and I've covered the entire modern route from Chicago to OKC and I've taken several excursions onto the old road to check things out. Back in 2009, my wife and I drove to Vegas to get married. It was a quick trip (left on Thursday and got home early Monday morning), but we crammed a ton of stuff into that short trip. We took in as much of Route 66 as we could between Shamrock, TX and Kingman, AZ including the Tower Conoco, Cadillac Ranch, Wigwam Motel, etc. We did a Clark Griswald Grand Canyon stop after staying the night in Flagstaff. We spent a couple hours. I got to see the Grand Canyon with snow on the walls. Pretty cool. We didn't take a tour of the Hoover Dam, but we did take a helicopter flight over it. Then there was the Vegas experience. We walked from the Plaza at the end of Fremont all the way to the Mirage at the end of the strip. We did Manhattan Express (never again) and all the Stratosphere rides (X Scream is the only ride that's ever scared me!). I was disappointed that Speed: The Ride was closed while we were there. It opened a couple weeks later and then closed for good not long after that. We need to make it on out to LA, though. There are so many things there I want to see and do. We look forward to checking out the bay area and northern California. Right now I'm penciling in a 2015 trip to CO (our fav place) and then continuing west to CA after a few days. If the timing works out well, we'll also likely head north into Oregon and Washington. That would be a good trip. I'd love to take the PCH/101 all the way from So Cal up to Seattle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 It would have to be a REAL GOOD deal as they start out about double of what my current unit retailed for. I just looked at the specs, though, and I see it puts out 1150 lb-ft of torque with a Cummins 9L ISL and an Allison 3000 6-speed. Wow! I thought my current 450 lb-ft was good. Anyway I looked at a diesel pusher every which way I could before we bought this one and there was no way I could budget it. Now that I look at the floor plan on the 41' pusher, I kind of like the floor plan on my 36' gas unit better with 1 1/2 baths. That has already come in handy a few times... That sounds like a great class C! It sucks that they messed you over so much like that. There really still are a lot of great deals out there on RVs since the economy is different than it was pre 2008. I know I got a killer deal on mine. I wish you the best of luck on your continued search (with anybody BUT that dealer ) If I had the money, I would buy a used motor home and have a 12 or 15L Cummins (our plant only makes the 11, 12 & 15L) installed in the coach and that way I could monitor it being built down our assembly line! Maybe someday!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arby Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Maybe someday!?! Yep, hopefully for both of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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