Jeeping Across America - Wanderings Of The West
- Thread starter NFRs2000NYC
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NFRs2000NYC
Adventurer
NFRs2000NYC
Adventurer
Well, time to wrap this little adventure up. I appreciate you guys taking the time out to check out my little travel blurb.
So, after a nice few days in vegas, we need to start heading back home, and we have a long LONG way back...actually, I have a long way back, the wife just needs to get to denver and fly home...
On the trip back, somewhere in Utah, rig hits 9000 miles
And into the night we go!
After going through one hell of an ordeal with United (which reminded me again how much I appreciate driving myself and not have to deal with these people at airports) and after the wife has made it through the security at the airport, I depart denver towards my next and final destination....
I book a hotel near the destination in Kansas. I crossed into Kansas right around sunrise, and what a beautiful sunrise it was....
I made a note that sunrise was around 5:25am, for sunrise pictures tomorrow. My plan was wake up before the sun comes up, get to the destination, and wait out the sunrise....
I arrive at my hotel at around 12pm, and the hotel was nice enough to let me check in early...they weren't exactly expecting a rush of guests in the middle of Kansas, and my sob story of driving 1000 miles scored me some points with the front desk girl.....to my amazement, the room was VERY VERY nice, nicer than Paris rooms, which were old and bleh (I usually stay at the bellagio but for $49 a night you can't beat Paris) and I plop and the bed to relax. I get up at around 6pm to grab some local dinner with some of that fine kansas beef, but the only place around me other than a gas station is a "steakhouse." I go in order a KC strip mid rare and a baked potato. Waitress tells me I can help myself to the cold salad bar....
I took the safe options...
It was a sad baked potato, the steak wasn't very good topped with a very sad onion ring....
I wake up the following morning at around 4am, since my final destination is about 30 minutes or so from the hotel...so I pack everything, check out at the front desk and head out.
I drive on a single lane 65mph road in complete darkness (other than my lights obviously).....basically using my navigation as my "eyes" as well as all my lightbars. Finally I get to a turn off onto a dirt road, with 6 miles still to go.....
I cautiously drive down the dirt road but I have to speed up because driving slowly blows a cloud of dust in front of my face and I can't see a damn thing...so Im doing 35mph until I come to something that literally scared me.....I felt like I was in a Silent Hill movie or something....remember, this is in the middle of nowhere and in the middle of even more nowhere....with the wind howling like crazy and not a soul in sight....this is what I came across that spooked me and I slammed my brakes to make sure I wasn't about to get chainsawed to pieces...
Tell me that wouldn't freak you out if it came out of nowhere!?
After swallowing what felt like a bowlingball, I turned on the 50" bar and proceeded with trepidation.....
Things looked blair-witchy.....
After 3 more miles of driving, I finally arrived.....
Gotta feed the kids and I will post up the conclusion and a PSA video.
So, after a nice few days in vegas, we need to start heading back home, and we have a long LONG way back...actually, I have a long way back, the wife just needs to get to denver and fly home...
On the trip back, somewhere in Utah, rig hits 9000 miles
And into the night we go!
After going through one hell of an ordeal with United (which reminded me again how much I appreciate driving myself and not have to deal with these people at airports) and after the wife has made it through the security at the airport, I depart denver towards my next and final destination....
I book a hotel near the destination in Kansas. I crossed into Kansas right around sunrise, and what a beautiful sunrise it was....
I made a note that sunrise was around 5:25am, for sunrise pictures tomorrow. My plan was wake up before the sun comes up, get to the destination, and wait out the sunrise....
I arrive at my hotel at around 12pm, and the hotel was nice enough to let me check in early...they weren't exactly expecting a rush of guests in the middle of Kansas, and my sob story of driving 1000 miles scored me some points with the front desk girl.....to my amazement, the room was VERY VERY nice, nicer than Paris rooms, which were old and bleh (I usually stay at the bellagio but for $49 a night you can't beat Paris) and I plop and the bed to relax. I get up at around 6pm to grab some local dinner with some of that fine kansas beef, but the only place around me other than a gas station is a "steakhouse." I go in order a KC strip mid rare and a baked potato. Waitress tells me I can help myself to the cold salad bar....
I took the safe options...
It was a sad baked potato, the steak wasn't very good topped with a very sad onion ring....
I wake up the following morning at around 4am, since my final destination is about 30 minutes or so from the hotel...so I pack everything, check out at the front desk and head out.
I drive on a single lane 65mph road in complete darkness (other than my lights obviously).....basically using my navigation as my "eyes" as well as all my lightbars. Finally I get to a turn off onto a dirt road, with 6 miles still to go.....
I cautiously drive down the dirt road but I have to speed up because driving slowly blows a cloud of dust in front of my face and I can't see a damn thing...so Im doing 35mph until I come to something that literally scared me.....I felt like I was in a Silent Hill movie or something....remember, this is in the middle of nowhere and in the middle of even more nowhere....with the wind howling like crazy and not a soul in sight....this is what I came across that spooked me and I slammed my brakes to make sure I wasn't about to get chainsawed to pieces...
Tell me that wouldn't freak you out if it came out of nowhere!?
After swallowing what felt like a bowlingball, I turned on the 50" bar and proceeded with trepidation.....
Things looked blair-witchy.....
After 3 more miles of driving, I finally arrived.....
Gotta feed the kids and I will post up the conclusion and a PSA video.
NFRs2000NYC
Adventurer
So the place I've been wanting to go (but missing every time since I pass through Kansas at night) is Monument Rocks. This place is very cool. These "rocks" are basically like compressed chalk and they crumble and errode fairly quickly. The monument is technically on private land, but part of the deal for the buyers was that they must keep the monument open to the public at all times, and they do.
Now, remember when I said the sunrise was at 5:25am? I got there around 4:40 or so and was planning on catching every ounce of sunrise, but when I didn't see the sun even REMOTELY appear at 5:10 I realized what happened...I set my navi for Vegas time when I got there, and never changed it back...so the navi clock was an hour ahead. Oh well, amazingly, I had full AT&T LTE service so in the pitch black darkness with the wind howling like crazy, I watched a bunch of youtube waiting for the sun to show....and show it did.....(pardon the gratuitous jeep ad nature of some of these photos)
I didn't notice it when I pulled up because of the pitch black darkness, but there are 2 formations there.... 2.1 technically (you can see the single column remaining from a 3rd formation)
View of the 1st formation from the second.
Quick note, those are NOT angel eyes. In fact, that part of the shrouds is gloss black but the sun is so strong in this pic that it makes it look like I have angel eyes, which I do NOT.
In front of the 2nd formation
Now, remember when I said the sunrise was at 5:25am? I got there around 4:40 or so and was planning on catching every ounce of sunrise, but when I didn't see the sun even REMOTELY appear at 5:10 I realized what happened...I set my navi for Vegas time when I got there, and never changed it back...so the navi clock was an hour ahead. Oh well, amazingly, I had full AT&T LTE service so in the pitch black darkness with the wind howling like crazy, I watched a bunch of youtube waiting for the sun to show....and show it did.....(pardon the gratuitous jeep ad nature of some of these photos)
I didn't notice it when I pulled up because of the pitch black darkness, but there are 2 formations there.... 2.1 technically (you can see the single column remaining from a 3rd formation)
View of the 1st formation from the second.
Quick note, those are NOT angel eyes. In fact, that part of the shrouds is gloss black but the sun is so strong in this pic that it makes it look like I have angel eyes, which I do NOT.
In front of the 2nd formation
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NFRs2000NYC
Adventurer
Looking back at the first....
The 2nd formation again
Continued.......
The 2nd formation again
Continued.......
NFRs2000NYC
Adventurer
Well, after spending the entire morning shooting, it was time to head back.....
Much MUCH less scary during daylight...
Scary trees no longer scary
This is something I haven't seen before on any vehicle, but I suspect the Jeep's barnlike aerodynamics have something to do with it......
As I was driving back down the i70 in Kansas, the crosswind became insane. The wind turbines were spinning like crazy and the jeep was literally being blown off the road at 70. Even at 65 (10mph BELOW the speedlimit) I had to actively countersteer the entire way...almost the entire state of Kansas...I countersteered for so long the computer thought the steering wheel was no longer centered and my traction control light went on as a result
Fortunately it went away later on when things calmed down.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed reading about some of my little adventures, and hopefully, I'll see you on the next one. Remember, life's a journey, take the dirt road.
Much MUCH less scary during daylight...
Scary trees no longer scary
This is something I haven't seen before on any vehicle, but I suspect the Jeep's barnlike aerodynamics have something to do with it......
As I was driving back down the i70 in Kansas, the crosswind became insane. The wind turbines were spinning like crazy and the jeep was literally being blown off the road at 70. Even at 65 (10mph BELOW the speedlimit) I had to actively countersteer the entire way...almost the entire state of Kansas...I countersteered for so long the computer thought the steering wheel was no longer centered and my traction control light went on as a result
Fortunately it went away later on when things calmed down.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed reading about some of my little adventures, and hopefully, I'll see you on the next one. Remember, life's a journey, take the dirt road.
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NFRs2000NYC
Adventurer
Oh, and here's the PSA I wanted to share.....
You've seen my Jeep in the above photos...a vehicle that's pretty well set up for winter driving right? So here is the PSA...if you ever drive down the highway in foul blizzard conditions, and you see a vehicle like mine going below the speed limit, there is probably a good reason for it, so do yourselves a favor and slow the hell down...watch the left side on the screen....recorded from my dashcam somewhere during a snow storm in ohio I think....
You've seen my Jeep in the above photos...a vehicle that's pretty well set up for winter driving right? So here is the PSA...if you ever drive down the highway in foul blizzard conditions, and you see a vehicle like mine going below the speed limit, there is probably a good reason for it, so do yourselves a favor and slow the hell down...watch the left side on the screen....recorded from my dashcam somewhere during a snow storm in ohio I think....
jbrooks19
Observer
I need to hear what happened next! Did you go talk to the driver, hop out of the Jeep and flip him the bird then drive off??? Haha
NFRs2000NYC
Adventurer
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...ackvue.TRS1&_nkw=blackvue&ghostText=&_sacat=0
I have a blackvue. IMHO, they are the best. Their software especially. Check out the various models on ebay and see which ones have the features you want. All video is backed by google map GPS breadcrumbing, and a tri axis accelerometer (admissible in court)...some have wifi so that you can live stream to your idevice, etc. I highly recommend one for all vehicles that you own. If it saves you from one BS ticket or BS accident, it paid for itself.
The image quality is also superb. Don't judge it by mine, since it was pitch black, my windshield was filthy, wet and it was blizzarding out. You can check out examples of video quality all over youtube.
NFRs2000NYC
Adventurer
I pulled over to make sure he was ok. It was a younger guy (mid 20s probably) that had his ego rattled but nothing major. Told him to take it easy, relax, made sure he didn't need any kind of help, and was on my way.
NFRs2000NYC
Adventurer
It loops but keeps files in 2 categories....normal and "event"...event is if it senses shock greater than your setting. I set mine at like 8 out of 10 because with my setup potholes would set it off, now, only major things set it off.