What would you want to take with you on the ultimate road trip,if youcould make one ?

If you got to make the ultimate road trip (and money, geographic
location of the trip and the make / model of the desired car you'd
most want to use wasn't a limitation), what things or person/s would
you most want to take with you and please say why.

You can take any high profile person/s you admire, irrespective
whether anyone named is living or is presently deceased and could be
brought back to life.

 

I did this a few years after graduating college.

Drove a '65 Chevy II around the country for four months, spending time
with friends and relatives, camping, staying with new friends.

The two items I brought with me of note: my complete stereo and record
collection, and my cat.

 

Based on my experiences road tripping with an ex-GF and her '69
Valiant, I'd leave the cat at home. said cat was totally cool but
very, very unhappy in the car.

I remember once having to make an unscheduled stop at my parents'
house to hose out the cat carrier, as George the Cat got tired of
expressing his displeasure vocally and moved on to less subtle forms
of communication.

nate

 

My 'who' is easy. Benjamin Franklin.

Carl
1 Lucky Texan

 

I would go solo and take the usual stuff such as my car, clothes,
camping gear, folding bike, my laptop, camera gear, and my credit cards.
Although I would go solo, I would love to meat people on the way who
know the local areas and who would be willing to spend time showing me
around their community. I have no interest in meeting a "high profile"
person on such a trip.

 

I'd leave the car home and fly my Beech Sundowner from small field to
small field, across the US and Canada.

My companion would be my wife, who in a perfect world would be as
comfortable flying as I am.

 

A nice cushy Bentley or Rolls Royce convertible, my laptop with one of
those Verizon (or ATT or whomever) cards that connect to the cellular
network so I wouldn't be at the mercy of wifi hotspots, a refrigerator
full of mountain dew to keep me going, a GPS unit that has accurate
maps and the locations of every mom and pop pizza joint on my route
programmed in, the best police radar/lidar detection/jamming unit
money could buy, maps to bypass the states of VA, DC and anywhere else
that radar detectors are banned and Paris Hilton's credit cards to pay
for it all.

Ginger *and* Mary Ann.... ;-P

--
"The record run in oil prices is related more to
speculation and a weakening dollar than supply
and demand in the market. In terms of fundamentals,
fear of supply reliability is overblown."

--Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson

 

To answer "What" I would take, it would be the usual stuff needed to
make a long trip, but the particulars would depend on the locales
visited. No snoeshoes needed on a trip to death valley. Binoculars
and camera would be nice, etc.

To answer "Who" I would take, it would likely be my spouse and
possible the kids and grandkids depending on the location. Or maybe
my spouse and brother-in-law and sister-in-law. I can't imagine why
anyone would want to take a "High Profile" person who they presumably
had never met on an extended trip like that. How dull for both...

 

A good supply of parts for the 44 years old car I'd be driving and my
meds, including Viagra in case I'm lucky.

 

Join a large hobby car club devoted to one marque, Jaguar, Model T,
Studebaker, (Nissan/Datsun) Z, Vette (Owning, but not necessarilly
driving one) and cal names from the roster for the town you'll be in
the next day.
You better know he Marque damn well, though.

 

Do not go to Death Valey. It is horrible - no place to stay and
Scotty's Castle is a cardboard cut-out, Badwater will give you AIDS
just by driving past it, Zabriskie Point will clog your air filter,
and the sand ants will steal your wallet.

 

Easy,

1 - My collection of audiobooks on CD-ROM - (Can drive for hours with a good
book)
2 - 427 Cobra (with MP3 capable CD player to play the cdroms)
3 - Digital Camera and PC (for recording my trip and downloading pictures at
the end of each day.)
4 - NOBODY ELSE

I'd go with a 2005 Miata Turbo if a 4276 cobra is not available (not as sexy
or fast but probably more reliable in the long run)

Squat (ex 99 miata owner - yes, I miss that car.)

 

I can't imagine why anyone would want to take a "High Profile" person who

And likely high maintenance for you...

 

And an aviation headset, so you can HEAR your audiobooks? <G>

 

I thought you were supposed to take Hunter S. Thompson, a rental car, and
a suitcase full of drugs and guns?
--scott

 

In addition to the usual assortment of favorite music, reading
material, snacks and supplies, I'd take Ed, my former next door
neighbor and surrogate big brother. I've traveled up and down the
east coast with the guy and from NY to Minnesota for a Corvair
convention in a car with a one-day old rebuilt engine that we had put
together in a month as our intoduction to Corvairs. Ran perfectly
Now a chief mechanic at a 100+ million gallon per day sewage treatment
plant, he can fix anything that breaks. Could have been Scotty on the
Enterprise in another lifetime a millenium from now. Once I blew a
head gasket during practice runs for time trials at Lime Rock, and he
had it replaced and I was back on the track in 30 minutes, running
faster than I ever had before. Not an easy feat in a Corvair, where
you're working on your back with hot oil drupping in your face

 

To each his own, but I find Death Valley beautiful and there is an
abundance of places to camp "rough" - free - but bring a large
container of water, like 6 gallons.

Scotty's Castle is a story as much as it is a building. Walter Scott
was one of Buffalo Bill's "Big Six" cowboys and decided to become the
"Greatest One Man Show on Earth." Part of that was spinning a yarn to
the New York bankers that hung around the Big Six Cowboys like teeny
boppers tailed the Beatles a half century later. Scotty let slip that
he had a secret gold mine in Death Valley that would make Rockerfeller
look like a pauper. "Send me $8000 a month and we will both be richer
than King Midas!" he would brag. That was good money in 1904.

Scotty never had a gold mine. A lot of us never had a gold mine, but
the thing about Scotty is that he wound up perhaps the most famous
common American of his time and with a castle, something most of us
have to do without . . .

Death Valley National Park is one of the most ruggedly mountainous
places on the planet. I walked 150 miles through the Karakoram
Mountains of Pakistan last summer and in many places the Karakoram
reminded me of the mountains in Death Valley National Park.

For my road trip, if I didn't have to use jeep trails to get to a
destination, I would drive my restored 1982 300 TDT Mercedes diesel
station wagon. The "T" in TDT stands for "Touring" because station
wagons in Germany are called "Touring cars." If jeep trails were part
of the itinerary, like my upcoming trip to Toroweap at the Grand
Canyon, I would have to drive my restored 1989 Toyota short wheelbase
4Runner.

I have custom sound systems in all my vehicles with subwoofer cabinets
and external power amps. I have 2000+ watts in my Benz and 1400 watts
in my 4Runner.

I write and take photographs for a living, so I would have my
assortment of cameras and a notebook computer. I see below someone
suggests bringing Hunter S. Thompson along. I lived in Aspen when
Hunter was running for Sheriff. I didn't keep a copy, and apparently
no one else has either, but I remember Point 8 of his "Ten Point
Platform" was "All Deputies shall take mescaline."

If she could make it, I'd bring Fräulein Karin. She's a twin for the
actress in the 3rd Indiana Jones movie. The one who falls into the
crevasse at the end.

On May 17, 1:49 pm, Studemania

 

I like the way Karin reverts to her native German at certain intimate
moments.

 

After a devastating injury 20yrs ago, that even gave me some brain
damage, I planned a trip all around the country, wanting to take as
long as it would take, and seeing anything that I wanted to, mainly
scenic and interesting places. It helped a lot with cognitive therapy
that I needed, and kept me looking forward instead of backward. Being
more into nature than conviences, I wanted to be able to go off road,
and also camp. I still haven't decided on the perfect vehicle. Sube's
probably can't go that far off road, but then I'm not into climbing
rocks. I have problem with fatigue,
and pains, so being able to pull over and rest or sleep at any time
would be a plus, and a trailer or RV would be better than camping in a
tent, but with gas prices climbing all the time, a tent might better
than an RV or towing a trailer.

I bought an Impreza wagon last year, but think a Legacy wagon would
be a better choice, for the size, and a trip I planed would take a
year, and 15K mi. Trying to pick a route that the weather would be
mild, as much as can be planned for, and see things I wanted to,
seemed like the thing to do.

When I planned the trip I had an oder full sized wagon, with a lot
of miles. Figuring on that I planned to put in a new motor, and carry
parts like belts and simple things. With an older motor I'd carry a
water pump and anything that could fail, that was small, and I might
not want to wait to get parts for, like maybe a master cyl. Ease of
getting parts would determine what I would carry.

Don't think I would go alone, and even a dog would give something to
talk to. At the time I had 2, that would have made the trip more
interesting, since the female liked to rest her muzzle on my shoulder
while I drove, and the male would get into trouble anytime we stopped.
A companion who wanted to take the trip as much as me, and was
compatible would make it more interesting. At the time I had a friend
who had a stroke, and he wanted to take the trip. I don't think he
shared my interests, but the trip would have helped him with the
depression. An interesting woman who wasn't afraid of challenges,
which I once had, would have been ideal. I can't think of any high
profile person who would make the trip as interesting, than someone
who likes an adventure. I gave up making plans long ago, since things
never turned out the way imagined, and being open to what happens or I
ran into, was a Lot more interesting. When I saw something I wanted to
see, I would stop and check it out. If I saw a road that looked
interesting, I turned onto it, to see what it lead to.

I still have the dream, but still am not able, so toned down my plan
to interesting places not as far, though they haven't seemed
interesting enough to get me past my limits. I figure when I am able
to, I will Just Go.

VF

 

Ahh, you ruined it! I was trying to keep people away so folks like you
and your / me and mine can enjoy it without too many others in the
way.

One place I love is Golden Canyon (?)- the tilted walls on both sides
are maybe twenty or so feet aapart - yet maybe many million of years
apart in date of formation.

PS The idea aboyut the Potemtkin Village / Scottys Castle came from a
woman calling Garison Keilor and giving him the low-down on SC. When
asked, she admitted that she had never visited there, despite being
only an hour or so away.