Goin' on a roadtrip!

"area man" (hurrburgring)
04/03/2014 at 15:48 • Filed to: Road Trip

Woo hoo! Just got the days off work. My Colorado-dwelling brother is driving his girlfriend to California so she can spend a week with her family, and I'm flying into San Francisco to meet up for the return journey. Above is our route, below is our steed.

See? 1998 Toyota 4Runner WITH A STICK. Booya. It's got like 275,000 miles on it, but it's still trucking along, pictured here on a dirt road somewhere in South Dakota (it gets around).

Any suggestions for stops on the way more than welcome! We're figuring 5 days.

DISCUSSION (19)

jkm7680 > area man
04/03/2014 at 15:49

Approves! Sounds like an awesome trip. I haven't done a roadtrip in years it seems.

505Turbeaux > area man
04/03/2014 at 15:50

via SLC is a nice trip over the mountains and through the woods. Have fun!

area man > jkm7680
04/03/2014 at 15:52

I'm pumped. I did Connecticut to Denver in 2012 in this very car when my brother bought it, so I know it'll be a good time.

area man > 505Turbeaux
04/03/2014 at 15:53

I do wish we had a better ride for any twisties on the way, but then again, it's RWD...

jkm7680 > area man
04/03/2014 at 16:00

Sounds great! Good car choice for the trip also.

area man > jkm7680
04/03/2014 at 16:02

This time it's just the two of us, so we'll be sleeping in it as well. The roll-down rear window will come in handy...

jkm7680 > area man
04/03/2014 at 16:04

Awesome! Where will you park to sleep?

Wall-Mart parking lots, things like that?

area man > jkm7680
04/03/2014 at 16:08

Wal-Mart will be the last resort I think. My brother says he's looked up the public lands along the route where we can literally just pull over, drive a ways into the scrub, and sleep under the stars (sorta). I'm just a silly east-coast urbanite, so I'm letting him handle the, uh, "accomodations."

jkm7680 > area man
04/03/2014 at 16:10

Haha, Nice, just make sure you don't come across Billy Bob and his hunting brigade. Or serial killers.

area man > jkm7680
04/03/2014 at 16:13

That's the goal. Our mother is not exactly pleased, but whatevs.

jkm7680 > area man
04/03/2014 at 16:14

Haha, Make sure to post lots of pretty pictures along the way!

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > area man
04/03/2014 at 16:14

A tad bit out of the way, but I went to college in Logan, UT (a bit north of SLC) - the drive up to Logan, and the canyon road from Logan towards Bear Lake is amazing...and it's pretty nice up that way into Idaho and up towards Jackson, WY (which is another awesome drive/town) if you consider detouring that far out.

I lusted after those manual 4Runners on CL for months a while ago, pretty awesome trucks! I'd still love a 1st get with the removable top though.

crowmolly > area man
04/03/2014 at 16:20

Summit Racing is in Sparks NV. I have heard they have a cool "returns and blems" bin. Might be worth looking in to.

area man > ZHP Sparky, the 5th
04/03/2014 at 16:26

Thanks for the tips! Logan sounds more doable than Jackson - I just mapped that route and it does indeed look awesome.

It's a wonderful machine. My dad owned it from 2000 to 2012 and kept it in mint condition - I haven't seen it since then, but I doubt my brother has managed to do much damage. It's a tank.

area man > crowmolly
04/03/2014 at 16:26

Excellent call!

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > area man
04/03/2014 at 16:29

I wouldn't call Logan much of a "destination"...it's just college town (Utah State) with really beautiful countryside and a wonderful canyon road leading up to a nice lake (and is also where Napoleon Dynamite was filmed, randomly enough).

Aaron James > area man
04/03/2014 at 19:51

Wouldn't it be cheaper to Fly the girlfriend to see her family? That's a lot of gas, will you be sleeping in the car?

area man > Aaron James
04/03/2014 at 20:58

Probably, but they're crunchy-granola types (both whitewater rafting guides) who love to adventure. And yeah, most likely sleeping in the car on public lands along the way.

Aaron James > area man
04/03/2014 at 21:27

Well, it does make for a great excuse to go on a brother's road trip. I'm sure you guys will have a blast.