Road Trip Advice

[RandallNeighbour]

I've driven from Houston to San Diego, up to San Jose, over to Yosemite, and back through Death Valley, Vegas, and Dallas.

It was a three week trip and we cut it two days short to get home we were so worn out from being on the road so much.

My advice?

1. Trade off drivers every two hours. If your wife doesn't drive a stick, take your girlfriend on the trip instead.

2. Don't put anything you care about in the rear trunk. My tennis shoe laces melted into the base of the shoe from the heat coming off the muffler below. Really.

3. Buy an extra serpentine belt and toss it--along with the correct socket and wrench--into the front trunk. It might save you two days stuck somewhere getting one fedexed in to get back on the road. :chicken:

4. Replace the clips on your center windscreen so you don't have to hear it rattle every time you drop the top. That just about made me lose my religion twice on our trip.

[husker boxster]

What is this spare tire people speak of?

Having your car aligned and tires balanced are two of the best things you can do. Nothing will tire you out faster than wrestling all day with a car that won't track straight or the steering wheel dancing in your hands.

Took Ol Blue on a big road trip last fall (but not as big as Ed's planned trip). Best long distance road car I've driven. Went from Knoxville, TN to Omaha (900+ mi) in 14 hrs by myself.

[edevlin]

Great advice, I especially liked the extra quart of Moble one oil, extra S. belt and tools and to watch what I put in the trunk. Another recommendation made me think this may also be the time to get that Belltronics STI radar detector I have been thinking about (detectors are illegal in Virginia where I live, hence the expensive STI). The 500.00 price tag on the unit has been intimidating so far.

I have installed what I consider a killer aftermarket audio system in my Boxster complete with two outboard JL Audio amps, replacement JL Audio speakers front, door and rear and a custom JL Audio subwoofer. I have FM and XM radio as well as an IPod adaptor for our Ipods. My 160 gig IPod is full of 100 gig of music (about 1000 of my CD"s), about 100 complete books on tape, and 30 or 40 full-lenght feature films, so if needed, we have the audio (and video for the passenger) entertainment covered. Keep the suggestions comming,

Ed

:dance:

[dcporsche99]

Wow! Looks like a great trip ahead of you!!

Don't forget your unexpired passport (re: Canada), an extra set of keys, and a travel first aid kit!!

Enjoy! Don't forget the pics!

[FTD]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

4. Replace the clips on your center windscreen so you don't have to hear it rattle every time you drop the top. That just about made me lose my religion twice on our trip.

My windscreen started rattling. Can you tell me more about replacing the clips?

[ddb]

Ed,

My suggestion would be to take a GPS. I've had my Garmin Nuvi 350 for a few years and think about all of the trips in the past where it would have been so nice to have. I won't travel unchartered roads without it.

It is sort of a pain to get it out of site when leaving the car unattended, but worth it. I don't stick mine on the windshield. I just slide it in the upper storage cubby hole in front of the shifter.

Enjoy the trip.

ddb

[J-Slicks]

Originally Posted by ddb

Ed,

My suggestion would be to take a GPS. I've had my Garmin Nuvi 350 for a few years and think about all of the trips in the past where it would have been so nice to have. I won't travel unchartered roads without it.

It is sort of a pain to get it out of site when leaving the car unattended, but worth it. I don't stick mine on the windshield. I just slide it in the upper storage cubby hole in front of the shifter.

Enjoy the trip.

ddb

Nice white boxster, I wanted a white one but got a polar silver instead

[ddb]

J-Slicks,

Thanks very much!

When you get a chance post some pics of your car. We love looking at pictures.

ddb

[edevlin]

"My suggestion would be to take a GPS. I've had my Garmin Nuvi 350 for a few years and think about all of the trips in the past where it would have been so nice to have."

I dont know anything about GPS units, does anyone have a recommendation?

Ed

[edevlin]

I just did a search on GPS units and it looks like the Garmin 660 has the features that I would like and they are available for less than 300.00 at amazon.com. Have any folks used this unit and do you like it?

Ed