Cross country trip

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

I bought my Boxster in Springfield, IL (Isringhausen Porsche) and drove it back to MSP - 9.5 Hrs. Great Drive, through rural IL and WI, but mostly I-90/94 all the way. Top down half the trip with the latter half in a driving rain.

Best X-Country I ever did was with a friend from MSP to Hayward, CA (Bay Area). We had 4 days to make the round-trip. We were driving a fully equipped Silverado with trailer. On the trip out, we were delivering a '71 Datsun 240Z I sold to a person in SF (and charged $850 to deliver to them) and picking up a '73 Lotus Europa my friend bought in Hayward. Took I-35-I-80 through Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Nevada then I-880 through the Donner Pass and into Hayward.

We slept in a rest stop the first night somewhere in NE, had a 24oz. Steak Dinner outside Kearney, NE (complete w/ Cardiologist recommendation).

Spent the 2nd night in Reno, NV. With the advent of Tribal Casinos, Reno is dying. We went to a Sushi Restaurant and were the only ones there. The staff hovered around us and even gave us about $50 in free food just to keep us there drinking Sake.

Drove into Hayward the next day and spent 90 min. on the ground to transfer the Z and load up the Europa. Got stuck for 2 Hrs. in Donnar Pass due to snow (even though we unhitched the trailer and pulled 6 people from the ditch earning a total of $425 for our trouble). Once the road reopened, it was too late to go beyond Reno. So, we stayed there another night, won $1,500 gaming and had another excellent dinner.

Passed through Salt Lake City on the return trip and saw the Tabernacle. Stopped at the Salt Flats in Bonneville and ran the wheels off the Europa for 2 hrs. ('til we sucked the Tank dry). Driving in shifts, we completed the final 16 Hrs. back to MSP in one haul. Wonderful scenery and fun with a good friend.

I've also made the run from MSP to Tyler, TX, or Arkadelphia, AR, many times in 1 day. I ran a Hotel Co. and we owned a Hotel in each which I had to inspect twice annually. There is no reasonable airfare to either place, so I would drive it in 17-18 Hrs. This is the other X-Country...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[Rodger]

Last October I bought my '00 Boxster S in Tuscon, AZ and drove it to Phoenix, AZ for a week. I then drove it from Phoenix to Anchorage, AK (almost 3800 miles) in five days. Phoenix to Idaho Falls (Day 1), Idaho Falls to Lethbridge, Alberta (2), Lethbridge to Grand Prairie (3), Grand Prairie to Whitehorse (4), Whitehorse to Anchorage (5).

Had the car looked over by a specialty import shop in Phoenix the day before I left. They replaced three spark plug tube seals in the right bank and changed the oil. I had new snow tires installed the morning of the second day of driving in Idaho Falls, ID.

I was relatively comfortable after each day of driving, despite spending close to 14 hours in it each day. Averaged 30 MPG (OBC).

Zero tickets (V1, saved me plenty of times), but I saw lots of cops between Calgary and Edmonton. Saw zero cops between Grand Prairie and AK. About the only run-in I had with "the fuzz" was at the border because I messed up the temporary registration process while in AZ........I didn't think I'd need it! I was extremely lucky to get into Canada on a "registration technicality". When I stopped in Lethbridge, Alberta I printed a temporary registration from the AZ DOT website and had no further difficulties.

I didn't stop to sightsee at all, I was in a hurry to beat the winter snow. Had a trailer tire explode next to me on a pickup pulling three 4-wheelers at 80 MPH. little bits hit my car (no damage). Averaged 10-15 MPH over the limit at all times, even while passnig big horn sheep, deer, moose in Canada. Saw a huge sheet hanging from the windows of a prison in Montana spray painted with the words "meth house". Got slightly lost in Edmonton trying to find the highway west, wasting about an hour. Almost put the car into a hillside just inside the AK border when I hit some black ice while taking an off-camber right-hander at 75 MPH. Few quick steering corrections to catch the back end and then I slowed. I took it very easy just east of Glenallen over the pass due to snow flurries.