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Sounds good. You missed a widespread 30" of snow here. During the blizzard, it was in the 70s at my sister's in Boulder, CO. Sounds like you got that heat in TX. Should be 'interesting' driving from CO to AZ in Jan/Feb. Good luck!
In Santa Fe NM now. It snowed 3-4" here and they will get a bit more tonight. I had one mildly terrifying incident leaving a parking lot that was unplowed. It was in a bowl shape that you drive down into - but to get out, they have pueblo walls on either side, so you cannot see the traffic coming in either direction and there is no mirror there to help.
Had it not been snowing, you could edge out, sitting there at the exit, and people could see that and then you go when there is an opening.
But sitting on the hill in the unplowed lot, I was just spinning the tires (yes, was in normal drive and snow mode) - so had to get running start and sort of shoot out.
I tried to look around to see if anyone could stand there and help me, but nope - thankfully wasn't much traffic.
Car does fine on wet and cold, does fine on moderate ice, not sure on lots of ice (haven't run into yet, that I know of), and does fine on plowed roads and moderate slush.
Not great in 3-4" of unplowed - but about as well as can be expected. Main issues are the obvious ones of loss of momentum on an uphill and then trying to get going again - that's difficult.
Made more fun by people here seem to feel that breaking is an all or nothing affair, where they don't break, and then they jump full force on the breaks - lots of fishtails were observed - no full 360s.
Car is back to very dirty again.
While it is obvious now, it didn't occur to me that the most immediate and annoying problem with driving in the snow is that snow/slush/ice gets kicked directly onto the backup camera and rear window, so visibility for reversing is basically zero.
Learned this at a gas station and had to rely on the right hand mirror which wasn't really helping because it was doing the "point down at the curb that isn't there right now" thing.
When in doubt, just do it full throttle. You might wreck, but it will be loud.
Tomorrow I drive up to Fort Collins, stopping on Taos NM, Denver, and Boulder along the way.
Was going to try and do Pike's Peak along the way, but it looks like it will be getting snow tomorrow, so it might be a pre-superbowl adventure - will call that morning and see if they will be open before heading down.
I have had the good fortune of driving cross country - clear across the country - in an Acura NSX, twice. Both times we had 2 NSX's and 3 guys, rotating driving/resting accordingly. Our on road average speed was...well...let's just say well into 3 digits (mind you, this was pre-9/11 and we were never ever reckless or stupid) with many forays at the limit of the NSX's capabilities. Needless to say we put on lots and lots of miles on a daily basis (easily upwards of 500/600+ as I recall) and there's nothing like a road trip - with some good friends and great cars - and I would strongly recommend it if you've never done it, whether it's across country or across state lines.
Our problem - if you wanted to call it that - was Top Gear-like stops and stunts (and this was before Top Gear was a household name) complete with photographs and videos. We stopped so many times and had so much fun - so much high-jinx - that our total actual average speed I calculated to be something around 40 MPH, if not less. Made for very long days/nights but tremendous fun.
Highly recommended, even if times have - sadly - changed!
Last edited by RickyJay52; 01-31-2015 at 10:43 AM.
Was in a low of snow and slush (although hard to tell in the video) and the main issue was when it was high enough to catch the front splitter - then would lose traction and things would be interesting.
That was only a problem if there was traffic coming in other direction - but I was out in the middle of nowhere, so not a lot of traffic.
Haven't yet decided if tomorrow if I will cut through the mountains of CO or go up through WY, either way, destination is down into UT.
Working on some of the logistics of the drive so far, like number of miles, average miles, gas per day, low/high cost (lowest I've seen for premium unleaded was in CO at 1.98 - but I think it is 91 oct, didn't check as at the time I had a full enough tank) - and then compare to what I had planned.
In Provo UT now - originally had planned on going north from CO out to WY, then over to UT, and then down - but decided instead to shoot through the Colorado Rockies on 70 - that was fantastic (haven't done the other way, so don't know how those are).
I didn't make the Pike's Peak run on Super Bowl Sunday - oh well (I had seen it before, so not that big a deal).
Tomorrow going to do Alpine Loop / Sundance, then Arches / Moab, then on to Grand Canyon (just as a place to stop, but won't check it out until the morning).
Timing wise, I may come up short on that, which is fine since either way I would checking it out the next morning.
Utah is gorgeous - although lots of tailgating and stealth drivers (not putting on lights at night) in the bit that I saw.
If you're reading this omgomg I have one strong suggestion [re] Grand Canyon and if you have the time: take a helicopter flight over, around, and into Grand Canyon - like my wife and I did just two days ago - with Maverick Helicopters. Our pilot, Brett, was awesome! Just make sure to call for reservations in advance.
When you come back across country through the Sierras and the Rockies and back up the Smokies, drive the country the way the F is suppose to be driven: the back roads. That's where you will find all the beauty of this fine land and the fun of driving a car like that. It will take longer, but seem much shorter.
01-30-2015, 09:30 AM
