I am in Bakersfield CA now - will hit Monterey and SF tomorrow.
I cut out two parts of this part of the trip.

BUT, I also decided that due to weather I will likely do the "smile" route, so will come back through around Valentine's day.
Then will be here, and also go back and do the parts I had cut out (things like Death Valley, Fossil Falls, etc).

I will try to check this tomorrow if I can - but it might make more sense.


Unrelated to that, main observation is that the front lip of the car, the windshield, and the area around the gas fill spout seem to take the most abuse on the car. (ignoring normal wear and tear stuff)
Otherwise the car is great and is made for this sort of thing.

 

I have to agree with you on the windshield, mine has seen some abuse. I got two nice rock chips the first week after I took delivery of my car. Two weeks ago, a huge rock hit the upper corner of the driver’s side and proceeded to crack across my line of vision. I am still waiting for the replacement windshield to arrive. I really can’t fault Jaguar because damage from road debris is obviously one of the drawbacks of driving a low profile sports car. What I am really concerned about is losing a headlight. That would likely be very expensive.

We haven’t had much rain since early December here in the SF area. Too bad your trip brings you here as a large storm begins moving through tomorrow and the weekend. If it is any consolation, we desperately need rain here.

I am enjoying your trip updates. It sounds like you are living the dream many of us would like to achieve, but will probably never get the opportunity. Good luck on the rest on your trip!

 

None of the pumps in WV worked on the Ftype and none of the CA ones seem to work either. It pumps maybe one gallon and then cuts off. Over and over and over. I am nervous of ignoring it and pumping more and then overfilling - extremely annoying.

Today was pretty and then tons of fun in the twisty bits of the PCH, and then it started to rain so much it flooded and then night, rain, and Friday rush hour SF traffic and slippery SF hills and Waze being terrible...

 

I see you feel our pain trying to refuel at the pumps...and I guess I'm not alone.

Did you make it to Monterey yet...? I'm PMing you now.

 

PCH is a fun road to drive.
Just curious..when you went west in SoCal, did you take the 10 fwy or the 210? I'm assuming you drove the 15 south to either one. I live just north of the 210.

 

Omgomg, seems like you either get the foot of rain in CA, or the 1-2 feet of snow we're supposed to get over the next few days (on top of 3-4 feet over the past few weeks.)

 

I'm curious. Why do you CA folks always have to put "the" in front of every highway number?

 

Because every one of our highways is iconic, legendary, and spectacular. So we don't want them mixed up with highways with similar numbers in the lessor states. We even name our state troopers after our highway system calling them the Highway Patrol. We are a State of Superior Drivers on Superior Roads and this is simply our humble way to point out that everyone else's highways are pathetic by comparison.


Or it is because we learned the numbers and the rest of the country did not: languagehat.com : ?THE? + FREEWAY.


Your choice.

 

Thanks, that's what I thought. My daughter lives in THE LA and keeps making up junk like that too. I've never heard an answer that made any sense.

I lived in NoCal for 10 years through the 80's, and it just seemed to be a SoCal thing.

 

So, is THE Foosh satisfied with THE answer?

 

In OR for the night, and then Seattle by rush hour tomorrow - keeping in line with my accidental "hit every large city at rush hour" theme of this trip.

Was in crazy torrential downpours the past few days.

SF managed to give me two middle fingers as I left by curbing my wheel leaving the hotel they insisted I had to go out a curved ramp vs just the flat entrance that I wanted to leave - curved ramp was down a hill and ... curved - heard the joyous sound of my wheel grinding - decided it was best to ruin one wheel then over correct and maybe take out the other side too.

Met with friends in Sacramento and noticed by back itched - suspected it, and absolutely confirmed it once I got to my hotel this evening - bed bug bites from SF.

SF is a mix of love hate right now, doing its best to make me hate it, that's for sure.



If I have any front spoiler left after this trip, I will be pleasantly surprised. I bottom out constantly in every city - no matter how careful I am.

The gas pump thing is infuriating - if I had to deal with that back home every time I filled up, I would just sell the car.


The annoying thing where my phone would autoplay the one song on my phone that I couldn't delete was resolved today by my friend in Sacramento where after trying all of the same things I tried to delete the one song on my phone - he did something and finally got it deleted (had it sync over air to itunes, redownload the song, then delete it successfully and then turn off the sync).


The windshield wipers don't wipe fast enough for the storms that I have seen the past few days.


The wheel damage that I see (left rear) seems like something that can be fixed, and these are technically my winter wheels for that reason - but I liked them.

Off to enjoy the slow hotel internet, the main theme of this trip.

 

OMG,

LOL, I know what you mean about SF. I lived in Palo Alto for quite some time, and also had a love/hate relationship with that city. The winter monsoons, when they hit with a vengeance, always seemed as disruptive as an east coast snowstorm.

It also sounds like you're in a pretty typical mid-marathon road-trip funk, which is pretty predictable. It'll get better when you're back out in the wide-open spaces. You also confirmed my inclination that lowering the car by any amount would render it somewhat unusable in many situations.

BTW, your curb damage can be fixed for around $100 in about an hour. They likely won't even have to dismount the tire because they usually just mask it off, sand, and spray. The advent of low profile tires, has created a burgeoning new business opportunity, and wheel repair shops are everywhere now.

You'll reflect back on this awesome trip and have many great stories to tell. Hang in there . . .

 

Seems like the trip is going on pretty well expect for the curb rash and bug bites!

 

Buy and apply some RainX at any auto parts and many big box stores, and you'll rarely even need wipers. I've been using it for 20+ years, and never use wipers on more than the intermittent settings.

 

Good stuff. RainX now even sells it premixed into washer fluid which I've been using for awhile now. As Foosh says, you need to use the wipers less, and when you do, there is no streaking.

 

True, but there is no substitute for the original Rain X, wipe on, let haze, and buff off variety, which lasts for months. It's a little labor intensive to apply, but very worth it.

 

I too use the RainX washer fluid. Great stuff. Just have to make sure the reservoir is reasonably full when you take it for service, so they don't top it off with crap.

 

I am in Walla Walla for the night - will try to get some RainX in the morning at WalMart and apply in the parking lot - assuming it isn't raining in the morning.

Got pulled over today coming off the mountains between Seattle and Spokane, but it was a warning (81 in a 70) thankfully. Other police encounter was in AZ where lights went off, I pulled over, but they kept going.

After the warning, he said my name is in their system and to take it easy or the next time they wouldn't just warn - so I (first time ever, lol) used cruise control and then proceeded to nearly fall asleep about 20 times.

If I can go the whole trip without a major event, that would be great.

 

That made me LOL ...I know the feeling though!

Sounds like a road trip of a lifetime and you're doing it up right,would be great to meet you...lunch is on me.

 

The whole trip is the major event...