I will be heading upstate to Plattsburgh NY and then into Montreal Canada. Driving through the Adirondack Mountains is quite a sight and the perfect place to put my XK through its paces. Just look at this view - stunning. Anybody else got some trips planned?

 

Just curious Michael, how long a road trip and how do you manage to fit everything in your car?

My wife and I are taking one later this year but it involves some off road or rough road and the Jag would have clearance issues, so we'll be taking the SUV. About 3500 miles round trip.

That said, my wife packs a lot of clothes, food for lunches round trip, and that also means a cooler. Then there's backpacks, camera equipment. Even if we weren't going off the beaten path, I can't fit all of that in the car!
And no, I can't leave her behind....

 

Sean -

My wife and I spend six days touring the Black Hills, Yellowstone, and the Teton last fall in our XK convertible. She normally needs a porter to handle her luggage, and has been know to pack an empty suitcase within a suitcase to accommodate purchases made on vacation...but that's another story for another time.

I let her know that she was restricted to the following: 1 carry-on sized suitcase, one soft-sided gym bag, and loose jacket(s) plus a blanket for the higher elevations. Once the wailing, gnashing of teeth and tearing of clothes subsided, I reminded her that we were going on vacation - not attending charity luncheons - and that it was permissible to be seen in the same outfit more than once on the trip. The hotels will have laundry facilities, and we can do a quick load or two in the evenings, as needed.

We put the soft-sided bag, my camera bag, the cooler and the blankets in the rear seat and everything else in the trunk. Not gonna lie - it was tight, but it all fit and we had the items most needed readily accessible to us in the back seat. If we were going to be parked in an open area, we simply raised the top and locked the car.

We had a magnificent trip made better by taking in some of our nations best sightseeing in a convertible, and are looking forward to taking another one this fall - destination TBD. Do not be afraid to take these cars on a long, multi-day trip. Plus in my case, I was able to transfer the savings on souvenirs ("Oooh, that IS nice, honey, but alas - no room in the Jag to get it home. Sorry.") to a new and improved sounding exhaust system on the XK. Enjoy!

 

My wife and I took a rather long trip back in April in my 2008 XK Coupe. From NC to Key West, FL and back, a total of 1997 miles.

Packing WAS a bit of an issue for my wife who tends to fill her SUV for a weekend trip. The back was filled to the point the rear hatch would not close if so much as a single post-it note was added. Our main suitcase was placed in the leather lined luggage area behind the front seats, jokingly called “the back seats”.

The trip down and back was a true pleasure with the car never missing a beat. I was also pleasantly surprised at the fuel mileage, 27.2mpg.

Paul

 

This will be a 7 day trip, about 900 miles in total. Being that it's summer we pack light. Just a couple o' pairs of shorts, t-shirts, baseball hats and socks. And a small bag for the toothbrush, combs etc..
We eat out everywhere and the phone is now the camera!
My car is the coupe so it has plenty of room in the boot to hold everything.

 

Don't think its in the cards for us this year (already blown my vacation days), and I would love to do the Yellowstone thing like Kurt described above.
But thought I should point out, for anyone going to do a scenic drive, consider getting a good dash cam to record the drive for you (as Kurt did, and showed in another thread). Sure, you'll have some editing to do later, but it will provide a memorable record of an awesome trip.

 

Dash cam is cool. But this is a step up: https://www.lily.camera/

Record your drive/vacation from a whole new perspective. Now this is exciting.

 

Well that looks damn cool, but I wonder how good its collision avoidance is, e.g. it is leading you down the highway, smacks into an oncoming bridge, and then crashes down on your head as you pass under the bridge.

 

I usually do the Blue Ridge Parkway at least once a year. From Cherokee NC to Peaks of Otter and back. Epic.

We have plenty of room in the coupe. Probably because the wife stays home.

 

Shouldn't the operator of the device avoid crashing it? [Just like when driving a car] It does come with a control set after all.

 

The video made it look 'self tracking'.

 

I'm driving from North Carolina to California and then back, about 33 hours one way with fast pit stops for fuel, biological functions, and a driver swap every 7-8 hours.

Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to take the XK, the lack of being able to lean back the seats into a restful position excludes it from such a trip.

 

Long trips is what I have my GL550 for. Videos for the kids and massage seats for me! I'd love to have a long xk trip with the wife though. I think summer's a little too hot for the vert in FL.

 

We do a yearly run to visit friends in Hershey PA. Usually in the start of fall and it takes us maybe 4 hr on the interstate. We have become efficient in packing.
Managed to get 2 sets of golf clubs in the boot and shoes. Then a carry on bag in the rear seats and some small gifts for our friends. Oh and yes we can still put the top down. Now for the risk takers you can also remove the spare tire (if you have one) and put extra stuff there. Maybe someone can have a special custom piece of luggage made that would fit in this location.

 

It will follow you but you also have a control set.

 

I think you thought that you knew what you wrote, but what I read was probably not what you meant ... or was it?

 

I'm going from Charlotte, NC to Omaha and back in July. Maybe not the prettiest drive, but it should be fun anyway. Not sure how I'll get all the luggage in the car for me and the wife!

Govtslug

 

My spouse and I have made multiple road trips in our various XK verts. The longest being about 2000 miles round trip and several up to 1100+ miles rt. We take two carry-on sized bags plus her pillow and a few miscellaneous items in the trunk. We put the balance, my camera bag and her excess clothing on hangers in the back seat. Even had my tennis bag in the back seat a time or two.

If we should want to put the top down we switch the carry-ons to the back seat and put the back seat stuff in the trunk. This system works well. In the XKs we would average 25mpg+ at a highway speed of about 80 mph. Haven't made a long trip in the XKR yet, so I don't know what the mileage would be.

 

LoudHogRider called it. We took a 5,500 miler out west (was just going to go to the Chicago area but wound up in Idaho) shortly after we picked up our convert. It was too comfortable to turn around! Same issue with packing but found that we managed doing laundry and keeping purchases to minimum (though she found that most shops offer shipping).

We've done the same thing twice since, one through the northeast to Maine and 2nd to Key West from our Georgia home.

Just consider it "extended" cruising.

 

We took my 2010 XKR from North iowa (where we live) to Vail, CO last year, putting on many miles to see as much of Colorado that we could while we were there. We also experienced a blizzard in the XKR at the top of pikes peak on July 8th! It was an amazing trip.

Still trying to figure out where to go this year, though.