All,

I've never done it and finally found a reason. I'll be making a trip from Buffalo NY to Monterey California. Planes are faster and cheaper but I just want to do it this one time in my old car before I'm too old to enjoy it. I have friends in St. Louis and Phoenix so I'll take a southern route out there and my return could take me north through Montana, Minn, Wisconsin. Yes, I'll be taking the 444. What insights or advise does anyone have (please don't start with "You're crazy!")about the trip. The car is reliable and updated with new parts. So, what pearls of advise can you share?

Thanks

Christopher "Virgilthevolvo" Georger

The amazing Arizona Crater..

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn276/CaliforniaOldvo/JugglingattheAZCrater.jpg?t=1242410285

Privately owned...their website is hokey.. the actual site isn't..

Thats my friend the pediatric cardiologist juggling ..no fire..
btw the spare room with pvt bath is available..if you are anywhere near
San Clemente CA
we are about a mile back form the ocean..

c'ya
CaliforniaOldvo..
San Clemente, CA

sb2235@netzero.net

Oh, man,...
Remember what they said about the pioneers crossing the prairies in their Conestoga wagons; "the timid never started, and the weak died along the way,.."!!! ("someone back East is askin' 'why don' she wri-i-te,.?' ")

Just found this post. If anyone recalls, I posted a similar request/challenge about this time 2 years ago. I had sold a '57 444 and was being paid to deliver it from SoCal all the way to the Seattle area. Long story short, the response to my nervous appeal for any and all support anywhere along the almost 2000 route was simply great. Really helped to convince me to go for it. A badly delayed thanx to anyone who replied, and a tip of my hat to the guys in Seattle and Portland who gave me props along the way.

IMHO, there are very few things you can do in life that beat a serious road trip in a vintage car you restored yourself!! Take your time and keep off the Interstates. Pretend you're in a time warp. Drive at dawn, stop often and listen to the breeze when there's no other sound to be heard. Take along a carefully selected "break-down kit" (rule of life; if you take it along, you won't need it!!). Music is not essential; listen to the sewing machine sound of your engine. My car actually ran better upon delivery than when I left home, no s%^&!!!

Let me know if I can help w/ the "take along kit", and God speed!

http://www.georger.com/gds/images/The_Bucket_Trip.jpg

Try this for a Map of the route!

So where'd you stay in Sudbury? My wife left a hair clip in a room there.. maybe you found it :-)

--
-Matt I ♥ my ♂

That day was my longest with 850 miles. Went through Sault Ste. Marie around 7:00 and Sudbury was the next city. Well, it was raining some of the day and I just went through the upper peninsula where they had 18 inches of snow. Fresh snow and I never saw a plow. Probably put them away for winter. 100+ miles of driving in the ruts of the truck in front of me was some white knuckle driving. The truck was wider than my 444 so I kept washing out to the right and left. But since the snow put me a little later into Canada I thought I would try for a little extra distance in order to miss the Toronto gridlock the next day. By the time I got to Sudbury it was 9:30 and all the hotels were full. Except for one of the worst places I have ever spent a night in. Too much city roads and turns for my liking ... I just wanted to get to sleep! AND they only charged me $77.00.
I hope you didn't stay there.

Christopher

Wow, that’s a shot! Head over to Flickr and post a set!

Hat's off, that's a hell of a trip.

Just keep doing that for 30 years straight and you might catch up to Irv!
--
'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 +t

Well done! You proved the car, you proved yourself but did you have time to actually see anything! I hope you put a few pics and tales of the road up onto your site.

Carrera Panamericana in 2010 ?

made it!

6493 miles... 1 quart of Oil
Tiny chip in Windshield (Montana)
Alternator Bolt in North Dakota (20 minutes)
One Air Cleaner (K&N)
Temp Gauge went away this morning.

Great Trip!

More Details to follow.

Christopher

man.. that's a haul all right... 600 miles/day for 11 days straight.

Glad to hear you made it back.. glad to hear the car did well for you!

Cheers!
--
-Matt I ♥ my ♂

well,

I also spent a couple of days of meetings


Pretty much did 750 per day... yesterday was 850 including Upper Michigan (yeah..snow storm...18") slowed me down but I made up for it by driving until 10:00 pm.

Never drove at night except for that once. Started at 5:00am ... loved to see dawn every morning!

ChristopherATgeorger.com

yea.. I was averaging... that's tough for one person. When my wife and I basically did that in reverse (sans 1000 miles), we kept it much calmer... a couple 800 mile days, but mostly broken up with 200-500 miles between visits and/or overnight stays... We only covered about 5300 miles, and took over two weeks to do so. It seemed a lot.. but, more than 1000 miles farther, in a car more than 25 years older (we were in my '84 240 wagon).. and alone.. damn.

I expect that storm is what got us last weekend... we got 3 feet. Gotta love spring though.. it's mostly gone...

Hope you post a more thorough trip report!



--
-Matt I ♥ my ♂

Made it to California up to Monterey today!

This is fun!

Christopher

Well, still going strong. Left Monterey on Saturday morning heading north. Made Bend Oregon 750 miles or so. Then north to Spokane and east on Route #2...Stopped in Shelby Montana and today in Crookston MN. Next stop should take me to Sault Ste Marie.... Home to Buffalo through Canada.

This is better than I thought. Weather is fantastic so far.

Christopher Virgilthevolvo Georger

This trip should make you well qualified for the "Iron Butt" award!

Make sure you report your total trip mileage upon completion.

This trip should make you well qualified for the "Iron Butt" award!

Make sure you report your total mileage upon completion.

Wow! You are haulin', bro!
Let me know if you will be flying through Seattle.

John with the Duett still with the body guy.

Leaving Buffalo tomorrow (Saturday 4/11/09) 5:00am
St. Louis, Amarillo, Phoenix, LA, Monterey.

Next Saturday or Sunday:

Eugene, Spokane,(Route #2) Somewhere in North Dakota, St. Paul, Madison, try for home in Buffalo NY

Thanks

Christopher Georger

Made it to Amarillo through St. Louis ..everything is great!

probably too late to make such preparations... but since your so far north, it could be faster to stay north, across the Michigan UP and cross into Ontario at Sault Ste Marie, drop back into the states very bear Buffalo.. Nice drive across the top side of the lakes...

--
-Matt I ♥ my ♂

I made over 20 east/west trips from '74-99, and all but a few were in old, greater than 200k mi Volvo's. Began in '74 with an MB 230 that kept me on my toes with repairs, and did most of these trips in a 68 144 that ended with 480k miles on it.
I made a checklist for everything on the car, from brakes to tune, to fluids,torqued the suspension, almost never took the car on a trip like this without doing a complete stage 1 tune & maintence, even if I had done it 6 mos earlier.
I never carried spares of anything except an oil filter, drain pan & some tools.
I changed my oil every 2k behind an autoparts store where I could dump it. The Volvos never broke down, the MB did, a lot.

After a few of these trips, I found out where every Volvo dealer was in the major cities, just in case, but never used them except for oil changes and a broken fog lamp. Keep a copy of the IPD catalog with you, as they can Fed-X parts overnight.

Enjoy the ride.
My favorite sections are the CA North Coast, Mendocino to Coos Bay, to Grants Pass, Oregon, and the St Highway that cuts across Wyoming fron Jackson to the Black Hills, SD. The area in Montana around Glacier Ntn'l Park, Kalispel is nice, but would find winter there still. More southern routes that are nice are US 40 from Park City, UT to Steamboat Springs, CO, still in time for cold & snow, though.
If you want to go from Monterey, CA to Portland Ore in 1 day, I would suggest that you take the road to Watsonville, 152 through Gilroy all the way to I5. If you go up to Santa Cruz, and then through the Bay area, you won't even get to Red Bluff in 1 day. BTW, the road from Watsonville 152 is a nice ride, especially in the early morning. Lot of twisties throught the redwoods.

Gee you guys are lucky having the PV's. They were never imported into Australia as they were only ever LHD - RHD here. I have a 1970 142S which is good but I love the shape of the PV and yours is one of the best I have seen.
My great-grandfather was born in Lowell, Massachusets and emigrated to New Zealand of all countries in the 1860's. Very soon I want to investigate him more fully. I would really like to see if I could find a PV and export it to Oz. There is one here which has been converted to RHD using 120 parts so it is doable.
Have a great trip - I can imagine in a car like that it would be fantastic.

Just spoke to a friend and he said I should take Route #2 in Montana across the top. Glacier National Park etc. As for too much miles.... I am sure you are right! Getting to the Meeting on time is a must and since I'll be alone... wandering probably won't happen. This will be my first time across in a car so perhaps I'll need to consider this a "drive-about" reconnaiscence. But this is 2 full weeks and I still have a wonderful wife (35 years of marriage)and a work requirement... The extra 3-4 hours per day might be ok. If I ever get my wife to come with me it will be in a newer car and that's half the adventure. I'mm excited! Camping and two lane travel with stops in small towns ...yep. My kind of trip! Great to hear insights

Thanks

Christopher

Sounds like a great time. I love a good road trip.

My PV is rather loud inside, 2 18" glasspacks really don't do much to quiet the exhaust down. On longer trips I wear ear plugs, otherwise I feel a bit shellshocked and tin-eared afterwards.
--
'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic #1141 245 +t

Sounds like a great trip. I would advise that you think of less miles every day.If you can take more time. There are many things to see on a trip like this. I finished a trip out west from Rochester NY in November and we drove 350 to 500 miles a day. This allowed us to stop in the morning and or afternoon to see some sites. A great trip enjoy your self.
Joel the Locksmith

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll be trying to get out there in 5 days leaving on Saturday morning and arriving Wednesday PM. Friends in St. Louis and Phoenix so I'll want to spend the night in each. Thinking about 600-700 miles per day.... St. Louis then Amarillo then on to Phoenix and LA. As for parts... I'll be starting with a B20 with Mikunis, GM Alternator, Electric Fuel pump, 123 Distributor, T5 transmission. I'll have extra Dist(mallory), Alt, Fan belts, electric Fuel pump etc. Radiator is for a 240 and 1 month old, exhaust is headers to a flex pipe and custom from there back. Fuel tank is a 16 gal from Summit. Brakes are 140 front and 1800es rear (discs). Not perfect but pretty much designed for this type of driving.

Is the ride back through the north route too early (April 20-25)... are there snow issues? Any other weather I should look out for. Tornadoes in Texas? Can I make it from Monterey to Portland in one day?

Thanks

Christopher

Christopher,

Sounds like a nice trip. I did a trip in my 68 MGBGT from Louisville, KY to Eureka, CA in January a year ago. Since it was winter, I took the southern route, and since I was in a hurry to get there, it took 2 - 1/2 days. So, your schedule is certainly doable.

I have two suggestions. First, I would add a water pump to your spare parts list. It is tough to fake one of those on the roadside.

Second, when you go from southern CA to Monterey, you should be on the coastline Highway 1. As you go north from the LA area, you want to be on Highway 1 by about San Luis Obispo or Morro Bay, but at least by Cambria. If you want to get out of LA on I-5 instead of 101, you can cut across from I-5 to Paso Robles, and just south of there is a cut through that brings you out near Cambria. Highway 1 north of San Francisco is also great, but that will make it tough to make Portland in 1 day. In my opinion, it would be worth the extra time to take in that stretch also.

Charley

You can plan your longest driving days around the portions of the trip where you cross Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and then on the way back, Eastern Montana and The Dakota's. Unless you want to stop and see the "Worlds Largest Ball of Twine", these isn't much else to do besides try and stay awake!

However, "Don't Miss Wall Drug"

Suppo176

Well I think that Monterey to Portland is do able but it's a really long day in a modern car...

If you do decide to swing through Portland, there is a local mailing list of 444/544/122/1800 owners here. We have met other classic Volvo owners when they were driving through. It a chance to put names with faces...

Let us know...

Chris

Best of luck to you on your journey. Reading your post regarding the mileage per day goal my thoughts are the same as Joel the Locksmith's. That a lot of "in the car time". At that rate you'll be spending 10-14 hours a day between driving,gas and food stops--not leaving much time to actually relax and/or visit places. The two lanes are the roads to be on for a trek like this but you won't be able to average the 65-70 mph road time needeed to cover that distance. Slow down--enjoy yourself--it's a beautiful country out there. -- Dave

Sounds to me like you're all set.. have a great trip!

As for Monterrey to Portland in a day.. that'd be a stretch. Question is, why would you want to press through one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world? I'd take a couple or three days to take in Northern California and Oregon.

The north in April? Yea... snow is always possible. Just keep an eye on the weather and plan ahead.. you'll be fine. I get mine at nws.noaa.gov. Pretty accurate, and no ads.

Best on the trip! Wish I was on your route, but I'm in the middle... sure would like to see what you've done to that car in person!

--
-Matt I ♥ my ♂

Christopher: Give me an eMail reply at pturner5@kc.rr.com

I am 4 hours west of St. Louis and would like to discuss your itinerary.

Suppo176
1965 PV544

Christopher -

Enjoy. If I had time I'd caravan with you.
Two suggestions, the first of which I'm sure is familiar to you.

Make sure your triple A is active and keep your card handy. Had a double blow-out on the way to work last week (not with the Duett) and the tow to the nearest Costco Tire Center cost me all of $10.

Second - Check out Roadfood.com and become a member. Great advice on retro-style roadside food joints, from people who know. You can add to their knowledge as well.

Best of luck.
KaiS '67 Duett

Sounds great,

Bring toilet paper : )

good luck to you and Virgil
--
'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.no.net/ebrox/Tony's%20cars.htm

GO FOR IT!!! Two years ago my wife and I took my 1967 Fairlane down Route 66 leaving Wisconsin and going as far as Tucumcari, New Mexico then Northeast back home. We only had two weeks and wished we'd had two months!!! The car ran fine and we met so many wonderful people along the way it was just outstanding!!! This Country of ours is overflowing with amazing things to see and great people to meet.

Stay on the 2 lane roads as much as you can. Do lots of research to check out sights along your route. Your Southern route sounds like you can do lots of Route 66. Your Northern route runs close to U.S. 30 which stays near I80 and is as historic as 66. Michael Wallace, who wrote a great book about Route 66, said it best when he wrote "Life begins when you leave the Interstate".

I carried a small emergency kit made up of a small tool box, electrical and bailing wire, extra points, cap and rotor, extra fan belt, a gallon of pe-mixed antifreeze, nylon cable ties and an electric fuel pump with a rubber line on each end, hose clamps and long wires with alligator clips that I can hook on the car battery. Should the stock fuel pump fail in the middle of nowhere, I can hook up the electric pump and it will get me to the next town.

I'm sorry I'm so wordy but GOSH I envy you. I'm planning on taking my PV444 on about an 800 mile trip in June as a shakedown for longer runs in the future. My "Bucket List" is to head toward your location to see Dearborn Village, the Civil War battle grounds, the Smithsonian and points East.

Map out your route to avoid interstate highways whenever possible. But, when pressed for time, they can't be beat.

Avoid large metro' areas if you can.

Allow time to take back roads and scenic byways. Don't be in a hurry.

Take a tent and sleeping bag. Stay cheap when possible. Many municipal and county parks have free camping. You just have to register with the gate keeper. The National Forests are free too.

KOA Kampin' Kabins are warm, dry, clean, and comfortable.

Try to seek out small indepent motels. They need your business more than the chains do. Use your judgement though. Some are real dumps.

Take your cell phone. Don't load your self down with spares; the BB can provide you will resources enough to fix anything. :-)

Have fun!

--sd

You want to keep us posted on your plans, and if possible provide 'live' updates to 'the board. I'll bet there are active BB'ers within 100 miles of any point on your route. A call for help, or a stop for coffee should be no more than a couple hours away.

I used to live in New Mexico, and loved the Southwest...jealous here!

I second the ideas of the spares kit and the difficulty of Monterey to Portland in a day. The first problem is getting over the mountains to San Jose, then through the Bay Area traffic and out to I-5. If this is the wrong time of day, it can take 4 to 6 hours just to reach I-5...

I also wanted to say how much I love to hear about these road trips, where our cars get out and get some extended use. As we can all see from the responses, I am not alone in this!

I am working against the calendar to get my Duett back from by perfectionist body guy in time to do the Spring Thaw rally in British Columbia May 1. I will post pictures if I make it.

John in Seattle

I live in North East Oklahoma (Grove, to be exact). If you take I40/I44 from Amarillo towards St Louis, you will be within 12 miles of Grove. A phone call will get you an overnight in our spare room, a good meal, and a look at the 64 544 I am rebuilding. Would like to hear from you, and if you have problems between Tulsa Ok and Joplin, Mo. feel free to call me for assistance. My name is Jim Barrett and phone is 918-786-4321. Would like to see your car.