mrjones
07-12-2004, 03:35 PM
Each year, my old college roommate and I get together for our annual "road trip". Since he lives in CA, and I live in TX, many times we just meet in the middle and travel from there. Our original plan this year was to meet in Colorado on motorcycles and spend several days riding around in the mountains. As the plan progressed, we decided that he would fly in and I would bring my car. My first idea was to take the Mustang convertible because it's such a great car in the mountains for the scenery, but in a fit of parental bravery, I decided to take my 6yo daughter on this trip, and the Marauder was much better suited for three of us and luggage.
We left last Friday morning and drove from Lufkin to Amarillo. After breakfast the next morning, we headed out 287 N to Dalhart, and I realized we'd missed a great opportunity. Less than a mile from our hotel was a still operating drive-in movie theatre! I used to love going to those as a kid -even more as a teenager!
In New Mexico, we spotted Mt. Capulin, an extinct volcano. I thought it looked like a neat drive to the top. Unfortunately the trail to the top looked like great fun to my daughter, who has way more energy than me!! The view from the top was cool because you could see some of the lava formations on the floor below.
After picking up my friend at the Denver airport, we spent Saturday night in Golden, and drove to Mt. Evans the next morning. The road to the top of Mt. Evans is the highest paved road in the US, and it was literally COOL! At around 12,000 in elevation was a lake that was still frozen solid. While we were there, it snowed briefly. I told my daughter to ask her classmates when school started back up if any of them got to see snow in July! From the parking lot to the peak was a short hike. As we sat on the peak soaking up the view, a formation of F15's flew over, not far above our altitude. Very impressive, especially since it was July 4th.
Our next two nights were spent in Colorado Springs (got a great deal at the Wyndham - gotta recommend it), with a trip to the top of Pikes Peak on Monday.
Tuesday morning took us back through Denver, Boulder, and Estes Park to Rocky Mountain National Park. We took the old Fall River Road up to the Alpine visitors center. The old Fall River Road is the original road up to Fall River Pass. Now, it's one way, up-only, narrow, and like the top 12 miles of Pike's Peak road, it's dirt. If there'd been a Marauder contest last week, I'd have surely won the Highest AND the Dirtiest! My little girl got a kick out of taking pictures and wading in the river. Interestingly, after having one of her famous meltdowns at the top of Pikes Peak because it was too cold outside, she couldn't wait to take her shoes off and wade in the Fall River, which btw, 6 miles upstream was still ICE!! Very, very, cold.
We dropped my buddy off Wednesday afternoon at the airport after breakfast and a car wash in Boulder, and headed home through Kansas and Oklahoma. Late Wed evening we chased a huge thunderstorm with a beautiful lightning show through Kansas. Thankfully, we never caught the storm, but around Hays, KS, I saw at least 6 big trucks blown over onto their side. Time to stop for the evening. Made it home around 9pm Thursday evening. Heard later on the TWC that the storm spawned 17 tornadoes in KS.
As always, I was impressed by my Marauder. The ride, the looks, even the fuel mileage. I averaged 23mpg on all the hwy driving, and only had one tank less than 20mpg, and it was a quick refill after the trip to the top of Pikes Peak. The car was fast, comfy, and much more pleasant for the long haul than my Mustang, even though I missed the Mustang convertible up in the mountains. Nothing like the convertible for the view.
I continue to be impressed by the exclusivity of my car. I only saw two other Marauders on the whole trip. One was just south of Tyler, TX, and the other was near Colorado Springs. I saw many more examples of much higher priced cars along the way. I get some kind of positive comment or question at almost every fuel or burger stop.
I am most proud of how well my daughter did on the trip. She had her DVD player and my laptop to keep her entertained in the boring stretches and at night, but those were stored, and her interests were focused on the beautiful scenery in the mountains.
All together, we put just over 2800 miles on the car in 7 days. A great trip.
We left last Friday morning and drove from Lufkin to Amarillo. After breakfast the next morning, we headed out 287 N to Dalhart, and I realized we'd missed a great opportunity. Less than a mile from our hotel was a still operating drive-in movie theatre! I used to love going to those as a kid -even more as a teenager!
In New Mexico, we spotted Mt. Capulin, an extinct volcano. I thought it looked like a neat drive to the top. Unfortunately the trail to the top looked like great fun to my daughter, who has way more energy than me!! The view from the top was cool because you could see some of the lava formations on the floor below.
After picking up my friend at the Denver airport, we spent Saturday night in Golden, and drove to Mt. Evans the next morning. The road to the top of Mt. Evans is the highest paved road in the US, and it was literally COOL! At around 12,000 in elevation was a lake that was still frozen solid. While we were there, it snowed briefly. I told my daughter to ask her classmates when school started back up if any of them got to see snow in July! From the parking lot to the peak was a short hike. As we sat on the peak soaking up the view, a formation of F15's flew over, not far above our altitude. Very impressive, especially since it was July 4th.
Our next two nights were spent in Colorado Springs (got a great deal at the Wyndham - gotta recommend it), with a trip to the top of Pikes Peak on Monday.
Tuesday morning took us back through Denver, Boulder, and Estes Park to Rocky Mountain National Park. We took the old Fall River Road up to the Alpine visitors center. The old Fall River Road is the original road up to Fall River Pass. Now, it's one way, up-only, narrow, and like the top 12 miles of Pike's Peak road, it's dirt. If there'd been a Marauder contest last week, I'd have surely won the Highest AND the Dirtiest! My little girl got a kick out of taking pictures and wading in the river. Interestingly, after having one of her famous meltdowns at the top of Pikes Peak because it was too cold outside, she couldn't wait to take her shoes off and wade in the Fall River, which btw, 6 miles upstream was still ICE!! Very, very, cold.
We dropped my buddy off Wednesday afternoon at the airport after breakfast and a car wash in Boulder, and headed home through Kansas and Oklahoma. Late Wed evening we chased a huge thunderstorm with a beautiful lightning show through Kansas. Thankfully, we never caught the storm, but around Hays, KS, I saw at least 6 big trucks blown over onto their side. Time to stop for the evening. Made it home around 9pm Thursday evening. Heard later on the TWC that the storm spawned 17 tornadoes in KS.
As always, I was impressed by my Marauder. The ride, the looks, even the fuel mileage. I averaged 23mpg on all the hwy driving, and only had one tank less than 20mpg, and it was a quick refill after the trip to the top of Pikes Peak. The car was fast, comfy, and much more pleasant for the long haul than my Mustang, even though I missed the Mustang convertible up in the mountains. Nothing like the convertible for the view.
I continue to be impressed by the exclusivity of my car. I only saw two other Marauders on the whole trip. One was just south of Tyler, TX, and the other was near Colorado Springs. I saw many more examples of much higher priced cars along the way. I get some kind of positive comment or question at almost every fuel or burger stop.
I am most proud of how well my daughter did on the trip. She had her DVD player and my laptop to keep her entertained in the boring stretches and at night, but those were stored, and her interests were focused on the beautiful scenery in the mountains.
All together, we put just over 2800 miles on the car in 7 days. A great trip.