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  1. #1
    Hirsch's Avatar
    Hirsch is offline Regular Member Jay
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    Road trips and Epic Journeys

    We've all got road trip stories, some good, some not so good. Here are a couple of mine.

    Denmark to Italy and back:

    Moved here: http://saabworld.net/f172/denmark-italy-back-26431/
    Last edited by Hirsch; 14 May 2011 at 17:11.

  2. #2
    J-Rod's Avatar
    J-Rod is offline The young one Jared
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    Not epic, but decently funny (at least at the time)

    From New Albany to Cleveland, Ohio, last year. It was me, my parents, my brother, and one of my friends. We were heading to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Which was really cool!) We left on a Friday at about 7 PM, my dad was driving in the Suburban, and he wanted to get as far as we could before pulling over to sleep. Little did we know, that was a really bad idea. We got through Cincinnati and when it was about 10 PM we decided it was time to pull over. Turns out the town we were in had a HUGE classic car show in town, and we stopped at a hotel who said they were booked. We thought, "No big deal" there are more hotels in town. Two hours later we had been to every hotel in town and all were booked. Even the Hilton Suites that we were willing to pay anything to sleep at. At this point it was getting late, and we were desperate, so we headed north, getting off at every exit to check for hotels. All booked still. After another 2 hours, now 2 AM, we were to the point of being so tired that we didn't feel tired anymore. (The point where everything is hilarious, no matter how stupid it is) After awhile of silence, from the third row seat, I heard my brother very calmly and seriously say, "Hey, we could just sleep in that White Castle over there." And I would be lying if I said we didn't seriously consider it. Finally, at about 2:30/3:00 AM, we found a Hotel with one room left. A suite for $200 per night, but we didn't care, we needed sleep.

    Honestly, in the time we spent looking for a hotel, we could have finished the drive.
    I don't drive fast...I fly slow

  3. #3
    Hirsch's Avatar
    Hirsch is offline Regular Member Jay
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    I can relate to that J-rod.

    When I was still an independent contractor I had to do a banzai run to FL with a huge industrial clutch for a paper mill in Perry, FL. I got down there and got the delivery done by about 1am and then went looking for a hotel. The first 3 were full, the last one I went to had one room left.

    Now, I was dead tired, I'd been up and working since 6am the previous day so I really didn't notice the cars in the parking lot were all cop cars. K-9 units to be exact. I like to partake of some fine herb every now and then, especially after a long day behind the wheel. It relaxes me and loosens up my back. When I walked out my door the next morning there were police dogs everywhere and they were all barking. I thought I was going to get busted with the 2 grams of smoke in my go-bag! I stopped, looked around at the closest cop to ask "am I cool?" He said, "Oh yeah, they always act like this in the morning."

    I was never so glad to get out of FL in my life!
    Last edited by Hirsch; 15 May 2011 at 13:28.

  4. #4
    Frank Wulfers's Avatar
    Frank Wulfers is offline Addicted to Saab
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    I started with some pictures and random thoughts about my recent road trip here:
    Saab road trip - Lake Superior, Minnesota and Manitoba - part 1 - Blogs - SaabWorld

    More to follow soon.

  5. #5
    Frank Wulfers's Avatar
    Frank Wulfers is offline Addicted to Saab
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    In case I haven't bored you to death with the first part, part 2 is published here if you're interested:
    Saab road trip - Lake Superior, Minnesota and Manitoba - part 2 - Blogs - SaabWorld
    Saab site for the Netherlands and Belgium in Dutch: SaabWereld
    Automobiles, motorcycles, travel and motor culture blog: MotorLife

  6. #6
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    THEOLDMAN is offline Whatsthispace4?
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    Last long drive was to Charleston, SC from Ann Arbor, MI for our 30th wedding anniversary to visit where we got married, even had a tourist take our picture in the spot we got married in the park. Before that our last really long drive was a driving vacation from Ann Arbor to Nova Scotia. Drove up along the Canadian side of Lakes Erie and Ontario and along the St. Lawrence River. Driving around Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Our return trip was through Maine staying in the US crossing back to Canada at Niagara then back to the US in Detroit and home to Ann Arbor.

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    colombo is offline Junior Member
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    I'm on a little road trip now. Just over half way, some 3000 km left. Starting southbound from Rovaniemi, Finland tomorrow. I will try to stitch together a summary when back home.

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    Frank Wulfers's Avatar
    Frank Wulfers is offline Addicted to Saab
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    Quote Originally Posted by colombo View Post
    I'm on a little road trip now. Just over half way, some 3000 km left. Starting southbound from Rovaniemi, Finland tomorrow. I will try to stitch together a summary when back home.
    Did you go to intSaab in Finland? That would be a great roadtrip.
    Saab site for the Netherlands and Belgium in Dutch: SaabWereld
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    colombo is offline Junior Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Wulfers View Post
    Did you go to intSaab in Finland? That would be a great roadtrip.
    I was more than 1000 km away, a bit too far even for me...

  10. #10
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    SaabKen is offline Regular Member
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    Just came back from the Columbia River Gorge (in the m***van) if anyone's intere............... ZZZZZZZZZZZ
    "Nulla tenaci invia est via"
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  11. #11
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    Shazam is offline Moderator Mike
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    Just went to Asheville, North Carolina. About 17 hours spent in the car each way, nearly all on I-81. Boring drive, no over-night stops, taken in a Jetta Sportwagen TDI, with 4 drivers rotating.

    Final destination? The Builtmore Mansion for a wedding. Rather uneventful trip, and nothing else really worth mentioning.
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    "Sometimes it is better to travel than it is to arrive." - Robert Pirsig

  12. #12
    Hirsch's Avatar
    Hirsch is offline Regular Member Jay
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    Had a friend from Belgium in for a few days a couple weeks ago. He got here on a Tuesday evening, Wednesday we went down to my dads to do some target shooting.

    On Thursday we drove across Indiana on I-74 and I-70 to Marshal, IL to visit another friend. We practically flew the first 125 miles from Cincinnati to Indianapolis, but 43 miles of road destruction on 70 west of Indy slowed us down for the second part of the journey.

    What can be said about the cornfields of central Indiana? Not a whole hell of a lot. Miles and miles of corn as far as the eye can see.

    Somewhere between Indianapolis and Terre Haute my friend, while looking out the side window at yet another seemingly endless corn field, said "now I understand what people mean when they call this part of the USA 'fly-over' country."

    All in all an uneventful trip. I thought I was nailed by the Indiana State Police two different times, but one was after someone else and the other was going to assist another officer on a traffic stop ahead of us.

    My buddy wanted to try White Castles.

    Now he doesn't.
    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Wulfers View Post
    Note to new members: choose your user name carefully because it will stick with you for the rest of your forum life.

  13. #13
    Frank Wulfers's Avatar
    Frank Wulfers is offline Addicted to Saab
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    I finally finished my Lake Superior north shore and Manitoba road trip report. This Saab is sold but the memory lasts forever...! Time to start planning the next road trip.

    Saab road trip - Lake Superior, Minnesota and Manitoba - part 3 - Blogs - SaabWorld
    Saab site for the Netherlands and Belgium in Dutch: SaabWereld
    Automobiles, motorcycles, travel and motor culture blog: MotorLife

  14. #14
    tunnanxwd is offline Regular Member
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    Those trip photos were refreshing. You have a good eye for things sir. Those shots of the flatlands, the sky and suddenly that wonderfully tacky hot dog stand comes into view. Those fries looked extra good and I could tell they were done in older (not changed each day), oil which are my favorites.

    That tiny cabin, perhaps a refuge for a young couple buying their first "camp" away from the city. My Norsk inlaws had one up where our own Euromobile 900 was working this summer. The Army Corps was going to flood the valley and forced condemnation and ran all the folks off.

    When you have good company, a pleasant car like that 9-5 and a bit of time without worry there isn't much that could be finer.

    thanks for sharing and the time you put into this site

    Hirsch and his White Castle was comment was too true.
    Semper ubi sububi in caput tuum

  15. #15
    bullet's Avatar
    bullet is offline Saab Psycho
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    Quote Originally Posted by tunnanxwd View Post
    When you have good company, a pleasant car like that 9-5 and a bit of time without worry there isn't much that could be finer.

    So, so true !

  16. #16
    Frank Wulfers's Avatar
    Frank Wulfers is offline Addicted to Saab
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    Most stories split up into new threads and moved to the new forum: Road Trips and Epic Journeys Please post all new road trip reports in that forum.

    And that forum has been renamed to this thread title. Sounded a bit more exiting than Travel World.

    Let's keep these travel reports going, even a day trip can be an adventure. And remember to take pictures. Lots of them.
    Saab site for the Netherlands and Belgium in Dutch: SaabWereld
    Automobiles, motorcycles, travel and motor culture blog: MotorLife


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