3024 mile Coast to Coast road trip

[Rhode Island Red]

Packed up my apt yesterday.. exhausting! but it was worth it as I'm moving to SoCal!

Left Newport, RI ,today july 4th at 5:30am Father towing the trailer with his '99 silverado Ext 1500 with tow package and me in the 'Hawk.
Arrived in Springfield, Ohio @ ~7:40pm . A 14 hour day of driving... at the speed limit. Covered 820 miles. The hawk is filled with stff. Me included is the weight off 3 people. Ran into light rain in Ohio.

Happy we went the speed limit. Here in Ohio they are using POP radar and the valentine 1 isn't picking them up, but it's a moot point as we're going the speed limit. Over 5 days of driving , going whatever we want would only save us 6 hours... nothing compared to 5 days besides we have a trailer to worry about (6'X12')

Traffic was non-existent. Amazingly even on 95 near the NY state border & 287 and the tappanzee bridge, NYC area in general.

We went 95 to 287 to 80 through PA, to 71 to 70. Tomorrow is 70 to 44.
Day 3 I will be in Tulsa at my Fathers resting up.

Day 4-5 will be 44 to 40 and then all the way on that to CA from Tulsa

We co


Saw 2 Red 4th gen Camaro's 1 v6 and aa Z28. Even saw 5

MPG so far :

22. 4 in the Northeast. Mixed city, stops and turns etc. to Jersey
28 mpg in PA #1
28.5 Mpg PA #2
then 31.0 MPG <-- All time best.

Look for a Red Firehawk with RI plates that say GRRRRR If we're in you next of the country

No Pics or vid as we're busy trying to put miles behind us but several people slowed down to take pictures. Some bikers gave me a rev so I rev'ed back then they continued to blast off at triple digit speeds afterwards. Best was teh two college chicks that loved the car, and followed for 20 miles (ah if I wasn't moving!)

HAPPY 4th of July. Tomorrow we do it all again and burn rubber

[msfyter]

Drive safe and we'll see you in camarillo. I'll leave a light on in the city

[Rhode Island Red]

Had a fun filled day. We passed through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and finally are in OK. The state with the most officers going after speeders is definitely Ohio but Missouri, they are the sneakiest Had a couple officers, I saw well ahead of time, try to set up a speed trap, just for me (I was a t a top of a hill), I pass, they swee I am going at or below the limit, and drive off. Paralleling I-44 is old Rte 66 there and they were hiding on 66, and radaring the people on teh interstate and cutting across to it to catch them. lots of places for speed traps. Indianapolis was completely empty. I have video of a stretch with not a car in sight as far as tehy eye can see! Safe to say the CB radio paid for itself in spades on top of the smokey spottings it gave.

Glad I gave the CP to my father. It ends up that there was a fatal accident further up I-44 @ mile 93. Apparently a car careened off the fast the fast lane into the canyon, , a 50 ft. drop (Earlier a black mini smashed into the guard rail in the fast lane) how many is unknown but 1 fatal, but even the life-flight was involved. As a result traffic was stopped completely for 3+ miles. As we were approaching the area, we took the exit before all that mess and boy were we lucky (I have video) . People got their BBQ's out, cars turned off and just . Cars saw me and my father driving got the idea and they cut acrss the grass to the old 66 (some getting stuck in the process ) .

Now for the fun: I stop to clean my windshield while my father went ahead, just before getting back to 44 after the bypass of the traffic. By the time I got some axle grease off my windshield, my father was 5-10 miles ahead. He says all clear . Safe to say I found out at ~91-94 mph you tack at exactly 2000 rpms . Also I love OK's 75 mph speed limits vs the highest of 45 mph there in the Island where I lived

MPG
5th fill up : 28.8 mpg (went through St. Louis)
6th fill up : 29.5 mpg (went through the hills of Missouri yet still got this!)
- will fill up tormorrow for the 7th


Hate to say it, but I was passed by 20+ Mutangs, some of which nearly drove off while the 'hawks looks distracted them . Not nearly as many BMW's today (2 nor 3 vs 50+) as compared to the Northeast (they are everywhere there). Only 1 LT1 Z208 was seen on the interstates, and when I came into Tulsa there was a nice Silver one on the road near my Father's house.

Down day tomorrow to recuperate, wash the vehicles and just be lazy.

[Injuneer]

Keep the account going... sounds like a great trip. Its a tribute to the performance and reliability of the 4th Gens, not to mention the great gas mileage. Sounds like you and your dad are sharing a great experience. I envy you.

[FroSSty]

That sounds like a great trip. Keep us posted.

[Steel2686]

Love reading the play-by-play.

Stay safe.

[Gary94Formula]

Safe travels and keep us posted on your progress... Sounds like a nice drive..

[Rhode Island Red]

here are some pictures:

Link to album

Some old barn (there were lots of silos too)


The vehicles


Passing through St. Loius



Will try to get some of the interesting places, cars, and etc. too. Will post some video after the trip is over and have time to edit it and etc.

[Joshu]

This play by play thing is cool! I hope the rest of the trip is safe. Keep that Hawk clean! It would kill me to drive mine across country.

[msfyter]

That hidden lic plate on the airdam gonna get you a ticket Cops out here are really anal about the front plates now.

[ConElite]

That hidden lic plate on the airdam gonna get you a ticket Cops out here are really anal about the front plates now.

In the LA area they are bad. I have 3 front licence plate tickets.

[Rhode Island Red]

WEll if I'm gonna keep my LT headers I don't want to give them a reason to pull me over and find the LT's so I''ll reneg and put it on the bumper ... a necessary evil (but I have the photo blocker spray ) besides I might have to just to get on base with the hawk to get to my new job!

-----------------------

Made it to near the NM AZ border today ~ 820 mile drive. We passed the continental divide and Crossed From Eastern to Central to Mountain time zones.


New Mexico has by far, had the least amount of smokey's and 75 mph speed limits. When I mean there is nothing between Amarillo and Albuquerque NM I mean nothing. but as a result of the lower mph my gas milage went up despite the grades. New mexico had more grades than other states so we were going like 55 in a 75 on some long grades.

8th Fill up from Day 2 in Tulsa, OK 25.3 mpg
9th 28 mpg (Weatherford, OK)
10th 28.8 (Amarillo, TX)
11th 29.1 mpg (Moriarty, NM) -bacame hilly lost mpg due to that but slowed down for the trailer on the grades negated it.
12th 29.2 mpg(Gallup, NM (20 miles from AZ)) - good gas milage from slow speeds, not passing (why work when you can get other to do the work!) , but the road grad increased. We tried to go 65 where we could.


The skies were c rystal clear, the NM sunuset is something else! I'm really enjoying this trip even thogh it's not for pleasure!
Will post pics after we finish the trip. I'm beat. Tomorrow we climb to 7500 ft and go through Flagstaff, AZ go through the hot deserts of CA, and arrive at our destination! (~696 miles).

[Rhode Island Red]

Oh yeah, the absolute funniest thing anyone said about my car on the trip so far , back in Ohio we were at a rest stop (to car and corn pics) while I was taking the picures, a lady with her husband get out of their camper, points at the Firehawk and says,

"Hey honey, look at the Mustang"


Some pics of Texas and New Mexico

In Texas

Some windmill at a Texas rest stop

The open road before Albuquerque's Mountains

I think this is church rock (past Alburquerque)

The afternoon sun hitting the rocks between Albuquerque and Gallup, NM


Will leave 6:30ish mountain time

[FroSSty]

Thanks again! Cool photos. I'll almost miss the posts when you arrive at your destination.

[Rhode Island Red]

Well I made it! No internet for the next 2-3 weeks (from a cell phone!). The police train at the local airport so Camarillo is saturated with eager officers so I really have to watch it. 4mog is cleared . I found out the hawk hates 100+ temps with socal gas. I made 29 mpg on the last day of driving. Got in last Wed night @ 6:30 after 12 hours of driving. Total milage was 3129.2 door to door. Will tell more once I get regular internet. The house is great as I finally have a garage and jacuzzi!