4,500 Miles from San Francisco to Moline, IL and Back

MrFahrenheit99

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 14, 2016
Location
Culver City, CA
TDI
2003 Golf TDI 5 speed
Just got back last week from an awesome road trip out to the Quad Cities. Being that we're in a pandemic, I didn't want to bother with motels or other human beings so I camped my way out there on free public land. I was traveling solo with a considerable amount of camping gear that filled most of the car. My best tank was 49.1MPG and my worst was 40.1 (driving into a 35MPH headwind for 7 hours straight). I ran my tires at max recommended inflation (30/38) and did have one blow out from a 50 mile stretch of really rough dirt road/washboard. Overall, the little tractor-wagon did great! Can't wait until I have the time to do it again.
 
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MrFahrenheit99

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 14, 2016
Location
Culver City, CA
TDI
2003 Golf TDI 5 speed

Jordan Valley, OR. Incredibly beautiful but I do NOT recommend camping there without an SUV or pickup. I got lucky


Public land in Evanston, WY


Slucom Creek campground, Jordan Valley, OR



Wrong turn somewhere in Minnesota


The picturesque drive along US-12 and US-95 in Idaho. 100% will be returning there in the future.
 
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MrFahrenheit99

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 14, 2016
Location
Culver City, CA
TDI
2003 Golf TDI 5 speed

I-80, Utah




Dinner in Evanston, WY



Quiet night in Maxwell, NE... minus the 300 freight trains that pass by every 5 minutes


The first casualty of the trip.


Somewhere near Deadwood, SD






Livingston, MT... tracking down the source of the diesel smell. Ended up being a leaky cetane booster bottle in my spare tire cargo area. Oops.


2nd casualty of the trip. Those washboard roads likely caused a leak, and then driving on the freeway exacerbated the problem.


Thankfully I was ready with a spare in Winnemucca, NV
 

reince

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 13, 2017
Location
GA
TDI
2006 Beetle
Wonderful solo journey! Glad you made it through the challenges and enjoyed the trip very much.
 

BobM1

Active member
Joined
Mar 23, 2021
Location
West-central Indiana
TDI
06 Beetle automatic
Awesome! My wife and I love to roadtrip. We made it out and AROUND the Rocky Mtn Nat Park (Couldn't go thru due to plandemic) plus a couple of Florida trips from here in west-central Indiana. We are looking for a TDI (probably a NB).
 
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