Driving to TDI Fest, 2010

[daneg]

Hey everybody, just writing to say the wife and I are excited to meet the Fred's Forum gang in Portland. We are leaving in the AM from Yellowknife with a long stretch of road to Fort Nelson, BC. From there it's on to Skagway, AK and onto the Alaska Marine Ferry this Tuesday, 7 am.

Drive off at Prince Rupert, BC, ferry over to Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii), spend a few days then back to mainland and ferry over to Vancouver Island, visit family, then down to Portland. I will try and sign in to give the odd update.

Also thought it might be fun to hear when some of the other folks leave from their destinations to road trip it to TDI fest, which is why I started this thread.

All the best,

Dane and Corrinne Gibson, plus dog Neo.

 

[icecap]

TDI Fest 2010

My wife and I both have to work but have arranged to get off at noon on Friday. With a long weekend the border will probably be a zoo with a long backup but will have to make the best of it. If all goes well we should make Portland some time early evening in time for some socializing hopefully.

 

[daneg]

My wife and I both have to work but have arranged to get off at noon on Friday. With a long weekend the border will probably be a zoo with a long backup but will have to make the best of it. If all goes well we should make Portland some time early evening in time for some socializing hopefully.

Very cool man, first round's on us!

 

[VW Derf]

Sounds like a very cool drive and trip! The question is do those km on the ferry count towards your drive?

 

[TheGrove]

Leaving for the fest now! Tonight's destination is St. Louis MO. Then on to Colorado, Utah and Arizona for a few days. Then up through California to Portland.

 

[TheGrove]

Made it to St Louis around 4:30 central time. Relaxing now for an 6:00 start tomorrow. Destination: Limon Co.

Looking forward to the hours across Kansas.

 

[Zippy_car]

wow, Grove! I think you're the first to leave!
See you there!

 

[daneg]

On Haida Gwaii Island (Queen Charlottes)

Leaving for the fest now! Tonight's destination is St. Louis MO. Then on to Colorado, Utah and Arizona for a few days. Then up through California to Portland.

Hey Grove, sounds like an awesome road trip you are on. As VWDerf asked, I don't know if riding the ferries we are on counts towards mileage on our trip .

We have made it from Yellowknife, to Skagway (3,000 km in three days) and that was with stops, including Liard Hot Springs. We were flying, the roads were great and hardly no traffic. Beautiful drive. We took the ferry system down the Alaska coast and have spent three awesome days on the Haida Gwaii islands. It is beautiful here. We went fishing on a charter boat yesterday and caught two Chinook salmon and a koho. Also ling cod. Great day. From here back to the mainland then to Vancouver Island by ferry from Prince Rupert. Great trip so far and the car has been superb. I have great bear stories, wrong turns resulting in 300 km detour (long story), camping on the beach, and much more. I will check in again later, maybe I can upload a picture as we are staying in a B and B tonight. All the best, Dane, Corrie and Neo.

 

[icecap]

Hey Grove, sounds like an awesome road trip you are on. As VWDerf asked, I don't know if riding the ferries we are on counts towards mileage on our trip .

We have made it from Yellowknife, to Skagway (3,000 km in three days) and that was with stops, including Liard Hot Springs. We were flying, the roads were great and hardly no traffic. Beautiful drive. We took the ferry system down the Alaska coast and have spent three awesome days on the Haida Gwaii islands. It is beautiful here. We went fishing on a charter boat yesterday and caught two Chinook salmon and a koho. Also ling cod. Great day. From here back to the mainland then to Vancouver Island by ferry from Prince Rupert. Great trip so far and the car has been superb. I have great bear stories, wrong turns resulting in 300 km detour (long story), camping on the beach, and much more. I will check in again later, maybe I can upload a picture as we are staying in a B and B tonight. All the best, Dane, Corrie and Neo.

Sounds like quite the trip so far, look foreword to meeting you. I just got in from a 1,000 Km rounder to Williams Lake BC to attend my cousins daughters wedding. It was interesting to say the least as we drove through thick smoke almost 1/2 of the way up there that resulted from the massive forest fires burning in BC right now. In some places is was like driving in fog and as soon as you got out of the car it was hard to breathe and you could taste it. It was an outdoor ceremony in my cousins beautiful garden and to make things interesting the groom was the boss of the entire forest fire fighting effort for the Cariboo/Chilcotin region. Unbeknownst to him his buddies arranged a prank for the wedding ceremony as a chopper flew directly overhead. It was one of the bird dog choppers that spot fires for and direct the water bombers. I had a hunch something wasn't normal about that and 5 minutes later a water bomber made a low level pass about 100m up during the middle of the ceremony, it was deafening. Made the round trip and still have between 1/4 and 1/8 of a tank left.

 

[TheGrove]

wow, Grove! I think you're the first to leave!
See you there!

No daneg got the jump on me by a few days. Made it to St George's UT (far southwest corner - 6 miles from Nevada). Tomorrow have to pick up mom and sister in Las Vegas then on to visit relatives. See everyone in just over a week.

 

[TeDeEye1]

Half way there

Made it to Rapid City. Spent some time in the Bad Lands. Heading for Seattle tomorrow and Portland by the 2nd

 

[tomo366]

No daneg got the jump on me by a few days. Made it to St George's UT (far southwest corner - 6 miles from Nevada). Tomorrow have to pick up mom and sister in Las Vegas then on to visit relatives. See everyone in just over a week.

See that Zippy! at least one of my Cars will be there!

 

[TheGrove]

Yep it sure will! Had a great time here in Kingman AZ visiting relatives. Tomorrow it is off to Fresno CA.

 

[tomo366]

I was in Sierra Vista AZ last week at my Moms it was fab!!

 

[TeDeEye1]

Made it to Rapid City. Spent some time in the Bad Lands. Heading for Seattle tomorrow and Portland by the 2nd

Now in Seattle for a couple days then on to the Fest

 

[TheGrove]

I was in Sierra Vista AZ last week at my Moms it was fab!!

The first couple of days were pretty hot (105+) but the last 2 days were great! Only got up to the low 90's each day.

 

[daneg]

Hey everyone, I am on Van Island now at my sisters. Gotta say the ferry from Prince Rupert BC to Port Hardy on Van Island is spectacular. The 16 hours just flew by. We had a couple of reclining chairs looking out on a huge floor to ceiling picture window. Humpback whales were surfacing throughout the trip, Eagles soaring by, porpoises and much more. The views were incredible. The ferry is new because the last one sunk and it is top knotch. It was me and my wife's third anniversary and we had a beautiful day, ending with a couple bottles of wine in the upscale dining room on the boat. Pricey but worth it. Great time.

Spent all of yesterday fishing for salmon with my uncle, had a great time but slow on the fishing front. Caught a couple but nothing great (like on the Haida Gwaii islands). That was in Port Alberni.

On the way to Nanaimo where my sis lives we stopped at the Coombs VW museum, a tiny little shrine to all things VW. They had eight or so classic VWs from the 50s up. Beetles, vans, an 80s Scirocco and an 80s golf gti. Also a lot of die cast vw toys that were still in the box. Manuals and other things round out this collection.

Icecap, I thought for sure you were going to say the chopper was going to drop a 500 gallon load of lake water on your buddy at the wedding. Now that would be something wild! Pretty cool to get a fly by though.

Are you guys staying at the Sheraton? Look us up when you get in, Dane Gibson. We can go have a beer somewhere. I will pm you. Later I will upload a couple of pictures for everyone. Having a great time, see you all in a couple of days.

 

[Zippy_car]

Hey everyone, I am on Van Island now at my sisters. Gotta say the ferry from Prince Rupert BC to Port Hardy on Van Island is spectacular. The 16 hours just flew by. We had a couple of reclining chairs looking out on a huge floor to ceiling picture window. Humpback whales were surfacing throughout the trip, Eagles soaring by, porpoises and much more. The views were incredible.

OMG!! You're killing me! That sounds incredible!

 

[Lug_Nut]

Started Monday afternoon from Portland ME.
Saw this on the Maine Turnpike headed south.
http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=68727&title=bio-on-the-way-to-the-fest&cat=500

First leg ended at Bursaw in Acton, MA B100 $3.849

Second leg was to Baum Boulevard Auto in Pittsburgh, PA, for a fill of B100 $3.999.
http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=68729&title=bio-on-the-way-to-the-fest&cat=500
http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=68728&title=bio-on-the-way-to-the-fest&cat=500

Third leg is underway to Batavia, IL for B99. It's 11:45 PM eastern (still in Indiana at the moment and they don't open until 6 AM central so I took a break.
From there it a rush to get to Topeka, KS before that station closes at 5 PM.

 

[Zippy_car]

Started Monday afternoon from Portland ME.
Saw this on the Maine Turnpike headed south.
http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=68727&title=bio-on-the-way-to-the-fest&cat=500

First leg ended at Bursaw in Acton, MA B100 $3.849

Second leg was to Baum Boulevard Auto in Pittsburgh, PA, for a fill of B100 $3.999.
http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=68729&title=bio-on-the-way-to-the-fest&cat=500
http://pics.tdiclub.com/showphoto.php?photo=68728&title=bio-on-the-way-to-the-fest&cat=500

Third leg is underway to Batavia, IL for B99. It's 11:45 PM eastern (still in Indiana at the moment and they don't open until 6 AM central so I took a break.
From there it a rush to get to Topeka, KS before that station closes at 5 PM.

wow, bartlett... I'm wondering if this boreders a little bit on obsessive! Great to see you're enthusiasm.
Question tho.. why Portland, ME? Portland to Portland trip? Drove north just to go south again?

 

[Bonjonbart]

wow, bartlett... I'm wondering if this boreders a little bit on obsessive! Great to see you're enthusiasm.
Question tho.. why Portland, ME? Portland to Portland trip? Drove north just to go south again?

He is not well. Now I expect you want me to tell you something you DIDN'T know!

Portland to Portland - it's a dream about to be fulfilled.

 

[brnsgrbr]

Very cool, going from one Biodiesel stop to the next.

 

[Fairbanks Jetta]

Sittling at the airport Sheraton right now. Left my '98 Jetta aka "Supertramp" in Missoula with Mountian Imports. got to know the drivers with Green Taxi real well. Looks like I will be visiting that fine town sometime in the near future.

Still the trip down the ALCAN was great, talk about wildlife on the road, Bison right on the shoulder, Rocky mtn. Bighorn sheep on the road by Sheep mtn. (go figure), Elk and deer....Still looking for a black bear, just a fantastic road trip. Oh, and Osprey along the river right in downtown Missoula. Super cool.

 

[daneg]

Pictures from trip

Sittling at the airport Sheraton right now. Left my '98 Jetta aka "Supertramp" in Missoula with Mountian Imports. got to know the drivers with Green Taxi real well. Looks like I will be visiting that fine town sometime in the near future.

Still the trip down the ALCAN was great, talk about wildlife on the road, Bison right on the shoulder, Rocky mtn. Bighorn sheep on the road by Sheep mtn. (go figure), Elk and deer....Still looking for a black bear, just a fantastic road trip. Oh, and Osprey along the river right in downtown Missoula. Super cool.

Hey, I know what you mean. Incredible scenery and so little traffic makes driving so fun. We met some great people from Fairbanks, I think it sounds a lot like Yellowknife. We'll see you there. Here is a link to a photo album of a few picks from the trip so far. The one of our dog smeared with brown stuff is grizzly bear crap that he rolled in. Later, we saw the bear it came from, only about 40 feet from the creek we were trying to wash him in. If anyone has any questions about the pics like where they were from or what not let me know. Here is the link: http://pics.tdiclub.com/showgallery.php?cat=4983

 

[leicaman]

I am envious of all you folks. Me? I get to deliver a child back to UW-Oshkosh and I will be driving my wife's Taurus as it is a tiny bit bigger than the passat. Its gonna kill me to get only 25mpg...

 

[tothemax]

Leaving Sacramento Thursday 6 PM

Nick is picking me up at the Sac Airport around 5 PM Thursday with his daily driver truck. We should leave around 6 PM after we get my TDI tied down on his trailer. We are driving his duramax and towing the Golf. We are staying the night in Ashland and mtn biking there Friday AM. We expect to be at the meet and greed by 6 PM on Friday.

His daily driver duramax may smoke all of our TDI's at the drag race.

Call us if you need a hand along I5 going North my cell is 916 dot 215 dot 5548

 

[quantum_tdi]

Seattle to Portland early Saturday (and a spot to stay)

Looks like I'll probably head down Saturday in the early morning hours. Was going to head down for Friday, but competing commitments are going to keep me up north.

If folks are passing through and need a spot to stay, our cabin is in Gig Harbor. I have an airbed or two we can throw down. If you get here early enough I can drag you around the lake on skis...

 

[mrvermin]

Ok, just arrived and checked into the hotel....

Left Toronto on Tuesday at 8am and got in at 1pm (EST) so it was a fun 53hour drive

Illinois was .... well.... Meh, illinois... LOL

Hit some nasty storms in Nebraska, although they did have the best and cleanest rest stops (with free WiFi as well)

see ya all when you get here

MrVermin

 

[Lug_Nut]

I've still a while to go yet. Topeka, Denver and Salt Lake refueling went without a hitch.
Pissed off someone from Chrysler in Vail this morning when I snapped a photo of a barely camouflaged Fiat 500 heading west on I-70 (Michigan Manufacturer's plate), then tried repeatedly to hide from more. No idea if it was a Abarth or standard. He braked from the 75 mph he'd been doing, then slowed enough to stay behind me as I slowed to allow another photo op. I took an off ramp, he kept going, I got back on, but not discretely enough. If it was an Abarth he had the sense to not go over 90 when he saw I was back behind him. Photo's to come when I have more time (limit of 30 minuted courtesy of Nevada tourism board welcome center.
Also got some of Bonneville Salt Flats. Has it really been 9 years ago that we were here?

 

[JSWTDI09]

I'm 3/4 of the way there!

I have made it as far as the Oregon state line today (Ontario, Oregon). I planned to stop in Boise for the night, but traffic was suck a PIA that I just kept driving (I didn't want to fight traffic and look for a Motel at the same time). Anyway, according to Google, I only have about 6 hours of driving left (for tomorrow). That should be a piece of cake compared to the 11.5 hours on the road today. See y'all tomorrow.

Have Fun!

Don