7 states in three days - Subaru Outback

carl609 · 04-19-2011, 01:22 AM

Last month my wife was in Phoenix for a friends wedding and I really wanted to go. I had a rough day at work and decided, screw it, I am going. I left my house north of Seattle at 5pm on a Friday. At 5am Saturday I slept for about 45 minutes in Redding Ca. Rest areas give me the creeps so I barely slept. I shot down the 5 in our Outback, on a mission. I watched the sun come up in Sacramento, and aside from fuel stops I went straight to Los Angeles. I really wish I could have spent some time exploring there. The Grapevine was the coolest pass I have ever driven over.

I rolled into Phoenix about 8pm on Saturday night. I would have made better time but I hit horrible traffic thru Seattle, and it was snowing like **** in NorCal. I can tell you that the highway between Palm Springs and Phoenix is the longest stretch of nothing I have ever seen.

When I got to Phoenix I stopped at TJ Maxx to take a ***** bath and buy a belt. I changed into my dress clothes in the parking lot and headed to the wedding. The reception was in full swing when I showed up. The look on everybodys face was awesome. I walked up behind my wife and grabbed her butt. She whipped around ready to smack somebody, and then went into shock.

We partied the night away and then hit the road about 8am. The wife canceled her return flight and we took off on an adventure. It was nice to have some company on the return trip. We headed north on the 93 and stopped at the Hoover Dam for about an hour. I wish we could have done the tour, but we both had to get back home for work so every minute counted.

We took a little detour in Vegas for a trip down the strip. We werent married yet at the time, our wedding was April 1st. We drove by and checked out the chapel we were going to get married at. I have been to Vegas plenty of times, but never drove down the strip so that was fun. It was my quickest trip to Vegas ever.

We left Vegas and headed north on the 15 towards Salt Lake City. I was excited to get another state under my belt. The scenery was beautiful, especially when you cut the corner of Arizona. We stopped to sleep in Ogden Utah around midnight. My wife tried to bargain with the guy at the Motel 6 because we were only going to be there for 5 hours. He wasnt going to discount us, and I told her the hourly motels were a few miles back.

Hit the road bright and early and headed towards home. We ran into snow again in Baker City, Oregon, but the Outback was ready for it. We finally rolled into Seattle around 5pm on Monday.

I had driven over 3000 miles since Friday, and was ready for bed. Let me tell you that the alarm seemed to go off extra early the next morning. Everybody thought I was crazy for going that far only to turn around and come home. They may be right, but I cant think of a better way to spend some time with my girl a few weeks before we got married.

carl609 · 04-19-2011, 01:23 AM

I guess the thread title is wrong, it should say "Seven states in four days"

jdupton · 04-19-2011, 10:04 AM

Crazy or not, you a made a great memory. You'll want to tell that story to your grandkids some day. Congratulations all around.

John

fatabbot · 04-19-2011, 10:09 AM

Nice trip!

Congrats on the subsequent nuptials. My wife and I got married in Vegas back in 2003. What chapel did you use?

subiesailor · 04-19-2011, 12:41 PM

We do the Socal trip once or twice a year have family down there and not to many years ago every March we towed the boat down to San Diego for a Regatta. The vine can be an interesting drive or one you never want to do again. I've crossed it both directions a number of times with the Santa Anna Winds blowing over semi's and done a few trips across in a full blown snow storm. So Cal drivers and wet roads are bad enough - So Cal drivers on steep decents and accents in a snow storm with no sand trucks or snow plows! Thats like playing Russian Rullet with 5 bullets in the 6 shooter. Got caught towing the boat over twice in a snow storm the first time I actually threw my coffee at the car next to me that kept speed up and slamming on their brakes skidding to a stop in the bumper to bumper traffic the boat is 8.5ft wide max trailer width you have zero buffer zone for fools like that.

15 is no doubt a bunch of nothing for sure. We also have family up in Washington we actually did one trip where it was socal for a few days - home for a night then Oregon visited family then Eastern Washington to visit family in the old legacy GT which had 150,000 miles on it at that point. The old subaru did great

lexSubie · 04-19-2011, 07:45 PM

You should probably re-title the thread "7 BIG States in four days." In places back east, you can probably drive "7 small states before lunch".

carl609 · 04-20-2011, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatabbot

Nice trip!

Congrats on the subsequent nuptials. My wife and I got married in Vegas back in 2003. What chapel did you use?

Thank you. We got married at "A Special Memory Wedding Chapel".

Picking a Las Vegas wedding chapel online is not an easy task. Obviously there are hundreds to choose from. We didnt want to have a tacky wedding, we just wanted to do it in Vegas. The place we chose was very nice, they were a bit unorganized, but that was out of our control. It was a great time.

carl609 · 04-20-2011, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lexSubie

You should probably re-title the thread "7 BIG States in four days." In places back east, you can probably drive "7 small states before lunch".

Big states for sure. California is one long ass state, I think I spent twelve hours there. I cant wait to head further east and tackle a few more states. Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico are next.

Keep in mind that prior to this trip I had only been to Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada.

fatabbot · 04-20-2011, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carl609

Thank you. We got married at "A Special Memory Wedding Chapel".

Picking a Las Vegas wedding chapel online is not an easy task. Obviously there are hundreds to choose from. We didnt want to have a tacky wedding, we just wanted to do it in Vegas. The place we chose was very nice, they were a bit unorganized, but that was out of our control. It was a great time.

Awesome

We got married at the chapel in the Riviera. It was fine for what we paid for it. We got our vows renewed in 2009 at the Venetian. Now there's a place that knows how to put together a wedding package (for a price, of course).

karolB · 04-21-2011, 02:18 AM

Congrats!...You have an enjoyable and memorable trip. Its more than a joy ride.

04-19-2011, 01:22 AM	#1 (permalink)
carl609 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Seattle Car: 01 OB 2.5l manual Posts: 12 Feedback Score: 0 reviews	7 states in three days Last month my wife was in Phoenix for a friends wedding and I really wanted to go. I had a rough day at work and decided, screw it, I am going. I left my house north of Seattle at 5pm on a Friday. At 5am Saturday I slept for about 45 minutes in Redding Ca. Rest areas give me the creeps so I barely slept. I shot down the 5 in our Outback, on a mission. I watched the sun come up in Sacramento, and aside from fuel stops I went straight to Los Angeles. I really wish I could have spent some time exploring there. The Grapevine was the coolest pass I have ever driven over. I rolled into Phoenix about 8pm on Saturday night. I would have made better time but I hit horrible traffic thru Seattle, and it was snowing like ** in NorCal. I can tell you that the highway between Palm Springs and Phoenix is the longest stretch of nothing I have ever seen. When I got to Phoenix I stopped at TJ Maxx to take a *** bath and buy a belt. I changed into my dress clothes in the parking lot and headed to the wedding. The reception was in full swing when I showed up. The look on everybodys face was awesome. I walked up behind my wife and grabbed her butt. She whipped around ready to smack somebody, and then went into shock. We partied the night away and then hit the road about 8am. The wife canceled her return flight and we took off on an adventure. It was nice to have some company on the return trip. We headed north on the 93 and stopped at the Hoover Dam for about an hour. I wish we could have done the tour, but we both had to get back home for work so every minute counted. We took a little detour in Vegas for a trip down the strip. We werent married yet at the time, our wedding was April 1st. We drove by and checked out the chapel we were going to get married at. I have been to Vegas plenty of times, but never drove down the strip so that was fun. It was my quickest trip to Vegas ever. We left Vegas and headed north on the 15 towards Salt Lake City. I was excited to get another state under my belt. The scenery was beautiful, especially when you cut the corner of Arizona. We stopped to sleep in Ogden Utah around midnight. My wife tried to bargain with the guy at the Motel 6 because we were only going to be there for 5 hours. He wasnt going to discount us, and I told her the hourly motels were a few miles back. Hit the road bright and early and headed towards home. We ran into snow again in Baker City, Oregon, but the Outback was ready for it. We finally rolled into Seattle around 5pm on Monday. I had driven over 3000 miles since Friday, and was ready for bed. Let me tell you that the alarm seemed to go off extra early the next morning. Everybody thought I was crazy for going that far only to turn around and come home. They may be right, but I cant think of a better way to spend some time with my girl a few weeks before we got married.

04-19-2011, 10:09 AM	#4 (permalink)
fatabbot Registered User Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Suburbia, Texas Car: '11 Kia Soul 1.6/5MT Posts: 3,680 Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Nice trip! Congrats on the subsequent nuptials. My wife and I got married in Vegas back in 2003. What chapel did you use? __________________ Enjoy your Outbacks

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04-19-2011, 01:23 AM	#2 (permalink)
carl609 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Seattle Car: 01 OB 2.5l manual Posts: 12 Feedback Score: 0 reviews	I guess the thread title is wrong, it should say "Seven states in four days"

04-19-2011, 10:04 AM	#3 (permalink)
jdupton Registered User Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Georgetown, Texas Car: 2010 3.6R Ltd MR/Nav Posts: 174 Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Crazy or not, you a made a great memory. You'll want to tell that story to your grandkids some day. Congratulations all around. John

04-19-2011, 12:41 PM	#5 (permalink)
subiesailor Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: San Francisco Posts: 7,673 Feedback Score: 0 reviews	We do the Socal trip once or twice a year have family down there and not to many years ago every March we towed the boat down to San Diego for a Regatta. The vine can be an interesting drive or one you never want to do again. I've crossed it both directions a number of times with the Santa Anna Winds blowing over semi's and done a few trips across in a full blown snow storm. So Cal drivers and wet roads are bad enough - So Cal drivers on steep decents and accents in a snow storm with no sand trucks or snow plows! Thats like playing Russian Rullet with 5 bullets in the 6 shooter. Got caught towing the boat over twice in a snow storm the first time I actually threw my coffee at the car next to me that kept speed up and slamming on their brakes skidding to a stop in the bumper to bumper traffic the boat is 8.5ft wide max trailer width you have zero buffer zone for fools like that. 15 is no doubt a bunch of nothing for sure. We also have family up in Washington we actually did one trip where it was socal for a few days - home for a night then Oregon visited family then Eastern Washington to visit family in the old legacy GT which had 150,000 miles on it at that point. The old subaru did great

04-19-2011, 07:45 PM	#6 (permalink)
lexSubie Registered User Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: MI Posts: 243 Feedback Score: 0 reviews	You should probably re-title the thread "7 BIG States in four days." In places back east, you can probably drive "7 small states before lunch".

04-21-2011, 02:18 AM	#10 (permalink)
karolB Registered User Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Los Angeles, California, USA Posts: 3 Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Congrats!...You have an enjoyable and memorable trip. Its more than a joy ride.

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