Route 66 and the rest - here we come!

[Allison]

Hi all - and particularly if you are near Route 66 or the Pacific Highway.

We are visiting you in September with the red Elan - read all about its journeys at http://rallyelan.com/
I'm shipping to Newark and hope to pick it up on September 19th/20th to drive to Chicago where the tour starts. The full itinerary is at http://www.sceniccartours.com/route-66-2017/4592660837

We are on display at the Springfield IL show on September 23/24 then we follow the route to Santa Monica. At this stage the tour ends and we make our own way up the coast to Seattle arriving there around 18/19 October. Not sure where to go next!! I'd like to get back to New England to see a bit of The Fall before shipping back to UK from Newark. Alternatively take a more circuitous route back to San Francisco (my wife flies back from Seattle and sister comes out for the last 14 days - so even the same road would be different!). I am constrained by a maximum of 60 days USA motor insurance (another story!).

So my questions to you good folk are:
Are any of you near the route so we could meet up?
Are there any Lotus (or other) Clubs in the area who would like a talk on one of our journeys?
Any ideas on a route from Seattle to Bar Harbor area inside 12 days?

I will as usual try to make daily posts on our website (address above) and hope that maybe I will see some of you!

Peter

[prezoom]

Peter, you have a PM.

[Jentwistle3]

PM Sent

[StressCraxx]

Peter,

Wear are very near San Francisco. If you travel this way, we would love to meet up with you, I would include the Golden Gate Lotus Club with this invite as well. There is a vintage race event at Sonoma Raceway Sept 29 through Oct. 1

Regards,
Dan Wise

[elanner]

PM sent.

[nomad]

You folks adventures are legendary and wish you a fun trip!
I'm not on your route unless you take the quick and dirty route back east from Seattle on I 90. If you were to do that my wife and I would enjoy showing you the sights in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Let us know! If I were taking that journey I would hop up into Canada and take C 3 to Waterton Lakes then drop south and take US 2 to Sault Ste Marie then back into Canada and do Niagara Falls if you haven't done it on the way out. I like old US two lanes! Then, New England if there are still colors. May be a bit on the cold side to do a Northerly route at that time of the year though.
Curious as to what the rest of the intrepid travelers here have to say?

Kurt
26/3754

[denicholls2]

For planning purposes, peak foliage in New England is usually around the week before Columbus Day, October 12th. It varies North to South by about a week and the brilliant reds from the sugar maples (great time for a drive through Vermont!) come first. By the end of October it's pretty much bare trees, what's left is brown. But we do have a lot of evergreens and New England is pretty any time of year. Make sure to see Mt Rainier and Olympic National Park in Washington, Crater Lake in Oregon is a nice drive too.

I would recommend coming up through Vermont (Route 7) and crossing over to Maine via 112 in New Hampshire through the White Mountains, pick up Route 16 north to Route 2.

Have a great trip however you plan it!

[nomad]

Bad new's on Cal #1. Landslide and other problems might keep it closed for the year right at its most scenic spot south of Monterey. I was considering driving it as well after a trip to MG 2017 in San Diego. Drove it last when I was in the Navy during that SE Asia thing.

Kurt.

[prezoom]

With a careful looking over a map, there are some terrific Lotus driving roads that parallel Hwy 1 from Hwy 46 up to Monterey via Carmel Valley. Not sure where the slide is on Hwy 1, but it you can get just past Plaskett, the road up to Hunter Liggett Military Reservation is a treat, view and driving wise. Then follow the back roads to Carmel Valley.

[Ross Robbins]

Peter,

I think we are too far off your route either way to offer, yet I will nonetheless. If you fancy a run up Pikes Peak to 14,112 feet above sea level, I will offer to pace you up and down in my Elan and furnish lodging as well. I also know every worthwhile Lotus road in Colorado to plot a route for you. I can even route you through Alliance NE to Carhenge (just so you can compare the US fake to the real thing at home) on your way to the Black Hills where Kurt (Nomad) can take over and get you further east. Just a thought. My wife and I will be at the Sevens celebration at Donington July 7th so if you fancy a meet up we can talk about options then.

I don't know how well your guide has planned the Route 66 tour, but I do know most of the old two lane road is overlaid with I-55 and I-40. Only scattered bits remain, mostly in New Mexico and Arizona and a few miles scattered through Missouri so you may be on our Interstate system (Like your Motorways but with less lane discipline and more distracted drivers) in your Elan which I don't find much fun. You might check with the organizer to see how much of the route is on 2 lane highways. If you wish to ask specific questions email me a lotusross at comcast dot net. Sounds like a wonderful adventure!

[prezoom]

Just saw a feature on Yahoo via the Los Angeles Times on the Hwy 1 closure. Unfortunately, the slide is south of Gorda and blocks access to the road leading up to Hunter Liggett.

[S2Jay]

Hi to All,

This topic has prompted me to mention something to anyone who may be in the Western U.S., or is planning to travel in that area this year. As I have described to "Allison" / Peter in a PM, the excess rain & snowfall this past winter in Northern California & the Sierras has created a situation where the huge amount of snow is now melting and heading downhill to the waterfalls in the Yosemite Valley. The following description is all clearly just my highly biased opinion of course, no problems with disagreements or just "disregardments".

The waterfalls for which Yosemite is famous [perhaps 2nd only to the famous ?Half-Dome? mountain] are near flood stage with huge amounts of water flowing over them. This is a spectacular sight, and being there to see this in person will far overshadow the great pictures that will no doubt also be available. Upper & Lower Yosemite Falls, and Bridalveil Falls are easiest to see, find & photograph by car from the Valley.

Most of the Falls in the Yosemite Valley are easily seen from the road, or with a short walk. One of the larger falls, Vernal Falls, would be about a 1 hour moderate ?hike? up a mostly paved path with some of the fabled ?granite steps? near the Falls & a moderate elevation gain. Having been to Yosemite several times over the last 30 years, I have seen most of the Falls in various conditions, but I have never seen them with this volume of water. Most waterfalls are beautiful in their normal state, but with 2 or 3 or 4 times the usual volume, I believe that they will be breathtaking.

For those who are not familiar or have not been there, Yosemite National Park is about a 7 hour drive North from the L.A. area, and I would guess about 5 or 6 hours East from San Francisco.

Also, there are some terrific sport car roads in the area, some of which go on for miles and contain great sweeping curves of many configurations and cambers. Most of these roads are actually smooth and well maintained [which is rare for the wildly mismanaged & nearly bankrupt State of California].

I have added here a few pics I took about 2 years ago, with far much less water than will be seen this year.

I am planning a 2 day picture trip only, stay 1 night somewhere nearby, maybe as far out as Modesto, and drive in for 1 day only with maybe 1 short hike to get pics of Vernal Falls.

Sorry for the long post [if you read it all!]

For Allison: Enjoy your trip, it does sound like it will be a terrific & very memorable adventure ? with or without Yosemite!

Jay

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[nomad]

Peter and Allison:
Probably not something I even need to mention but all of our highways marked on the maps with a US designation and a shield are of a similiar vintage to US 66. The US designated highways are generally east and west highways if marked with an even number and north south highways if marked with odd numbers. Numbers graduated from north to south and from east to west. These Highways were the major routes before the interstate highway system was built and are, in general, a vintage comparable to US 66. There are other famous ones such as US 30, the "Lincoln Highway", the first transcontinental highway. All of them have you going through towns with art deco gas stations, odd statuary, and neon fronted old theaters. Personally I like them all for the discovery's you can make along the way. Of course you can't be in a hurry! I particularly like to seek out the ones that are paralleled by I state's. Usually little traffic.
The rest of the roads are usually state and county roads and can be a catch all in terms of destination and condition.

At any rate I hope you can enjoy our US roads and remember to keep on the right side here and watch closely to the left!

BTW, its possible to cross the whole country in 3 or 4 days if you wish or spend months at it!

Kurt
26/3754

[nomad]

One last tidbit....to quote Charles Kuralt " Thanks to the interstate highway system its possible to cross America and not see anything!"....or something to that effect.

Kurt.

[Allison]

Hi all,
thank you very much for all your ideas. I think we might just manage to drive on the right - but its those US gallons which might be a problem - I can cope with (imperial) gallons and litres but not sure I can manage 3 units of measure! Pints of course are different and I can manage them!

I look forward to meeting some of you when we arrive and I'll see if I can get to Donnington on July 7th so maybe I'll see Ross before we get there.

BTW the Allison part is that she registered for Elan.net originally and then I kind of took over her login.

Peter