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Re: Route 66 and the rest - here we come!

PostPosted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 5:02 pm
by stugilmour
nomad wrote: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



Peter, agree with Kurt that focusing on Highway 2 for the western portion of your return trip makes a lot of sense. You can always drop down to I90 or I94 if you need to make up some time or travel in to the night.

Washington State 20 (Sedro Woolley to Grand Coulee) is also a very nice route.

Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is stunning. No need to come north to Canada if you are short of time, but the Going to the Sun Highway (West Glacier to St Mary) is a very special road, routinely listed in North America's top ten. Note it is seasonally open, so check ahead.

Eastern Montana is a loong run, and you may wish to drop down to I90. Great Falls to White Sulphur Springs on 89 is nice. I would avoid 89 south of White Sulphur Springs as there is presently six miles of rough construction immediately north of Livingston. Highway 12 is a pleasant way to join I90. Miles City is a nice stop, with cool old buildings and brass rail bars with high ceilings. I think the Lonesome Dove miniseries was filmed there.

Dropping south to the Black Hills (area south of I90 around Rapid City SD) is well worth it. You pretty much have to drop south anyway, and the Black Hills is Disneyland for sports cars and bikes. It is pretty close to the geographic centre of the continent. If time allows, you can easily spend a day taking in the well maintained and scenic roads.

A great way to avoid Chicago congestion is the ferry from Milwaukee to Muskegon MI. If you reserve a spot for the morning sailing definitely go for the served breakfast package!

We usually cross in to Canada at Port Huron /Sarnia, which avoids Detroit congestion. That said, if you have time the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn is very cool.

Sarnia to Niagra Falls is an OK run, and a lot easier than the Ohio Turnpike option south of the border. With all due respect to our Toronto based members, Canadian band The Tragically Hip said it well in their song "Titanic Terrarium"

Trace o mint wafting in from the north
So we don't f*ck with the 401
It's bigger than us or larger than we bargained
I guess it's just not done


The 401 is by far the busiest highway in Canada, and probably best avoided this trip.

I have only travelled through Vermont once, so no real local knowledge. That said it is a beautiful area and very Elan friendly.

As Ross says, remaining Route 66 is pretty desultory, replaced by modern Interstate. We picked up Tom Snyder's "Route 66 Traveler's Guide and Roadside Companion" on one of our trips through Illinois and Missouri. It has great little detail maps of the remaining sections and capsule histories of some of the sights.

Definely reach out to the Evergreen Lotus Car Club in Washington State. Great group of folks.

http://www.elcc.org

All the best on your epic trip. Should be an excellent adventure.

Stu

Re: Route 66 and the rest - here we come!

PostPosted: Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:35 am
by prezoom
Use the blue highways when ever possible, and avoid the red ones. As William Least Heat Moon wrote, it is all about the blue highways.

Re: Route 66 and the rest - here we come!

PostPosted: Fri Jun 02, 2017 12:04 pm
by nomad
Ah, Stu, I see you and I have driven many of the same road's! We did the "Icefields parkway" past you in 2012. Drought summer here with every day over 100F and we decided to drive north till we could be comfortable with the top down.

I agree with your suggestions that I'm familiar with, especially the Manitowoc to Ludington ferry to avoid going around the southern end of Lake Michigan. Of course Peter will have to start his trip in Chicago anyway and I'm not sure the ferry runs that late in the year. Best check. Same with the "going to the sun" road.

Montana is "big sky country" because once you are out of the mountains the sky kinda dominates the scenery. Personally I like long lonely roads but I imagine its not most folks cup of tea.
Peter, if you pick up a Rand McNally road atlas and follow the roads that have a green dotted accent denoting scenic I don't think you will be disappointed.

Peter, why not just tour over here till your insurance runs out. Park the car with one of us and come back next spring! :D
Kurt.

Re: Route 66 and the rest - here we come!

PostPosted: Fri Jun 02, 2017 9:54 pm
by Ross Robbins
Who knew we had a certified master tour guide on here, Stu :D And Kurt isn't far behind. So Peter, I suggest you stay in contact with these two and I shall look for you at Donington. I will be the 6 foot tall overweight guy with the Yank accent. How shall I find you??

Re: Route 66 and the rest - here we come!

PostPosted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 9:41 pm
by Allison
Hi all thank you for all your ideas and suggestions. I'm trying to see how they all fit into our planned route to Seattle and the as yet unplanned last two weeks because I'm not yet sure if we're going east or south!

Ross - I'm sorry but I don't think I can fit in a detour to Pikes Peak as its just too far off our route - sadly. I'll get back to you about Donnington .

Thanks
Peter

Re: Route 66 and the rest - here we come!

PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 4:19 am
by nomad
Ross is very generous in ascribing any skill to my wife an I in our travels. They have been mainly made in other British and Japanese roadsters while his extensive travels have been in Lotus cars. Stu has covered some major miles in Lotus as well.

East of Sault Ste. Marie is only the route we are planning to take on our way to Nova Scotia to check one more item off our bucket list. My S1 is still on a rotisserie so when that trip will be made or in what is still up in the air.

Would like to make one more recommendation for Peter or any one else in the vicinity. Take a detour to Auburn Indiana to check out the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg museum. As they like to say, it is where the finest American cars ever built were built. Not just those three but many more including some British. Some odd ones I had never expected to see. A Ruxton and a Cisitalia roadster come to mind and if you like the art deco era the factory that houses the museum is a art deco treat in itself.

Kurt.

Re: Route 66 and the rest - here we come!

PostPosted: Wed Jun 14, 2017 9:01 pm
by Gardog
Hi Peter,

You might want to consider coming to Vancouver when you are in the Seattle area. It is only about 3 hours north of Seattle and there is a pretty active Lotus Club that would be happy to show you around. You could take a short ferry to Victoria and experience some of the costal sights. Or perhaps a drive along the Sea to Sky highway to Whistler. You could easily fill 3 or 4 days before heading south or east.

Gary

Re: Route 66 and the rest - here we come!

PostPosted: Fri Jun 23, 2017 6:22 pm
by Allison
Gary hi,
thanks I was thinking about Vancouver (another country flag on the bonnet!) as it would be a shame to be so near and not to visit.
Insurance as ever is the looming question! I'll have to see if Hagerty's USA includes Canada - or do you have any suggestions?
Peter