Road trip in the US

[Skuz]

2008 will now officially be my "traveling year". After taking a plane for the first time in my life back in June to "Republica Dominicana" (first time out of Canada), I will once again travel at the end of the month, to Indianapolis for a Nascar race. At 30 years old, it was about time some people told me.

16 hours of driving shared with my best friend. I guess some Americans will wonder what my car is for it wasn't sold over there.

This trip is also a therapy of some sort. Late 2007/early 2008 really wasn't the nicest part of my life and I'm slowly climbing back from this hole by trying new (harmless) stuff like traveling to sway my mind off it.

I feel excited about attending a race like that. Hope it won't rain. Do Nascar race even in rain ? I rarely catch races on TV, but the few times I remember to watch, I always enjoy it. Can't wait to hear the engine sounds LIVE.

If possible, I'll try to bring back some Meg stuff that isn't sold here.

[ClassicConcepts]

Re: Road trip in the US

They don't race in the rain. You may not see much of the race while there, TV coverage is much better BUT you will get to see and hear (and smell) a lot of stuff that can't be gotten from the TV. Enjoy the trip, it will be a new experience you won't forget.

[InfiniteDetail]

Re: Road trip in the US

NASCAR is AWESOME in person! Nothing like the rumble of those 800 hp engines. Do you have a pit pass? They are very friendly and you get close up access to the crew and drivers with the pit pass. Sounds like a blast, have fun!

You won't be too far off of Route 66, if you have time for a nice road trip, hit Route 66 for a few days.

[yalerd]

Re: Road trip in the US

After taking a plane in June to "Republica Dominicana"

WHAT!!!
You came here and didn't even say nothing
Did you like it around here?

Hope you had a great time in here in Dominican Republic and hope you have a wonderful time in your next trip and in the future trips as well

[BlueZero]

Re: Road trip in the US

Have fun and I hope things are on the up turn for you!

Might want to mention the general route or where your coming from. Could be something on your way worth checking out. Just a thought.

[Skuz]

Re: Road trip in the US

Hi Yalerd. I was in Puerto Plata for a week. I did not get out of the hotel's facilities, just spent a week at the beach or pool, trying to think of nothing, just relaxing. It mostly worked. I definitely plan on going back some time in the future but next time, I'll do some activities and visit some places. I brought back a RD 2008 license plate that I put on the front of my truck. Maybe it'll melt the snow in front of me next winter I brought back some Santo Domingo coffee for a relative. Made by you ?

I did a quick check via mapquest for the fastest way to Indianapolis. The race is on the 27, my vacation starts on 26, so I won't have time to visit anything on the way that's 16 hours drive IF we don't get lost. On the way back however, there'll be no hurry, I'm off for 2 weeks

I start in Quebec, cross into Ontario, then Michigan and finally Indiana. Most of the mapquest trip is on I69. We may take another way when coming back if there is something interesting to visit. We'll have time to get lost (I have absolutely zero direction sense).

[yalerd]

Re: Road trip in the US

I definitely plan on going back some time in the future but next time, I'll do some activities and visit some places.

You should consider going to Punta Cana, beautiful place to go.

I brought back some Santo Domingo coffee for a relative. Made by you ?

Not made by me but that's one of the best coffees there is in the world!

[Jeepster04]

Re: Road trip in the US

I went to an Indy race around two years ago and it was pretty nice. I must admit that a smaller track like Charlotte, bristol, martinsville, atlanta, etc are more exciting since you can see the cars the entire time and pretty much all the wrecks. At indy, once the cars go by its silent for a minute or two, the track is really big in other words. At a track like bristol your insides shake the entire time and if you sit down low your face will be covered in rubber at the end, its sweet!

I really hope you enjoy your road trip! Ive always wanted to take one and hopefully I will once I get out of college..

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Road trip in the US

I hope you enjoy the race. Have a great time. Make sure you pick up a lot of Meguiars while in the states. Enjoy!

[Skuz]

Re: Road trip in the US

I'm back tonight after almost 2000 miles of driving.

We departed saturday at 4:30 AM. I borrowed my brother's Tomtom GPS. We changed the course since I wanted to do a quick visit to the Niagara Falls. I had never seen them, my friend did, but from the Canadian Side so he wanted to see them from the American side this time. So we crossed in Ontario, then New York state, Ohio, Indiana. We nicknamed Ohio "The endless state" because it took so damn long to cross it.

I LOVE US highways. It's comfort heaven compared to ours. We also spent most time on the 70 MPH ones, something unthinkable here in Qc. by the way, what are your bridges/overpasses covered with ? My tires "whistle" on that surface.

We got to the speedway at around 9 AM. How come the speedway doesn't provide enough parking for the assistance ? That doesn't make sense. Luckily, a police officer warned us about that lack of parking and we paid to park on a private entrance about a mile from the track.

Since we got there early, we visited the Motor Speedway's Hall of Fame. Awesome ! There's so much racing history in that building, I'm speechless. I bought myself a very nice leather coat with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway logo on the back.

At noon while having lunch and chatting, we got to talk with 2 lovely ladies who work at the Lifelock booth. They were having lunch besides us and after a few minutes were wondering which language we were speaking. (For those who don't know, I'm French Canadian so we talk to each other in French and when we use English, we have quite the accent).

Even with the unusual events happening at the race (tires problem) and the negative reviews we read in the newspapers the next morning, we still very much enjoyed the race. We were just in front the the pits, the UPS team guys had a lot of work to do that day. We certainly will attend another race next year. We'll go to another track, maybe a bit closer this time.

On the way back, we visited 2 museums in Indiana : the WWII Victory museum has an awesome collection of war vehicles. We also visited the Auburn/Cord automotive museum in the Auburn city. Very interesting and informative. I learned a lot about these 2 car brands.

We were supposed to stop in Detroit, but we really wanted to visit the Casa Loma castle in Toronto and our schedule didn't allow anything more in between, so we skipped Detroit.

Even if gas price rose in the US, consider yourselves lucky. I paid between $3.60 and $3.80 a gallon each time I filled in the US, that's about 30% cheaper than up here and I'm on the same continent.

As expected, I noticed a few inquisitive looks on my car. It's now due for an oil change, and much in need of cleaning.

I brought back about a GB worth of pictures/videos of that road trip and will spend some time later sorting all this.

I had a great time in the US. See you next year.

Oh yeah, and since we mainly kept to the highways, I didn't see any potential store for Meguiar's products so I came back empty handed on this.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Road trip in the US

Glad you had a great trip. Its a shame you could not load up on Meguiars product while you were stateside. Glad you enjoyed the race.

[the other pc]

Re: Road trip in the US

Glad you had a great time down here!

... (For those who don't know, I'm French Canadian so we talk to each other in French and when we use English, we have quite the accent). ...

That’s funny, you don’t write with an accent.


PC.