Yeah, I drove to Waterfest.

[Riley McDowall <roog@home.com>]

If you've gotta take a piss, do it now - this might take awhile :)



Started in Calgary, driving there with Owen in his rocco on Saturday, July
22nd.  LOTS of fun there :)  Owen's got himself a pretty damn quick car,
and I'm sure there's a few extra hp lurking in there somewhere, just a
mixture or timing change away.  His car is just as fast as mine, on
average, which is to say he's probably making 170hp or so with a pretty
decent torque curve.  Very impressive for a car he put together himself!!
Making a drive like that with 2 cars like that was something I'll remember
for awhile.  So was passing lines of cars on blind corners, on the outside,
at medium speed... gotta love those Motorola 2-ways :).  Owen would get
ahead and radio the all-clear,and I'd just sort of roll on past all these
cars while they honked and screamed and swerved at me.  Stayed the night at
Owen's, getting a chance to see his supremely demolished 1.8 block and his
dad's supremely cool Stealth.  Day 1 was awesome.  Stay tuned for some
Quicktime vids of this drive.

Next day we drove 16 hours into Bismarck, ND, via Montana.  Beautiful
country, one of the prettiest states I drove through IMO.  Rolled into
Bismark at 5AM local time.  Did a lot of driving that day, mostly because
we took the wrong highway leaving Calgary.  Note to self - the shortest
distance between 2 points is a straight line.  Doh.  Day 2 was cool, but
was a bit of a grind.

8 hours later, we were back in the car.  Drove through the rest of ND, into
Minnesota, and about midway through that state I had what I like to call a
catastrophic depressurization of the right rear tire.  I looked in the
rearview and saw blue smoke pouring out the back of the car.... but it was
tracking pretty straight, so my first thought was that I had lost the
engine.  Started to pull over and it became clear that I had lost a tire
instead; turns out I picked up a nail somewhere (possibly in the gas
station I filled up at 10 minutes previous), and it had leaked the tire
flat at around 160kph.  By the time I noticed it, the tire had basically
incinerated itself - there was a 7" strip of the inner sidewall that was
gone.  The tire was too hot to touch.  Full props to Yokohama for building
a tire that didn't kill me at that speed!

Spent that night in Alexandria, MN, about 2 hours shy of Minneapolis. Jason
FedExed me one of his teardrops (a story unto itself), which arrived at a
local tire shop the next morning, and I was back on my way.  I called
Discount Tire and had them ship a replacement A520 to his house near
Pittsburgh, where I would be staying 2 nights later.  Thank Christ for cell
phones and good friends.  Day 3 was bogus.  NOT IMPRESSED at all.  Got
drunk that night and watched one of the most amazing thunderstorms I've
ever seen through the hotel window.

Back on the road the following morning, I drove through Minneapolis/St.
Paul, then into Wisconsin, then down into Chicago.  Gorgeous skyline, and I
hear it's pretty swank near the river, but you could not have paid me to
pull off the highway within 20 miles of the place.  It was ugly - typical
of most cities in the east, it's pretty rundown and grimy around the edges.
Now heading east, we passed through Indiana and into Ohio.  Went through my
first speed trap behind 2 semis, at the speed limit.... 15 miles later, I
get pulled over by the same cop.  "I got you going 89mph back there.
License and registration, please".  Bullshit, you motherfucker.  Turns out
that Ohio state troopers have the right to make you pay at the side of the
road if you're out of state, so I had to post a $106US bond.  I gave him my
BCAA card instead, which apparently is just as good (membership has its
priveleges).  What a scam!!  I was informed later that Ohio cops like to
target out of state drivers.  Got into the hotel just outside of Cleveland
at about 3AM  local time.  Day 4 was good, until I got the big shaft from
that cop.

Spent the next day at Cedar Point, which is a theme park just west of
Cleveland.  OH MY GOD.  Think of the best rides you've ever been on, be it
at Disneyland or a 6 Flags park.  They're nothing.  Totally forgettable
compared to the rides at Cedar Point.  Actually all the rides at Cedar
Point are forgettable after you ride their flagship roller coaster -
Millenium Force.  The first drop is 310 feet, at approximately 5 degrees
from vertical.  The only thing holding you into your seat (at 92mph) is a
lap bar.  This ride is fucking mental.  You get off it and you can barely
walk, and you can't stop laughing, and your eyes are streaming tears.  It's
terrifying, and I can't say that about anything else I've ever experienced.
If you're ever anywhere near the place, go and drop the $40US to get in.
The rest of the park is just icing on the cake... Day 5 was the bomb, I was
feeling good once again.

That was Wednesday.  Thursday we drove to Jason's house near Pittsburgh
(after taking the wrong highway almost into NY), and got my tire mounted at
a Sears shop which quite predictably damaged my rim.  We met up with Daun,
Ben, Eric, and Meredith, which was fun.  We watched some video, looked at
some pictures, and generally just sat around and socialized.  Day 6 was
nice - it was good to finally get back with people we knew!  The next day
we saw a storm like something you see on TV - we dont' really get storms on
the west coast, apparently.  One minute it was 30 degrees and sunny, and 20
minutes later it's 16 degrees and there's flash flooding.  We ran outside
to cover Jason's car with a sheet (to protect it from hail damage)... it
took maybe 10-15 seconds...I came back soaked to the skin.  What the
fuck... eventually we got back on the road, headed for Fairfield.  We drove
through some really beautiful countryside in Pennsylvania, along the Penna
Turnpike, paying outrageous tolls along the way and trying to figure out
the best way to rip shit up through the tunnels.  Unfortunately it was
pouring rain for about half the drive, and certain people with supposedly
superior tires couldn't manage more than 65mph without endangering their
lives.  ;)

Checked in at some point that night, hung out in the parking lot for awhile
getting drunk with all the rest of the VW crowd, and hooked up with Jason
and his crowd when they arrived on the scene.  He tried to extract some
information from Shawn van Neer but was thwarted by an evil combination of
low attention span and too much booze.  Better luck next time, Jay!  We
went to bed around 4AM, dreading the wake-up call just around the corner...
Day 7 was great.

The next day (now Saturday), we set up Momentum's booth at the show site,
and came back to the hotel where I spent at least 4 hours cleaning the car
in the parking lot.  It was still dirty, I was THOROUGHLY pissed - driving
through all the road construction on I90/94 had covered my doors and wheel
arches in spots of tar, and there was soap film left all over the place
because I couldn't rinse properly.  I drove the car back around the hotel
to where my room was, and I came across a full-on kegger in the parking
lot.  There was about 200 guys milling around, getting wasted, while a line
of cars queued up to do burnounts right in the middle of them.  It was
total anarchy... and it was AWESOME!  This went on for a good 3 or 4 hours
before the cops showed up to put a lid on things.  It was almost the
highlight of the whole weekend... I'm sure everyone has seen the pics and
watched the vids, but unless you were there you can't know what it was like
- the smell of tiresmoke, the sounds of so many people and so many cars;
right down to the fine dusting of rubber left on everything in the parking
lot.  I got some good video of TMB doing his thing while being held in
place by a dozen or so guys - hopefully I'll have it downloaded and ready
for viewing this weekend.  My only regret was not catching up with the
listmembers... between trying to prep my car and trying to catch the action
back on "skid row", I barely got a chance to meet half you guys (let alone
hang out and get to know you).   Day 8 was "the shit".

Next morning, the day of the show, it poured.  Reminded me of home... the
4" deep river of water running through the Momentum booth really sucked.
The show itself was great, tons of really nice cars and cool people, but I
really only took a quick look around.  Totally missed the Golf with the
Corrado front end.  Did notice an awful lot of blown VR6 cars, though.  I
didn't win anything, which I expected given that my car was not prepped
like it should have been.  I thought the judges did a pretty good job of
our class, especially choosing Ben for 3rd.  I'm glad they rewarded someone
who did the work himself and put some effort into making a daily driver
show-worthy on a short budget.  Way to go, Ben!  That night, right before
bed, I gave Jason his promised drive in my car right after TMB raced Brett.
Afterwards I went out for some testing with his G-tech, but didn't get any
results because the plug wouldn't stay in the lighter socket.  On the way
back to the hotel I saw a cruiser with his lights on bombing around a
corner towards where I had been a few minutes earlier... that was my cue to
say goodnight.  I hightailed it back to the parking lot and went to bed.

Monday morning started at breakfast with the Toronto crew before heading
west out of New Jersey.  Another nice drive, through the hills of
Pennsylvania and upstate New York, highlighted by another speeding ticket.
This one was legit, and I was lucky not to get tossed in jail.  There were
6 or 7 cars in the group, and I (towards the back of the pack) was trying
to catch up to the front guys, doing around 190 as I came down into a long
corner.  I could see 2 cars parked on the side of the road, but we didnt'
think they were cops until one of them turned on his radar set.  It was a
black Camaro with no lights on... got me at 89mph, and the guy in front of
me at 93.  He didnt' seen to care either way, beecause he knew I was under
no obligation to pay the ticket.  That ticket turned out to be a cool
souvenir if nothing else.  I mixed it up a bit with Jason (as I've already
discussed), with somewhat disappointing results.  It was a lot of laughs,
nonetheless :)  Crossed the border at Kingston, ON, which is a beuatiful
city (down by the lake, at least).  Found out Canadian Tire sold gas in
Ontario.  Cool.  Day 10 was fun, although I wish I'd had a chance to really
run with Jason's Mk1.  I remain convinced that my car takes over at speeds
above 180, but we never put it to the test.  :)

We spent Tuesday in downtown Toronto, which I surprisingly enough enjoyed.
The city is a little too industrial for me, but they have some unbelievable
architecture.  Good shopping, too.  Went up the CN Tower, did all that kind
of shit...

Starting home on Wednesday, we stopped in Niagara Falls.  Very impressive,
in case you've never seen it.  Took the little boat trip down to the base
of the falls and got some really good pictures.  We crossed back into New
York, then headed west as the sun went down.  For about 3 or 4 hours,
driving through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, we drove through a
lighting storm - like, RIGHT through it.  Lightning strikes everywhere, and
flashes all around us and above us.... that's something we definitely don't
get on the west coast!  It was frustrating to be held to speeds below 120,
but at the same time it was worth it to just take the whole thing in.  It
was somethin, that's for sure...

Tanya ran over a deer right before we crossed the Mississipi that night,
which ended our streak of good luck with wildlife.  Thankfully it was the
only thing we hit on the whole trip, although I saw a lot of coyotes, deer,
wolves, you name it.  Day 11 was probably the worst day of the whole trip,
not because of the deer, but because I was starting to get run down and
couldn't stay awake.  Our stop in Niagara Falls was unplanned, and took a
few hours, with the result being that we didn't get into our hotel (just
over the border in Iowa) until 4AM.  Slept in the next morning unitl long
past checkout...

On Thursday, I think, we drove to Cheyenne, Wyoming.  Iowa was pretty, if
flat, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to live there.  Very car-unfriendly
- tons of rust, even on newer cars, and the roads were pretty beat.
Shannon, congratulations for getting the hell outta there.  Getting into
Wyoming, things started to dry out as we got back up into the altidude of
the Continental Divide.  It got a little boring through here, although the
scenery was still worth paying attention to....

Next day - Cheyenne to Twin Falls, ID.  Forgettable.

Saturday was spent in Sun Valley, ID, which is one of my favorite places on
earth - Right in the middle of the desert, there's this ski/golf resort.
It's like a very private, and very small, Whistler (not that anyone's been
there, but it's a world-class ski mountain just up the coast from
Vancouver).  Relaxed all day, just sort of walked around and enjoyed being
out of the car.  That night, we drove to Kennewick, WA, and the day after
that we drove the rest of the way home.


All told, the drive covered 10,500km, through 3 provinces and 16 states,
taking around 130 hours over 15 days (and I did about 95% of the driving).
Most of the time, my ass was sore.  I haven't figured it out yet, but I
think the gas bill will come to around $550CDN.  I dont' even want to know
what the hotels cost.  I lost a headlight in Iowa and some paint damage
suffered from running over the deer in Illinois, in addition to the cost of
the tire blowout in Minnesota.  Overall, costs related to car damage will
be around $800.  So this trip wasn't cheap - it'll take me awhile to pay it
off.  I will not do this trip again.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I only wish I could remember
half of all the things I saw in those 2 weeks...

It seems like a grind when you look at the logistics of driving across the
continent, and on some days it really is (as some of you know from
experience), but every now and then you'll see something amazing that makes
the hours worth it.  Driving through a brush fire in Alberta, with the sun
hidden behind the smoke and everything around you looking yellow.  A sunset
in Montana, where the clouds above you are still pink and orange even
though it's almost completely dark on the ground.  The perfectly green
waves of corn in Wisconsin and Iowa.  Seeing the Chicago skyline for the
very first time, or the Manhattan skyline lit up across the water from New
Jersey.  That first climb back into the Rockies, where you start to see
trees you actually recognize.  The list goes on and on.

I'm glad to be home, don't get me wrong, but more than once I've caught
myself sitting at work and wishing I was back on the road... For anyone
thinking of duplicating my trip, or of making an extended road trip to
anywhere, please don't be scared by the distance.  Take your time, and
don't be afraid to stop and smell the roses.  You'll only do it once, and
you won't forget it...

See you guys soon -  whether it be at ND or Cincy or Waterfest 2001!!



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