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July 4, 2002
By: PaulZ
It all started from my house in Annapolis Maryland and down with the DC area Z3 group to SC. After that I tagged along with the Tennessee group (Great beer, company and food. Thanks guys) on my way to Denver. At Denver I picked up my girlfriend at the airport to start the long roundabout drive to see this great country we live in.
This is the list of what I did:
- Grand Junction, CO (Hotel)
- Arches National Park, UT (tent camping)
- Mesa Verde NP, CO (camping)
- Grand Canyon NP, AZ (camping)
- Las Vegas, NV (Hotel)
- Zion NP, UT (Hotel on the 11th)
- Bryce Canyon NP, UT (camping)
- Salt Lake City, UT (Hotel)
- Jackson, WY (Hotel)
- Grand Teton NP, WY (camping)
- Yellowstone NP, WY (camping two nights)
- Badlands NP, SD (camping)
- Chicago, IL (friend's house)
- Home on Sunday afternoon and spent the afternoon washing my very dirty car.
Some facts about my trip:
- 7,281 miles driven
- 29 mpg average (The performance driving at HC brought this way down!)
- 52 mph average speed
- 120 mph top speed (girlfriend would not let me go faster)
- Most speed traps in Ohio
- No V1 required (Never got ticket! And I was always speeding, well almost always)
- Only lost $120 in Vegas
- Was very close to wining a Z3! (I had 0 0 7 in a row but it was 1/2" away from the Pay Line)
What I had in a Z3 trunk:
- Two 24 disk CD holders (I have the OEM 6 disk CD player)
- 2 1/2 person tent and tarp
- Two sleeping pads
- One sleeping bag (other one was behind passenger seat)
- Camping stove
- Two tanks of fuel
- Pots, pans, cups and plates
- Spices and other cooking stuff
- Food for over five days
- Three sets of shoes but only two sets in the trunk at one time (Hiking boots, Tevas, dress and I forgot she had to bring some running shoes so make that three sets in the trunk)
- Two rain jackets and two Fleece
- Two bath towels and one hand towel
- One large duffel bag and one backpack
- Clothing for two people for over a week each that included summer type for the hot desert, winter type for the COLD Mountains and a nice set for going out to dinner.
- Toiletries for each
- I almost forgot that wonderful backpack from Homecoming. (My girlfriend made me mail it home in Salt Lake City but we did use it)
Things in the front seat:
- Girlfriend
- Small cooler
- Small backpack with snacks
- Water bottle
- Camcorder, two cameras and film (I will post pics later)
Things behind seats:
- More food
- Extra hats
- Car cover
- Car washing stuff
- Sleeping bag
- Coffee mug
Worst thing that happened on the trip other than the 11th: Ran over a large rock! 20 miles from Jackson, WY it was raining and dark. I was behind a RV and a pickup truck in a one lane road. They of course just drive over the thing but I was not as lucky. On coming traffic prevented me from avoiding it so I had no choice but to drive over it. Not a good thing to hear as the big bang under the car and the many pieces of rock I saw in the rear view mirror as I drive on. With no place to pull over and the heavy rain I drive the 20 miles to town. I wanted to put the car on a lift to see if the car was damaged but I could not find a single gas station with a service center. I checked the oil and looked under the car. I saw a scratch in that bar before the axel but it all looked ok. Well after many looks under the car and repeated oil checking the car ran like a champ.