All the way to the Arctic Circle in a 2003 Honda Civic!

[redsoxfan1001]

First, I'd like to really say thank you to a lot of you who have inspired a new round of adventures that will be taking me through the overland 4x4 route. Things like not being able to make Prudhoe Bay and some really sketchy situations made me realize that something made for tougher roads is definitely in my future. But I wouldn't take back a second of the experience I had with the Civic.

I drove for about 30 days across the U.S. to different national parks before landing in Yellowstone to work for the summer. After that gig was up, my girl friend and I went on a 45 day hiking/camping adventure that brought us to the Icefield's Parkway, all the way up to the Northwest Territories on the Liard Highway, on to the Highway on top of the world and of course the Arctic Circle via the Dalton Highway. Patches of mud and rainy days made this trek nerve-racking but surprisingly successful considering the fact that again, this is a Honda Civic we're talking about! Was lucky enough to only blow one tire outside of Kenai and having to change out the spark plugs in Ely, Nevada.

I dont know how much interest this will actually generate but if you guys have any questions or are more curious let me know and I'll happily unload the story

 

[shortbus4x4]

Oh hell yes.

 

[Burb One]

Story, story, story!

 

[gmtech]

yes story and pics. STATs on the Honda?

 

[redsoxfan1001]

Glad to get some feedback! Telling the story as follows

Hopefully you all enjoy the story behind the trip. I'm going to break it down like this

Segment 1: First two weeks of U.S.
Segment 2: Last two weeks of U.S.
Segment 3: Living in Yellowstone and weekend trips
Segment 4: Road to Alaska

Each segment will have different parts so I can put all the content in.

Really going to try and pack a lot of info here so trying to break it up, plus would love to answer any questions. I'm writing segment 1 right now so STAY TUNED!!

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Nice!!! Overland is for any thing that can take you on adventures.

Would love to read your story.

 

[redsoxfan1001]

Segment 1: Part 1 First Two Weeks Across the U.S.

This whole journey had been toiled over and over in my head for years. I was 24 (now 25) and already hating the rat race world, constantly day dreaming at my sales job just to get out and see the world. I've traveled to places like India, UAE, Azores Islands, Mexico, India, Egypt etc but I had always longed for the great american road-trip. I'm not going to lie, I half-assed the planning, probably took a whole month to pin point exactly where I wanted to go and to try and calculate how much time it would take. The goal was to do as much as possible for as little as possible. Hiking was a big focal point so I was mainly interested in National parks but as you'll see, I was lucky enough to end up doing much, much more.

So after a bad March I threw in the towel and accepted a kitchen job at Yellowstone (first and last time in a kitchen). I Left a month early from the May 5th start date at the Lake Hotel to do everything on my list. Bought the 2003 Honda Civic that was my workhorse throughout about eh 2 weeks before I left.The reason why I bought it was simple. MPG. The 2003 Honda Civic manual gets nearly 40 MPG which ends up being a savior as a road warrior. I'm going to try and pack as much information as possible so you can see how much hustling I really had to do to pack in what I did. Be afraid, be very afraid. Before I left I had zero plans to go to Alaska but that all would change by the time I got to Yellowstone.

Car Spec list:

Detach backseats and use them as bed by laying them down in the trunk.
Spare tire
Oh and I bought an AUX cord. lol.

Hiking gear:



It's funny that I've been stalking this forum lately and dreaming of a Toyota Tacoma to outfit for a South American adventure that has quickly made me realize how crazy I was to do all that I did, with a Honda Civic. More so on the last of the 3 segments but we'll get to that eventually.

Week 1

I left from the sleepy little town of Acushnet, Ma on April 5th of this year with my first destination set as the Blue Ridge Parkway heading to the Smoky Mountains. I left in the early afternoon and ended up in PA by the time I fell asleep at a random rest stop area. When I got on the road April 6th I realized I was near the Antietam Battlefield so I decided that this would be a great spot to visit. Nearly no one was there so it was really nice to do the "drive-thru" styled tour of the battlefield. Ended up finding a nice hilly area and broke out the longboard. Was a good intro to the trip. Also, I was so excited about having a camping stove that I ended up using it in a parking lot for the Antietam battlefield. Had NEVER used one before and ran the gas on for way to long with no spark and nearly blew myself up. It was a learning experience for sure. I bought some prepper food thinking that I'd be able to stomach it and save money for a month but as the days went by I ended up cheating and eating lots of Subway and even Sonic for the first time. :sombrero:



Ended up reaching the Blue Ridge Parkway later that day.




Crashed in the back of a hotel parking lot in Boone, NC that night. First time I discovered that they make great places to sleep. Day after that ended up camping and getting rained on because I was too tired to put my tarp up. Lesson learned again haha.

April 7th-8th was spent in Smoky Mountains N.P. Both days were cold, the 7th was sunny and the 8th ended in overcast and snow. What a beautiful spot the smokies are for people on the east coast. Especially love that NC/TN boarder area with all the waterfalls in spring.



Little longboarding before I found out its illegal to longboard in a national park! Later this day i was just ending my run and a park ranger pulled up along side me as I'm walking back up the mountain and let me know what I was doing was illegal. He was nice enough to give me a ride back to my car and a really cool guy overall.



Little video for up till this point: [video]https://youtu.be/Tx8-7aGAFcg[/video]


More for segment 1 coming later today or tomorrow....

 

[redsoxfan1001]

Segment 1: Part 2 First Two Weeks Across the U.S.

After that I was pretty exhausted but pushed on towards Mammoth Caves N.P. Fell asleep again in a hotel parking lot in Cave City, Ky.

The 9th was the first day I was really feel that "first time on the road for a while" effects. I was tired from some small hikes and some really ballsy longboarding in the smokies, something that I really wasn't ready for. I had always been a snowboarder but I had been on a longboard for a total of probably 2 weeks at that point. Plus I smelled, the no shower thing was starting to kill me (and anyone around me). Pushed on to Mammoth Caves in the morning, did a tour then checked out the the main Rotunda area that made the area famous.




Had a lot of fun but then since I was in Kentucky I decided to go to Bowling Green and check out the Corvette museum. Ever since I was little my late grandfather and I had this long running joke that he made me play at a Chevy dealership when I was young that involved testing the the salesman if he could find a 1983 Corvette for us. Thing is, there was only one prototype in the world. And it's at the Corvette museum.


After that, I started driving through Tennessee again, driving through Nashville. Taking a break I happen to be scrolling through craigslist and I ended up finding a really cheap ticket to a Memphis Grizzlies v. Golden State Warriors game. Going to sporting events wasn't really the plan but hey I was there and the ticket was cheap. Great game too with the Warriors winning!


Really eventful day. After the game I ended up driving into the first town of Mississippi to cross it off the list then got back on the road, crossing into Arkansas. Motel parking lot was in my future and found one in the middle of no where that resulted in me being woke up by an angry employee at 4am who said I had to pay him $5 to park there or he's calling the police. I declined and left which resulted in a pretty special morning driving through Arkansas. Drove directly to Crater of Diamonds State Park to do something I had always dreamed to do. Dig for diamonds! Didn't find any but it was a lot of fun.


I'm not going to lie though, was a little disappointed with the Hot Springs areas which was on my list. Probably was the fact that it was a Sunday and everything was closed but I just thought it'd be a bit more impressive. Maybe that's just me.

View of Hot Springs



Always a good day when you can find a star wars shop (Arkansas)



From Hot Springs I left in the late afternoon and booked a AirBnb room in Houston. Woo shower! Drove though some northern Louisana and got to Houston arond 11pm.

Houston treated me well. Went to the Johnson Space Center then ended up scoring cheap tickets again to the Houston Astros opener!



After the game got on the road and stopped somewhere in between Houston and San Antonio.

Next stops for part 3, San Antonio and the start of the west's national parks...

 

[AggieOE]

"Houston treated me well."

You're welcome back anytime! lol Looking forward to the rest of the stories!

 

[Airmapper]

Had a lot of fun but then since I was in Kentucky I decided to go to Bowling Green and check out the Corvette museum. Ever since I was little my late grandfather and I had this long running joke that he made me play at a Chevy dealership when I was young that involved testing the the salesman if he could find a 1983 Corvette for us. Thing is, there was only one prototype in the world. And it's at the Corvette museum.
View attachment 378889

Glad you had a good time here, you were in my neighborhood during this part of your trip. Been in Mammoth Cave more times than I can remember.

I literally drove by the vette museum a few hours ago while grabbing lunch at our Corvette themed Wendy's. Funny I've only been in the museum once but I lay eyes on the building about every day.


Great story, keep it coming!

 

[redsoxfan1001]

Appreciating the positive feedback so far guys! I've been having a lot of fun writing this up so far and its conjuring up some memories I havn't had since it happened.

More soon!

 

[gt500]

Very cool! My brother did the Alcan highway years ago in a Honda civic with 2 buddies. They drove straight through, nonstop, switching drivers every few hours just to see it and say they did it. Can't wait to hear about your trip.

 

[keithert]

Following! Can you show some pics of the trunk-bed?

 

[redsoxfan1001]

Following! Can you show some pics of the trunk-bed?

So you'd think I'd have some quality photos for the bed area but nope, none what so ever. haha. If you look hard enough at the first car pictures I was posting youll see how packed this thing was. At night I'd move everything from the back seats and put them in the front seats. It was set up like this but with a lot more pillows underneath. The somewhat rigid surface was necessary for the Civic due to some parts that would poke you in the middle of the night. This is a photo of a different honda I had that same basic idea.




This is the only photo I have from sleep time from the actual car.



But here's a picture from inside, literally opened the door, just laying there with this view. This is on a pull off outside Denali.

 

[Climberclimb]

Fun! Honda for the win! Great story, keep it coming. Cheers