Went west... NY to RTE 66 AZ, UT, CO, SD

[blackandtandisco]

I decided it was time to travel out west. "Exploring" in NY is limited to say the least. I bought a small pop-up camper with a fridge and heater and planned to slightly modify it.

To make the trip more appealing (what's more appealing than driving 30 hours to moab?) I agreed to jumping on rte 66 and see the sights. So my trip out west has turned into a rte 66 pilgrimage, offroading in Utah / colorado and an unknown way home.
After months of modifying a camper, lightly building a grand Cherokee (2" lift, good shocks, air bag rear helpers) route planning, canning dinners, buying supplies, watching "Long Way Round"... it came down the day before we were leaving... waiting for special order parts to install the front locker.

 

[blackandtandisco]

The day we were leaving was supposed to be an easy day, slowly pack the camper, be well rested before heading out. I ended up working on the Jeep and camper for over 12 hours. We pushed our departure time back about 8 hours. From NY we had a straight shot out to St. Louis. There was one incident of the camper getting squirly while my wife was driving. I woke up to the trailer fish-tailing and her slamming on the brakes. She didn't drive much after that. Pulled into the 1st campground and got a lot of looks while unloading the motorcycle.

 

[Sleam]

Keep them coming!

 

[Willman]

Ditto^

 

[blackandtandisco]

We spent months planning the trip, estimating daily driving miles, where to stop, what to see. We left so much later than when we had planned (only 10 hours) any time I was driving it felt like we were behind schedule. But we didn't really have a schedule, we didn't have reservations anywhere, we had a month to travel. It was nice to slow down and enjoy our trip. We bought a book on Rte 66 so we knew what we wanted to stop and see along the way.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a...0140706205858247.JPG/ps=50/r=1/rx=550/ry=400/
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a...0140706210725176.JPG/ps=50/r=0/rx=550/ry=400/

 

[blackandtandisco]

 

[blackandtandisco]

 

[fortel]

Hope you enjoyed the Missouri stretch. Did you ride the zip lines at Meramec Caverns? Good luck on the rest of the trip.

 

[blackandtandisco]

No ziplines, my 2 year old was done after the Maramec tour. We cruised thru Oklahoma over a few days and made it to Texas,
We had planned to camp outside of shamrock texas, but the campground ended up being closed and run down. So we got a motel room and enjoyed the town. Including the old Conoco station and Verns Steakhouse... in an old gas station. BBQ was great.

Pressing on west we stopped Amarillo Texas at the Cadillac Ranch. The boy and the dog were happy to stretch their legs. We had to chase them away from the mud.

 

[blackandtandisco]

 

[blackandtandisco]

 

[blackandtandisco]

Heading into New Mexico I have tons of these pictures, which at the time seemed cool, now just plain. Growing up in NY, seeing the hills and Mountains seems normal, so being out in such flat country with a big sky was great.

 

[blackandtandisco]

The reality of long stretches of highway out in the middle of nowhere had really set in. While driving I was constantly watching the gauges to make sure everything was good. Every time I relaxed and convinced myself its all good my wife would unknowingly stress me out by saying "wow we are really in the middle of nowhere". I made sure the spare gas can was full, and we had water and coolant, tools, a belt, spare hoses, extra "Chrysler hydraulic fluid"... I swear I could hear the power steering pump whining at highway speeds.
I bought the Jeep as a light hit a few years ago and replaced headlights, grill, front rad. support, radiator, and the cooling fan... a hydraulically driven cooling fan... driven by the DA DA DADA! power steering pump. Of course. Over the Winter I had fought with a power steering line that had burst more than once. I had tried ordering the factory line a few times and had not gotten a replacement. I had to keep using rubber hose.
We pulled into Albuquerque KOA and I started to debate whether or not to replace the pump. With no power steering the jeep is almost un-turn-able. And it drives the cooling fan! And we were in New Mexico! I went out and bought a new pump, hose, drain pan, and early the next morning I ignored the "No working on vehicles" rule. A few short hours later we left the camper and headed up to El Santuario de Chimayo.

 

[mtnbike28]

Great report so far!

 

[blackandtandisco]

We headed up to Santa Fe NM for lunch and on the way back to Albuquerque came across a cool old mining town. I really liked the gears as a step. It would make a great patio step/ conversation piece.