Another Road trip: TX-NM-AZ-UT-CO-TX, July 9th to July 22, 2020

[PetitFrereArmada]

Thanks for sharing this with us I hope I can ride with my 2018 for the next month. I have to bring it to the service center to install and tune the brakes that I bought from https://parts.levittownfordparts.co...1a?c=bT0xJmw9NiZuPVJlY29tbWVuZGVkIFByb2R1Y3Rz . We need to be safe first. For starters, I would love to go with my wife there at the cave that looks really stunning, and then staying in an inn would be great to spend some time to breathe some fresh air.

You want to make sure you travel with a safe vehicle for sure. I am sure you and your wife will enjoy the caves.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Thanks for the recommendation. After pikes peak and garden of the gods visit, I did drove south to Canon city and drive through skyline drive. It started to rain, so I didn’t take much picture. Very scenic drive.
From canon city, I drive up to victor (an old mining town) through phantom canyon rd.

Nice to know you went to Canon City and drove the Skyline Drive. It is a very great drive. People should put it on their bucket list if they ever go to Canon City. It is very scenic and the views are truly spectacular. You should share some pictures you took on there. I did not take any pics on there. I was going to fly my drone to take pics, but the wind and some impatient drivers behind me just made me gave up.

I have never heard of the old mining town Victor. I will look that up.

Share some pics, if you have some to share.

 

[molanginaeda]

Nice to know you went to Canon City and drove the Skyline Drive. It is a very great drive. People should put it on their bucket list if they ever go to Canon City. It is very scenic and the views are truly spectacular. You should share some pictures you took on there. I did not take any pics on there. I was going to fly my drone to take pics, but the wind and some impatient drivers behind me just made me gave up.

I have never heard of the old mining town Victor. I will look that up.

Share some pics, if you have some to share.

It was raining Heavily. I saw a severe thunderstorm rolling in canon city. There were lightning in vicinity, hence I can’t even get out to take picture. Here is a windshield photo.

 

[XJLI]

Excellent trip report. The scenery here is great - and it's all done with paper mache!

Seriously, this season isn't even a season, and you saw all the visitors we have, here, in Utah, in CO...

I used to do the jeep tours in Ouray, and in a regular summer season there were so many people at the summit of Imogene that the passengers had to wait in line before they could feel faint.

There's usually more people? I did a really similar route in June 2010 and while places weren't empty the passes definitely weren't full of people. I did Imogene on a Friday according to my pictures and I think I saw 2-3 other vehicles.

 

[zoomad75]

Nice to know you went to Canon City and drove the Skyline Drive. It is a very great drive. People should put it on their bucket list if they ever go to Canon City. It is very scenic and the views are truly spectacular. You should share some pictures you took on there. I did not take any pics on there. I was going to fly my drone to take pics, but the wind and some impatient drivers behind me just made me gave up.

I have never heard of the old mining town Victor. I will look that up.

Share some pics, if you have some to share.

Great trip report.

I work in Canon City at the Chevy dealer in town. I can look out the west side of the building and see Skyline drive. Twice this year our wrecker has brought vehicles that have rolled off of it. One on the east side (ZR2 Blazer) and the last one a week ago (Ford Escape) on the west side where it rolled all the way down to the shoulder of westbound HWY 50. Given all the mountain trails I've done, Skyline is a walk in the park but kids like to go up there and screw around and don't always know what they are doing behind the wheel.

Funny story, we were looking for a new parts manager and an applicant drove up from Texas for the interview. Our owner took him around town to see the sights including the Gorge and came back over Skyline back into town. Turned out the guy was afraid of heights and promptly hauled ass back to Texas never to be heard from again.

Glad you got to check out our little corner of the world. Next time you are coming back into the state, hit me up if you want some local intel. Phantom canyon is a cool road that was built on the old narrow-gauge railroad bed (that connected Victor to Florence) to Victor and hopping over to Cripple Creek is just up the road from there. You can loop back to Canon from Cripple Creek coming back down on Shelf Road. It's not as wide or easy as Phantom Canyon. It's just a narrow shelf that follows a cool canyon all the way down.

From Canon, you could head over to Westcliffe and down to Medano Pass and take the back route into the Great Sand Dunes National park that not many people get to see that go into the park the normal way.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

Great trip report.

I work in Canon City at the Chevy dealer in town. I can look out the west side of the building and see Skyline drive. Twice this year our wrecker has brought vehicles that have rolled off of it. One on the east side (ZR2 Blazer) and the last one a week ago (Ford Escape) on the west side where it rolled all the way down to the shoulder of westbound HWY 50. Given all the mountain trails I've done, Skyline is a walk in the park but kids like to go up there and screw around and don't always know what they are doing behind the wheel.

Funny story, we were looking for a new parts manager and an applicant drove up from Texas for the interview. Our owner took him around town to see the sights including the Gorge and came back over Skyline back into town. Turned out the guy was afraid of heights and promptly hauled ass back to Texas never to be heard from again.

Glad you got to check out our little corner of the world. Next time you are coming back into the state, hit me up if you want some local intel. Phantom canyon is a cool road that was built on the old narrow-gauge railroad bed (that connected Victor to Florence) to Victor and hopping over to Cripple Creek is just up the road from there. You can loop back to Canon from Cripple Creek coming back down on Shelf Road. It's not as wide or easy as Phantom Canyon. It's just a narrow shelf that follows a cool canyon all the way down.

From Canon, you could head over to Westcliffe and down to Medano Pass and take the back route into the Great Sand Dunes National park that not many people get to see that go into the park the normal way.

Thanks about my trip report. If only you had posted on this thread when I was in Colorado Springs, I would have made an effort to meet you and say hello.

Skyline Drive is really a nice and scary drive. I am not surprised there can be a rollover. But that can be deadly, since that road is very high and there is a long fall on each side.

Very funny about the Texas guy who did not return for the job.

Thanks for the local intel about some other cool roads in the area. Well, I hope I can visit those someday since these days, nothing in the future is guaranteed as life is changing a lot these days with plans.

 

[Tucsontom]

Great photos and Drone Photos - thanks for the trip report!

 

[vhercules]

@PetitFrereArmada - reading your july trips every year has been exciting and something I look forward to, this year being no different. Some great pics and trip details here. I am yet to read it in much detail.
On a slight tangent - regarding your rig the QX56, is there a thread / link which highlights pros / cons, what you like and what you think could have been better, ownership experience ?

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

@PetitFrereArmada - reading your july trips every year has been exciting and something I look forward to, this year being no different. Some great pics and trip details here. I am yet to read it in much detail.
On a slight tangent - regarding your rig the QX56, is there a thread / link which highlights pros / cons, what you like and what you think could have been better, ownership experience ?

Thanks for the compliment about my July road trips. I have been really lucky taking them. No guarantees I will take them in the future years, but I am hoping I will have the time and money to do it again.

As for my QX56, I really love it. But it is a love and hate relationship. I have 2 threads for you to look at to get some more information. But in summary.

I bought it with 79,000 miles on odometer. I have owned it for almost 5 years now. It now has 164800 miles. I love the car so I have maintained it as best as I can. It runs great! But like many other cars out there, it has had its own share of problems. When I bought it, I bought an extend warranty for 4 years that cost me about $3,700. My extended warranty is expired now, but as of the date it expired, my extended warranty company had paid out over $22,000 in maintenance and repair cost for my QX56. You read it right. I am not even making a mistake. My extended warranty has paid out over $22,000 to 1 dealership over the years to maintain my car with all the problems it came up with and high priced electronics that went out.

Here below is the thread about all of that. Before you scream about the cost they have paid, I will say it took me a while, but I finally realized that the dealership I always took my car for repairs to really loved my extended warranty company and I feel they wanted to milk it. For example. I will take my car to the dealership for 1 problem. The dealership will keep the car and call me the next day and say they found 3 other problems. Before I could say I do not need those fixed, they will tell me my warranty company has agreed to cover them. So, each time I took my car there, they would find things wrong with my car that my warranty would pay for. Then they will fix it for me. The first time I ever took this car in for repairs was after my first road trip and I had broken some things on my suspension that I did not know about. I dropped my car at the dealership and they called me the next day to tell me my cost of repair would be $12,000. This is after 7 months of owning this car.

As of today, which is almost 5 years now, my extended warranty has paid a total of over $22,000 for repairs while I have personally spent about $6,000 out of pocket. So, that is a total cost of $28,000 in maintenance for 5 years of ownership.

Can my Extended Warranty company cancel my policy after paying out over $18,000?

Then this is a link to very good details about all the things that have been done to my car. Though I missed recording a good amount at one time.

Major maintenance on 2012 Infiniti QX56

You asked: what you like and what you think could have been better, ownership experience ? pros/cons

Me..........
Pros: I love the car. I was very lucky to have extended warranty. Car rides great. Very comfortable. I enjoy my mods. I love it on the trails.

Cons: Gas guzzler. Money pit. But that is because I consider my car as one of those cars that come out of the manufacturing plant as a bad apple. There are some people who own same car with high miles and not as many problems as what I have had.

I have thought of selling this car very seriously on 2 occasions. That was before I installed my lights. Now that I have those offroad lights on my car, I really love it some more. I am NOT selling it ever. I will drive it to the ground.

I have a 2008 Nissan Maxima that I bought brand new in 2008. It now 267,000 miles. I will drive that too to the ground before I ever think of another car.

 

[vhercules]

Wow, that is a lot of $$ on maintenance, good that you got the extended warranty. As you said you probably got a bad apple.
I took my time reading thru the entire trip and enjoying each picture. Hope you have many more of these enjoyable trips

 

[samuraj]

what is the name of this road ?

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

what is the name of this road ?

It is called Gemini Bridge Road. It is the road to Gemini Bridge. It is also called Gemini Bridge Trail.

That exact spot where I am is about a mile from Gemini Bridge Trailhead. Which is the start of the Gemini Bridge Trail. It is a very popular trail for mountain bikers.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Very nice trip report. I've been to many of the same places. Next time you're in SE Utah, check out Valley of the Gods and Moki Dugway. I'm sure you could get some awesome drone footage there! Best to do it in late September or October, though, when it's not so darned hot!

Funny that you took photos of Independence Pass and Skyline Drive in Canon City. I did both of them on my motorcycle this year, they are great motorcycle roads.