Summer 1987 - a buddy of mine and I did a completely no-agenda Denver - San Fran - HWY 1 all the way to Vancouver - back to Denver via blue roads only trip in my '79 RX-7. This was our "fairwell to childhood, going to college next month" rite of passage. The only agenda was the pair of David Bowie tickets in our pockets, 10 days later.
Vital stats:
Days on the road - 9 or 10
Miles - over 5,000
Nights slept indoors - 2 - friends and family we dropped in on
Nights of non-stop driving, at least 3
Cost - probably about $200 each, but those were 1987 dollars, probably cost more today
Supplies:
Cans of Stokes green chili (with Pork!) it doesn't count if you don't say "with pork!"
Cans of spaghetti-o's.
2 sleeping bags
1 tent
probably had a cooler with some drinks, but I don't remember
Big box of cassette tapes. They were like CD's, only smaller and tended to wear out. Especially Canned Heat "
going up the country.... and Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcgee - those two seemed to be the theme music for this trip.
To this day ranks as one of my favorite expeditions of all time - selected highlights:
1) Started by driving N on I25 out of Denver to "go to Canada". Within an hour we had turned around and headed for I70 to "go to California" instead.
2) Stopped at a campground on a 2 lane road that ran between I70 and Salt Lake, cooked Stokes green chili (with pork! still one of my favorites) in the can on a campfire and set up the tent. Ate the chili, got bored, took the tent down and hit the road just as the sun was setting.
3) I80 west of SLC at night. I'm not saying we were going fast, but I know for a fact that a 1st gen RX-7 will hold the needle at 125 on flat ground. For a long time. Don't do this at home. Speeding is horrible, I only did it to prove its a bad idea. etc....
4) Sun rise in Tahoe - forgot our sunglasses and had to buy some in the grocery store.
5) A/C quit in Sacramento. Car got very hot - drove in our boxer shorts until we hit the beach in San Fran. Got out, got very cold, got back in and got dressed.
6) Hwy 1 from San Fran to Vancouver. Two nights camped on the beach (even at 18 we did need to sleep eventually). Wide, sticky tires, an engine that loves to be over 5k and 5 gears to row - nothing better.
7) Can of spaghetti-o's exploding in the fire camped on the beach in Oregon, or possibly Northern CA. If you cook them in the can on an open fire, use a stick to poke an air-hole to the bottom of the can - otherwise the spaghetti-o's congeal on the top, the pressure builds up on the bottom, and then they fly all over camp.
8) Making the decision to drive back to Denver without using an interstate highway. Didn't break that rule until Hwy 9 hit I70 in Silverthorne, and by then we only had 2 hours to get to the concert anyway.
Somewhere there is a box of 35mm slides.... I can't believe it's been 21 years, thanks for the chance to relive a great trip. I need to call that guy....
-Matt
