Clements BBQ Road Trip

[Plymouthy Adams]

Am pleased to be on this adventure with you, albeit from the comfort of my den, with hot cup of coffee and my feet propped up.  Keep racking up them miles, stay safe out there.  Quite the adventure in a vintage truck.

[wallytoo]

good work, merle.  not always easy to get stuff diagnosed under the pressure of a road trip.  might haven take a bit longer than you wanted, but you stuck with it.

 

i wish i could do the trip to clements with my dodge, too, but 6200 miles is a bit much for the old 1.5-ton to do in a two-week period.  that, and 4 to 6 mpg would kill me, or rather, my bank account (or credit card).  that would be a might over $5200 in gas alone, nevermind food etc.

Edited April 7 by wallytoo

[Jim Shepard]

Boy! I am way jealous! What a great experience. Hey! You could always do Route 66 on the way home. After all, it is the centennial year…

[Plymouthy Adams]

best thing about route 66 for me is I do not have to drive...I believe that one time in America the great highway was an enjoyment...now it is a crusty derelict highway of the past.   Of those that have driven it and posted pictures and such....what an dump site it has become in and about the still somewhat active tourist traps.

[Merle Coggins]

I looked at Route 66, but it goes to southern CA. That would take me way out of the way to get to the BBQ. Plus many sections are gone now and you need to do stints in Interstate to connect the dots. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

Friend did it in a MG Midget about 3 years ago...taking the old section not really maintained and l think his only problem was dragging off a muffler....one of the forum guys along the route bailed him out with loan of his shop tools and bailing wire......The little beast did the journey from central Kentucky to Chicago trail head to the pier in Calif. and back to Mississloppy River where he crossed and headed back to home.   Seen a lot of pics taken by his camera carrying side kick who did an excellent job recording the trip.  Better them than me. Natchez trace, Cherokee Foothills trail, SC 11, Blue Ridge Parkway and lots and lots of old highway 52 stay on this side of the river.

[TodFitch]

1 hour ago, Merle Coggins said:

I looked at Route 66, but it goes to southern CA. That would take me way out of the way to get to the BBQ. Plus many sections are gone now and you need to do stints in Interstate to connect the dots. 

The Lincoln Highway route would probably be better aligned for your trip. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Highway and https://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/map/

 

Now that I am older the section through Nevada is on US-50 (“America’s Loneliest Highway”) is a bit too empty for my liking with a 90 year old vehicle. Back when I got the car and both it and I were 50 years younger I would have done it (and in fact did some sections).

[Merle Coggins]

Road Trip Day 4, April 7th. 

Steamboat Springs, CO to Provo, UT. 314.2 miles recorded on the odometer, 327.3 miles recorded on the Garmin. 

 

Today was boring, in regards to the route. I left the hotel and got on US-40 west and followed that all the way to Heber City, UT, then turned south on US-189 into Provo. No roadside attractions today. 

 

Leaving Steamboat Springs left the more rugged mountain terrain behind and we were soon in fairly open high plains, cattle country. One thing I noticed is that, much like Wyoming, there are very few trees here. 

 

Further west there were some smaller evergreen trees, but as I went west it became more arid. By the time I got into Utah it was more like high desert climate. 

 

There were some cliff faces that were a bright red color, somewhat reminding me of the Badlands of SD. 

 

Once I got west of Duchesne, and closer to the Salt Lake area, more mountains started looming. There were some more modest mountain grades to traverse today.They weren't too bad today. I didn't get into the snowy peaks today, but they were fun to see on the horizon. 

 

I rolled into the hotel at 2:30 this afternoon. An uneventful day. Much welcomed after yesterday. A nice easy 7.5 hour day. 

 

[John-T-53]

18 hours ago, Merle Coggins said:

Road Trip Day 4, April 7th. 

Steamboat Springs, CO to Provo, UT. 314.2 miles recorded on the odometer, 327.3 miles recorded on the Garmin. 

 

Today was boring, in regards to the route. I left the hotel and got on US-40 west and followed that all the way to Heber City, UT, then turned south on US-189 into Provo. No roadside attractions today. 

 

Leaving Steamboat Springs left the more rugged mountain terrain behind and we were soon in fairly open high plains, cattle country. One thing I noticed is that, much like Wyoming, there are very few trees here. 

 

 

Further west there were some smaller evergreen trees, but as I went west it became more arid. By the time I got into Utah it was more like high desert climate. 

 

 

There were some cliff faces that were a bright red color, somewhat reminding me of the Badlands of SD. 

 

 

Once I got west of Duchesne, and closer to the Salt Lake area, more mountains started looming. There were some more modest mountain grades to traverse today.They weren't too bad today. I didn't get into the snowy peaks today, but they were fun to see on the horizon. 

 

 

I rolled into the hotel at 2:30 this afternoon. An uneventful day. Much welcomed after yesterday. A nice easy 7.5 hour day. 

 

 

You passed just north of Skinwalker Ranch.... see any UAPs out your windshield?

 

 

 

Edited April 8 by John-T-53

[Bobacuda]

Your trials and tribulations make an interesting adventure. They are examples of the reasons my wife won’t let me take my old-timers on long trips 😁

 

Reminds me of Bamberg Garage’s trip way north in their ‘48(?) Dodge car. That was a great read. 
 

it’s a shame a TV program doesn’t sponsor, tag along, and make a documentaries of these old car/truck adventures. 

Edited April 8 by Bobacuda

[ggdad1951]

2 hours ago, John-T-53 said:

 

You passed just north of Skinwalker Ranch.... see any UAPs out your windshield?

 

 

 

 

AND near Blind Frog....hidden Aztec gold and "energy zones".....

[Merle Coggins]

7 hours ago, John-T-53 said:

 

You passed just north of Skinwalker Ranch.... see any UAPs out your windshield?

 

 

 

 

Don't know what a UAP is, so not sure if I saw any or not. 

[Merle Coggins]

Road Trip Day 5. April 8th. 

Provo, UT to Fallon, NV. 483 miles recorded on the odometer. 503.2 miles recorded by Garmin. 

 

I fueled up across the street from the hotel at a Maverik and got on the road around 7:00. I took come local streets to get to CO-77, then CO-147, and CO-141, which got me down to US-6. Eventually that merged with US-50 and I followed that all the way into Fallon. 

 

It was another uneventful day, void of any roadside attractions. It was going to be a long enough day of just driving. The route took be over several mountain passes, ranging between 6500 feet and 7500 feet elevation. In between the mountain ranges was high plains cattle country, or desert. A lot of wide open road followed by a mountain climb, then down the other side into wide open road again... lather, rinse, repeat... 

 

I mapped out my gas stops in advance, from Google maps info, so that took a lot of stress away, knowing finding gas wouldn't be a worry. All in all, just a long day of driving a long lonely highway. 

 

 

 

I rolled into the hotel just before 4:00PM, Pacific time. Right around 10 hours to go 500 miles. Not bad. 

[TodFitch]

1 hour ago, Merle Coggins said:

. . .The route took be over several mountain passes, ranging between 6500 feet and 7500 feet elevation. In between the mountain ranges was high plains cattle country, or desert. A lot of wide open road followed by a mountain climb, then down the other side into wide open road again... lather, rinse, repeat...

 

There is a reason that whole area is called "basin and range". Range being mountains rather than open cattle land.

 

And you have take some of what was the old Lincoln Highway.

[Plymouthy Adams]

only thing missing in that picture is a coyote and a roadrunner.....

[TodFitch]

27 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

only thing missing in that picture is a coyote and a roadrunner.....

On a local day hike not two long ago we saw a coyote followed a few minutes later by a roadrunner. . . I started looking around for boxes with “Acme” labeling but did not see any.

[Merle Coggins]

9 hours ago, TodFitch said:

There is a reason that whole area is called "basin and range". Range being mountains rather than open cattle land.

 

And you have take some of what was the old Lincoln Highway.

 

It's still marked as the Lincoln Highway. 

 

9 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

only thing missing in that picture is a coyote and a roadrunner.....

 

Probably too far north for that. Just cows and a couple deer. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

9 hours ago, TodFitch said:

On a local day hike not two long ago we saw a coyote followed a few minutes later by a roadrunner. . . I started looking around for boxes with “Acme” labeling but did not see any.

 

 

tell me we could not use a good shipping company like ACME about now......I don't think Wiley ever had to pat his foot 4 times before getting his stuff delivered.

[ggdad1951]

continuing to check...things SEEM to be improving:

 

Your Sunday window (this is the important part)

Looking at updated forecasts around Carson Pass / Sierra crossings:

• Sunday: Mostly sunny
• Temps: around 55–60°F at pass level
• Winds: lighter than Saturday
• No new snow expected

Which sounds lovely… until you remember what just happened the day before.

[DJ194950]

The day before?  ⛷️🏂

 

Ya mean the 3-4 ft. of snow in the mountain passes East of Clements, ca.??

 

Everyone got 4 WD. don't they.?

Snow tires too?   

Tire chains on board??

 

Monday or so all will be great time for return trips or local valley sight seeing!

 

DJ

[Merle Coggins]

Road Trip Day 6. April 9th.

I MADE IT!!! Fallon, NV to Clements, CA (Tim's Place) 188.3 miles recorded on the odometer. 196.3 miles according to Garmin. 

 

It was another nice morning when I left the hotel in Fallon. West on US-50 again into Carson City. Then US-395 south. In Mindon I got on NV-88, then a few miles down the road it becomes CA-88 as it crosses the state line. 

 

Shortly after that we start climbing. I needed 3rd gear a few times over this mountain pass. There would be a good hard uphill pull, followed by a little downhill (to give you hope), then more hard climb followed by another section of hope before more climb, etc. Eventually we got over the summit and it was mostly downhill after that. 

There's still a fair amount of snow up there. It's certainly not a road I'd want to traverse when it's snowing. 

 

 

I met up with Tim, Jim, and Charlie at Mel's Diner in Jackson. We had lunch and chatted for a while. 

 

From there we went to Tim's place where we sat around the shop and swapped more BS.

 

Finally around 4:00 I headed to my hotel and checked in. An easy day today. About 4 hours of driving, and about that much chatting with the guys. It's good to be here, but the journey is only half done. Odometer recorded 2226.1 miles so far. Garmin shows 2320.4, which is probably closer to accurate. 

 

Got out the tail gate grill for some celebratory steaks. 

 

 

 

Edited April 10 by Merle Coggins

[John-T-53]

Awesome! That looks like Silver Lake or Caples Lake above, right after Kirkwood ski resort. That landscape will be all white by Sunday!

[Merle Coggins]

Road Trip Day 7. April 10th. 

Not much to report today. I used the hotel guest laundry room for it's intended purpose, so now I have clean clothes for the return trip. I booked a couple alternate hotels for a possible alternate route out of here on Sunday. I really don't want to hammer interstate if I don't have to, but if the snow over the Sierra's is like they're saying, that may be the wise choice. Then I found a DIY car wash and gave the Ol' Dodge a bath. I even took the time to get out my shammy and wipe him down afterwards. Then, as soon as I pulled out of the wash bay it started raining. 🤣

After that I ran out to Tim and Stephanie's place to chat with those who were there. I'm now back at the hotel debating on what dinner will be. My wife and grandkids will be here later this evening, so that'll be fun. I haven't seen them (the kids) since last summer. 

Tomorrow is BBQ day. It may be a soggy one this year. I just looked at the forecast again and the rain percentages are much lower than when I last looked. Maybe we'll get lucky. 🤞

[Merle Coggins]

BBQ Road Trip, Day 8. April 11th. BBQ Day

The weather wasn't ideal today, but still several showed up. Primarily the regulars, although some weren't able to bring their trucks do to the weather yesterday. Luckily the heavy storms from last night gave way to intermittent showers throughout the region. We got lucky and only got a couple brief showers later in the afternoon. Otherwise it was just cool and windy. I believe we all had a good time. Thanks again, Tim and Stephanie for an awesome day. 

 

Here's what was there;

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason my truck seem to always gather a crowd. 

 

And I won the Best of Show trophy. (I think it was rigged☺️)

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

I think if nothing else you likely got the longest distance driven.