Cross Country Trip

[blktoptrvl]

Anybody ever taken the cross country diagonal route at this time of the year?

Any touble getting through Dakota, Montana, Idaho, or Washington due to snow storms and such?

Do they do a good job of sweeping the snow from the roads up there?

[bozo]

Wow, don't know much about the route, but it sounds like its going to be a blast!

[motordavid]

Hellsbells, we have done that route several times in real summer,
on M'cycles and have had seriousazz snow in MT,WY,ID,CO, et al...

But, in an X, with some careful Weather Channel viewing in the am
at the motel, I think you should be ok. A handheld CB wouldn't hurt
either to pass some time BS'ng with the east bound truckers for info.

I would expect some snow in the higer elevations, but "now" is better
than a month or, two from now.
GL,mD

[Michelle]

OP - You may want to edit the original image if that's your address displayed at the starting point.

Other than that, have a blast and take lots of pics along the way!

[blktoptrvl]

Originally Posted by Michelle

OP - You may want to edit the original image if that's your address displayed at the starting point.

Other than that, have a blast and take lots of pics along the way!

Thanks Michelle.

[Michelle]

Originally Posted by blktoptrvl

Thanks Michelle.

No problem.

[realchef]

Originally Posted by motordavid

Hellsbells, we have done that route several times in real summer,
on M'cycles and have had seriousazz snow in MT,WY,ID,CO, et al...

But, in an X, with some careful Weather Channel viewing in the am
at the motel, I think you should be ok. A handheld CB wouldn't hurt
either to pass some time BS'ng with the east bound truckers for info.

I would expect some snow in the higer elevations, but "now" is better
than a month or, two from now.
GL,mD

GO NOW!!
I spent time in WY. The highway roads are usually in great shape through the winter up there. The cities will be no diff than you have on the E.C. But it starts freezing in there soon. You will be just missing the mud season but not quite full winter.
Personally, I find the Winter is the best season in those parts. It really magnifies nature. Scenery is astounding when covered. The words majestic beauty come to mind. Grand Tetons is a MUST.

[blktoptrvl]

Originally Posted by realchef

GO NOW!!

Will not hit the road for another week/week and a half (job has to be confirmed first.)

Originally Posted by Michelle

Other than that, have a blast and take lots of pics along the way!

In my RX7, there is a strut bar between the rear shock towers. One of the nice things about this is that you can put a camera mount here and have your camera shoot through the windshield by remote control.

Unfortunately, I can find no great place to mount my camera in the X5. Anybody ever tired to mount a camera?

[sprocket1200]

rammount.com, these are fabulous mounts. we use the for dirtbiking so you will do fine with the in the XXX mobile...

[blktoptrvl]

OK, driving along at 80 mph...

It was a high wind day...

For the first time in my life I see "tumbleweeds" on the side of the road. I think to myself, that's cool! (I love seeing new things.)

The weeds are about the size of two basketballs and blow easily.

I start to think to myself, I wonder what those things would do if I hit one... I'd better slow down.

Suddenly, from over the Jersey barrier comes flying a 6' x 4' weed. It smacks dead into the grill and I then see it disappear as it rolls under the car.

So, I pull over to see what kind of damage it did and find that when it struck it shattered into thousands of pieces. and they are all jammed into the front air intakes.

I reach in to start pulling some out and it cuts my finger. They are hard, sharp, and very brittle.

Looking down, I find a stick and use it to start brushing the bits out of the grill. It all came out easy and didn't seem to do any real damage.

So, after I made sure the radiator was clear, I got back in and started driving - keeping an eye on the temperature for the first few minutes.