I left Humboldt County, CA, on July 3. Had to be in Boston on July 14. I had planned to spend a couple of days in Montreal. But, I ended up driving too much and had to spend three days in Montreal. Cool.

My route was Humboldt, Portland, Spokane, Cut Bank, Minot, Duluth, North Bay, Montreal, Boston. Minot was not fun. No water could be used in food prep and there was about 150 mile detour as I2 was closed going east. Quite a bit of the detour was dirt and gravel.

After Boston, it was Cooperstown, Lancaster, Roanoke. I'm in Roanoke now. Tomorrow, I head over to the Blue Ridge Parkway and head south.

I now have put more miles on in this trip than I did from when I bought the car in 12/2010 until I left on 7/3. The Fit is a 2010 Sport AT. The highest days mileage has been almost 41. Typically it's 37/38. I'm doing this trip solo with about 200 hours of audio tapes. I turn 65 this month.

Stock seats are comfy. Had my first 5-Hour Energy drink yesterday morning. Woke me right up. Armrest is marginally usefull. Glad I have it. Love the Nuvi 265 and the new Garmin dashtop mount is great.

Thought I had better check in. Only problem has been the driver mirror cover got ripped off at a carwash. Not the carwash's fault. I backed up and snagged it on the pay kiosk and didn't notice it. A few hundred miles away I saw what had happened. New one is $40.

No problem with overheating. Using the air conditioning a lot.

 

One old timer to another, nothing like enjoying the open road, eh? I've always wanted to take that northern route. You're going to enjoy the Blue Ridge but it's still going to be hot. Where are you going to start heading West?

Great MPG's out of an AT w/ AC. Happy motoring.

 

The Blueridge Parkway is a wonderful road. Made with the Fit in mind (if it were made today). Don't expect to do more than about 45mph average on it.

If your path takes you down I75 be sure to wave as you pass by Kennesaw. There's a cute Civil War and Railroad museum here. The General of Buster Keaton fame is parked inside. OK it had a small role in the war what with being stolen by Yankee spies.

Cheers!

 

Since I was at Gettysburg and Antietam yesterday and I like comedy way better than I like war, I'll check it out if I can. Thanks

 

I use to live in Minot! If there wasn't a flood, it would have been a nice spot! Ive seen pictures and its very unfortunate!

 

On your way through Atlanta, the best stop for food if you have a taste for Southern cooking is Mary Mac's Tea Room. It's about 10 minutes east of I75 in downtown Atlanta (don't worry, I guarantee you safe passage). It's the place of presidents and paupers. At least where country fried steak and fried green tomatoes are concerned. Billy Bob says two thumbs up. And you can check out Olympic Park too. When you pass by a hamburger joint called The Varsity, my best advice is to pass by. Unless of course you like heartburn and cries of, "Wadayahav?"

 

Road trips are fun when you can do them at your own pace with no time constraints.

Last summer I did this one...

Rouyn-Noranda, QC, Canada to Schertz, TX - Google Maps

Unfortunately, that trip was done in a 2001 Dodge Neon... I would have had a much better trip in my Fit.

Is this the route you took from Duluth to Montreal?

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&cp=31&gs_id=3&xhr=t&q=from:duluth,+mn+t o:montreal,+qc&qe=ZnJvbTpkdWx1dGgsIG1uIHRvOm1vbnRy ZWFsLCBxYw&qesig=S2Dym0_0ih7euMinsUid5g&pkc=AFgZ2t lo7Tcq_k0N3zFzuyjLri7WajYRjgZUAWCoUBMSx4BBvmMFleSA oBhhLxszKGebdbN95C6D0ZN2gvdumK-RquIubPMgTw&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.& biw=1336&bih=574&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

The route up by Thunder Bay is quite nice... some very isolated stretches of highway up there.

 

Can't agree more - but being retired now makes it a more attainable goal. Last cross country I still had that 'work habit'. I might try your route west bound out of NY, and aim for Fargo. dod should be catching views on the BR now.

 

I can't wait to go on my first cross country road trip. Take any pictures? Drive safely.

 

hey have a safe trip! keep us posted on your journey... take picts long the way.

 

I've learned that if you order a Honda part where I am before 3pm, the dealer can get it by the next morning. I arrived after 3 in Asheville, NC, after driving the BRP from Roanoke ot here. Did take pics. Will post after I get home. But, I digress. I needed to figure where I would be leaving from in two days. I decided on Birmingham. Called the parts department at a dealer there and ordered the part making sure their parts department would be open on Saturday. Today, I lunch in Chatanooga, TN, and have dinner in Gadsden, AL. Part of the fun of this trip is using Yelp and Trip Advisor and sorting through the BS. Satuday, I'll pick up the part in the morning then drive to New Orleans where I'll spend a couple of days. Café du Monde her I come.

 

What part?

Yes, pics please.

The Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga is the cat's pajamas. Largest fresh water aquarium in the world. Some lake monsters there that will make you think Jaws is a sissy. Well maybe not.

 

Hi Steve. I was in Chatanooga two hours ago. Had lunch at the Formosa Restaurant.

The part was the plastic shell on the front of the mirror. I pick it up at Serra Honda at 9am tomorrow morning in Birmingham on the way to New Orleans.

I have my camera-less iPad with me. I'll have to wait until I get home as I don't have a way to get the files jpg'ed and onto the iPad. Please no solutions.

Wet and toasty ... not a combination we get in Humboldt County, CA.

 

Oops. I was in Chatanooga a couple of hours ago. The part is the plastic shell in the front of the mirror.

One of the few issues with just an iPad on the road is not being able to get RAW files transferred and jpg'd. Have to wait until I get home. Please, no suggestions

 

Have fun in the Big Easy. Looking forward to your report!

 

Left Gadsden, AL, this morning. Stopped at Serra Honda in Birmingham and the mirror shell had arrived. I gotta say that getting that onto the car made it seem new all over again. Didn't make any noticeable difference in mileage. Then it was on to New Orleans. As soon as I got settled, I was off walking to Café du Monde. Went out to the river and called a friend at home. In the middle of the call, the dark cloud above me exploded into a thunderstorm. Got really overheated walking back to hotel in the 90 degree downpour. The Fit is running like a watch. I'm getting real close to the first service. Minder is down to 20%. Will probably get it serviced in Memphis.

 

aye, a hurt mirror is like a sore thumb. That must've been nagging for the last couple thousand miles...

NO is probably steamy right now. How do you feel about the Fit's A/C at this point?

 

The AC is great! I've had it on for the last five thousand miles and have cosistenly gotten 37/38mpg with a high of 41. If you're hot you're hot, with AC you're not.

 

Not only go the Fit serviced in Memphis, but got to sing on the exact mark in recording room of Sun Studio where Elvis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, etc. got their careers off the ground. Alas, no contract.

I'm now in Cody, Wyoming. Just about 8000 miles on the trip. I've made quite a few of the Fitfreak mods. But, the one that has served me best on the trip is the McMaster-Carr plastic mesh behine the lower grill. I got a bazillion grasshoppers in it and none in the AC condenser.

I also learned that if you hit/graze one of those red plastic post-style roadwork markers at 40mph, that it won't leave a mark let alone rip off the fender.

We don't have a Walmart where I live (nimby). But, I've found them to be wonderful as a one-stop shop for the crap you must have anywhere you are. Store layouts seem to be the same. So, you can find stuff fast once you learn the layout.

Also, I've found that the day goes better in the morning if I start with protein from an egg-mc-sausage type thing from a fast food place. There have been three days out of the month where I was getting dopey in the afternoon. 5-Hour energy drinks really work and they're so small you don't have to pee right away.

I'm just now finishing up the unabridged audiobook Anathem. As the book is over 1000 pages long, the one audiobook has taken me most of the way acrosss the country. It started out really dry. But as I had nothing else to do, I've made it all the way through. All in all a thought provoking book not for everybody.

Now that I'm babbling on about crap you don't care about, I better wrap this up as I have a 520 mile day tomorrow.

 

Ha ha, used to live in Memphis, close to that studio. How was the weather, sticky? Safe trip!