Nonsense Thread

[Reichart12]

Thinking it would take somewhere near 2 months. Seem reasonable?

I can toss a couple ideas in as I have driven most of the northern sections. The road from Humboldt up to Astoria OR, just northwest of Portland has a lot of fun stop points. I did it in reverse one year going from Seattle to Humboldt over three days, two nights.

And where you hit West Yellowstone is not actually inside the Yellowstone National Park. I worked occasionally in the park and would recommend a full day to hit all the tourist spots doing the loop. Traffic in the park can be brutal in June and most accommodations book up early. Always happy to offer suggestions for the area. Lived in Bozeman and would go to YNP for work occasionally.

Reasonable route, the best time to see yellowstone is winter, IMO. It's gorgeous in the winter and far less crowded but that makes a road trip complicated with all of the closures and things that are better in other seasons.

Call me non-adventurous but I was not a fan of Yellowstone in the winter. Had to snowmobile and snowshoe to get to the hot springs I studied. That was fun, but maybe I just hate the extreme cold.

[econti]

I can toss a couple ideas in as I have driven most of the northern sections. The road from Humboldt up to Astoria OR, just northwest of Portland has a lot of fun stop points. I did it in reverse one year going from Seattle to Humboldt over three days, two nights.

And where you hit West Yellowstone is not actually inside the Yellowstone National Park. I worked occasionally in the park and would recommend a full day to hit all the tourist spots doing the loop. Traffic in the park can be brutal in June and most accommodations book up early. Always happy to offer suggestions for the area. Lived in Bozeman and would go to YNP for work occasionally.

Google Maps wouldn't let me put in the Park as a destination because the roads are currently closed, and there's no way to make it ignore the closures. It's very frustrating but at least it gives me a general idea of route and distance. Same as the ideal route past the Cascades, Route 20, is closed so it won't let me follow that.

Trip has to be done in summer, the E30 Picnic is a must-do for me, so I'm basing it around that

[808ETA]

Last weekend in June apparently. I'm in Australia, so it will be quite expensive, but if I've got the money I want to do it. Would ideally do it in a 325ix or a E34 ix.

Not my ad or any affiliation but I saw this ad a few weeks ago on the M5board forum. https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/c...575404852.html



Euro imported 1995 Alpina B10 Allrad Touring based on the 525ix witch is all wheel drive 5 speed manual transmission. Engine & Drivetrain of 70
Vin: WAP BA3 OTO 4E31 0024
-new windshield
-new tires
-alignment
-new spark plugs
-new oil
-new oil filter
-new air and cabin filter
-new valve cover gasket
-recharged AC
-new alternator regulator
-1 rear caliper new
- suspension refresh

Located in Chicago, IL

[moatilliatta]

Local just picked up a b10 Allred E34 of BAT.

Kinda cool in a collector way.

[Chilezen]

Thoughts? Wouldn't let me route the whole way I would want to because Google Maps won't let me ignore road closures. Basically the whole way up PCH, to Spanaway in time for E30 picnic, then the loop back down.
I am very spontaneous with my destinations, these are just a rough idea of places that seem nice, I typically route on the fly by what seems nice and what locals say.

Thinking it would take somewhere near 2 months. Seem reasonable?

My route to the E30 Picnic last year, from LA, just as you have outlined, was similar. I did PCH/Highway 1/101 for most of the route up.

Part of me wanted to stop much more often than I did, and the other part just kept wanting to reach my destinations so I could relax. I took 3 days to get up to Washington, and spent maybe 5 to come back down. Nature is great but the drive gets boring when you don't take enough breaks. So, enjoy the nature as much as you can--which is what it looks like you'll do as you've allotted 2 months for this!

I would give at least 2 nights for the major cities like LA, San Francisco, Portland, etc. There's so much to do there, and so many unique foods and places to eat. And if you're the kind of person, I recommend a haunted city tour for each of them. It's such a great way to learn about a city's history through the terrors that helped build them. Like the Shanghai Tunnels of Portland. That's some stuff I never would have read in my school's history books.

I don't really know what else to say. The coast and the redwoods speak for themselves.. really all of them you chose are good selections. One resource you may find useful is https://www.ace.aaa.com/aaa-insider/travel.html. Just type in a location, it's pretty good with recommendations.

[DEV0 E30]

My route to the E30 Picnic last year, from LA, just as you have outlined, was similar. I did PCH/Highway 1/101 for most of the route up.

Part of me wanted to stop much more often than I did, and the other part just kept wanting to reach my destinations so I could relax. I took 3 days to get up to Washington, and spent maybe 5 to come back down. Nature is great but the drive gets boring when you don't take enough breaks. So, enjoy the nature as much as you can--which is what it looks like you'll do as you've allotted 2 months for this!

I would give at least 2 nights for the major cities like LA, San Francisco, Portland, etc. There's so much to do there, and so many unique foods and places to eat. And if you're the kind of person, I recommend a haunted city tour for each of them. It's such a great way to learn about a city's history through the terrors that helped build them. Like the Shanghai Tunnels of Portland. That's some stuff I never would have read in my school's history books.

I don't really know what else to say. The coast and the redwoods speak for themselves.. really all of them you chose are good selections. One resource you may find useful is https://www.ace.aaa.com/aaa-insider/travel.html. Just type in a location, it's pretty good with recommendations.

Wow, you've outlined nearly exactly what I want to do E30 Picnic being the end destination. Probably not this year, but maybe next.

[Chilezen]

Wow, you've outlined nearly exactly what I want to do E30 Picnic being the end destination. Probably not this year, but maybe next.

There was a group from LA that went to the E30 Picnic as well, but they did a straight shot-- up and down the 5. I could do it if I had to, but god that would be so boring. Actually, I did that back in 2016. Oregon is nice but California was lame.

So yeah. It all depends on what you can allot time for. The concern for us all working-class folks is being able to get 2 weeks off from work. For me, that meant no other paid days off for the entire year.
The company you have is obviously super important to. I went with my girlfriend, and a lot of the time, I wish I was by myself lol. I tried to keep to a schedule but she wanted to stop a lot. Well, I wanted to stop too, but we had to make checkpoints.. and were often late.
We stayed primarily at AirBnb's. I kinda wish we stayed at more motels, just because it wouldn't have mattered if we got in late. But there was one spot in SF we loved; it was one of those Victorian houses in the middle of the city. It's cool to be in something so different than your standard house.
I have a friend who lives in Vancouver, Washington. It's the city just north of Portland. He had us stay with him because he knows that Portland has lots of crime and vehicular break-ins. So we stayed there and got rides on public transit so that I didn't risk my car getting broken into.

The trip can be whatever you want it to be. Quick, easy, stressful, fun. The more time, the better.

[econti]

We stayed primarily at AirBnb's. I kinda wish we stayed at more motels, just because it wouldn't have mattered if we got in late.

I don't know if its me, but AirBNB seems to have changed. Used to be cheap casual accomodation in a normal house but now it seems to usually be the same price as a medium hotel and with more rules. It's a shame

[Chilezen]

I don't know if its me, but AirBNB seems to have changed. Used to be cheap casual accomodation in a normal house but now it seems to usually be the same price as a medium hotel and with more rules. It's a shame

Absolutely agree. For an upcoming trip, I looked, but Airbnb stuff just doesn't seem worth it anymore. The rules and expectations don't make sense for the price.. better off paying for a boring room and saving that extra money for the area you wanted to explore in the first place.

Funny story. For that Washington trip I did with my girlfriend last year, one of our overnight accommodations was a tree house. Neat right? It looked fine in the pictures, and the price reflected the expectations. Nothing extravagant.
The listing said it was in an encampment off the grid. We were okay with that, we wanted something different. It said there would be a dirt road to get there, but nothing crazy; the listing said that their Civic makes the drive no problem.
I'm thinking, okay, I've done dirt roads with my lowered car. It's lower than stock but usable on any normal roads. I don't have to clench my cheeks for every dip in the road.

My girlfriend is the one that books the spot. She's given directions for the location, naturally. I don't look them over because hey, how bad can it be.
It's getting late at night. We're in the closest city to get a few supplies before heading out to the tree house/camp site. I forgot to bring a bottle of propane for our stove, oops. Checked 3 stores, none have any. Fudge. So we decide to eat like kings at McDonald's. By the time we're done, it's nearing 11PM. We should have already been there, but it is what it is.

Up the highway, into the forest. Over the hills, through the woods. This is taking a while. There's the turn-off, finally. 2-3 miles of paved road, great. Make a left at this checkpoint, and begin the dirt road.
Fellas, this was no simple dirt road. This was every crevice on the earth, condensed into the 6-gruuuueling-miles long journey deep into the forest. Bushes could brush my hand when out the window. Birds yelled at me to turn off the lights. Holes to China kept trying to steal my tires. The only thing missing was a desperate tow truck driver waiting for me to make a call. I was constantly feathering the clutch, and once in a while could make it into second gear. Some areas were wide enough for two cars, which I utilized to zig-zag around every untrustworthy pit in the "road." But sure, your average Civic could make it, if you didn't give a flying f ck about it.

And then, towards the end, you get, to, the river. A large vehicle could forge this. My dainty 2WD Tacoma could cross it as the water level was low and relatively weak. But my E30 could not. And frankly neither could a Civic. But fear not, there was a bridge!
A bridge, one that had stone approaches and the bare minimum of metal slats, spaced 3 inches apart, spanning the 20-foot crossing.
It wasn't the little bridge that had me worried. I walked it. I almost slipped and died on it. I wasn't concerned about the integrity of the bridge, at all. I was concerned about the immediate grade up to the bridge, from level, to like 20 degrees, straight back to level, within a span of maybe 10 feet. I drove up to it, and knew I was going to scrape and scrape and scrape. I knew I would destroy my oil pan if I hadn't already. I knew I would beach it. I would destroy the exhaust system I just built, and it would pull all the new exhaust studs right out of the head. So I said no. We're not doing this. We're not going one more mile after this bridge (the camp site was only a hundred yards from the bridge, so I'm told) but I wasn't going to try and angle it, or anything to make this work. No way.

So I drive in reverse for as long as I need to until there's enough space for me to make a 6-point turn. In the middle of the night, in the middle of the forest, in the middle of Northern California. I crawl my way back, keeping an eye on my engine temp (because that's been a problem), looking for the safest path between the trees. For 6 goddamn more miles. Waiting for any crazy person to come up and kill us, because of how easy that could have been.
But here we are, we made it. Off the dirt, then back on the highway. Past midnight now. Now what? Still in the middle of nowhere, still no cell signal. Actually there's finally enough signal for the map to load. Okay... closest civilization is back down the way we came. It's counter productive, but the next town ahead is about twice the distance with no guarantees of accommodations. Honestly, nowhere will be a guarantee, but it's late and I'm tired, so back down, about 30 minutes, to the closest city.

My girl falls asleep once we hit the highway. I wake her up once we're close to town, and have her call a few spots for a vacancy. One's open. We show up. The only room left is their jacuzzi room. I've never heard of that! It's outside the room, right? No, it's right next to the bed! Wow, living in luxury here. A hundred-some bucks later, and we're not sleeping in the car for a second night. (Yeah the first night didn't go well either lol).
No we didn't use the jacuzzi.

The host took days to respond, and didn't understand why we didn't show up. Eventually Airbnb refunded our money.

My girlfriend still wants to stay in a tree house one day. I guess the story's not over yet.

[DEV0 E30]

I used to do the 6-8, 9-10, or even 15-20 hour treks (more like cannoball runs) to Bimmerfest and the like. Since California is only a state away, it's easy to do that most of the time, even just a weekend or extended weekend. But that was a decade or more ago, and I agree driving solo or in a caravan of like-minded younger people makes it entertaining or faster for sure, pros and cons to that. Now, being a little older, maybe a little wiser and having the lady along for the trip - I think a few more stops and along the way on the next E30 trip would be the way to go. It won't be as plush as the Luxobarge trips we've done, but I've still yet to make it to the Picnic, so that's a must.

I don't know if its me, but AirBNB seems to have changed. Used to be cheap casual accomodation in a normal house but now it seems to usually be the same price as a medium hotel and with more rules. It's a shame

You're not wrong, for me it's stuff like the cleaning fees that jumped considerably compared to what they used to be. My lady and I literally left every single place we have stayed spotless, cleaned up after ourselves, etc. I can't fathom the cleaning fees. Obviously with AirBNB it's about the experience and staying somewhere unique and is close to things that maybe Hotels/Motels wouldn't be near, but if it's a spot to rest only without fun/cool things nearby, yeah - we've already realized that we won't be staying at AirBNB's as much as we used to. Still for special occasions or unique stays perhaps, but it's gotta be worth it. It truly is more expensive than most hotels now, there are other sites or ways to get around AirBNB's if the place is listed elsewhere, but that's not always the case.

Absolutely agree. For an upcoming trip, I looked, but Airbnb stuff just doesn't seem worth it anymore. The rules and expectations don't make sense for the price.. better off paying for a boring room and saving that extra money for the area you wanted to explore in the first place.

Funny story.

[not so funny story clipped for scrolling]

1000% Agreed with you there.

And nice story telling. My travel/only vehicle for most of the last few years is a large SUV - and a few of the AirBNB's you highlight why I was glad to have something that was on 33s.

Easy access? Sure, if you don't care about your car.

[MrBurgundy]

I think there are still come banger deals w Airbnb.

I'm heading to ABQ this weekend and I got a spot for 50 a night/20 dollar cleaning fee

Hotels are just so expensive nowadays. Like min 100 a night in ABQ for anything that's not a La Quinta

[econti]

It said there would be a dirt road to get there, but nothing crazy; the listing said that their Civic makes the drive no problem.
I'm thinking, okay, I've done dirt roads with my lowered car. It's lower than stock but usable on any normal roads. I don't have to clench my cheeks for every dip in the road.

You gotta remember that a normie's interpretation of fine probably includes blowing the front bumper right off and causing severe damage, but its fine because they don't notice until the mechanic says something at next service time.

I drive a small truck for work and the amount of people who say "access is fine no worries mate" because they have a SUV and can't comprehend that not everything behaves like a SUV is astounding.
I have torn up multiple lawns and been bogged a few times due to that, including someone who forgot to tell me that they aerated and watered the lawn the night before, and instead told me on the phone I should just drive right up to the house across the grass and it'd be all dandy.

[Chilezen]

I think there are still come banger deals w Airbnb.

I'm heading to ABQ this weekend and I got a spot for 50 a night/20 dollar cleaning fee

Hotels are just so expensive nowadays. Like min 100 a night in ABQ for anything that's not a La Quinta

Sweet, that's a deal. I believe you, they're still out there, just less common than what I remember.
Like a few years ago, 2018 I think, I was invited to the last day of SEMA by my boss who had an extra pass for the day. I found a dinky apartment complex next to the Las Vegas convention center, with one oddly colored bedroom, for like $55/night. Free parking behind a gate, access to the kitchen, and walking distance to the show. Perfectly suited my needs.

I've noticed with every room I have had stayed in, it seems like AirBnb requires a bedroom to have a minimum amount of "wall art". So anytime I stayed somewhere, there was IKEA or Target or whatever generic prints and posters so the room wasn't too "bland". I'm sure the more expensive places I stayed at also had wall art, but at least they worked well and blended in with the room...

Anyway. Airbnb is nice service, when it meets the price you need it to be.

[MrBurgundy]

Dude that's so funny, because the place I just stayed in was exactly like that.

Off topic;

My buddy and I own some land up in the high desert, near Barstow (two hours from LA). It's off a main highway, about 3 miles down a dirt road.

The other weekend, we went out there in preparation for an event we're having out on the land and we noticed a huge water pit on our land. Like an Olympic sized swimming pool. We walk over and we notice massive tents that people use to grow pot.

We soon realized that our land has been hijacked to grow weed by the Mexicans..

People were still building when we were out there and we saw about 4 cars driving in to get to the grow location.

We get in the trucks and dip, because this is obviously sketch af. As we're driving out, we saw a massive dust cloud being kicked up from a couple cars that were blasting down the road.

The called the goons to come chase us out... the road is wide enough for traffic to go one way, so we just went around them and got back on the highway.

We called the Sherriff and they basically said it's a huge problem and they're gonna be a while until they can do anything out there since they're basically a cartel army.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-07-11/illegal-marijuana-grows-have-overrun-the-california-desert

Some pics from the land of their grow op.

Untitled by Omar Mountain, on Flickr

Untitled by Omar Mountain, on Flickr

[MR E30 325is]

Dude that's so funny, because the place I just stayed in was exactly like that.

Off topic;

My buddy and I own some land up in the high desert, near Barstow (two hours from LA). It's off a main highway, about 3 miles down a dirt road.

The other weekend, we went out there in preparation for an event we're having out on the land and we noticed a huge water pit on our land. Like an Olympic sized swimming pool. We walk over and we notice massive tents that people use to grow pot.

We soon realized that our land has been hijacked to grow weed by the Mexicans..

People were still building when we were out there and we saw about 4 cars driving in to get to the grow location.

We get in the trucks and dip, because this is obviously sketch af. As we're driving out, we saw a massive dust cloud being kicked up from a couple cars that were blasting down the road.

The called the goons to come chase us out... the road is wide enough for traffic to go one way, so we just went around them and got back on the highway.

We called the Sherriff and they basically said it's a huge problem and they're gonna be a while until they can do anything out there since they're basically a cartel army.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-07-11/illegal-marijuana-grows-have-overrun-the-california-desert

Some pics from the land of their grow op.

Untitled by Omar Mountain, on Flickr

Untitled by Omar Mountain, on Flickr

Get the fuck outta here.

Geez. Best of luck my friend.