Escape from LA - Escape to New York

[Bootsy]

Good curry choice





And wise move hooking up with Mr Moore and Bainbridge.

[jackstowers]

Keep it coming, always dream of going to the US with a pocket full of $$$ to do a similar thing. Also started driving in a '67 1200 Beetle in '89 and wrecked a couple of engines!! Fixed or changed everything in 5 years some things twice and never bothered with that 4th bolt!
My 914 is about to leave NY on the 18th but made its way there on a trailer. Next time.

[J-Low]

But, I digress......

A road trip. I guess I’ve done a few in the past, without really considering them Road Trips..... More, a process of getting from A-B with a bit of sightseeing, or BASE jumping along the way. Like I said, a veteran of a few adrenalin sports.... Honestly, there’s nothing like stopping on a bridge & lobbing off the side to the sheer horror of passing motorists. You’ll have to forgive my somewhat 'gallows' sense of humour at times.... So, yes, I have left the UK in my car to drive sections of the Alps on the hunt for high cliffs to jump from- it’s ok, you can stop shaking your head in disbelief – I’ve given that hobby up.







I know what you are thinking: beige walking trousers are not a good look, but let me assure you, they were the hot colour for that season.....



It seems like forever-ago that I actually parted with lots of cash for Gloria & her suspension; & all I had to show for it was a list of bills I’d paid & a couple of photos I’d downloaded from her original advert, looking like that bored housewife. The start date always seemed to hover on the horizon; but time is a funny thing, isn’t it? There are days that seem to drag on & on, when you are clock watching & it feels like time is somehow being stretched & then other days when you are running around like a blue-arsed fly because there just aren’t enough minutes in the day & it all becomes too stressful & surely it can’t be that time already.....!!! Damn......

Well, I realised that date on the horizon just got really close. I looked back at my calendar, & there is an entry on October 29th that says ‘Prep USA’. I’ve got no idea what I thought the ’prep’ was going to be; but, it usually involves drinking lots of tea, & being sidetracked by looking at pretty things that have absolutely nothing to do with anything, on the internet, & then realising I have achieved nothing at all. Ah well. Put the kettle back on then...

I remembered the post office had dropped a ‘cannot deliver’ card through my letterbox; great a diversion, an excellent waste of time.... I know I’d had a few glasses of wine the other night, a dangerous thing when the laptop is open & not just because I am clumsy, but I could not for the life of me remember ordering anything.

Nope.

Drew a total blank.

I popped down to the sorting office, & picked up the package from Amazon, racking my brain, still drawing a puzzled as I pulled the book out of its packaging. You remember Colin, from the comedy club? Well, he’d obviously decided I needed some inspiration, & texted me ‘there’s nothing like diving into a good papyrus to research some ideas...’



I quite agree.

My flight departs Heathrow on November 6th, & to be honest, I hadn’t really thought much beyond buying the plane ticket. My window for the trip was November 6th out to LA, returning November 23rd from New York. Seems like loads of time to cover 4000 miles.... Now, let me tell you about a girl called Mouse I was friends with years ago. She was a Kiwi, & had that wandering, travelling bug; I remember one night, when I lived in London, she was supposed to be leaving for a season in Switzerland snowboarding, & I was going out to some party. On the spur of the moment, she grabbed her passport & credit card from her bag declaring ‘What the hell.......’. Her bags left with her other mates for the Alps, & we went out & partied. That moment had a huge impact on me, & now, as long as I have a passport & credit card to hand, I don’t tend to worry about too much else....

Talking of cups of tea, I could really do with a brew..... Then, I'll tell you about my plan.

[neilbardsley]

Base jumping! I didn't see that coming. Bloody brave or silly Clearly buying a US car blind is not too scary a jump for you.

[J-Low]

Ever had one of those weeks...? You know, when one day just merges into the next punctuated only by the necessity to eat & sleep.... I can't wait to go on holiday. Where was our summer? The weather check in LA tells me it's going to be 32 degrees C, & I can't wait to get off that plane & remember what summer weather feels like.

In the days leading up to my flight to LA, I checked in with Marco at TLG to make sure everything was going to be ready on time. There were just a few last minute jobs; odds & ends really, & everything's running to schedule. Then these photos started dropping into my inbox...:

Gloria at the Post Office


Gloria goes for coffee


Gloria in her garage...


I'm cracking up laughing, it's like that summer holiday when you & a bunch of mates think its a really good idea to steal a garden gnome & take it on holiday with you, posting pictures back to the poor, unwitting owners..... It was, however, her 'extended road test', & she performed on cue every time.

The flight was delayed, I'd let Marco know I was going to be late picking up Gloria, & thankfully, he worked round it & met me at a bus station late on in the evening.



Did I mention The Plan? Well, The Plan was: I had no plan. I'm working on a strictly agenda-free basis. I have a plane ticket, passport & credit card; plus, an awesome set of wheels when I arrive. She's insured, serviced & ready to go. I'm constrained only by the start date & end date, so I figured everything else in between could fall into place of its own accord. No map, no guide books, no hotel bookings, no route or itinerary. No plan. Oh, but, I had downloaded the American maps onto my satnav, that was my planning.

It's great to finally put a face to the voice that's been guiding me along for the last 3 months, & we head over to his workshop. It's funny, you know, laying eyes on her for the first time. There's so much that seems familiar... Perfect lines, perfect gaps, she just felt good all round. It's that smell. You know.... Warm vinyl, oil, the smell of a car that's been driven. It's all good. Now, the Porsche ownership experience can really begin....

Inevitably, Marco asks the question
"So, what's the plan?"
"Umm, there is no plan..."
"Where are you staying tonight?"
"Don't know. I thought is work it out once I got here"
"When are you leaving to start the road trip?"
"Erm, well, I have no fixed date. Like I said, I have no plan"
"Well, lets find you somewhere to stay, for starters"

Bearing in mind, I'm more than 3 hours late & the jet lag is kicking in, this seems like a very sensible idea.....

Now, I've never driven one of these cars before, but there's an awful lot that is familiar, except the gearbox. That bloody dog-leg 1st gear is a tough one to a) find & b) remember to keep finding, when your head is somewhere still over the mid-Atlantic & you know there is a duvet somewhere with your name on.

I pulled away in 2nd gear on more than one occasion, all I'll say is....It didn't go unnoticed.....

[DeRRis]

I'm loving your gloria

Even the fuchs are like a pretty girl with a black bra and white knickers

[210bhp]

No, the black is at the business end so I would say black knickers and white bra!

And a great looking girl she is too.

Regards
Mike

[Bootsy]

What a wonderful analogy. Not as crass as non matching collar and cuffs.

Gloria has had her undercarriage refreshed. She wears non matching undercrackers and is in the hands of an adrenalin seeker who seems to live for the moment and doesn't have a plan!

My idea of a good night out!

[fryardds]

Hi Jude,

Bravo to you girl.

You pulled it off didn't you. I am eager to hear and see details of your trip. Did you end up coming through my 'neighborhood' in NW Indiana on your way to Michigan? Hopefully you got at look at Lake Michigan on your way by. I know it's not Burma, but still pretty cool if you have never been there.

[J-Low]

Anyway, to give you a bit of a timeline, I arrived on the Tuesday evening, & not much was achieved except picking up Gloria, & drinking some beer with a slightly bemused Marco. The following day, I had some general errands to run, plus a few last minute odds & sods on Gloria; I headed over to the TLG workshop where I met Tony.

“You doin’ the drive?” he growls in that New Jersey accent
“Yep” trying not to sound to out of my depth here....
“It’ll beat’cha t’death....” I’m not sure if he realised he was shaking his head as he said it; but coming from the man who has done ‘the drive’ several times, who am I to argue?

Now, I’m a girl, & girls love to shop, right? Neil Bainbridge had given me a shopping list, so, over the next few days, I just hung out in LA, driving my awesome car around, shopping for parts, & a found a great vintage outfit for the Goodwood Revival.



We went downtown to the Arts District......



One great thing about America is, there is an abundance of free wifi. Don’t bother with data bundles for your iPhone, just go to Starbucks or McDonalds. It’s on 24/7 & you just have to sit outside to logon for free with no risk of blowing your data limit. This came in very handy with my ‘no plan’ plan.....

A couple of nights before I left LA, I was having beer & an awesome burger in a bar called Blue Dog with Marco, when I got a dig in the ribs from the girl on the table next to me...

“Hi!”
I looked round..... “Hi.....”
Then her boyfriend pipes in: “She likes to party!”
Okaaaayyyy....
“Yeah, I like to party!”
I have to be honest, I didn’t really know where this conversation was going...
“Yeah, she really likes to party”
Righhhht..... I carried on with my burger.
Dig in the ribs...
“What are you doin’ here?” Partygirl obviously wanted a chat
“Umm, I’ve bought a car, & I’m driving it to New York”
“You’re whaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!??? “ She starts laughing, “That’s a long way to drive to see a Whole. Lotta. Nuthin’!”

Great. I’m going to get beaten to death whilst looking at a whole lot of nothing.... I thanked Miss LA City Limits for her valuable contribution & decided Saturday morning was D-day to leave.

Here’s the first part of the route:

LA-Barstow, then a side trip to Daggett & Newberry Springs to locate some of the old Route 66 before heading North into Death Valley to find the Opera House at Armagosa.

I left LA about 8am Saturday morning, & Barstow (130 miles) should have taken me just over 2 hours. It was all going well until there was a massive accident that blocked the interstate for just under 2 hours..... This was about 35 miles southwest of Barstow.



I reached Barstow sometime around midday, then headed east to find old Route 66 & some of the ghost towns that I'd looked at in the book Colin had sent me.....

The old fuel station at Newberry Springs:



I doubled back on myself to go & check out Daggett....... &find the remanats of the old town there:



Found Barstow again & headed northeast along I-15 to Baker.

[DeRRis]

[murph2309]

Hi - late to the trip - as ever....anyway, your earlier post of '89 and Beetles reminded me of my '67 1200 and all the Bug Jams around then....my first one was fantastic - really got into 'the scene' for the first time and this track reminds me of all the dancing....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpApMsd_6wk

Loving the story.

R

[jamie]

Great story Jude. I'm really soaking-up the bleak comedown feel of that first image.

Gloria looks like a mega car. I met TLG Marco on Targa California a few years back. He's a great guy to help you out with finding the right Porsche.

I've also done this route, going the other way, on something a bit slower:

http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr29 ... 4247-2.jpg

http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr29 ... L74692.jpg

I didn't intend to do 66, but about a week in I realised that I was following the natural course of the old route, so I stayed on it through to the West Coast. Good fun.

I'm also currently in the States (doing some work in Michigan), heading over to San Francisco at the end of the week to attempt to drive my new 912 down to the port at Gardena. Couldn't resist the chance of a bit of Porsche road trip...

Oh - also been on the receiving end of the "We like to party" line. Fuggin' hell...

Keep this story coming!

[Mitch]

Nice work Jude.

I've also done this route, going the other way, on something a bit slower:

Jamie, fine pics... what's the story? I've totally missed this. All the way across the US on a C90?

[Darren65]

I've also done this route, going the other way, on something a bit slower

Jamie….for real???

How many months before you could stand up straight!