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I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate our country's independence than to drive a Festiva across it. So, I drove my 89 Festiva automatic from Lincolnton N.C. to Flagstaff Arizona.
I bought the car from a friend of Neanderpaul in December of 2011 with a blown head gasket and cracked head and broken radiator. Will (motoxpress) went up to Virginia and trailered the car back to his house where he put a head he had on it and installed a new radiator, motor mount, battery and rear wheel bearings.
In order to be able to make the trip I had to put in a lot of time at work. I worked 14hr days for two weeks in order to finish my projects and have the time off. I booked a red eye flight from Phoenix to Charlotte and slept like a baby the entire flight. I had worked 42 hours the three days before my flight and I was exhausted and ready for a nice vacation away from the shop.
Will and John (PU241) picked me up from the airport in the car and gave me my first ride from Charlotte to Lincolnton. I then enjoyed the company and food for a weekend at Wills house (Fourth-stiva). I was able to get a couple good nights of sleep at Wills house, thanks to the good hospitality of Angie, Will and the boys. Also got to watch a bunch of Initial D cartoons which Barb and I were hooked on, and play some good music with Neanderpaul.
At 5:30 monday morning, I was off and headed west. I started getting hungry around Ashville, and invited Danny (Kumalaba) out to breakfast, but he had Jury duty so he couldn't come out. It was hard to find a place to eat in Ashville because they were having some power outages, but I got a good meal at Hardees, then it was back out on the road.
I filled up in Ashville and did the math and the car was getting about 30mpg. Everthing was going well. Entering into Nashville, TN. I knew it was time to fill up. But the car had gotten worse mileage over the mountains than what I expected, and I ran out of gas entering the city. I had neglected to get a small gas can and fill it up like I normally do on my road trips, so I was stranded on the side of I40. I climbed the dirt cliff next to the freeway and made it up to a road, covered in prickley hitchhiker seeds and covered in sweat I found a Christian book store. A man named Tim gave me a ride to a gas station and back onto the freeway to fill up my festiva. I was very happy not to have to climb back down that cliff onto the freeway. I cleaned all the hitchhiker seeds off my legs and put a gallon of gas in the car and was off again. I found a gas station in Nashville and saw a Harbor freight along the way back to the freeway. I stopped in (I'm a sucker for harbor freight) and got some odds and ends. I found a set of plastic scrapers for Will (he was bummed when his local HF was out of them, and said they hadn't had them for awhile). Then I was back on the road again.
I made it to mid Oklahoma by about 11pm, when I stopped for the night. I slept in late, till like 9am. Got going around 10 and filled the car up with gas and a quart of oil and was back on the road. I stopped again for gas at a T/A about 40 miles East of Texas. I got a sandwich and changed the oil and filter in the car and met a nice lady that worked at the station who drove a Charade that she bought for 50 dollars, and she's been driving it for over a year.
Back on the road again I drove straight through northern Texas without stopping and made it to NM. I stopped for gas in NM and noticed the car was using a lot of oil. Going up into the high elevation of NM not only dropped the fuel mileage down to like 24mpg, it also caused the car to use 2 qts of oil every 200 miles. I bought some Lucas oil stabilizer from a Loves truckstop and put the correct amount in. The car actually ran noticeably better by the next stop, and then only used 1 qt of oil every 240 miles. My mileage then went back up to around 29.
I made it to Flagstaff AZ around 11:30 last night (July 3rd). I'll continue my journey home tomorrow morning. I'm spending the fourth here in Flagstaff, which has a nice cool climate and good "all American town" feel.
Heres a picture of the Festiva I'm now calling "Virginia" (that's her original home state) in Flagstaff AZ, right along RT66 in Flagstaff AZ on the morning of the 4th of July. Pretty patriotic.
I'll post more pictures and video of the trip when I get home.
I bought the car from a friend of Neanderpaul in December of 2011 with a blown head gasket and cracked head and broken radiator. Will (motoxpress) went up to Virginia and trailered the car back to his house where he put a head he had on it and installed a new radiator, motor mount, battery and rear wheel bearings.
In order to be able to make the trip I had to put in a lot of time at work. I worked 14hr days for two weeks in order to finish my projects and have the time off. I booked a red eye flight from Phoenix to Charlotte and slept like a baby the entire flight. I had worked 42 hours the three days before my flight and I was exhausted and ready for a nice vacation away from the shop.
Will and John (PU241) picked me up from the airport in the car and gave me my first ride from Charlotte to Lincolnton. I then enjoyed the company and food for a weekend at Wills house (Fourth-stiva). I was able to get a couple good nights of sleep at Wills house, thanks to the good hospitality of Angie, Will and the boys. Also got to watch a bunch of Initial D cartoons which Barb and I were hooked on, and play some good music with Neanderpaul.
At 5:30 monday morning, I was off and headed west. I started getting hungry around Ashville, and invited Danny (Kumalaba) out to breakfast, but he had Jury duty so he couldn't come out. It was hard to find a place to eat in Ashville because they were having some power outages, but I got a good meal at Hardees, then it was back out on the road.
I filled up in Ashville and did the math and the car was getting about 30mpg. Everthing was going well. Entering into Nashville, TN. I knew it was time to fill up. But the car had gotten worse mileage over the mountains than what I expected, and I ran out of gas entering the city. I had neglected to get a small gas can and fill it up like I normally do on my road trips, so I was stranded on the side of I40. I climbed the dirt cliff next to the freeway and made it up to a road, covered in prickley hitchhiker seeds and covered in sweat I found a Christian book store. A man named Tim gave me a ride to a gas station and back onto the freeway to fill up my festiva. I was very happy not to have to climb back down that cliff onto the freeway. I cleaned all the hitchhiker seeds off my legs and put a gallon of gas in the car and was off again. I found a gas station in Nashville and saw a Harbor freight along the way back to the freeway. I stopped in (I'm a sucker for harbor freight) and got some odds and ends. I found a set of plastic scrapers for Will (he was bummed when his local HF was out of them, and said they hadn't had them for awhile). Then I was back on the road again.
I made it to mid Oklahoma by about 11pm, when I stopped for the night. I slept in late, till like 9am. Got going around 10 and filled the car up with gas and a quart of oil and was back on the road. I stopped again for gas at a T/A about 40 miles East of Texas. I got a sandwich and changed the oil and filter in the car and met a nice lady that worked at the station who drove a Charade that she bought for 50 dollars, and she's been driving it for over a year.
Back on the road again I drove straight through northern Texas without stopping and made it to NM. I stopped for gas in NM and noticed the car was using a lot of oil. Going up into the high elevation of NM not only dropped the fuel mileage down to like 24mpg, it also caused the car to use 2 qts of oil every 200 miles. I bought some Lucas oil stabilizer from a Loves truckstop and put the correct amount in. The car actually ran noticeably better by the next stop, and then only used 1 qt of oil every 240 miles. My mileage then went back up to around 29.
I made it to Flagstaff AZ around 11:30 last night (July 3rd). I'll continue my journey home tomorrow morning. I'm spending the fourth here in Flagstaff, which has a nice cool climate and good "all American town" feel.
Heres a picture of the Festiva I'm now calling "Virginia" (that's her original home state) in Flagstaff AZ, right along RT66 in Flagstaff AZ on the morning of the 4th of July. Pretty patriotic.
I'll post more pictures and video of the trip when I get home.
Ha, yeah thats it. There use to be a WFWRHS Mafia.
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