9,400 mile road trip in a 22 year old hand-built 240sx

[DJButton]

This thread is so amazing, can't wait for the next updates!

[Onizuka]

Someone on here left a note on my car with the offer to hang out. Crazy thing is, they were from philly too, visiting LA Unfortunately I didnt get the note until I went to pick up my car and had to get to my cousin's place north of San Diego, so no hang out was able to occur

Awesome so far, keep the post's coming! Are you noticing a difference in the cars performance from the East coast to the West coast?

None, but my motor is also completely stock. The only noticeable difference has been when there is altitude, and there are a few rattles that weren't there when I started the trip...

[Onizuka]

Day 12: Southward, to Oregon and California!

I head off again, sad to say goodbye so soon to such an awesome town and great car scene. Seattle makes the list of places I could see myself living. I get back on route 5 and before I know it I'm already blowing through Portland and I need to get some gas.



I was surprised that the station I stopped at was full service only, I guess Oregon is a little bit like the New Jersey of the west coast? Its weird not being able to pump your own gas, and I still dont get the logic behind enforcing attendants to do it for you. But anyways, some dude pulled up in a s13 hatch with a roof rack and he ended up being some chill guy from Northwest Nissans. We talked cars for a little while then I had to be on my way. Its seriously only the 2nd 240sx I've seen on the trip.



So I head down into the Willamette Valley which streches from Portland to Eugene, which interests me if only because its the main setting of a post-apocalypse type book I read called Dies the Fire. I think briefly of totally dorking-out and visiting the town of Corvallis which also features in the book pretty heavily, but I resist and keep on down the road.



That is until 5 minutes down the road things come to a screeching dead halt as some big accident happens ahead.



So after partying on the side of the highway for about 10 minutes people start to get smart and drive across the median and head in the other direction. I saw some pretty low cars off road it and make it across, but I wasn't about to attempt that with my car so instead I got to drive the wrong way down the freeway way (which I wouldnt have expected to happen before I go senile or lose my eyesight).



So I got to drive through side roads outside of Corvallis after all, and put a little perspective on things which was cool. As a bonus, I got to see the rolled SUV that had caused the highway stoppage on a flatbed headed in the opposite direction of the detour I was on. So with the Willamette Valley done with I head back into the forest covered hills that are everywhere along the coast up here.



My next turn-off from route 5 was highway 199, AKA the Redwood highway, which I take from Oregon all the way out to the coast towards Cresent City in Cali, which is near my destination for the night.




It took a while on 199 to get to California because its mostly a 2 lane with speeds varying between 35 and 55, but its a lot of fun with twisties and whatnot. Once you get on the California side of thing though, the trees start to get BIG (and the tree pictured isnt even a redwood tree)



199 goes into another National Park (I've lost count how many state and national parks I've been through already, its been dozens and dozens) and the road gets awesome. Its super twisty along the bottom of a valley. Very tight turns and very fun driving.



I get to my aunt and uncles house in time for dinner (yey first home cooked meal of the trip!) and dont have to camp (yey first real bed of the trip!). Their place is totally awesome, right on the Smith river basically inside a national park. The river is supposedly the 8th cleanest in the world, and they get their water strait from one of the natural springs that drops into the river right near the house. I enjoy the night and get pumped for tomorrow to do a little morning exploring.

[GrilledCheese33]

This thread is absolutely amazing! It looks like your having a blast. Enjoy the rest of your trip and be safe!

[srpowered240sx]

wow, youre about an hour from me. if you keep cruising down 101 south, you will go through arcata, thats where im at. if you want to stop and have a beer hit me up. [email protected]

[Bubba1]

If that deck belongs to your aunt/uncle, that's one gorgeous view! It would be difficult for me to leave a place like that.

[ADDirishboy]

So do you regularly go through car-washes or anything?

[nissangirl74]

I want to visit your aunt and uncle and take pictures from their deck.

[Jesda]

DAAAAAAAMN. That deck!

[fiznowler]

That deck and view is awesome! Crazy you have only seen a couple 240s.

[liteemup39496]

wow this trip is truely epic status. only one problem your gonna need a few visits to the chiropractor after sitting in an s13 seat for that long.

[slydewayz503]

^^^^

X's 2 i wana know how the cars acting and where are you going to next?

[Onizuka]

Well I'm currently I'm in arizona and the car is running well enough, its just hot and uncomfortable :P
The engine is working pretty good, still turning anywhere from 30-35mpg depending on what kind of driving and how high an altitude. The transmission could use new synchros, but that probably goes for 95% of the 240s out there. I've got to wind down visits and stops for the next little while though because I really would like to visit someone in Tennessee by Saturday.

wow, youre about an hour from me. if you keep cruising down 101 south, you will go through arcata, thats where im at. if you want to stop and have a beer hit me up. [email protected]

Seriously thanks for this offer and all the others, its been unfortunate that I'm several days and hundreds of mile ahead of my posts on here. Its hard to get time to do the online stuff so its impossible to keep up to date.

If that deck belongs to your aunt/uncle, that's one gorgeous view! It would be difficult for me to leave a place like that.

Thats why they havent moved in like 3 decades or something like that. The caveat is you have to like small town living, closest 100,000 person city is Eugene in Oregon and thats more than 5 hours away.

[Onizuka]

Day 13: Beautiful Northern California

Day 13 started off with a bang, in the form of my aunt backing over the front of my car with her big pickup-truck before sunrise.



It doesnt look to bad but the fender was mangled in such a way that I'll have to grab a replacement from the junkyard. The hood and left headlight escaped with mostly just paint damage. Luckily everything still opens and closes and functions perfectly normal. All in all, I went into the trip prepared for the chance of severe damage or even totalling my car (you hit a moose or an elk on the freeway and you're taking the airplane back). So this didn't bother me much, its all cosmetic and easily fixable. I'm probably just going to get the whole front end of the car repainted and get all the tiny chips in my window smoothed out (damn gravel roads).

Anyways, I probably spent less time looking at it in the morning that I did just writing the above desription, I knew I had some really cool stuff ahead of me so I turned down the street from my aunt and uncles place and got back on 199. The road really starts getting great near the coast but still in the national park.



My main objective for this morning is a short 4.3 mile hike into the woods, and it is an absolutly beautiful morning to be hiking. The temperature is low enough for me to bring along a fleece pull-over so I find a place to park by the road and set out. There are TONS of maintained trails around the area, which is nice because the severe grade of the hills makes it hard to freestyle hike off in a random direction. I haven't been out here for 16 years so I was really pumped to be back out on the trail in the redwoods. You know you are in for a treat when you can hike through a tree trunk and not have to bend over at all.



These trees are definitely my favorite single piece of nature in the whole world. They are some of the most ancient living things on earth and they are really, REALLY big. Where's waldo?



A single tree can live 2500, even 3500 years. A lot of the trees are so old here they have burn marks from forest fires that occurred before this country was even founded. Among their endlessly fascinating characteristics is the ability to grow out of fallen trunks and branches without pollination. This fallen trunk spanned a little ravine about 60 feet across and had several already large trees growing out of it. With 4 or 5 feet of ground clearance you could walk right under a tree whose roots had never touched solid ground in however many years it has been growing.



I came across a gnarled old tree a little bit off the path that was really impressive to look at and climb around the base. With the tighter confines it was hard to even get the entire width of the base in the frame.



So on I continued in near complete silence and solitude, feeling rather insignificant and in awe. If any of this looks familiar, they did film a large portion of Starwars in the area (you know, they anti-grav bike chase scene and all that good stuff) Towards the back side of the trail I finally came across some other people and we chatted for a bit about the awesomeness of the forest here. After they were maybe 89-90 yards away I tried to snap yet another comparison picture, otherwise you have no sense of scale.



The very back side of the trail ends on the banks of the smith river (same one in the porch picture) and branches into a few more trails on both sides of the river. With tons of space I can finally frame a whole tree in one picture, although from this far you cant see much of the detail.



The river is just spectacular, its super clear and clean enough to drink strait out of (although bears, and other wildlife, do in fact s*** in the woods, so it doesnt mean you are drinking fiji bottled). The main reason this is possible is that the river lies almost exclusively in park area and is completely dam-free, actually the last undammed major river in California.



I wish I could spend a month just exploring here, but time presses on so I hike back out to hit the road once more.



199 ends just off the coast and my first view of a pacific is grey and overcast. Even though it was pleasant out the pictures all turned out suicide worthy. I get onto 101 heading south and the road jumps back off the coast and up into the fog shrouded forest. Because the weather is so localized and changes very frequently, fog doesn't mean it cant be sunny out at the same time. This weird mix of weather made drive through this part of the giant Redwoods down right mystical.



101 was super fun driving down during the week because traffic wasnt to bad and retired bazillionaires were out in force with cool cars. Lots of ferraries and 2 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione's, which really blew my mind considering there are only 90 in the entire country. When the opportunity arose, I took a scenic route through yet another Redwood park and finally found a tree next to the road where I could actually park that was fairly big.



I swear off anymore park detours because it was getting on in the day and I needed to get down 101. The road fluctuates from 4-lane limited-access down to the 2-lane-barely-squeeze-through-the-trees size. When this happens they put reflective warning posts in front of the trunks, in case someone might accidentally test their crumple zones on the side of one of the giants. Word is the tree always wins.



I make it down to Ukiah by the evening to meet up with more relatives. Ukiah is definitely what you would call a hippy town, and I'm sure some of you know what goes on in Mendocino county. As a consolation prize for getting my car run into by one aunt I get to follow another up a dirt road I can only describe as like driving on logs and choking on dust. I make it about halfway before I give up and park my car on a little side area. I hop into her prius (It seems like 20% of california drives this car) and we bounce and crash the rest of the way up.

[AZhitman]

Amazing. I am loving this thread, Matt!!!

[goody90q45]

One of the best road trip threads ever Matt, on par with Jesda's "Eat your way across America" threads. Keep the pics coming.

Here's another teaser pic for anyone who's never been to the redwoods taken at Roosevelt Grove. Head west and enjoy.

[LunarShroud]

Awesome journey. Do you plan on going through Deal's Gap in TN, or visiting Indianapolis Motor Speedway?

[Sil240]

If your gonna be in the TN / NC area labor day weekend. Sept 3-6 about 30-35 guys are going to be at Deals. Gap or The tail of the dragon.

Check it out
first-annual-nico-tail-of-the-dragon-2010-t502439.html

[sx moneypit]

Great thread ,great photography! Keep it coming!

[eds13]

this thread has so much win in it!

[HoosierSX]

I just sat down and read this all the way through. which is weird because I never read more than a paragraph at a time for anything. I love that you are sharing this with everyone with fantastic detail. Bravo man... bravo

[Skyline_BNR34]

I read all of your posts, I can't wait to see more pictures and updates of you trip, also, I think your google map in your first post is a bit outdated, it stops in Missouri.

[AZhitman]

We just had the pleasure of spending a few hours with Matt on his epic journey... He stopped off for a visit and had some lunch with us. Good times!

He headed east this afternoon towards Tucson. I believe he was looking to make El Paso by midnight, and heading across TX en route to New Orleans the following day. I don't envy him that trip across Texas - BLEH.

[Mr1der]

s***, Matt, you drive through the Nashville area any, let me know, I'll buy ya lunch somewhere.

phone number is 615-419-1042, hit me up when you're in TN

[Onizuka]

Thanks guys and girls, I just hope you all get pumped up and do something fun too

Awesome journey. Do you plan on going through Deal's Gap in TN, or visiting Indianapolis Motor Speedway?

I do hope to take a trip through deals gap this coming saturday on the way to my uncles place, but IMS is not anywhere near where im going.

I read all of your posts, I can't wait to see more pictures and updates of you trip, also, I think your google map in your first post is a bit outdated, it stops in Missouri.

Thanks for pointing that out, I forgot I posted it. I guess I'll just do a master map after I'm all finished and post it up at the end.

We just had the pleasure of spending a few hours with Matt on his epic journey... He stopped off for a visit and had some lunch with us. Good times!

He headed east this afternoon towards Tucson. I believe he was looking to make El Paso by midnight, and heading across TX en route to New Orleans the following day. I don't envy him that trip across Texas - BLEH.

I just hope it was as good for you as it was for me

s***, Matt, you drive through the Nashville area any, let me know, I'll buy ya lunch somewhere.

phone number is 615-419-1042, hit me up when you're in TN

I could swing through Nashville instead of chattanooga on friday evening, busy?

[Onizuka]

Day 14: Coastal California Driving

When I got dropped off back down at my car this morning it was completely covered in brown dust from pickup trucks going up and down the road. Even the interior had a fine coating all over. I turn back down the road the dirt road, this time at a slow enough pace that it doesnt feel like my car is shaking apart. In order to do that I literally had to drive 3-5mph for a whole mile, and it ended up taking roughly 20 minutes to do. I rolled back into Ukiah to find a car wash and end up spraying off at a coin operated wash stall (these dont exist where I live, but seem pretty common in a lot of places). I get back onto 101 yet again and make my way to San Fransisco. And of course when you drive 101 to San Fransisco there is the obligatory Golden Gate Bridge stop.



At this point I've had enough driving the 240 so I call my chauffeur and we switch off cars.



Ok not really...
So I'm just there taking some pictures in the crappy weather (again) and this crazy Maybach shows up with European Union tags. The dude looked a bit like a spy, so I'm guessing he was either a diplomat or somebody from across the atlantic with waaay to much money to burn.



A little bit after the fact a Mercedes SUV showed up and some german sounding photographers got out. One came over and looked at my car and was like "Zat is a nice car, can you back it up a bit?" What, is my fine $200 Japanese Ultra Sports-car with battle scars too fancy to be in the frame with your silly maybach? Very well, I'm feeling generous today. I back it up, but only just a bit.



After I had my fill of Ze Germans and their $400,000 car, I head of across the bridge.



Meanwhile my GPS had been screaming at me since way before that this was NOT the quick way to San Luis Obispo. The bridge isnt really supposed to be for through traffic, that gets routed through Oakland on the east side of the bay. But yeah, normal people would take a mega highway like I-5 between the two cities, or at least something sensible like Rt 101. NEVER! I slice right through SF on my way to the holy grail of two-lane, carved-out-of-the-cliff twisty roads: California Rt 1.



Going this way easily added 2-2.5 hours onto the trip, but the views were just absolutely spectacular. Everything from driving on the side of a cliff 500 feet up off the water to the sandy beaches famous worldwide.



I dont think it is possible to overstate the magnitude of the twisties on this road. Conceptualize back-to-back-to-back-to-back tight curves for 5 hours over 250 miles. It makes 5 hours on the highway seem like a walk to the fridge to get a beer. Dont get me wrong, there are a lot of strait sections too, but there was enough tight stuff that my shin muscles started getting ridiculously tired from continuously lifting my foot from brake to gas. For this reason most people just do small sections at a time or take lots of breaks. Other than lunch and a tiny bit of gas, I go for the whole thing at once. Route 1 is technically a 55mph road but it seems like every single curve is posted with 15-35mph caution signs. After a couple hours it actually started getting a little scary because it is like an endurance race with oncoming traffic. I have hardly any pictures of the tight curves because it would be akin to taking pictures while autocrossing, only instead of hitting cones you hit immovable rock or fall several hundred feet into the pacific.



Along the drive the Odometer passes 120,000K's and I find what has got to be the most expensive gas in the lower 48.




By the time I finally get off the coastal area I'm starting to feel sick. Not like I had to yak or anything, but just that feeling, you know what I mean? Luckily its mostly easy 4 lane driving from here to my destination (with more crazy daytime fog of course)



This is when the real adventure of the night started. The first "camp site" I went to ended up being all beach-style cabins or some crap like that, so despite my increasing sick feeling I get back on the road for another 40 minutes of driving out into the western countryside of San Luis Obispo. The disappointment continues as this camp site ends up being a giant dust bowl (literally!) in the middle of nowhere AND their office is closed despite it being only 7pm or so. At the end of my tether, I give up on trying to camp and head into town for a motel my dad located on the net while I was talking to him on the phone (thanks dad!). After I check in and get to my room around 9, drop my crap on the floor, fall on the bed and pass-out. I wake up in short order though with a fever and really bad diarrhea, yeay! The night was horrific, more so for the toilet than for me...

[gammer_ghn]

I love highway 1, i took my astro to up north to big sur to see the redwoods with my family those curves destroyed all the passengers haha. You are a very lucky man. If you hit up LA give me a call 818 489 0288 ide take you to everest and blow up ur mind with their food.

a little teaser of what they got on their menu. imma be in washington for labor day so hurry the fack up.
godly-foods-t409394.html?hilit=godly%20foods&start=0

[Mr1der]

I could swing through Nashville instead of chattanooga on friday evening, busy?

nah, shouldn't be.

Hit me up if you decide to.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Or you can swing by MS if you don't feel like chugging all the way to Nashnooga. There is a race Friday night that I'll be driving in in Holly Springs, MS. Let me know if you're in. Mr1der has my number. Either way, we should have your Friday night covered between the 2 of us haha. Free real bed at my place too (and I won't even be in it with you!)

[Onizuka]

Day 15: The Motel Toilet

I check out of last nights motel as late as possible, and I still feel god-awful. I drive to a small park about a block down the street and crash on a bench, true hobo-style. Thankfully San Luis Obispo gets costal weather and not the hot dry-season weather you find inland. After 3 hours of park living, my condition doesnt get any better so I go check into a nicer motel just few hundred yards away. I do nothing but crash there too, trying to sleep to make up for last night. Around 9pm I still felt like absolute doodoo so I drove myself to the hospital. Turns out I got food poisoning, but luckily its just an intestinal infection and not something serious like e coli. They give me a few meds and send me on my way. I finally fall asleep for real when I get back to the hotel.

Day 16: The Motel Bed

I wake up still feeling very sick, but at least the worst, uhhhh, symptom, has gone away thanks to the medicine. I sleep, and while awake eat what little I can. At least the motel is very nice, basically have a 2 room apartment to myself on the cheap. Another day down the drain.