ZR-1 Road Trip 2014 - California or Bust

[SteelBlueZR1]

Hey Jim and Lindsay. Hope the rest of your epic road trip is less hairy and more curvaceous. Two ZR-1's will be traveling west starting today. Thanks to your and WAZOO'S most excellent maintenance and encouragement, I'm embarking on a cross country trek to Evergreen, Co in just a few minutes. 1,700 miles in my 11,700 mile Z all in 3 day's time. Wishing us both sunny skies and dry roads. Congrats on rolling past 140k trouble free miles. I'm really gonna miss you guys.

[Paul Workman]

Hey, Jim! If you're going to be at North Island, you MUST at least have lunch at the incredible and famous Hotel Del Coranado! It is a magnificent, over century-old hotel, replete with murder mysteries, and visits by Presidents and who's who of the 'rich and famous'! (Stay for a night and you might even get to see a ghost or two!)

Originally Posted by SteelBlueZR1

*...I'm embarking on a cross country trek to Evergreen, Co in just a few minutes. 1,700 miles in my 11,700 mile Z all in 3 day's time. Wishing us both sunny skies and dry roads. Congrats on rolling past 140k trouble free miles. I'm really gonna miss you guys.

And, another trip! I've done that one - lived in Bailey, just "up" the road from Evergreen. There's Rigatoni's Pizza n Posta in Morrison, just short of Evergreen that makes pizza to die for. (Try their artichoke heart pizza!) Lots of craft brewers in them thar hills, and they'll have several on hand.

I can't imagine a better vacation that taking one to exotic places, riding in the Z! Looking forward to the Mountain Run in May!

[QB93Z]

Originally Posted by ZRXMAX

Irvine Cars and Coffee is every Saturday morning weather permitting.

I will be in San Diego on Saturday 19 April and drive to LA. I will be in LA from Saturday (the 19th) noon until Monday morning.

Is there a Cars and Coffee on Sunday? I would really like to meet up with some LA ZR-1 owners.

Jim

[QB93Z]

With a big day ahead of us, we left Amarillo before sunrise. Early in the morning in North Texas in April the temperature is a little lower than we expected:



We first went to the west side of town and visited the Cadillac Ranch.




The Cadillac's were placed in the ground in 1974 by a group of art students and a rich car collector. Over the years, many people have added spray paint to the Cadillacs:



Next we drove south of Amarillo to Canyon City to visit Palo Duro State Park. Palo Duro is a large canyon that is the second largest canyon in America. It is not as deep as some other canyons, but it offers many scenic views, hiking, camping, biking, horse riding and other recreational activities:


Since I know you like wild life pictures, here is a park resident crossing the road in front of the Corvette:



Here is a view of the Park road winding down to the canyon floor:


to be continued...

[QB93Z]

Here are some more views of Palo Duro Canyon:




We left Canyon City and Texas and crossed in to New Mexico, heading for Roswell, NM on the way to Alamogordo, NM. In Roswell, we stopped to visit some of the local residents:


Really, Roswell is a vibrant city and is home to the New Mexico Military Institute.

Heading southwest from Roswell, we drove through flat, open land that became hilly and then mountainous:




We arrived in Alamogordo after a long day on the road.



Alamogordo marks the start of the sight seeing portion of our road trip. Maryland to New Mexico was four days and 2060 miles. The ZR-1 is running great, with over 140,000 miles on the odometer now. The only slight glitch so far is that the A/C blower fan has stopped twice. I will be trying to find a replacement. I will post up in the Tech Section.

Jim





Jim

[QB93Z]

Originally Posted by SteelBlueZR1

Hey Jim and Lindsay. Hope the rest of your epic road trip is less hairy and more curvaceous. Two ZR-1's will be traveling west starting today. Thanks to your and WAZOO'S most excellent maintenance and encouragement, I'm embarking on a cross country trek to Evergreen, Co in just a few minutes. 1,700 miles in my 11,700 mile Z all in 3 day's time. Wishing us both sunny skies and dry roads. Congrats on rolling past 140k trouble free miles. I'm really gonna miss you guys.

Hi Bert, It is nice to hear that you are driving the ZR-1 to Colorado. Drive safely and I hope you have as much fun as Lyndi and I are having.

Jim

[B17 Crew]

QB93Z, I bookmarked your Alaskan trip sometime ago and visit it from time to time to see the awesome photos. I’m glad to see you and your wife are on the road again having another adventure. Be safe in your travels, have fun, and thank you for the great photos! Hope the fan issue is easily resolved.

B17 Crew

[Schrade]

Cool snappics!

Originally Posted by QB93Z

Here are some more views of Palo Duro Canyon:
We left Canyon City and Texas and crossed in to New Mexico, heading for Roswell, NM on the way to Alamogordo, NM. In Roswell, we stopped to visit some of the local residents:

Really, Roswell is a vibrant city and is home to the New Mexico Military Institute.

Heading southwest from Roswell, we drove through flat, open land that became hilly and then mountainous:

Pretty clean stretch there - hammer DOWN!!!

We arrived in Alamogordo after a long day on the road.


Alamogordo marks the start of the sight seeing portion of our road trip. Maryland to New Mexico was four days and 2060 miles. The ZR-1 is running great, with over 140,000 miles on the odometer now. The only slight glitch so far is that the A/C blower fan has stopped twice. I will be trying to find a replacement. I will post up in the Tech Section.






Jim

Fresh grub - grab your shootin' iron! (Can you say 'veal'? )

Nothin' like Cold Air Induction (and pull the dusty corner jam!!! )

[Jagdpanzer]

Nice drive through the former stomping grounds of William McCarty (AKA William Bonney and "Billy the Kid"), Shariff Pat Garrett and Lincoln County War of wild west lore.

[QB93Z]

Hello from Santa Fe, New Mexico.

We left Alamogordo early in the morning and went to a staging area to join a group of other folks to take advantage of the White Sands Missile Range Open House. On the way to the meeting place we discovered the area's largest pistachio nut:



In the staging area the YELLOWZ stood out among the other vehicles and we had a nice conversation with several people about the ZR-1:



The WSMR open house is held only once a year. It is an opportunity to visit the Trinity Site which is the exact location of the worlds first atomic weapon detonation. The test occurred on 16 July 1945 and was the culmination of the Manhattan Project and considered by many to be the birth of the Nuclear Age.

After entering the White Sands Missile Range, we drove about 65 miles into the desert. The test range is a flat basin surrounded by mountains providing a secure test area for all of the military's missile systems:





The actual Ground Zero location is marked by a black obelisk made of volcanic rock. Over the 69 years since the detonation, the evidence of the blast has faded. There are a few places where the desert floor that was fused to glass can be seen. The radioactivity of the ground is reported to be 10 times the surrounding area, but well below the allowable limits for visiting.



Also on display was Jumbo, a pressure vessel made from 4 inch thick steel. In 1945, the amount of fissionable material for the building weapons was very limited. The original plan was to encase the test bomb in Jumbo so that if the high explosive charge did not create the fission reaction, then fissionable material would be contained in the vessel. Late in the count down the plan was changed when is was realized that the vessel could become massive pieces of shrapnel. Jumbo was left near the blast and shows significant damage from the blast:


We left the test range and headed north to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The weather is cool and windy but we were able to visit quite a few art galleries and were very impressed with the quality of the art.

Jim