Road Trips / Road Tours

[Swifster]

When the Daytona is done, I still plan on taking a ride on Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica. And because I have family in Michigan, I plan on taking US-23 from Jacksonville, FL to Mackinaw City, MI.

It you've taken a long road trip or Road Tour, where did you go? If you want to, where to? It doesn't have to be a long trip. I'm just looking for ideas on where to go. I'm sure there are people on the west coast that would love the drive the PCH. Maybe it's just a couple days at the Woodward Deam Cruise.

So tell me; Where do you want to go in your Studebaker? Where have you been?

[9echo]

I made the Route 66 trip from Pontiac, IL to Santa Monica, CA in early May. Great trip! I came back home by way of McMinnville, OR, the home of the Spruce Goose. Came back via I-80 with a stop in Kearney, NE to visit the Classic Auto Museum. They have 170 restored cars (several Studebakers included) from early 1900s through the 70s. There are many interesting places to visit along 66. My choices are the Route 66 Museum in Pontiac, IL, (I work there) the Packard station in Afton, OK, the Coleman Theater in Miami, OK, the Painted Desert east of Holbrook and La Posada, in Winslow, AZ. Of course, Grand Canyon is a must see. Total miles in 22 days was 5,678. (I must tell you I made the trip in my '02 Miata and not my '48 Champion.) 73, Jim

[JoeHall]

In 2005 I drove a sunglow & snowcap 56J to the SDC International Meet in Spokane, Washington. It was a wonderful trip, and a great meet. I got to meet lots of west coast SDC folks, and put faces n names.
Also really enjoyed driving through the wide open spaces, esp. Montana and Wyoming, but it was also desolate and got a little lonely at times.

The 56J ran great for the 4500 mile trip, but I caught food poisoning on the return trip, and spent four days in the VA Hospital in Ames, Iowa. Family had to come over to Iowa and drive me home in the 56J, when I was discharged from the hospital, because I was still weak as a kitten.

Other than the food poisoning, it was a very great time, which I will never forget.

[Swifster]

20 years ago I drove from Columbia, SC to Charleston, WV taking US-19. I love driving two lane roads. I think you see so much more of the real United States than from an interstate. I remember stopping in Flat Top, WV for a Coke. I stopped at the post office/pharmacy/drug store/soda fountain. The man behind the counter was (it looked like) 115, 6'6" tall and about 135 pounds. I grabbed a Diet Coke (still in glass long neck bottles) and continued my trip.

[StudeDave57]

So tell me; Where do you want to go in your Studebaker? Where have you been?

The list is long, but getting shorter as the year marches past...
I would REALLY like to make it down to San Diego for their Cool Classic Car Show in September.
Later I'd like to head over to Arizona for the SW Zone Meet. The host Chapter is full of folks who gave Nelly life way back when, and I think for their 40th Anniversary it would be a neat deal for them to see her again~



We'll see how the rest of the Summer plays out, but it's not lookin' too good for Nelly.

So tell me; Where have you been?

Well, I have posted here many times about that.
Sweet Pea, my '65 Cruiser, has been my daily driver for over 20 years now. Included in that was 15+ years of my NAVY service. She took me from Whidbey Island, WA to San Diego in 1993. While there we went all over SoCal and even back to Washington a time or two. One trip took us to Canada for a Can-Am Zone Meet. When I was transferred to Florida in 1999 we went for a nice Summer drive on the NAVY's dime. During my three years in Florida we went all over the SouthEast. One trip took us to the Tri-State Meet, and the PSMCDrags- by way of South Bend. That was in 2001. Then I was sent to Virginia for a month-long school. When that was over- we drove back to Washington. She caught a break while I served on Diego Garcia for a year. But that was up soon enough, and it was back down to San Diego for the two of us. After I retired in 2008, she came back to Washington State once again.




As for my '57 Commander (a.k.a. 'Baby')- that'll have to be another story for another time.





StudeDave '57
A Studebaker DRIVER

[Michidan]

Swifster, just got back from a week in CA seeing friends and family. And just drove the PCH from Monterey all the way south of LA on thursday. I had always wanted to do that, and it was well worth the effort. Instead of a Studebaker, it was a rented Chevy Traverse with the wife and 5 kids aboard. And I still enjoyed it!
Around Santa Barbara both the scenery and traffic get worse...the fun stops about there.

[Commander Eddie]

I have taken many road trips in my life. All across the country. But I have yet to do so in one of my Studebakers. Where would I like to go? Well, starting here in Portland, Oregon I would love to drive up to Victoria, Canada. You have to take an ocean ferry for the last leg. It's beautiful up there and there are some wonder drives around Vancouver Island. Driving anywhere in the Northwest is beautiful and an adventure. But Victoria would be my first trip.

[Commander Eddie]

Swifster, just got back from a week in CA seeing friends and family. And just drove the PCH from Monterey all the way south of LA on thursday. I had always wanted to do that, and it was well worth the effort. Instead of a Studebaker, it was a rented Chevy Traverse with the wife and 5 kids aboard. And I still enjoyed it!
Around Santa Barbara both the scenery and traffic get worse...the fun stops about there.

I agree. We used to live in Santa Barbara and it was very nice driving south until you got to the San Fernando Valley. The last time I went down there from Portland for a visit I was shocked. It was wall to wall towns from the Bay area all the way down. I could not tell where one town ended and the next one began. All the open spaces had disappeared. Santa Barbara in particular has been gobbled up by developers and all but ruined.

[thunderations]

We spent about 30 hours "haul'in the mail" from Phoenix to South Bend in 1991 in a 57 Thunderbird. Drove it back for my 25TH high school reunion in Mishawaka. I was born in South Bend and raised in Mishawaka, so visited with relatives before heading back west along Route 66. Took us 6 days to get back to Phoenix because we made every U Turn possible to see every sight we could along the way. Only problem was a generator went out in Oklahoma, (replaced in about an hour), exhaust leak that was welded up in South Bend and a harmonic balancer that cracked a pulley in New Mexico. We made the rest of the trip without power steering to save the balancer from more damage. Back in 1967 I drove my 62 Daytona 2Dr Hdtp from Mishawaka to Fort Bragg, NC where I was stationed. When I was discharged that same car took me back to Indiana. We have driven the 66 Daytona on the Route 66 Fun Run the last 2 years. Ends up being a 250 to 350 mile round trip and the car has been flawless each year. I guess I would drive that car anywhere as long as the trip was relaxing and scenic. The plan was to drive it to CS for the International, but the wife's job demanded her attention, so we passed, maybe next time. We will have it at the SW Zone meet in October, over Columbus Day. See you there?

[skyway]

In July of 1990, a friend and I used my GT to make a very fast (something like 12 hours to Denver) trip from St. Louis to Colorado to purchase my '64 Wagonaire in Longmont. Lost the voltage regulator on the GT as the sun was coming up in western Kansas, and replaced it in Denver. We then drove both cars home at a much more sedate pace. No major problems on the way home other than a bad fan clutch on the then new Wagonaire. Stopped at a little salvage yard outside a little town in western Kansas and bought a non clutched fan off the only Studebaker in the yard.

Then a couple of years later the family and I used the Wagonaire to vacation from St. Louis to Mesa Verde, then eastward all around south-central CO, including a LOT of both paved and unpaved crossings of the Divide, then home. No problems at all on that trip.

[53k]

In 2003 seven couples from the Potomac Chapter left from New Market, VA enroute to Santa Monica, CA. Vehicles ranged from a '54 1/2-ton pickup with the 170 engine to my '64 R-2 Avanti. We picked up Route 66 at St. Louis and followed it to the end of the pier in Santa Monica and returned to Virginia by the same route, about 6,000 miles. Read a very detailed report of all the stops and activities here- http://www.studebaker-info.org/PSDC/index.html Click on the Route 66 icon about half way down on the right.
There are a number of good Route 66 museums along the way. One of the best is in Elk City, OK. We loved LaPosada too- spent the night there. A must is having the signature dish, a corn and bean soup. Before leaving Winslow we all took turns "standin' on the corner".
A high point was when we were special guests at the Tonight Show. Jay Leno mentioned us in the monologue then had us all down on the stage with him after the show. He asked if anyone drove an Avanti and when I owned up to doing so, he came over, draped his arm over my shoulder and chatted with me very knowledgably about Avantis.

[rknight89]

I suggest the Great River Road. It follows the Missippi River. I've done about 1/2 of it from St. Louis, Mo. to Red Wing, Mn. Lots of cool little towns, nice folks and if you're interested, a ton of great little restaurants and (espically in Wisconsin) lots of pubs. Just my opinion , but some of the best little towns I found were (from south to north) Hannibal, Mo., LaClaire, Ia., Dubuque, Ia., Potsoi, Wi., Prairie Du Chien, Wi. and LaCrosse, Wi. Very relaxing few days. No hurry, or deadlines.

[Captain Billy]

They call hwy 23 the country music highway. If you need lodging near Prestonsburg, KY, try http://heritagehousehotels.com/ we've stayed there a couple of times, and they have just been renovated. Traveling the pre-interstate routes are a blast, but it does take time. Enjoy the ride.

[Swifster]

The Great River Road sounds interesting. I'll need to check my maps, especially south of St. Louis. I know that there is a celebration of the Lincoln Hwy going on now. I may be wrong, but I think that is mostly I-80. I always thought following US-2 from Maine to Washington state would be a good trip. While not labeled as such, US-2 continues thru Canada from upstate New York to Michigan's UP.