Montreal-California-Montreal 7K miles Buggy pics added (BWW)

[vincent9993]

Today we left Riverside around 5:30am. The weather was great but at 7:30 it was already 37 degrees Celsius (or if you prefer 99 degrees fahrenheit) and at 10:00am it was 43 Celsius (or if you prefer 109 fahrenheit). Don't be worry, I didn't have the blanket of my brother in law on me. We can't say that it was an amazing landscape but it was different. At our first stop to put gas, we decided to try our cooling vest and put the top. We were sceptical that it will work but believe it or not, it is working for just. over an hour. Oh yes did I tell you that it's better to put back the gas cap after fuelling. You should talk to Vincent about it (don't worry, we saw that just before we went on the highway so went back and put it back). The afternoon was less hot and it was great like this, only 35 Celsius (or if you prefer 95 fahrenheit). We did'nt really have problems with the dune. Vincent was mostly driving 60 mph to not overheat the engine. The carburetors butterfly were sticking open. This is not so much a problem in the highway but when came time to stop, the engine would rev passed red line. This happened probably due to the dust that we got during the run at Big Bear Lake. Little lubricants took care of the problem. We arrived around 7:00pm (because we added one hour when we crossed the New Mexico) at our Hampton Inn hotel in West Gallup. Tomorrow we are going to Amarillo, Texas.

Talk to you tomorrow

Videos on Youtube:

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Vincent et/and France xxx

[Tom_Kathleen]

Vince and France, what a great trip! You were an inspiration to us years ago when you traveled on the east cost and stopped in Connecticut @ our house. You made me think that we could take the trips we eventually took. Maybe you will be an inspiration to others.

I'm glad you made it out to Big Bear and attended a Manx Club event! The people are warm, friendly and treat you like family. They are all great people!! We went to Big Bear 2 years ago and had a wonderful time!! There isn't anything like that on the East coast of North America.

France, you have done a great job chronicling your trip! I hope you will consider writing an article for the Manx Mania about your adventure! It would be a great addition to the newsletter!

I'll continue reading and following your adventure as you wind your way back to Canada. I don't have worry beads, but I will pray for a fun and safe return for you and Vincent.

Kathleen
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[vincent9993]

Okay, again today we didn't have anything special, except that it was VERY hot, hotter and longer than yesterday. The landscape is still the same style, desert. I hope that people who live here got air conditioning otherwise, I really don't know how they could survive. We stopped at Albuquerque city in the New Mexico. The old city is very pretty, it is really mexican. When we entered Texas, we were hit by high winds. Of course the winds were coming from my side. Vincent says, the wind should be really high because it is coming from your side and I can feel it very hard. It was hard today to lower the temperature of the oil. The wind might have blocked the air to go to the fan. We drove on the parallel road of the I-40 for about 20 miles to help the engine cool. Everything went well, we are at the Holiday Inn Express in Amarillo and we should leave around 5:15am tomorrow to go to Little Rock.

Video on Youtube

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[nightmanx11]

Vincent, France,

Hang in there, 3 more long days and you get to sleep in your own bed, after you take a long hot shower. Cannot help but notice that you are beginning to look like road warriors.

It should cool off as soon as you turn to the north.

Drive carefully, Home is just over the horizon.

Joe

[1madmanx]

Ok Vincent, as we say in America, "the jig is up!". I've figured you and France out. You're not doing a cross-countries dune buggy trip, you are doing a US Beer Tour! I'm sure I haven't seen the same brand of beer in in your hand yet!

Humm, I've got to figure out how I can accomplish the same thing without my wife catching on!

Enjoy the tour.

Bud
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Wilmington, NC
'68 Meyers Manx Dune Buggy M1996F826S
'66 Kombi Bus
'73 Thing
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[FarmerJohn]

I was thinking the same thing
and we know things must be going good with all the thumbs up pictures too

[vincent9993]

Oh yes, we are already at day 15...the time is going too fast. Today we left Amarillo around 5:15am, before the sunrise. You will be able to see the video in the dark. The temperature today was again very hot, 43 degrees Celsius (or if you prefer 109 Fahrenheit), but today we got humidity (around 60%). The wind was still there today, specially in the morning et of course still from my side. Around 9:00am this morning, it was very nice on our right, but very dark on our left. Thank god the road was going on the right, so no rain. Anyway, with the heat and the humidity, no way we would put the rain top...we would have suffocated inside. If it would have rained, we would stop under an overpass. I prefer more the landscape of Oklahoma and Arkansas than those of the New Mexico. To pass the time, Vincent took pictures of the Dune when we were driving...all means are good to kill time.

When we arrived at Little Rock, it was very very hot. When Vincent came to the room, he was dripping everywhere, we could wring his clothes. In the evening, we went meet Serge the husband of my friend Anne, as well as Zoe, their dog (my goodchild) Serge is a trucker and he was at Little Rock at the same time as us. It was very pleasant to spend the evening with him. Too bad that Anne was not with us. Don't worry, Vincent took a beer to her health. Tomorrow we are going to Louisville.

Have a nice day.

Videos on Youtube

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[EMPIImp69]

This is really inspiring. Nice trip. I have just been taking mine to work and back lately (66 mile roundtrip) and some short runs on the weekend. A group buggy trip would be cool.
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1963 Ragtop Bug

[ralphdjeeper]

Hi you two, so glad to see you are having a safe trip home, so glad to have seen you at Big Bear, hope to see you again soon,take care and have fun, that's what it's all about, your friend's Ralph & Cathy Manx Member #2711, ralphdjeeper aka Crate/Man

[vincent9993]

Today we left Little Rock around 5:40am, still before the sunrise. It was very very humid outside. Unfortunately today the weather was really not great. We saw something that we were not missing....the rain. We didn't have any choice but to put the rain top and yes it was hot inside. Still windy also but this time from Vincent's side. You will see in one of the video that I was sleeping. Today, we stopped in Memphis and yes we decided to take some pictures in front of Graceland. It was at that time of the day that it was raining the most. We finally saw the sun around 3:30pm today. Vincent decided to do another oil change on the Dune Buggy. He did it in the parking of our hotel, the Homewood Suites in Louisville and of course I have a video of this. I also did another repair on the rain top. You will see the picture of my repair. So we hope that tomorrow the weather will be better to go to Buffalo, our last night in the USA before going in Canada on Saturday. We are very sad that our trip is almost finish so we will try to enjoy the most we could the last two days.

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Have a nice day and a wonderful week-end.

Vincent et/and France xxx

[247vws]

Honk when you go by West Virginia and I'll drink a beer for you.
Take care when hit the NY line, it's a different world up there. You can't even pump your own gas.
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1967 SandRover T Buggy "Rat Trap"
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[vincent9993]

We left Louisville around 7:00am this morning. It had just rained so we decided to keep the rain top. The weather was iffy but at least, it didn't rain. We removed the rain top at a rest area. Just until our lunch, the sun was there. We crossed Cincinnati city. Do not try to find Pete Rose on picuture 2030, he didn't seems to be at the stadium. We also crossed Columbus city, but also there, I tried to find Rick Nash of the Blue Jackets without any success .

We used the emergency kit. You will be able to see on the following video why. (Youtube:
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). We only missed one little mile, but at least we kept a smile. Just after lunch, I had to convice my wonderful husband to put the rain top. He didn't seems to be sure that it was needed. When I showed him the sky, he realized quickly and agreed with me. We even waited under a shelter before going back on the road...this is why he should always listen to his wife. During a small lull we went back on the road, but it didn't stop raining...it was too bad.

We arrived at the Homewood Suites in Buffalo around 6:15pm. Last romantic dinner in the States, destination Canada tomorrow. Stay tune for our last episode of the season tomorrow.

Video on Youtube:

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Vincent et/and France xxx

[vincent9993]

Oh yes, it is our last recap of our wonderful trip accros the USA. We left Buffalo around 8:00am this morning. It was chilly outside (14 degrees Celsius or if you prefer 57 degress Fahrenheit) but the sun was out. We decided to not put the rain top on. You will not be surprised to know that I slept again in the Dune Buggy. For a Saturday, we got some traffick.

We crossed the boarders at Thousand Islands, we didn't have a dedicated line for the Nexus users. We waited around 45 minutes, but the sun was out and it was warmer. When we answered the custom agent, who asked us where we went for our vacation, that we were coming from California, he replied: You drove all the way to California with this? He was very impressed. Unfortunately in Canada we caught rain, so we put the rain top on. Luckily this time, it was only for maximum one hour. After that, we removed the rain top until our finale destination (St-André Avellin, in Vincent's parents) You will be able to see the Dune Buggy on a ferry.

We arrived in St-André Avellin around 3:30pm. We are very proud of our exploit and more that our trip went well from the beginning to the end without any major problems. We hope that you enjoyed our delay recaps. We will keep wonderful memories of our trip and we are not ready to forget the wonderful people that we met. Thank you very much to all of you and talk to you soon.

Videos on Youtube:

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Vincent et/and France xxx

[nightmanx11]

AH!!! Tim Horton's coffee & a Labatts.

You must be home.

We have enjoyed your daily postings. What a trip.

Thank you for sharing with us.

[drclock]

I have been following your daily posts like you are family.... congratulations on trip most of wish, we could make ! ~Alan

[bowtie56jw]

hey thanks for taking us on your vacation, you two are great! God Bless
jeff
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[Original Manx]

Hey guys what an awesome journey!! Thanks for taking us around the USA in your buggy, it sure was fun all the way over here in Australia.

Now that you have done many many miles in those Recaro seats, would you recommend them to other buggy builders? Were they comfortable over those long trips?
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[dannyt]

Thank you both so much for allowing us to go along for the ride. I started following the trip in the planning stages and eagerly waited for the daily post. I really appreciated you taking the time out of your day to keep us up to date on your travels. Your trip is one that we all will remember and tell of for a long time. Next time someone questions the sturdyness of a buggy, you can bet we will tell the story of two brave Canadians who set out on a 7000 miles journey and carried along thousands of passengers with them. Of course, other than Vincent running out of gas, the trip went off without any major issues. You both have earned our undying respect as buggy owners and will stay in out memories for a vey long time. Thanks again for letting me ride along.

[bob cook]

yes your buggy did great and I too looked forward to your daily posts. I too was wodering about the seats as far as comfort on such alon journey??

[vincent9993]

Thanks everyone for the congratulations remark, I plan on writting a postmortum post once we've had time to settle and sleep a little!

A few of you had questions we never got to answer, stay tunned...

As for the seats,