Trip Report Thread

[sjbartnik]

The next day I had another great breakfast at the National then went down to Anodyne Coffee to pick up a bag of coffee for camp coffee (gotta have camp coffee).

Goal for the day was to get to Rochester, Minnesota. I have a good friend there working for the Mayo Clinic who was gonna put me up for the night.

I got out of Milwaukee on I-94 and headed west into Madison. I had been in touch with Jim Adney about stopping by on my way through so I dropped in on him and spent a couple hours meeting the man, the myth, the legend. We talked shop for a couple hours and I got to tour the famous basement workshop and parts hoard.

Keeping the weird water entry of a couple days ago in mind, I had Jim take a look at my air box drain hoses just to see if anything was awry and he said it looked good to him.

After wasting a couple hours of Jim's time I had to get back on the road. This time I stuck to U.S. 14 west through Wisconsin and into Minnesota. What a great road! Mostly two-lane rural road, I had no idea how beautiful and hilly western Wisconsin was.

As I passed through the town of Viroqua, Wisconsin, I got a shout out from a dude in a Subaru who I later found out was Samba member vwbill (cuz I got a PM from him).

I continued on to La Crosse and crossed the Mississippi River for the first time in this trip (and in life, not counting flyovers) into Minnesota.

I stayed on U.S. 14 in Minnesota which follows the Mississippi north for a while and it was gorgeous. There are hills and bluffs along the highway and for a while I was racing a freight train on tracks between the highway and the river.

After a while U.S. 14 turns west and then the land flattens out and mostly turns to farms.

I rolled into Rochester and was greeted with a home-cooked dinner of Burmese chicken salad (served cold & spicy) plus mapo tofu. I had brought my friend a case of beer from her favorite Brooklyn brewery, Other Half so we shared a couple brews and caught up over dinner.

Didn't really take any pics, except one of my friend's dog Soren, gleeful eviscerator of stuffed toys:

Got a good night's sleep because the next day was gonna be a long day getting to Badlands...
_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[VWporscheGT3]

Loving this thread. cant wait to read more!!
_________________
Schnell, SCHNELL!

I like being wrong, Because, it is another opportunity to learn. If you stop learning from your mistakes than what is the point?

If you have any questions about Forged ICON 4032 VW pistons just shoot me a line.

[Bobnotch]

Agreed. Nice pics too.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[sjbartnik]

My friend in Rochester had to get up early to go to work so I got up early as well and made myself some coffee & packed up the car. My thought was to depart Rochester and then get breakfast in Sioux Falls.

I continued west on U.S. 14 through Minnesota and there ain't much out there but farms and flat:

I then picked up Minnesota 60 which connected me with I-90 into South Dakota. Sidetracked down into downtown Sioux Falls for some breakfast. Found a really great spot called Josiah's Café where I had an excellent eggs benedict with pork belly and a chipotle hollandaise.

"Breakfast" wound up being at around 1 p.m. or so.

A fellow working there turned me on to Remedy Brewing and I swung by for a couple tasters and picked up some crowlers for camp beer.

Sioux Falls seemed like a nice little city. Glad I stopped in.

Then it was back onto I-90 to make some miles.

Not long before I got to Badlands I stopped off for gas at a Pilot just off the interstate. It was here that I had the first instance of what I now know was a vapor lock condition thought at the time I just chalked it up to maybe a slug of water in the gas.

I had stopped and filled up, then moved my car to the parking area. Went inside, hit the restroom, got some ice for the cooler etc. When I was ready to go, the car fired right up and I got out on the road. Once I got to the on-ramp to I-90 and started accelerating, the car started to sputter and hesitate. I pulled over to the shoulder and it died as soon as I pushed the clutch in. I turned the ignition off and back on and it fired right up and ran the rest of the way without incident.

I got to Badlands shortly before sunset and first priority was to get to the campground and get the tent set up before the sun went down. Afterward, I drove to the nearby town of Interior to get some beer and a terrible burger but some great local color at the Wagon Wheel.

I spent the whole next day in Badlands doing some hiking. What an amazing place. I could easily fill this thread with photos but I don't want to overdo it. Below are some highlights:

Insects of the American midwest: a field study:

From the Saddle Pass Trail. You can see the Square down there in the parking lot for scale.

_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[DQDan]

What a beautiful car!

[Bobnotch]

[rocketeer928]

Loving this thread. Makes me want to take a similar road trip whenever my Squareback finally gets through its restoration.
_________________
1970 VW Type 3 Squareback - Cobalt Blue (Birdie)
1973 VW Type 1 Super Beetle Convertible - Red (Rosie)
2003 VW Jetta GLS TDI with RocketChip RC5-ASV-Euro tune specific to my performance modifications - Platinum Gray

[Peters Van]

you need a type 3 insect guard...............

_________________
1965 Type 3 Panel Van
1963 EH Holden Station Wagon

[sjbartnik]

[sjbartnik]

So here are a couple videos I took while driving through Badlands on the park loop road.


Link



Link


Also, finally in South Dakota I found a decent country music AM radio station!


Link

_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[sjbartnik]

So on September 7 I left Badlands with the goal to reach Billings, Montana.

Picked up this bighorn sheep at the gift shop. Now he gets to see the rest of the country.

I drove the Badlands park loop road one last time which put me out on I-90 about 20 miles west from where I went into the park. I kept on I-90 west and stopped into downtown Rapid City to get some breakfast at Tally's Silver Spoon.

In Rapid City:

On the highway I spotted pretty much the only car that makes a Squareback look gigantic:

The license plate says MINIMAL.

After breakfast, I stopped into Lost Cabin Brewing on the advice of a friend whose taste I know to be good. Picked up some cans to go for the camp cooler.

Outside of Rapid City I picked up U.S. 85 headed north and then picked up U.S. 212 which took me out of South Dakota and through the northeast corner of Wyoming before entering Montana.

It was a tough driving day; I was pretty much dealing with 20-25 mph headwinds all the way on 212. A lot of times it was foot to the floor just to maintain 65 mph on the flats and hills were tough. This section is where I got the worst mileage of my trip, around 21 mpg.

The landscape was incredible though. 212 is a two-lane road with a 70 mph speed limit through vast amounts of nothing. The landscape reminded me somewhat of northwestern Scotland. Once I got there I fully understood why Montana is called big sky country.

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures but I did stop on the side of 212 for this one:

After camping for a couple days I had arranged for a last-minute Airbnb in Billings which worked out great. After a nice hot shower I headed downtown for dinner. I had a great meal at Walkers Grill - a really nice filet of halibut done properly.

I only remember it so well because I was so disappointed every time I had halibut in Anchorage. In Anchorage they have all this beautiful fish but nobody knows how to cook it! Always overdone and tough. I had to go to Montana to get my Alaskan halibut cooked right.
_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[sjbartnik]

Billings was a one-nighter. Woke up the next day, had breakfast at a diner downtown, then hit the road to Missoula.

This was a great drive! I took Montana route 3 north out of Billings up to U.S. 12 headed west.

I wanted to avoid I-90 as much as possible, especially in a place as beautiful as Montana. Much better driving this time as the wind had died down.

Found the perfect AM station for driving through central Montana:


Link


The landscape around White Sulphur Springs reminded me a lot of Scotland, and then I entered the Helena National Forest and the landscape completely changed; could have easily been in the Smoky Mountains back east. Went through Helena and then crossed the Continental Divide for the first time without even knowing it. Sign on the pass said MacDonald Pass 6123 feet but only when looking it up later to make sure I had the elevation correct did I realize it was the Continental Divide. All I knew at the time was it was a big, long hill.

I got into Missoula late in the day and had booked a cheap room in a house on Airbnb. Turned out to be super cool, met some great folks who were very welcoming. Upon arrival in Missoula I was ready for my first 3000 mile service so I extended my Airbnb stay for another day so I wouldn't have to rush around the next day and then try to get somewhere after working on the car.

The next morning while doing my service I found that my tailpipe hold-down bolt had departed the vehicle somewhere in the last 3000 miles!

Luckily Montana Bolt Co. was nearby and were able to hook me up with the correct metric hardware including flat washer and lock washer to re-secure my tailpipe. All for the princely sum of 50 cents all in.

Didn't have much in the way of mind-blowing food or drink in Missoula with the exception of Draught Works Brewery which was quite good. Spent my second night in Missoula out on the town and had a great time.

The original plan was to move onto Glacier National Park after Missoula but originally the forecast was not looking good. It was showing that Glacier was basically going to be socked in with heavy rain all week which was not what I was in for. So it worked out that I stayed in Missoula another day, because by that time the forecast had cleared and I had a couple-day window of good weather forecast at Glacier before the rains returned. I was worried I was gonna have to skip Glacier and divert south earlier than planned but thankfully it worked out.

The next morning I had a very good breakfast at the Catalyst Cafe downtown.

On the way out of town I spotted a little shop downtown with some air-cooled VWs out front so I stopped in to see if I could pick up a couple valve cover gaskets. It was called Import Palace.

Wound up talking to John, an old-school old-salt VW guy who runs the place. He was really happy to see the Square out on such a trip and I gave him the tour of the car. We bullshitted a bit as we went over the car and I was able to get those valve cover gaskets I needed. Real nice guy, seemed to know his stuff.

Then it was off to Glacier...
_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[sjbartnik]

It's not too bad a drive from Missoula to Glacier, maybe about four hours depending on what part of the park you're going to.

I left Missoula heading up U.S. 93 through the Flathead Reservation, then got on Montana 35 heading up the east side of Flathead Lake. Then Montana 206 over to U.S. 2 headed east.

U.S. 2 is a fun road. Cuts through the Flathead National Forest. Prior to starting the trip, I had new tires installed - got the Vredestein Sprint Classics and let me tell you - after throwing this car around on U.S. 2, it can handle with some decent tires on it. It doesn't have the horsepower but if you can keep your momentum up..

I had decided to camp at Two Medicine which is in the southeast corner of the park. So heading east on U.S. 2 I crossed the Continental Divide again.

Arrived at the park entrance in a light rain.

The rain let up just long enough for me to set up my tent and rain fly.

After that it basically rained the rest of the night. I was able to rig up my tarp and at least got a good campfire going. If I'm going to be cold and wet, I'm at least gonna have a goddamn fire.

Next morning I woke up and the sky was clearing. Most important thing: make coffee.

The view from my campsite:

Plan for the day was to drive up to the Many Glacier area and do some hiking. I took Montana 49 up from the campground to pick up U.S. 89 north to Babb. 89 north was a shit show - they were doing construction and a significant portion was unpaved. Due to the previous day's rain it was a bit of a mud bog. I got through but the Square was very dirty from there on out.

Morning mist on Montana 49:

There was some amazing scenery once entering the park from Babb so I'll just post some photos:

The hike was going great until a moose and her calf decided to hang out on the ridgeline trail and have a snack. No way to go around 'em so after trying to wait it out a bit, turned back.

Went back to the Many Glacier Hotel and had a beer while I did some trip planning with a friend of mine. Then did some additional light hiking on the Grinnell Lake Trail.

When I got done it was about time to head back to camp. I took an alternate route to avoid the mud bog, took Montana 464 east and south from Babb and then picked up U.S. 2 again in the town of Browning. 464 was gorgeous, starts right off with a huge climb and when you get to the top you can see EVERYTHING.

When I got back to Two Medicine it wasn't raining and the light was better so I got to re-shoot my park entrance pic.

_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[Bobnotch]

Some very nice scenery.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[sjbartnik]

[sjbartnik]

Time to bump this thread!

9/12 was my second day in Glacier.

Campsite view in the morning:

After camp coffee, I drove back up U.S. 89 from Two Medicine to St. Mary and entered the park to drive the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road. This road crosses the park east to west and in the process passes over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass at an elevation of 6647 feet. The town of St. Mary is at 4484 feet.

The scenery along the road is incredible so I'll just let the pics do the talking:

At Logan Pass I was in the cloud. From the pass down to the town of West Glacier is a very long downhill. It was so much of a downhill that the air from the heater started to get lukewarm because the engine wasn't doing any work.

I got lunch in West Glacier then headed back east on U.S. 2, crossing the Continental Divide again and having some fun throwing the car around in the high-speed curves.

Once I got back to Two Medicine I did some hiking around the lake there. Saw a moose:

These little weirdo birds decided to hike in front of me for a while, constantly looking back nervously. I guess they forgot they can fly?

By this time I was losing the light so I returned to camp and built a roaring fire for my last night in Glacier.
_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[sjbartnik]

The next morning I was greeted with a gorgeous sunrise as I woke to break camp.

I took U.S. 2 west back through the park and across the Continental Divide once more.

On the west side of Glacier, I picked up Montana 206 south to Montana 35 down the east side of Flathead Lake, then took U.S. 93 all the way back down to Missoula where I stopped for breakfast. This section was where I got my best mileage of the trip as it was basically a very long downhill run from Glacier to Missoula.

My next destination was Bend, Oregon, but I wasn't going to make it all in one day. I settled on Kennewick, Washington as a good midway point. It was still a long day of driving (576 miles total from Glacier to Kennewick) so not a lot of pictures.

In Missoula I picked up I-90 west and stayed on that through Idaho...

...and into Washington.

The eastern Washington landscape was surprising, kind of like a hilly grass desert.

Eventually I picked up U.S. 395 down to Kennewick and just stayed in a cheap motel for the night.

I did not realize until after I got back home that Boo-Koo-Z is based in Kennewick! Otherwise I would have looked him up.
_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[Bobnotch]

Some more great pics. I love it.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[sjbartnik]

Let's get back into updating this thread!

I woke up on 9/14/2019 in Kennewick, Washington and the day's mission was to get to Bend, Oregon.

But first, coffee. Found a decent coffee shop in historic downtown Kennewick called Rockabilly Roasting Co. Wound up buying a bag of beans to go for camp coffee.

Downtown Kennewick:

While downtown I spotted a '79 Riviera for sale which appeared to be super solid, clean, and original. I posted about it at the time in the Bay Window forum.

I got out of town on I-82 south and then jumped on I-84 west to make some time. Even though it's the Interstate, I-84 through this part of Oregon is pretty scenic as it follows the Columbia River and the landscape, though still very grass-desert-like, starts to get more rocky and hilly with bluffs along the river.

Took a break near some wind turbines.

I did not get windmill cancer.

At some point on my route I scored all 5's.

I stayed on I-84 until Biggs Junction and then got onto U.S. 97 headed south. What a treat that was!

It was very lightly traveled, probably because it goes from the middle of nowhere to the middle of nowhere. It's a long climb up into the bluffs and the road twists and turns between them, with the bluffs close in at the side of the road.

Once you get to the top, it seems like you're on some kind of high elevation plateau. You can see for miles and there's not a lot of other traffic to bother with. Mountains are visible in the distance.

And there is a whole lot of nothing. There are a few tiny towns along the way but no gas stations, just ruins of gas stations. So make sure you gas up at Biggs Junction because there's no gas until you get to Madras.

And then, before I knew it, I was in Bend.
_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650

[sjbartnik]

I went to Bend on the recommendation of a friend but it only worked out time-wise because I had an extra day to fill before I was to meet my friend in Reno.

I got into town around lunchtime, dropped my stuff off at the Airbnb, and went into town for a bit. As I got downtown I happened upon a car show that was just wrapping up but I was able to get some photos.

All the above were great cars but the most interesting car there was a BMW Isetta:

The owner had left the engine lid open so I took some detail shots because it was very clean but also because it reminded me a lot of our engines and there are some notable design similarities.

The Isetta engine is a 700cc air-cooled flat twin - surely BMW's expertise in this type of engine for motorcycles informed their choice to use it in this car.

The casual viewer will notice a lot of similarities to the air-cooled VW engine. You have a crankshaft-mounted cooling fan, you have engine tin filling the engine compartment along with a rubber seal sealing the gap between the tin and body to keep the hot air below and the cool air on top. Even the same kind of spark plug wires with the seals for the holes in the tin.

Interestingly I note there is no distributor and there are two ignition coils, so each plug has its own coil. I don't know what the triggering mechanism is.

I was able to get a couple short videos as the participants left the show - pardon my shaky camera work.


Link



Link


After lunch I took a drive up to the Deschutes National Forest and did a little light hiking.

Then finally, the real goal. Stopped into the Crux Fermentation Project for a few beers. Also grabbed some cans to go for camp beer. Great brewery!

Always get stickers.
_________________
1965 Volkswagen 1500 Variant S
2000 Kawasaki W650