So the past two weeks or so, I’ve been off on yet another roadtrip. Over the past three thousand miles or so, I’ve taken the Xterra through three states I’ve never been to, over the Smoky Mountains National Park Newfound Pass and up a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway to a climbing event in West Virginia. And by the time I get home, I’ll have put thirty-thousand miles on my new friend.
Pardon me while I photo dump here since I didn’t write up this trip:
As cars are part of the narrative around here, I’d like to point out that the Xterra has served as not only prize-winning transportation, but also as an apartment, office, wardrobe, equipment drying rack, electronics charger, rope oven, vanity, sit-upon, and currently as a shipping barge since many of our Austin-based climbers sent heaps of luggage home with me.
Meanwhile…
A lot has happened without me (but with my full blessing and absentee buy-in) on the AlCan Roadtrip planning! I am getting excited and also intimidated at how soon it is.
The car situation
As I pointed out last week, we’d started to look at the potential of buying locally so we could be sure of the legalities around the border crossing. As it turns out, Tulsa is a fantastic starting market for a trip like this and George and Evan both found their cars in secret last week and have them ready to go. So this weekend is my moment. Austin, as it turns out, is a shitty market for such an endeavor…
We’re keeping the cars secret from each other and trying to retain as much of the original “cheap car challenge” experience intact. And we really don’t know a lot about what each other are looking at. But looking at the Austin Craigstlist, I think my car genre is “whatever I can get my hands on,” since it is slimmer pickin’s.
Thankfully, Evan has leaned upon his network of gearheads to help me out:
https://oppositelock.kinja.com/help-my-friend-find-a-car-to-buy-this-weekend-1836729615 Kinja has deleted its OppositeLock and Overland communities. Content Unavailable
Bookings
We’ve also booked the ferry! On a day when it actually runs! And we have a few of our lodgings sorted: AirBnBs, little inns, and even a historic brothel. This is starting to feel super real. Also it is coming up very quickly.
https://oppositelock.kinja.com/getting-excite-1836448963 Kinja has deleted its OppositeLock and Overland communities. Content Unavailable
The only change here is that we’re starting in Tacoma — it’s a new place to see, it’s less expensive, and there are more AirBnB options with parking and room to spread out.
Red pins are newly booked while I was out, though I did get a chance to look at each on my phone. I’m looking forward to being around more next week to help out with the rest of it. Still lots of nights up for grab, and many adventures to pin along the way.