Seattle. What route, how many days, how many miles?

[Guest unclefogey]

During a discussion over dinner this evening with my friend, I brought up the subject of possibly driving out to Seattle for next years meet. To my surprise, the only negative comment was, "I hope the weather is not hot". She also said that it will be four days at 50 miles an hour to cover the 2000 miles from Minnesota. Seems she had made this trip with her family many times in the late forties and fifties, camping in one room school yards because they had outhouses and stopping only when needing gas.

Not wanting to let this positive attitude flicker and die, can anyone from this year's Washington contingent to Rochester give me an idea of your route, miles one way, and the time to cover same. I tend to shy away from the interstates due to my Buick being a '41, model 46 with 15" radials, but with a 3.9 rear axle. I noticed that one of the cars from your group was a '41, so I imagine that 55 mph was your top speed.

Thanks,

John

BCA #41635

[Centurion]

John, I was unable to make the trip this year, but I will learn the exact route from the folks who made the journey, and will share it with you here within the next few days. This year's caravan to Rochester included straight-8 Buicks from 1941, 1948, and 1951.

[Guest imported_Thriller]

Interesting...I just did a directions at MapQuest and they told me it was about 1640 miles and 23.5 hours of driving to get from Winnipeg to Bellevue. That being said, it also routed me by Interstates going straight south on I29 to get to I90...I guess that is one possible route, but I don't know if I will go that way or not...possibly one direction anyway.

Using the shortest distance feature has me on the Trans-Canada much of the way, with a distance just under 1400 miles and 26 hrs of driving time.

[serb]

This will not really answer the question but I thought I'd throw it out there just the same. In 1968 I was stationed at Ft Lewis, Washington. It was February, my friend and I drove non-stop from Tacoma to Buffalo in less than 2 days. We never shut the car off except to get gas. That is when we made the bathroom stops also. Before we left, we bought a couple of sticks of salami, some bread and took off. We went south to Salt Lake (If my memory serves me correctly) and then through the mountains to Denver where they would not let you through unless you had chains. The chains are still in the bag. I had a 66 Toronado and we passed all kinds of vehicles going up and through the mountains.

We ran into a snow storm just west of Chicago but kept moving along. All in all a great trip, great memories and the beginning of the trip to the jungles. The only place we got stopped was in Nebraska or Iowa (???). We told the cop we were in the army, going home on leave before getting shipped out. He said take it easy, take care and have a safe return. We had to keep the speed down until we got out of his state.

Thats all folks.

Stevo

[Guest rlbleeker]

If you want to avoid the interstate (I90) then your looking at highway 2. I made it from Spokane to Duluth in three pretty easy days. Seattle is another 6 hours from Spokane. That's in my Riv. If your limited to 55, it'll take you a bit longer. It's a beautiful drive, much better than I90.

[Guest Straight eight]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">During a discussion over dinner this evening with my friend, I brought up the subject of possibly driving out to Seattle for next years meet. To my surprise, the only negative comment was, "I hope the weather is not hot". She also said that it will be four days at 50 miles an hour to cover the 2000 miles from Minnesota. Seems she had made this trip with her family many times in the late forties and fifties, camping in one room school yards because they had outhouses and stopping only when needing gas.

Not wanting to let this positive attitude flicker and die, can anyone from this year's Washington contingent to Rochester give me an idea of your route, miles one way, and the time to cover same. I tend to shy away from the interstates due to my Buick being a '41, model 46 with 15" radials, but with a 3.9 rear axle. I noticed that one of the cars from your group was a '41, so I imagine that 55 mph was your top speed.

Thanks,

John

BCA #41635 </div></div>

I had a 41 Super 4 door with the same rear end, and found it was happiest at 60 to 65 mph. The engine would virtually sing! This is a high speed rear end, or so it was advertised. Meant for thighway travel.

[Centurion]

I agree with the assessment of Highway 2, and am still waiting to hear back regarding the exact route the group took to Rochester.

Regarding 1941 Supers, I followed a '41 Super convertible from Seattle to Flint back in 1988 for the Flint Homecoming Meet (BCA National). I was extremely impressed; the car cruised beautifully at about 65-mph the entire distance.

[brad54]

Not even close to the same thing, but earlier this year I flew to Joplin, MO to buy an unrestored '62 Chevy Suburban with a 283, granny 4spd and possibly 4.10 gears. It was a $2,000 truck. We drover home about 1,000 miles on mostly county 2- and 4-lane highways, stopping at a few places. The truck did well on the interstate between Birmingham and Atlanta, keeping up with trafic.

There's no reason a vintage car can't be driven for long distances, at freeway speeds.

As for your route, do like I did: grab a US Atlas, a yellow highlighter marker, toss them to the 10-year-old and say "Mark me a route from Joplin to Atlanta, keeping me off the Interstates except for the last leg between Birmingham and Atlanta."

Figure on 8-10 hours of travel time per day, at about 400 miles per day, as you'll no doubt want to stop at little out-of-the way places for lunch (man, that open faced roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravey is STILL memorable!), any un-scoured junk yards (actually found two parts I absolutely NEEDED for the Suburban I just bought!), and interesting landmarks (The house Laura Ingles Wilder lived in and wrote the Little House stories in).

Your results may vary.

-Brad

[Bill Stoneberg]

Until my car broke a 15 cent rivet last year on the way to Batavia, we travelled the Interstates exclusivly. 65 - 70 in my 47 Super 12 MPG.

We were doing 600 mile days with no problems. 10 hours was about all my feet could take though. 116 degrees at one point on the floorboards. I have since fixed the hot air leak.

[Centurion]

unclefogey, I have obtained the route information from the individual who planned the route to Rochester and back. I also have complete information regarding the hotels that were utilized along the way, as well as the route maps in .pdf files. Please send me a private message if you would like me to e-mail the information to you.

One of our members, who drove his 1931 Buick 96C to Flint with us in 2003, proposed that we plan the route to follow The Yellowstone Trail. Here's a little historical information regarding the route:

" In 1912, a group of small town businessmen in South Dakota undertook an ambitious project to create a useful automobile route, the Yellowstone Trail, across America. This was at a time when roads weren't marked, there were few maps and slippery mud was the usual road surface. The Yellowstone Trail Association located a route, motivated road improvements, produced maps and folders to guide the traveler, and promoted tourism along its length. It became a leader in stimulating tourist travel to the Northwest and motivating good roads across America. The Lincoln Highway Association, formed in 1913 by industrialists, created a similar route across the U. S., but used big organizational and public relation budgets.

"Today, almost all of the route of the Yellowstone Trail is on slower, less traveled roads. Some sections of the Trail, especially in the West, have remained little changed and are a delight to visit."

Where practical, the group determined to follow the trail, but, in the interest of time, planned portions of the journey on the Interstate Highways.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Seattle to Rochester:</span>

<span style="font-weight: bold">Day 1: Seattle to Post Falls, Idaho (299 miles)</span>

Interstate 90 to CleEllum

Highway 97 to Wenatchee

Highway 2 to Spokane

Interstate 90 to Post Falls

<span style="font-weight: bold">Day 2: Post Falls, Idaho to Livingstone, Montana (400 miles)</span>

This day was all on Interstate 90

<span style="font-weight: bold">Day 3: Livingstone, Montana to Bowman, North Dakota (387 miles)</span>

Interstate 90 to Billings, MT

Interstate 94 to Miles City, MT

Highway 12 to Bowman, ND

<span style="font-weight: bold">Day 4: Bowman, North Dakota to Watertown, South Dakota (366 miles)</span>

Highway 12 to Summit, and south on Interstate 29 to Watertown, SD

<span style="font-weight: bold">Day 5: Watertown, South Dakota to Rochester, Minnesota (329 miles)</span>

Highway 212, Highway 19, Highway 169, Highway 50. This part of the map is not entirely clear to me, but I'm sure you know the best way to travel across Minnesota!

Total distance with this route is 1,781 miles. While many travelers picked their own routes for the return trip, the computed distance for traveling on the Interstate from Rochester to Seattle was about 1,670 miles.

[Mark Shaw]

We joined the Seattle to Rochester caravan in Post Falls Idaho. We towed an empty car trailer & followed Everett's 41 Buick Coupe all the way at an average speed of 60 mph (until he had a rear wheel bearing go out). Everyone had plenty of time to visit museums, car collections, and Yellowstone Trail sites along the way. The biggest slow-down was getting gas for twelve cars and meals for over twenty people each time we stopped. With a smaller group, I expect a full day could be saved.

I recommend Microsoft's "Streets & Trips" software to help plan your route (We bought it for $30 at Costco and got a $15 rebate). It provides lots of extra information like hotel & gas station locations, road construction updates, maps, & directions.

Whatever you do, don't miss the 2007 Buick Meet!

Mark Shaw

[JohnD1956]

Bill, What's the story on the 15 cent rivit?

JD

[Bill Stoneberg]

I was driving my 47 to Batavia last year and was having some issues. If you look in you October Bugle, you can see the whole story. To make a long story short, we were in Elizabethtown KY after a couple of days of travel when a 15 cent rivet broke on my rebuilt clutch plate. It was one of the rivets that held the hub to the clutch plate. I couldn't shift, I couldn't move. We got towed and rented a car from there.

We were talking at our club meeting yesterday and we were thinking from Texas to Seattle will be a 4 day journey, possibly 5. Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Thats somewhere between 4 -600 miles a day.

Its 2345 miles from my house to the hotel according to yahoo maps.

[JohnD1956]

Thanks Bill, now I remember that story.

As for the thread, looking at a Hammond Road Atlas, it's chart of milage shows 2928 miles from Albany NY to Seattle Washington. Simple math after that says :

If we divide that by 55 MPH, we have 53.26 hours of driving.

Divide by 10 hrs per day it's 5.5 days

8 hrs per day thats 6.65 days

7 hours is 7.6 days.

Also it's 195 gallons of gas at 15 mpg.

That times $4.50 per gal = $878 dollars to get there.

Even if the gas stays at $3.50 per gal thats $682 one way.

Hmmm! It's probably cheaper to fly.

Lets see, if I got 26 MPG in the Riviera then it's $395 one way,

Still cheaper to fly.

Still, the thought of a trip across country interests me.

[Guest Tri-shield]

Flying or riding the 'hound will be cheaper, but DRIVING is why most of us own our Buicks. Back in 2000 I drove the Invicta back from Ann Arbor to Seattle/Bellevue by way of Houghton for a total of about 2600 miles (deduct about 600 of those miles for the Houghton excursion) mostly via Hwy 2, then south on 87 @ Havre thru Great Falls to Helena, then west on 12 where I picked up I-90. This route made for a very relaxing and enjoyable drive through some of our country's most beautiful and breathtaking scenery.

[Bill Stoneberg]

FLY ??? FLY ??? Have you done that recently ? Crowded planes, boorish employees and strip searches. Plus you will probable get stuck in a middle seat between a fat lady who blabs incessently about her grandchildren and a big man who hasn't had a shower in a week. Plus your seat wont recline and the window passenger uses the bathroom every 10 minutes.

NO THANKS. As the Chevy Commercial used to say "Drive and see the USA".

Besides, if you take someone else along, the cost becomes better.

[Mark Shaw]

I am what most people call a "Road Warrior" because I have been a traveling salesman for over 20 years. Most of my travel today is via commercial airlines, and I agree with the previous post regarding the negatives of air travel.

My wife and I drove from Vancouver WA to Rochester this year for the Buick National Meet. She had never really seen the USA until that trip. It was fun to watch her enjoying the scenic beauty of the country and experience new people and places. It was also great to travel with the Seattle caravan folks who made the trip that much more enjoyable.

If you don't drive to Seattle for the 2007 National, you will never know what it is to drive across this country. I suggest that you plan your trip with other BCA members to ensure that you will have help if you need it. Getting there can be as much fun as being there!

Mark Shaw

[JohnD1956]

Well, when you put it that way, I can see your point, Still the strip search sounds like it could be...We'll lets just leave that to the imagination.

I was already informed that I can certainly make this trip. While I'm gone my sweetie will make a trip to Atlantic City for her vacation.

Actually I drove to Flint in 03 with the Minuteman chapter. I really did enjoy that ride. And for Seattle, another UNY chapter member is thinking of going, so while I am not quite ready to pack my bags, it does seem that this may be a once in a lifetime trip that I would regret missing. Time to fix the A/C in the GS I think.

Anyone else from New England area on here thinking about driving out?

JD

[Centurion]

Bill, John, and others -- I'm thankful that you guys have the vision for the Great American Road Trip. We've hoped that BCAers will view the Seattle National Meet as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the country in a fine vintage Buick. We're actively working on an advertisement for the January "Bugle" that focuses on this very idea, hoping that folks will decide that this is an adventure that should not be missed.

[Bill Stoneberg]

Brian, My wife wont let me NOT drive. She may fly up but she wants to drive back home. Seeing the USA in an old Buick or even a new one, is the best vacation I can have.

The last year my Dad drove with me from Houston to Rochester because he needed a road trip so its in my genes.

[JohnD1956]

Okay, Okay!!! Our hotel reservations are in. I may have to sell the car when we get back to pay for the trip, but our general plan is to drive to Seattle for the National, then tour the upper west coast to San Francisco and stop by Reno ( gambling) and Carson City ( historical) as well as Salt Lake City (to see my sister), and then to take our time returning and take in the Great Lakes Regional on the way back. Hey, maybe that will qualify for the longest distance award if they have one?

Anyway, looking forward to seeing everyone on the west coast!!!

JD

(Oh happy days , repeat, repeat... fade out) <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />