From FL to L.A. in my MKIV

[G3D]

Everything is practically set. I'm going to be moving out to L.A. on Wed, and it'll be my first drive that far. (2,533 mi – about 1 day 13 hours).


I'm guessing it'll take me just over 2 days to do it as i'll be driving alone. I'm just looking for any pointers any other drivers would have bout such a long trip. Any tips about a drive that long, or any technical issues/pointers I should be aware of would be awesome. I'm really not worried, i'm sure the ride will be long and grueling, but comfortable none the less.

I've already started gathering as much music as I can, and just got a GPS for some just in case action. I'm kinda looking forward to the drive as well, because i've always loved driving, and i'm curious to see how well my gas mileage will show on this.

I'll keep you guys posted on my trip and how my car handles it all.

[Gargamelmk2]

Can't really give too much travelling tips, you've already covered more than I would...I'm the type that considers being lost just somewhere you haven't been yet...

Hate to pull the mother card here, but..pack lots of water & healthy snacks, mind the speed/weather, if your tired pull off the road...don't become a statistic, if you do stop at a rest stop make sure its well lit, if a stranger wants to show you something politely say no thank-you i have one and know what they look like..that being said safe journey my man, look forward to hearing about your trip when you get settled..

Have to shoot me a PM on the new Address...unless the current one is remaining good

[rezmoto]

wow!! thats a long drive!! good luck!

[G3D]

Thanks bro, and thanks Gargamelmk2. Your points are being put in the brain pocket for use later. As for the addy, lets leave that on hold for the moment. The L.A. address i'll be staying at will probably be it kuz i should be there for a bit. So i'll give you that. Just let me know whenever you're ready.

[vento:)]

do everything that the "yes man would do"
good luck man, safe travels
o and steer clear of 18 wheelers ahha dont want ur jetta like ur scion

[greenhumanjames]

thats a long ways. but will be one hell of a fun drive.

[G3D]

Greetings from L.A. J2. I've been here for about 3 4 days now. I actually spent a week in Vegas w/ my cousin partying it up and relaxing a bit before gettin here.

My drive was amazing, m-a-zing. I got to see such awesome scenery and a few beautiful sunsets. I drove for 12 hours the first day from orlando to the west most part of Louisiana where I spent the first night. Screw Motel 8 and everything it stands for. My room sucked, it smelled kinda funky, my mini fridge and heater/ac were broken, and the tiny detail that was the cherry on top to peave me was that the channel guide was all wrong. F that place.

Next, I decided to bang out Texas in a day and drove for 15 hours to get through the rest of Louisiana, all through Texas, and into New Mexico. Texas was awesome. One thing that i will advise anyone driving through Texas that I was told by 2 different people is: Top off your tank at every gas station you see. There are parts of Texas where you go over 100-200 miles w/o seeing a station. I got to see a lot of cool scenery, lots of live stock, 2 boxters, only bout 6 jettas the whole time, 2 gtis, and 1 ford gt (fastest car of the trip yet). I caught a most bad ass sunset while driving down state road 71 (where the texash chainsaw massacre murders happened) and let me tell you, it totally looked the part kuz it was just creepy. One of the most extraordinary things I saw there was the starry night sky. I pulled over to relieve myself and take a stretch and saw the most amazing star filled sky as I cracked my neck. It was SO clear and there were SOO many stars that it got me so off guard I almost toppled back. It seriously was like I was in space, there were SO many stars i couldn't make out too much depth in the sky, TRIPPY as hell.

After that it was only right of me to spend the night in Roswell, New Mexico. It was cool, I literally pulled over to get a hotel room, and left that morning after some breakfast. I stayed at a Best Western and highly recommend them to people makin a trip, low price, great comfy room, WORKING FRIDGE, microwave, and a much nicer shower.

Driving through New Mexico and Arizona was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip, I saw the sickest mountains, mesas, and rock formations. I saw some snow in New Mexico, it's been so long since i've actually seen snow that I mistook it for sand at first. All around you, you see these dry twiggy trees and bushes, dry yellowed grass, and under a few of the trees some patches of what I thought to myself was some damn fine white sand. Then after seeing some more of it and after noting that sand shouldn't be as shiney I realized that it was snow. Very cool. I liked the Arizona mountain roads despite losing reception on my phone a lot. The sunset in Arizona was pretty sweet too. I was joking around about how i expected it to be GLORIOUS since it's emblazoned on the license plate.

The end bit of Arizona was my favorite, going down the mountains was the whiz bang shnip shnap shnap. Really dark, windy, 2 lane road, like most of the trip after LEAVING FL the drivers were awesome, veryone stuck to the right lanes and left the left most lane for passing. I was cutting minutes off my time by hugging the inside of the turns and carving apexes all the way down.

I had one police stop to deal with before going into Vegas/Hoover Dam but it wasn't anything like I expected. I was expecting dogs and trunk opening, none of it. The guy shines a light at me my passenger seat, the back, and told me to have a good night and drive safe after asking how my night was going and tellin me his was fine. Then driving down the damn at night was really crappy, so jammed up. Thankfully shortly after that I was enjoying a beer with my cousin, the beverage manager of Wynn/Encore Las Vegas. Bad ass. Did some gambling, lots of drinking, had tons of fun. It took me bout 10 hours to get here from Roswell.

After spending my time there I drove for 4 hours to get here to L.A. and i've been having a blast. I'm hanging out w/ 3 of my closest friends from school and I already saw another 2 guys that I knew. So far I found a few openings that i'm going to apply for and i've built a list of studios to go to/mail reels to.

The trip was fun as hell, i'm glad I did it, I got to see a lot of things and the car was rediculously comfortable the whole way. I stopped every half tank to hit the rest room, get some food, and top off and all I had to do was bust a nice stretch and crack my neck/back and I was good to go. I didn't keep track as well as i should've but i'm thinking it took me bout 3 tanks to get here. I was making 300-400 gallons a tank i'm guessing. Don't quote me on any of this though kuz like i said i didn't pay enough attention to it, i was just enjoying the ride.

I'll be back to posting regularly soon enough. I gotta do some more shit to set up my comp to run on their network.

Be safe.

[sdlucky7]

Welcome to Cali... Glad you made it out here... Where abouts in LA did you end up?

If you're up for a get together... This Sunday Feb 15th there is one @ Riverside VW from 6-10pm... Also check out the So Cal regional section of vwvortex.com to find some other (more local) meets.

Hope

[Gargamelmk2]

Awesome sounding trip man good to hear from you hope you've got numerous pics to post up once settled in...
LMFAO "One of the most extraordinary things I saw there was the starry night sky. I pulled over to relieve myself and take a stretch and saw the most amazing star filled sky"......you should write for the tourism board

"The end bit of Arizona was my favorite, going down the mountains was the whiz bang shnip shnap shnap. Really dark, windy, 2 lane road, like most of the trip after LEAVING FL the drivers were awesome, veryone stuck to the right lanes and left the left most lane for passing. I was cutting minutes off my time by hugging the inside of the turns and carving apexes all the way down. " That just sounds soo awesome


Good luck on the job hunt..

[G3D]

Originally Posted by sdlucky7

Welcome to Cali... Glad you made it out here... Where abouts in LA did you end up?

If you're up for a get together... This Sunday Feb 15th there is one @ Riverside VW from 6-10pm... Also check out the So Cal regional section of vwvortex.com to find some other (more local) meets.

Hope

Hey lucky, thanks for the welcome, i'm glad to be out here. Though, it still hasn't really settled in my head that i'm on the west coast now. I'm between Venice and Culver City from what I understand. After consulting the google maps, I'm going to have to say that I won't be able to make it to that meet, it's a bit farther than I'd be able to go for my schedule this Sun. I'll definitely check out vortex for some closer ones, and let you know when i'm able to go hang out at one near you.

Originally Posted by Gargamelmk2

Awesome sounding trip man good to hear from you hope you've got numerous pics to post up once settled in...
LMFAO "One of the most extraordinary things I saw there was the starry night sky. I pulled over to relieve myself and take a stretch and saw the most amazing star filled sky"......you should write for the tourism board

"The end bit of Arizona was my favorite, going down the mountains was the whiz bang shnip shnap shnap. Really dark, windy, 2 lane road, like most of the trip after LEAVING FL the drivers were awesome, veryone stuck to the right lanes and left the left most lane for passing. I was cutting minutes off my time by hugging the inside of the turns and carving apexes all the way down. " That just sounds soo awesome


Good luck on the job hunt..

It was a load of fun man, really was.

I also forgot to mention the next fast car I saw was a Viper SRT10 goin down the mountain w/ me. For those privvy to the Mary Kay post, I saw a Mary Kay edition Escalade, on 22's no less on my trip. I'm pretty sure it was in Texas. So that makes a CTS, an Escalade, and an obscurely known, extremely rare Mary Kay MKII.

[vento:)]

werd up to the fun trip, glade u had a fun/safe trip.
but to everyone else, he didnt write about the hookers he picked up on the way.

[Gargamelmk2]

haha LOT LIZARDS are the best......*shakes fist*paint my car pink grrrr, lucky you ran to the west coast

[G3D]

Originally Posted by vento:)

werd up to the fun trip, glade u had a fun/safe trip.
but to everyone else, he didnt write about the hookers he picked up on the way.

There may or may not be truth to this. In response I'll add that I have no recolection of the situation/situations in question. Thank you.