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Saw the midsection of the country this week.

slag

slag

Lifer
Since last Thursday, we've logged over 2k miles in the car. Last Thursday we drove from basically KC up to Minnesota to pick up a Yamaha superjet pwc for my son to ride. Then, yesterday, we drove to Fort Worth to get another one for me. 860 miles the first trip, 1062 yesterday, and in between, we drove the car to and from work, around town, a couple 150 mile round trip drives for my wife's work.

Starting to get tired of that driver's seat, but I think the purchases are finally done.

The shitty part is we drove her 2013 Ford Explorer sport and got 17.6 mpg. That's all highway driving between 65 and 83 mostly.
 
I've never disliked driving through the midwest as part of a cross-country trip. Always thought the farm country of Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa was rather pretty. And the driving is certainly easy.
 
You're gonna wish those PWCs got close to 17mpg .... I believe they usually see closer to 7-8mpg, even worse than a snowmobile, though I know you don't typically drive them nearly as many miles as a car...
 
BurnItDwn said:
You're gonna wish those PWCs got close to 17mpg .... I believe they usually see closer to 7-8mpg, even worse than a snowmobile, though I know you don't typically drive them nearly as many miles as a car...
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They get boring after like 10-15 minutes so he'll be alright.
 
purbeast0 said:
They get boring after like 10-15 minutes so he'll be alright.
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We've only rented a few times, but, when we would rent them for a day, we would loath the sunset.
Loved taking them out on the waves in Lake Michigan when it's windy and there's white caps. Could literally spend every moment of every warm day out on the lake, and it would be a glorious and happy life.
 
If you raised your children its okay to spoil your grandkids, you spoil your children you will be raising your grandkids
 
My last road trip was a little over 14,000 miles, the only parts i disliked where around the larger cities, especially Toronto.
 
purbeast0 said:
They get boring after like 10-15 minutes so he'll be alright.
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If these were sitdowns, then yes, I'd agree. However, these are 2011 and 2014 superjet standups. They won't get boring. We upgraded from a 1990 Kawasaki 650sx and 1991 Kawasaki 550sx.
 
We had an IJSBA sanctioned race at Pomona Lake this weekend and my son got 3rd overall in beginner's class. He got 1st overall for the season! The first day of the races there were 5 total racers and he got 4th place in the first race and 3rd in the second. Two of the other racers were using Kawasaki SXR 1500 skis with 1500 CC engines and around 150-160 horsepower. Another guy was using a Kommander hull with an 1100 CC engine putting out about 130 hp. We have a couple superjets, 701cc, 73 hp, with no mods yet. The second day, only 3 people showed up for the beginner class. He got 2nd both races, racing against the two 1500 SXR skis and beating one. Both other riders have had their skis since April, so with just one week (3 practice sessions) on the superjet, I think he did great to beat one of them and almost beat the 1st place guy in the first race.

eOQQ1KR.jpg
 
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Quick walkthrough video we took while walking to the truck I bought at copart earlier this year. Nothing special, just to show what one of these events is like. The first big trailer you see off to the right were people who drove up from New Mexico and it was tricked out. Some people really get into these events. It was 103 degrees when I took the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBdWzeYE3No
 
I feel your pain. I just drove from Los Angeles to Houston in my Explorer sport while towing and got 16 MPG average.
 
slag said:
Since last Thursday, we've logged over 2k miles in the car. Last Thursday we drove from basically KC up to Minnesota to pick up a Yamaha superjet pwc for my son to ride. Then, yesterday, we drove to Fort Worth to get another one for me. 860 miles the first trip, 1062 yesterday, and in between, we drove the car to and from work, around town, a couple 150 mile round trip drives for my wife's work.

Starting to get tired of that driver's seat, but I think the purchases are finally done.

The shitty part is we drove her 2013 Ford Explorer sport and got 17.6 mpg. That's all highway driving between 65 and 83 mostly.
Click to expand...

I did about that between Sunday at 5 pm and today at 6 am. Kitsap County, WA to Atwater, CA, then over to San Jose, and back to WA. 1189 miles. Spent Monday night in a motel. Slept a couple of hours Sunday night and Tuesday night in the Ford Motel. (in the truck)
Drove our 2018 F-150, averaged about 22.5 mpg (not towing a damned thing)

nOOky said:
Sorry you had to go through that, at least it wasn't I 80 across Nebraska.
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That drive is pure torture...
 
I've done the drive across Indiana and IL on 1-74 about 60 times and it's one of the most mind numbingly boring things you can possibly drive. Western IN/Eastern IL is a barren wasteland of farmland. Same thing driving I-80 from eastern IA to Omaha. Done that trip a similar number of times. As well as 1-90 across southern MN. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
 
I drive my wife and kids once a year back east so that my wife can spend 3-4 weeks with her family at the beach. We will likely start flying as the kids get older and require less “stuff”, but I really don’t mind the drive other than the oppressive heat/humidity that hits you like a ton of bricks somewhere in Kansas. The whole drive is a breeze vs any drive up and down either of the coasts. While I would never want to live there, I find the farm fields of the Midwest pretty in their own right.

My wife’s minivan on stilts is a fantastic trip car and we drive so much around CO/UT/WY that my kids (three that are 4 or younger) actually handle trips really well.

As we transition to flying in the upcoming years...I know I am going to miss the drive.
 
I flew to Omaha once 50 years ago. Stayed maybe a week. Drove through the south once, 55 years ago. Never driven through the middle of the country. Read this thread, though. Interesting.
 
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