It's road trip time again

[jamal]

I seem to have started a yearly tradition of driving home to Missoula, Montana for Christmas instead of flying. It's probably because of that time a few years ago when I got dropped off at the airport to find that my flight had been canceled and there was no possible way to make it home on a plane. So I hopped in my car that afternoon and drove.

Last year I decided to do the same thing but with a little more planning. I have a friend in graduate school at the University of Utah, and another friend who lives in Las Vegas. So on the way there I stopped in Salt Lake, skied and went out with my friend, and then we carpooled home to Missoula. After that we skied some more at Big Sky, and then again at Snowbird on the way back, and then I stayed in Vegas for a few days.

It was fun and so I'm doing it again in the new car. So far I've done a lot of work to get it in good shape but the farthest I've driven it was to Subiefest an hour or so north of LA. I don't expect to have any problems but it will certainly be a good trial for my new ride. Hopefully the roads will be better than they were last year when I ended up driving through a blizzard at night in the middle of utah.

Anyway, if you're along the way it would be cool to stop and say hi. I'll be taking the 15. I'll be leaving Sunday, and heading straight for Salt Lake, and then I'll be on the way to Missoula by Tuesday, and then back to Salt Lake for New Years.

[Adam West]

Jamal, I'm from MSO too. If you are out in Seattle let's get together. Where did you grow up? What grade/highschool did you go to?

Cheers, ~Adam

[kleinkid]

Jamal, your road map must be old. Seattle area is directly on the way to Montana from HB, coming or going! Didn't you learn nuthin at SC? If you go thru Puget Sound we will set up a meet for you and find a place for you to stay.

[SILINC3R]

damn living in Georgia no snowboarding for me. im sure your car will be fine, ive driven to Indiana and didnt stop. had no problems and it had 230000 at the time, also have been down to Panama city without stopping, again no problems. good luck and hit a couple jumps if you go boardin

[jamal]

hot roof rack is on the car. All fluids are fresh, headlights are aimed and have new bulbs.

Now I just need to do a load of laundry, get a few hours of sleep, and hit the road.

[kimokalihi]

Don't forget basic tools, jumper cables, spare tire, warm walking gear in case you get stranded, flash light, etc. Have a safe trip.

[DLC]

Beware that there's a pretty serious storm headed for UT tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully the roads will be decent, and you can get in OK.

There's going to be a LOT of new snow for you here, guaranteed.

[jamal]

Here are some pictures so far. I'm in Lethbridge, Alberta for Christmas.

[kimokalihi]

You getting any light out of those headlights?

[DLC]

Are you coming back through this way? Did you get my SMS?

[jamal]

yeah, I'll be back new years eve or the day before that. Sorry for not getting back to you but I was driving through that crap at the time. We decided to just leave the next day and get up to montana. Anyway I'll give you a call on the way back.

[DLC]

Ah, sounds good.

[jamal]

well I made it back yesterday without any trouble. I have a cold and didn't get to ski, which really sucked. I also stopped and had dinner with DLC on my way into salt lake.

Here are the rest of my cell phone pictures:

deer in my yard:



big sky brewery:



The sky was clear but the roads still sucked in a few places on the way back:



welcome to the middle of nowhere:



my car looking incredibly filthy in pocatello:



some more pretty canyons:



a borrowed radar dectector led to a pretty complete disregard for speed limits between utah and la:

Jamal, I'm from MSO too. If you are out in Seattle let's get together. Where did you grow up? What grade/highschool did you go to?

Cheers, ~Adam

I grew up in canada and then we moved to missoula in 96 when I was 12. I graduated from big sky in 01 and then moved to la for college.

[DLC]

Good to meet you.