Team Gunnar – Caught on Camera by Team Hord
Mary Lowery from Team Hord caught on camera formerly macho Team Gunnar asking for directions (to St. George Animal Shelter).
Team Ludin Update
Team Ludin reporting in on Monday night from Washington, Utah. We had a fantastic drive through the Mojave National Reserve, in which we stopped every fifteen feet to take photos and loved every minute of it. (Well, almost every minute.) After dining in Vegas, we decided to press on to Utah to give ourselves lots of time for our leisurely pace tomorrow.
So far I’m really liking the XC70; I love the power of the T6 engine and I continue to marvel at how comfortable the seats are. But we’ve noticed that the lane departure system seems to treat Steve differently than me, and we can’t figure out why.
Some statistics for the Mojave section of our trip:
- Number of photos taken: 1,000,000,000 (approximately)
- Number of times Aaron stopped for lunch and gas, then forgot to get gas: 1
- Number of times after lunch that Aaron pointed out dwindling distance-to-empty to Steve: 32
- Number of times admiration of scenery interrupted by alarming off-camber turn: 5
- Number of times road surface in Mojave National Reserve caused us to take the Lord’s name in vain: 39
- Number of times we wondered why our team is named for a cough drop: 3
- Number of times we programmed the navigation system for the wrong place, then cursed at it for taking us there: 2
- Number of taco/onion ring burps (both teammates combined) 16
Now it’s time for a few quick hours of shuteye (damn time change!) and then up for an early morning. There are 5 or so national parks in southern Utah, and we plan to see them all.
– Aaron Gold
Posted in Team Ludin, XC Adventure, XC70 | Comments OffTeam Ludin
Hi! First blog entry from Team Ludin:
Greetings from the Volvo XC Adventure Race Across the States drive thingie. I am riding with Steve Siler, journalist extraordinaire; I am Aaron Gold, journalist mediocritaire. We’re on the 15 freeway near Barstow, about an hour and fifteen minutes into our drive, which officially started 3 and a half hours ago. (Real-time note: Steve has just been flipped off by a Hyundai driver.) I’d like to think we have packed a full day’s adventure into our morning, but we’re on the 15, so we haven’t. We have, however, discovered the world’s greatest breakfast (pancakes stuffed with fried chicken, cheddar, eggs and served with white gravy); witnessed a road-range showdown between a Toyota Pickup and a Rage – er Range Rover; discussed our issues with loneliness and urinating in public (note: Steve just got flipped off by a Kenworth); and exhausted the trivia section of the 683-page Road Block book (by Molly Jay) that Steve brought us along to keep us amused. As if we need that. (Steve just got flipped off by another Volvo. Cripes, you’d expect a little solidarity.) Steve has tripped the lane departure system so many times that instead of beeping, it now goes “Oh, why do I bother.” Later, we will attempt to play Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” using the lane departure, collision warning and headlight-on chimes.
Steve says: “Credit must be given to the Volvo XC70 for charging up the Cajon Pass at 95-100 MPH without my having realized how fast we were going. We need to find a truck stop. To pee, not to find my next boyfriend. Wait, are you still typing what I’m saying? Stop. Stop. No, really, stop.”
More later. PS, we’ve just been flipped off by a Toyota. — Aaron G
Posted in Team Ludin, XC Adventure, XC70 | 1 Comment »Team Edgar photo – Welcome to Nevada
Yeeeeehaw! You can follow Team Edgar’s blog about their XC Adventure at:
http://www.adventuredrive.ca/news/
Team Edgar
Just had a BIG lunch at the Mad Greek in Baker, heading to Vegas in our XC70, keeping fuel economy at 25 mpg. Love this vehicle, seats, refinement, Caspian Blue paint is so elegant!
We’ve named our XC70 Blue Cloud, a direct descendant of Red Cloud, the 1980 Volvo Wagon that I raced around the world!
Posted in Team Edgar, XC Adventure | Comments OffTeam Bjor at Bob’s Big Boy in Baker, CA
Team Bjor in the Viking battle garb with the Big Boy. He’s the one in the middle.
Team Gunnar Update – At Mile 247
At mile 247 – passed by Hawg Ridin Fools
Team Gunnar – Driver without cruise control
