-=ICE=-

What a trip! Always interesting to venture to areas unknown and I do have to admit the weatherman is only as good as we are by looking out the window

(the photos are attached but won't match the story lol )

So to start ....

Flight went well, first time that i've flown solo and had to change from plane to plane (stop over). Have to say I thought I would mess that up as it had small time windows but went well.

I got to Grande P and the salesman from the dealership was good enough to pick me up at the airport. So the drive from the airport to the dealership, WOW he was showing me all that Caddi-small SUV could do. I was just hoping to make it alive LOL ...

When I got there and saw my car it was BEAUTIFUL and LOVE at first sight .. looked like it just rolled off the assembly line.

So a rush started as the weather was starting to snow, and a last min snow storm was trailing in so I didn't really have time to look over my car much just had time to plate and run out the door.

have to say Grande P, guys that live there WOW the roads were crazy dirty and lots of little stones, I can see that you guys wouldn't take your machines out for a few months still (likely you use dirt instead of salt like we do here in ontario).

So i was able to make it across the border keeping ahead of the storm, it was a long haul but I didn't make any stops till I crossed and thankful my timing as i missed a huge storm So jim told me. Great guy, he stopped by to see my car and checked in with me to see if I was alive and beat the storm

Going through the hills of Montana would have been amazing if the weather was nicer however the view of the Mountains were breath taking, I did pull over and snap a couple of pictures but since it was so cold and weather was always just a step behind me I didn't get to really sight see.

I stopped in Billings Montana, and well, I would say never stop there LOL .. I used Hotwire to pick a hotel, won't use that again as I couldn't see the hotel till it's paid. So I went to it, my room smelt SO bad I had to leave the door open for almost two hours with the heat on. the PTAC heating unit was half melted so wasn't sure if it was going to catch fire or work, I have pictures of that I'll dig it out so you guys can laugh at it. I didn't sleep well, that place was such a hole that i felt my skin crawling all night long.

Anyway was happy to hit the road real early and get out of there alive :blue angel:

My journey started again of keeping ahead of the snow storm, I did hit some warmer weather and you'll see the picture of the ZR1 with the mountains behind it, that was a stop at a gas station where by accident I tossed my cell phone out. I drove an hour away and realized I was missing my phone, I had picked up a Windmobile phone while I was on this trip so i did have a second phone that allowed unlimited usage (great deal) so i pulled over used my iPad to log into my CC to figure out what the gas station was that i was at. called, the lady was REALLY helpful and her husband worked there and got him to look in the garbage, well they had changed bags so he was nice enough to crawl into the big bin and he did find my iPhone 5 64gig (cheap phone eh?) ... So I drove an hour back to get the soaked phone, didn't work at all but I was thankful to have it as i needed the sim card the most as i prefer my blackberry Z30 anyway. The good news of this part of the story, I had apple care on the phone so when I got back was a free swap for another phone the only catch is you have to have the phone so that worked out

so now i'm 3 hours behind my planned schedule

I did stop at Mt Rushmore, the hills were cool to drive going up. Funny was the only (thankfully only) deer that was on the road I saw on my slow drive up the hill side. Now what was different I guess over Canadian Deer vs American Deer, Canada they either stare at you or run the other way (when going slow like this), but this American deer must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed and wasn't happy I was there so he chased me for at least 500 meters. i was laughing as he couldn't get close enough but he was on the road and just off to the Drivers side, had another car/truck come in the opposite direction there would be no more deer ... I had never seen a deer chase a car before, and I use to have a cottage in haliburton and drove there often seen many deer. This was a cold and short visit, but was pretty cool to see. Don't know if I would make this a buck list item, but on the way to or through definitely worth checking out.



Did make it from Bilings to Chicago. First thing is first, had to find the Best Chicago style hot dog to try. And have to agree it was pretty darn good !! I mean, the Kid in me really liked the hotdog with fries on it, there was SO much grease on it it was going through the wax paper LOL

I used a different app this time called Hotel Tonight and found a nicer place, however it was the size of my closet but i didn't care cause it was new and clean! The only part I wasn't so 'ok' about was all the places I looked up all require valet parking. that didn't sit well as they park the car 5 blocks away, but they said it has it's own security so i guess that was ok.

Woke up and had two items on my list before I left, at this point I've been 5 days and wife is starting to remind me this trip was a 3-4 day trip lol .. so I had to rush my morning, I wanted a Chicago sweater and get a pizza. I did find a store with a cool Chicago Bears sweater and next was off to get pizza. Did you know you can actually order a frozen Chicago pizza to be Fedex'd to you?? Anyway I went to the best of Chicago Pizza joint and was there at 10am when they opened at 11am. I saw staff so i knocked on the window and was able to talk them into making me a pizza early so i could hit the road. ... I didn't get far before I needed to taste it, and WOW why don't we have one of those stores here ??

I made it back Tuesday late night ... I did manage to stop in and say Hi to Manny

Made it Just in time to say good night to my son crawl into bed and pass out ...

I'm sure I'm missing some details I'll pop back in and post them as it comes to mind ...

Most importantly car is home Safe and sound, washed her really good the next day ! I'll do another post of the old G vs ZR1, small point, I couldn't be happier as the ZR1 is a MUCH better car !!

Oh forget where to insert the story but that picture with the random gas station ... LOL ... So i was tired and didn't see that it had the word Automated just saw the 24hr, so as you can see the roads there aren't so nice but i had been driving on empty so long I was surprised I got there. I was crapping my pants as this was the first station I could find, had to use OnStar as the GPS is CRAP in the car for finding stuff. anyway I thought my tired eye's saw it was open 24hrs but doors were closed. So i knocked and waited, then thought I'd try the CC and see if there was gas. It seemed to work, but I decided to squirt a bit out to make sure it was gas and not water and mud LOL .. worked, gas and filled up and crawled out and got back onto the road..

I'm sure more moments will pop into my mind and update as i said as we Chat ...

09Z06pj

Great story. Glad you made it home without any major incidents. Hard to believe that guy found your phone. Just shows there are still good people around. Car looks fantastic. Keep the Comp Grays!

INGER67

Congratulations.....your car is beautiful (even with the dirty butt). What an adventure you had......glad things worked out so well......it could have been a nightmare.

-=ICE=-

Thanks ! Funny is I felt like I was the oppisite of those storm chasers LOL .. not to mention I think the storm was actually chasing me, if I stayed too long in one spot it turned grey and started to snow.

I did get some great bonding time with my new car, thoroughly enjoyed the long drive with the music up loud. I did get a nice break from work life, although I did get calls on the road and when stopping for food or gas had to get caught up on texts/emails.

Being back in a Corvette I feel at home !

Mad*Max

funny how empty Mt. Rushmore is, when I went in the summer it was packed

Vernon

ICE,
The car looks fantastic.
Thank you for sharing your memorable adventure.

Regards,
Vern

-=ICE=-

Thanks Vern! We'll have to catch up again..

-=ICE=-

So here's a couple more pictures, the melted heater, and nice pic of the car and back ground and the Chicago hotdog!

Spock76

Congrats on the car - it's beautiful! Great road trip story too - enjoy the car

95vettski

Congrats on the new ride and adventuress journey!
Would like to hear your thoughts comparing the vette to the gallardo?

-=ICE=-

To be honest even though I have only had this car for what a week or two now, hands down I would pick the ZR1 even if it was priced the same.

Funny how people beat up the 'plain' look of the interior of a Corvette and even suggested the ZR1 should have provided more for the money .. but have you looked at an exotic?

These are more race like cars and luxuaries that you expect from say an CTS-V although is powerful enough to play it is a Caddy and what is offered shouldn't be found on race ready machine.

To line up the cars IMO ..

Power ..
Gallardo (my 2007) 525 HP All Wheel drive, has an amazing off the line power and the all wheel really helps with that ( have a cool video of an on ramp). very impressive and not many cars could offer a challange.

ZR1 - well the roads are too cold to even get past half throttle LOL .. But the numbers don't lie! Having first on the Ny.. Track, 638HP stock. I mean, what else is there to discuss??

Interior
Gallardo - hand stitched leather, very clean but basic. Lines of sight are simple and work. Gauges mounted in good view for the driver. Seats, terrible if you want to sit more than an hour. GPS is terrible and spinning a *** to spell your destanation is just very slow and really really really annoying ! Speakers - Are there any? Really joking cause they are SO crappy reminds me of my Chevette I had when I was 16. I get your not buying the car for sound, but it would be nice to hear it above the sound of the road noise and motor and not be distorted. Every Gallardo owner changes the deck and speakers with the same complaint.

ZR1 - Very clean lines, HUD really who can beat the accessablity this offers? Seats, I spent one day driving for 17 hours and didn't feel the pain I felt in the G after a 3 hour cruise I went on. I think that speaks a lot on design. GPS, well we know it's far to basic and it wasn't so good on my journey (can't find a gas station or any POI). However the sound was a night and day over the G, Honestly I don't think I'll even bother with a sub just changing the deck mostly cause I have a Pioneer Z150 I had in the G and might as well use it.

Exterior

Gallardo - very unique look, can't miss it from a distance and the engine bonnet that is see through is really cool (except everytime you turn around someone is putting their hands on your black car to peek into the engine bay).

ZR1 - With the wide body and all the carbon fibre upgrades it really does have a look all on it's own. However doesn't stand out so much because there are other models that aren't so far off and to the untrained car lover will go unnoticed. The see through hood, I do like it and don't think they could have made it bigger as it wouldn't have the clean lines if they did.

Getting noticed ...

Have to say that the Gallardo wins there, however as much fun as that is at first it really weighs on you. It is everywhere you go, on the road, on the highway, people forget they are driving and try to take a picture and their mini van starts to change lanes towards you. It's too much! And to be honest people act differently to you, some it's okay as they get it took hard work to purchase a car like that, others well I got to hear rumours of me using my brothers inheritance to buy the car (FYI I am an only child, so WTF?). SO if you want instant rockstar status, the G is your choice. If you want a car to enjoy everyday and get more than your money's worth the ZR1 is your choice.

If you guys want more details on the comparison don't hesitate to ask

08C6

Congrats on the ZR1... Nice car... Glad to hear your all back OK...

PaulUptime

Welcome back James.
Congrats on gittin'er done. Damn the torpedos!

Had my share of dicey hotels on our road trips too - which is why we try to stay with the chains!

Bottom line is you're back. Car's here. And you're both in great form to enjoy a full first season. Long may you roll!

dannyman

Well done!

A trip you'll always remember!

Sometimes amazing what you'll spend money on for a potential good nights sleep. That heater had the fixed vanes modification.

Glad you did that trip and everything turned out well.

Now get the camera out and show us more!



Dannyman

themonk

Good to see you had a safe trip home, I wish you had more time to stop in Calgary and meet for a beer.......Great color BTW.

VETFEVER

Nice memories on which to start your ownership of a pretty special car

Zeeman28a

Congrats on the ZR1. Sounds like you had a memorable road trip.

WildWilly55

Great adventure---thanx for sharing!! Great car---welcome back!!!

-=ICE=-

I do wish the weather was better so i could have met up with say you Monk and others along my journey. Maybe another year I'll take another pass through Canada and USA but when the weather is in the favour for a plesant tour.

I do enjoy this car, I see why those that have the ZR1 keep them

-=ICE=-

did some small changes... I remembered how hot it can get in the car in the summer so I insulated the tunnel since I was doing some other things.

I forgot to take the full finished of tucking it all in and making it fit like a sock. Should help a bit .. (it's HVAC bubble wrap we use to thermo-break things)