Motherland Stomp Day 26 - The Drive

Forgive my lack of pics for now, (Updated) I am without laptop and am sneaking Interturd at an Outdoor Tradeshow. I hope to use Calabro's laptop soon. Anyhow, yesterday was a big driving day. I had to meet up with Mike Calabro in Salt Lake City, Utah. Before I was to leave, I had planned to have Dim Sum with Wendy and her Aunt.


I unfortunately hit a curb in one of those poorly and over designed California malls. The parking lot was really odd and I hadn't had my coffee yet. So as I was pulling into the parking spot, I tagged my tire on the damn curb. It was a very sharp edge and just cut the sidewall like cheese. I was so angry at myself. So after I ate Wendy and I found a tire place.


I should say that I had just put a set of tires on the Fit before I left. I wanted to avoid any problems. I somehow destroy tires so quickly, ugh. When I had the Mini (fav car ever) all I did was replace the tires... I bent rims, blew out sidewalls - Chicago potholes really are a drag. I just couldn't use it a daily driver or as a good skate trip vehicle.


Wendy hooked me up with some pork buns for the road. I think it is safe to say that this is the best road food I ever had!! I ate one about ever 2 hours and they lasted me the whole 10 hour trip!! Thanks Wendy for everything, as always!!



I did see an excellent travel trailer at this trade show. It weighs about 800 pounds, had two beds and folds up into the top of the trailer with ample storage below and on top. There is room for surf boards, canoes, bikes whatever on top and all the gear and luggage on the bottom. Although, I doubt that the fit would be able to pull that thing. It is basically a tent on top of a little trailer.

But anyway I had luckily found the same tire store and they replaced the tire! I had purchased an evil warranty which I am kind of against. But with my track record of rips, bubbles, bent rims, and blow outs, I figured it was worth the 14 bucks. And this time, it was!!


So I was delayed a bit to say the least but I was back on the road by 12:30pm. The drive was about 10 hours and I lost an hour getting into SLC so I did not arrive until midnight MT time. The drive was interesting, I went on I-15 the whole way, through Barstow, Vegas, Arizona and up into Utah. I had many cups of coffee on the way and made it safe.


Needless to say there were a few close calls!! This guy in a silver Sprinter came up on me out of no where, almost rear ended me and then cut me off. I was in the middle lane and the left and right were both open?? He had no plates and when I caught up to him he just looked at me like, what>? Then I saw him do it to three more people. You never know I guess who you are dealing with, especially on the way to Vegas, so i let it go. I stopped in Barstow because I noticed a Vans outlet store. I couldn't resist. I got some slip ons for the school year. But most of the skate shoes were purple or snake skin or camo... Not my style - black and white..



So off I went, I had originally planned to stop at Chino or Fontana and maybe Upland and the Pro-Park in Vegas. But the downtime resulting from the dead tire, the 105 degree heat and the near death exp's on the highway dissuaded me from stopping. I just wanted to make it in one piece.

I have never seen so many roll over crashes in my life. I saw fatalities on the way into Cali and on the way out. Just terrible stuff. I tried my best to drive safely, set the cruise control to the speed limit and watch out for psychos!! As I entered Arizona some guy decided it would be a good idea to flip an illegal U-turn on the Highway, during the 6% grade going down the mountain!! He came out of the right lane, swerved in front of me, hit the brakes and did his little U-turn. I caught it at the last minute, hit the brakes and sess slid out of his way! I got sooooo lucky, I could have been rolling down the mountain.


Maybe the brandy new tire kept me on the road. I guess it all happens for a reason. Just after that I saw an unfortunate accident with a truck and camper. He must have lost it in a wind gust or something? The truck had rolled at least 3-4 times and the camper was in splinters...


On the upside, the landscape is amazing!! I was happy to be back out in nature and to have the opportunity to see all of the amazing sites. However, the first leg was the desert - I don't think I would ever want to live there!! But I still want to do a ride through the desert, on a quad or bike or VW!! They supposedly do rentals for the Baja 100 or?? That is on the list!!

Calabro and I will do the rest of the stomp together this week. We plan to hit Moab and do some hiking, climbing, and possibly an ATV trip. Then on to Colorado for a couple days of skateboarding. We are gonna stop in Iowa on the way home. My great old friends Pat and Yayoi are there and I haven't seen them in quite a while!! So I can't wait! Hopefully this will be a good descent from a long amazing trip of a lifetime!!



I can't wait to skate Wilson and Whiting when I get back!!