A SW-Fans Road Trip

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Since it was decided that we'd take a year off from our main Nerd event this year, Charley and I decided to roadtrip it out to my mom's for Christmas of '13. It's just cheaper for us this way, since the cost of gas is nothing compared to plane tickets and a car rental (and seeing how I'm saving all of this year's vacation for this particular trip, I'm planning on spending Christmas and New years in Nevada so keeping a rental for that long would murder my wallet).

Jace is going to be making the bold and daring trip with us, so the three of us will be trekking across America for better or for worse.

What I want to know at this point, is if anyone wants a quick visit from us (honestly wouldn't be anything more than a lunch or some sort of food-stop) on our trek westward. Resh and Mitch are the first cats that come to mind, and if you're not too far off from as easy a shot from Tuscaloosa AL to Smith Valley, NV as I can get, then chip in!

Also, on the extreme off-chance that you'd want to drive with us and enjoy a very nerdy Christmas and New Years, you're more than welcome to join up!




Wasteland Wanderers:

Jenny - Arrival Dec 13... Departure Jan 4
Jace - Arrival Dec 7... Departure Jan 11
Brian - Arrival Dec 13... Departure Jan 5
Tex - Arrival Dec 7... Departure Jan 11

[Captain Untouchable]

My excitement for this trip cannot be expressed in words, but only in squeals if anticipation too high-pitched to be audible to the human ear.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Hmmmmmmm, the more I'm looking at this map, the more I'm seeing a very New Vegas themed drive once we hit NV. We'd be coming up from the southern tip, so a little detour to Nipton, CA, up 15 through Primm, over to Goodsprings, and then back onto 15 to cruise through Vegas (where we'd possibly be able to visit the Old Mormon Fort). Of course, that doesn't discount Cottonwood Cove on the way to Nipton, and any other not-far-off-the-route New Vegas places that I can work into it :cool




edit - and on the way back to AL, going to Hoover Dam, duh.

[Captain Untouchable]

If someone wants to hire Mark Shepard to show up at Hoover Dam and shoot me while my arms and face are covered in tally marks, I will just up and die right there from nerdish joy.

Well, that and the shooting part.

[Dasquian Belargic]

You know where I stand on this one. I am hoping I can fly out and join you, but I can't really predict what my finances will be like then so.. put me down for a tentative squee.

[Morgan Evanar]

That would be pretty awesome, but I've already decided this year was the year of short trips.

Also I suspect my living situation is gonna be tossed around shortly.

[Dasquian Belargic]

That would be pretty awesome, but I've already decided this year was the year of short trips.

Also I suspect my living situation is gonna be tossed around shortly.

This is me too.

I am hoping to get the funds together to buy somewhere, so transatlantic gallivanting may be out of the question if that comes together.

[Zenas Codrey]

If I'm still in Monterey when you arrive (i.e., not back in Georgia for Exodus) feel free to swing through.

[Callista]

Can I vote stopping in the DFW area? :) There's a couple of us here!

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

DFW is definitely doable :)

This is my tentative route so far:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh126/silancy/mapsmall.jpg (http://s255.photobucket.com/user/silancy/media/mapsmall.jpg.html)

Bigger version (http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh126/silancy/map1.jpg)


The yellow blob in southern Nevada is where we'll be mostly gallivanting around the various New Vegas locales.

I haven't planned much in terms of the return trip, except that we'll be swinging by Hoover Dam.

[Mr E Nygma]

*makes a mental note to discuss travel plans with Christin at next opportunity*

[Charley]

I want to actually go to a casino this time.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Awesome ^_^

So far, my tentative dates for this adventure are:

Dec. 13th - Jace flies in, and possibly Brian as well.
Dec. 15th - We start driving
Nebulous driving time full of peeps and the Mojave Wasteland


*Christmas, with enough days to go drive around Tahoe, see snowy mountains, play in the snow, ride some horses, cook delicious food, go shooting, have awesome New Year's celebration/fire/possibly fireworks, etc.

Jan. 1st - leave Smith Valley and check out Hoover Dam
Jan. 5th and/or 6th - Flights out for Jace and possibly Brian (if you fly out on the 6th, it will have to be relatively early since I have work at 3 pm that day.



This schedule is very open to change.

[Dasquian Belargic]

That is one long trip.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

The shortest amount of time to drive from our house to my mom's is 32 hours, so yeah, hehe, it's a hefty trip even from the start.

Also, I want to put out that I'm not entirely married to the idea of spending New Years in NV, and am open to spending it elsewhere :)

[Callista]

That looks awesome!! I haven't been on a road trip since college. I bet it'll be a blast :)

Can't wait to see y'all!

[Captain Untouchable]

You do realise that it's gonna take a straight jacket and security guards to make me leave, right?

[Dasquian Belargic]

I am looking at booking off roughly 9th Dec through to 5th Jan from work... provisionally thinkin I can do this thang

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Aw yeeeaahhhhh :cool

[Karl Valten]

If you guys want to add a few more hours of travel time to the trip, I'll go beer-binging with you all in Denver!

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I'll check the map once I get home and if you're on AIM we should talk :D

[Mr E Nygma]

I think I can safely commit to this without endangering Europe next year. I'm in, if there's space for an awesome* person in the car.

*shut up Jace I know what you're thinking in fact shut up all ya'll I am too awesome

[Captain Untouchable]

There are gonna be two cars probably, so I suppose you're awesome enough to fill that role in the secondary, less awesome vehicle.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Aye, there will def be two cars. The Eclipse is pretty much the coke-mule for our caravan ;)


Also, while we're in NV, we will have to make something grand and awesome out of the ELEVENTY-BAJILLION LEGOS that are at my mom's place ^_^

[Dasquian Belargic]

Got the 9th through to the 20th off... I can't book the rest til closer to the time, but I'll just buy flights and then they have to give it to me :D

[Morgan Evanar]

If I had the time/money to burn the Saabaru would be fun on this trip but my gwarsh the fuel economy is kinda shite.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Yeah, even though it'd be wicked fun to take the Saabaru out into the desert, I can totally understand the constraints you've got on time and certainly on the fuel cost front.

The only reason Charley and I are driving is cause for us it's cheaper than plane tickets+rental. That the both of us love roadtrips is a bonus, but our decision was made with cost-saving in mind, heh.



Karl, I've been looking at the map, and if we took the 64 for to the 25 into Trinidad, we could meet you in a few places along the southern portion of CO. Trinidad, Walsenburg, Alamosa, Durango, or Cortez. Are any of those good for you?

[TheHolo.Net]

Colorado state highway 160 sucks between Walsenburg and Alamosa. The speed limit is far too low and the state patrol presence too high, though it has been about 5 years since I was that far south. Maybe it has improved.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

:mischief If you didn't mind... me and Kris are kinda looking into the logistics of driving up there for the weekend before and rocking out with you guys on New Years Eve.

Depends on when you all are gonna be there and if you want moar nerds. Psh... who wouldn't want more nerds? :smug:

[Dasquian Belargic]

Moar nerds is always the best amount of nerds

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Of course we don't mind! Silly Sarah :p

[Dasquian Belargic]

My flights for this thing, they are booked.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Jace will be having tickets either Sunday or Monday :D

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Jace is good to go ^_^

[Captain Untouchable]

Only 2056 hours until I land in Birmingham. :ohno

[Dasquian Belargic]

Only 2056 hours until I land in Birmingham. :ohno

Aw yis man.

My countdown isn't quite so sophisticated but still exciting.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Can we get a itinerary of arrivals/departures/plans in the first post? <_<

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Arrivals and departures thus far are updated. Will post plans when I wake up :)

[Kara Hawkins]

So Kris and I will be showing up somewhere abouts the 28th/29th of December and bailing out about on the 4th of Jan :D

[Dasquian Belargic]

We will be back in BHM by Jan 4th... Or at least I hope we will since that's where/when my flight is :|

[Lilaena De'Ville]

What days are you/guys going to be in Reno?

[Kara Hawkins]

We will be back in BHM by Jan 4th... Or at least I hope we will since that's where/when my flight is :|

:p fine then!
It's not a huge thing since we're driving rather than flying ... Can easily bail when everyone else does :)

Holly - think the majority of the gang will be there at least from Christmas?

[Reshmar]

What Day will you guys be coming through Arkansas?

[Dasquian Belargic]

No idea, Resh - drivers, any ideas?



Holly - think the majority of the gang will be there at least from Christmas?

yup, I think so!

[Charley]

I'm usually wrong because I am not The Keeper of the Plan, but I think we aim to depart Alabama around the 15th so I'd imagine that day or the 16th.

Also any early birds who stay at Home Base before we depart can help me to brew a beer. I'm game to suggestions if you fancy anything as long as it's not a german lager.

[Rhone Banhammer]

FYI, my flights are booked. I leave for BHM on Friday, Dec 15th and have a return flight back on Sunday, Jan 5th.

Let's do this.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I'm guessing you mean december 13? ^_-

[Rhone Banhammer]

I'm guessing you mean december 13? ^_-

Correct. Friday is the day of departing, I just don't remember the numbers very well.

Hopefully it will be an auspicious Friday, what with the date being the 13th and all.

[Charley]

Good news everyone!

I found an app that lets us plan our road trip with strategic pit-stops at whatever local breweries we might pass!

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Ok, I have been looking at our drive times, and things are coming together very nicely. Travel times are indicated in brackets.


Dec 14 - going away party/potluck
Dec 15 - Check out at noon, headed for Little Rock [6 hours] to meet up with Resh and have some food. Afterwards, we head on down to the DFW area [5 hours], get a cheap room and crash.
Dec 16 - Poke about and be a little lazy until lunch time, where we can hopefully meet up with some of the Dallas peeps for lunch; Mitch, Callista, Taylor, and Liam (those are the only ones I know of). After lunch, we start out on the long trek to Kingman, AZ [16 hours]. In Kingman we'll grab a room at a motel and rest up.
Dec 17 - Kicking off our New Vegas tour, we're going to Cottonwood Cove [1 hour], then it's a short jaunt [46 minutes] to Nipton. After Nipton it's an even short drive [22 minutes] to Primm, and another 22 minutes from Primm to Goodsprings. Then it's back to Primm where we'll be staying at Whiskey Pete's (The hotel/casino that the Vikki and Vance was loosely based off of).
Dec 18 - From Primm, we'll be going to the Hoover Dam [1 hour], and then we'll double back to Las Vegas and visit the strip. We can make that a day trip if folks would like, visiting the old mormon fort and other stuff.


I cut the list off right there because I want to get some opinions from folks, because there are a few other places we can check out; Hidden Valley and Novac (Cabazon, CA) are in the opposite direction from Zion National Park (Honest Hearts), and depending on how you guys would like to do things, we can either visit Hidden Vally and Novac only, Zion National Park only, or both. It would add a day if we wanted to do them all, but we have the time to use and I'm open to whatever. I did check out Whiskey Pete's room prices, and they're incredibly affordable at 25-30 a night.

So let me know, intrepid wastelanders :)

[Captain Untouchable]

If it were a choice between the two, Hidden Valley / Novac would be my preference, just because it's a more iconically familiar place to me.

Honestly though, I am geeking out a little bit about staying in motels. We don't really need to do that in the UK: there's not really anywhere you can't get to inside a day's drive. Also, I may make Winchester references. :uhoh

[Ndonsa]

You're planning on driving 16 hours after lunch on the Sixteenth? Doesn't that put you getting a hotel room at like... The next day? ^_^;

Also, I know I'm not going along, but to my inner organizer and gas conserver I would suggest going Cottonwood Cove, Nipton, Goodsprings, and then Primm. :D Rather than CC, N, P, G, and P again. If it's on the same road then I suppose it makes no difference!

[Captain Untouchable]

You're planning on driving 16 hours after lunch on the Sixteenth? Doesn't that put you getting a hotel room at like... The next day? ^_^;

Also, I know I'm not going along, but to my inner organizer and gas conserver I would suggest going Cottonwood Cove, Nipton, Goodsprings, and then Primm. :D Rather than CC, N, P, G, and P again. If it's on the same road then I suppose it makes no difference!

I'm guessing that's why we're sticking fairly close to Primm the following day? We arrive in the not-so-wee-small hours of the morning, crash out until checkout, and potter around to the relatively close places?

[Ndonsa]

Probably. Just a really long day :P Better you guys than me ;)

[Charley]

No segue into Colorado?

[Dasquian Belargic]

Zion National Park gets my vote, if I had to choose between that and Novac. The national park just looks a whole lot more... striking, epic even!

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Primm is between Goodsprings and Nipton, and a decent staging area for jaunts. Also, the lunch in Dallas is very up in the air in terms of who would be able to hang out, since it's a Monday and I know that folks have work. If no one is able to make it, we're just gonna drive on through.

As for CO, I talked with Josh last night and unfortunately he won't be in state during the time we drive through.

[Charley]

If there is a brewery in a town we pass through, I think we should stop there, hours of operation permitting. Yes/no?

[Dasquian Belargic]

Cheers to that!

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Sounds pretty darn good to me.

[Mu Satach]

This is a complete *maybe* at this point, but I am monitoring your thread here and if you end up going to Zion I'ld like to meet up with you guys. I have some basketball games I need to work that week, but I might be able to convince my co-workers to cover me.

[Captain Untouchable]

Fair Warning: if we do end up going to Zion, I am a) going to make a buttload of Matrix references, and b) sing By the Rivers of Babylon for pretty much the rest of the trip.

:mischief

[Crusader]

^^Be carefull if you fail Charley during your campaign in the west he might crucify you, then cover you with pitch and after setting it on fire he will toss you into the Colorado. After that you will be happy to find refuge in Zion... if you survive...

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Ha! He very well just might :p I also suspect that Charley will want to dress up in his legion gear and get a picture in front of the Nipton sign.

[Callista]

I'm so excited! Must mark this on my calendar...

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

To note, if we can get out early enough on Sunday, we can try to make it to Little Rock by lunch time, and do dinner in Dallas. All of that is higly dependant on how late the party on Saturday goes.

[Sleazy]

It's a shame it wouldn't be a Tuesday, Christin - I'd have the perfect alarm tone on my cell phone to wake you up if it was. :mischief

[Emelie Shadowstar]

:( I wish I had more vacation time so I could do the road trip of madness and awesome.

Guess I'll just have to try and smash as much awesome into the 4ish days I'm there, huh? :p

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Oh I have no doubts that when tuesday morning rolls around you'll be having that alarm ready to go :p

[Charley]

I can at last confirm that I'm able to take the full balance of vacation time necessary to facilitate our little excursion. Last day of work in 2013 is December 12th, first day of work in 2014 is December 6th.

Awesome.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

Last day of work in 2013 is December 12th, first day of work in 2014 is December 6th.

That's a long damn vacation there, Charley. :p

[Charley]

Did I mention I also booked three straight weeks off to facilitate EuroNerd?

[Crusader]

Awesome news! That means we will have to figure out what to do with all those weeks.

[Dasquian Belargic]

That's great :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

So, when are you guys driving up to Portland? :D

[Captain Untouchable]

Less than 127 hours until I am in Alabama again. Fingers crossed I won't need to saw off my own arm. :ohno

[Dasquian Belargic]

I only have 7 days left at work, yeeeeeeeeah:dance

[Charley]

So, when are you guys driving up to Portland? :D

Need to see if we can first. We're running a pretty tight schedule and need to see if we can wedge in the day and a half needed to make the trip. I'd like to do so if it can be managed, but it's still early to tell

[Ndonsa]

You're gonna want two nights here, back to back ten hour drives would be a nightmare. Just saying.

if you do and are here the 28th we will watch hockey.

[Captain Untouchable]

Sarah arrives in Nevada on the 28th, and she's only with us for four (?) days, so presumably we need to be back in Nevada 27th evening at the latest?

Either that, or Sarah spends the first half of her nerd time sat inside a circle of salt, hugging a shotgun, waiting for us to get back. :uhoh

[Lilaena De'Ville]

There's a game on New Year's Eve too :p Ok maybe that doesn't work either. Not many games that time of year!

Just a thought, I know your guys' schedule is tight with arrivals and departures.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I highly doubt a trip up to Portland is feasable due to Sarah's schedule, my sisters' schedules, and the fact that we have to beat feet back to alabama on the first. Not to mention I haven't seen my family for over two years so I want to maximize the time available :)

Not to worry though, we will make it up there at some point, even if it's just myself and Charley :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

you've been saying that for four years :(

I figured it was a pretty long shot but doesn't hurt to ask. :)

[Hobgoblin]

One week left.

[Dasquian Belargic]

3 days left at work.

[Dasquian Belargic]

TARDIS pyjamas packed, taxi to airport booked. Let's do a thing.

[Callista]

So excited for Monday!! Travel safe!

Has anyone been in touch with the other DFW peeps? Do we have any idea where we might go? I am not a good person to ask as I don't really go out to eat, don't eat meat, don't ever go downtown, and have been to Ft. Worth only twice. Hopefully the others have some ideas.

I have to work that morning but have the afternoon off (-ish...more like an extended lunch).

Couple of you have my number!

[Kara Hawkins]

Seeing the pics popping up on Facebook makes me jealous as all hell.

8 more days ... :dance

[Emelie Shadowstar]

No more work! :dance

I shall see you bastards tomorrow!

...after a drive that begins at 4am. :whaa

[Dasquian Belargic]

with Jace and Tex heading home today, the fellowship has fully disbanded.