Out West Trip June 2008

Just wanted to announce our trip out-west that we are embarking upon, starting on June 18th, 2008.

This is our long awaited trip to the west coast in our '63 Impala SS where we will visit parts of the old Route 66, the highway that used to be the gateway to the west, from Chicago to Santa Barbara, CA.

It all started two years ago, when we were with our friends from Poughkeepsie, NY discussing our next travel adventure, when the idea of a raft trip down the Grand Canyon came up. I said then, if I'm going to do that, it will be before I turn 60. So, since I turn 60 this summer, this summer it would have to be.

We decided to combine that rafting trip with the road trip in my '63Impala SS on Route 66. Lots of planning ensued and it all had to fit in and around two dates - June 10th, when Judith's high school ends, and July 10th when she begins teaching the Duke summer class.

So on June 10th we traveled to Daytona Beach, where Judith works for the College Board for a week. At the end of this job on June 18th we head up to Northern FLA and west on I-10. Seven days later we will end up in Marble Canyon to meet our friends and the rafting trip - 7 days, 6 nights on the Colorado.

At the end of the rafting trip on July 1st a helicopter picks us up and drops us off at a nearby airport where we fly back to the starting point at Marble Canyon.

The total raft trip is 188 miles in 7 days. We will camp each night in the canyon and are allowed an airline carry-on sized duffle bag weighing 20 pounds to carry all our essentials and they are stowed in a dry bag on the J-Boat. This trip is a piloted and guided excursion and we are mostly passengers. No rowing or steering, just hang on and enjoy the water splashing on you.

They have a seating section in the front of the J-Boat that is referred to as Gusto seating and I can only imagine what that means. The picture at the top is a typical J-Boat. There are a total of 60 rapids of all descriptions along this trip and I hear that this year the Colorado is higher than usual from melting of the above average snow fall this past winter.

The idea of driving the Impala out Route 66 to explore the old route has been on my mind since I built this car starting 10 years ago last December 31st. The restoration took 3 1/2 years and lots of money and since July 2001 the car has been on the road. It's maiden voyage was a trip to the Latham area to attend my 35th high school reunion. At the time the car was much less roadworthy than it is now having just emerged, 3 weeks before, from a total restoration where every piece of the car was removed and restored.

During the last 7 years I made lots of drivablility enhancements so the car is much more roadworthy now than it was 7 years ago. At the same time I kept the appearance mostly stock. The car started out during the original restoration with disc brakes, air conditioning and a set of Michelin radial tires. For those who know cars, this car currently will log around 22 mpg on the highway which is mandatory with the price of gas lately.

Since the restoration I've added a (700R4) 4 speed automatic transmission, cruise control, larger front and rear stabilizer bars, a full gauge set and a new 605 power steering conversion all of which are drivability enhancements. The car drives better than it did from the factory in 1963.