xcarguy Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 I don't think this Seven owner posts here, but this is simply too good not to share with the community. On May 17th, the owner of Stalker chassis #116 set out from Naples, FL for what was to be the ultimate father/daughter road trip. 48 states, 11,789 miles, 28 days, 10 and a half hours later, they arrived back in Naples, FL Here are some excerpts from his postings on the yahoo Stalker forum as well as a link to a few photos from the trip: Saturday May 17th we headed out on our little jaunt that we've been planning for over a year. The initial plan was to post pics and updates each day but my laptop has declined. Hopefully, when we get back home we can fill in some details and pics. Anyway, so far we have on Sat. traveled 564 miles to reach S.C. Sunday night the18th we spent in Virginia Beach after a two day total travel of 1,109 miles. Monday the 19th we reached N.J. after 1,534 miles. Tuesday the 20th we reached Maine after a total of 1,924 miles. Wednesday the 21st we ended up in Penn. after traveling a total of 2,360 miles so far. Today we reached Ohio, after a total of 2,844 miles to date. #116 has performed flawlessly, averaging 27-28 mpg on back roads and 24-25 mpg when we have to take the Interstates. Despite two heavy rain showers (one with hail !!!!) we're having a great adventure. Sorry or no Web connections and a laptop dead battery have not helped in continual posting of our journey. Day 15 finds us in Alturas, California after traveling 6,840 miles in 15 days and crossing 33 states. Then the bad part. Last night the connection to my left tie rod broke and we are now stranded. Scott and Glen are kindly shipping us the replacement part and hopefully we will be on our way by Tues or Wed of next week. We averaged 470 miles a day with the longest being 681 miles. Fuel ranged from 24 mpg to 32 mpg. Average day from start to finish including fuel stops and food was 11 hours. New Toyo R888’s were installed before departure. Fronts were completely bald at 10,000 miles. Waited a day in Tenn. for new ones to be shipped and installed. Despite the rain, hail, some 40 degree days and muddy, rutted roads a great time was had . . . . I figure 'If I don't enjoy my life, who will'? The main reason I went on this trip was to spend time with my daughter. She had never been west of the Mississippi river other than a flight to San Francisco and one to Wyoming. I had never been to Montana, Idaho, Washington or Oregon. The second reason was to determine how well a Seven truly performs as a street machine. I made my seats of foam, shaped for a comfortable fit. There is no seat shell, just foam covered in material. Both seats were done for less than $100 and worked great. The only bad thing I discovered on this trip is the sorry, actually deplorably bad, condition so many roads are in the USA. Potholes large enough to hide a loaf of bread are common. Route 22 in New York State would churn butter if you were hauling whole milk. All four shocks are shot and need to be replaced. Meeting so many nice friendly people all the way across the country will be a high point my daughter will always remember I built a small trailer to haul the tent, sleeping bags, clothes etc. As for foul weather gear, my skin is pretty water-proof and I usually dry out pretty quickly I did slap together side windows for the cold weather and they worked OK. The top is for sun protection here in Florida and makes no pretense of being leak proof. I overheated in one stretch of the Rockies where it was very hot (109), steep and slow going. As for prepping the car, I washed the windshield before leaving. http://www471.pair.com/stalkerv/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=25670 To J and his daughter . . . . :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Pretty epic! No fenders on car or trailer and no weather protection. Must get pretty wet in foul weather. Makes my Caterham seem like a luxury car. Kudos to driver and daughter for making their dream happen together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 A diffuser under a trailer? That's got to be a first! An epic trip for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NVP66S Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 My hat's off to them. I plan to do some traveling after a few months shakedown, but nothing like that. Another guy who seems to not be on-line had Flyin' Miata build his Westfield and planned to travel a similar amount has this setup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scannon Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 His name is John and IIRC he lives in Arizona. He had made several cross country trips in the car when I talked to him at the FM Summer Camp last August. You should consider bringing your Westfield to the next Summer Camp 1st week in August. http://www.flyinmiata.com/news/summercamp/index.php There are at least 3 Seven owners working at FM and you and your car would be welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee break Posted June 18, 2014 Share Posted June 18, 2014 A diffuser under a trailer? That's got to be a first! An epic trip for sure. It does tow well @120mph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4MARIO Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Shane Thanks for posting for JImmy What an amazing journey & story Mario Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rnr Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 For a shorter trip with a group of seven owners look at the Polar Bear Blat being planned for next year: http://usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=9119 3800 miles with 18 cars signed up already. Website at http://www.7cars.ca/polar_bear_blat.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xcarguy Posted June 19, 2014 Author Share Posted June 19, 2014 For a shorter trip with a group of seven owners look at the Polar Bear Blat being planned for next year . . . . 3800 miles With 'shorter' being a very relative term. That'll be quite a blat. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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