55 road trip to all 50 states

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scrapdaddy said:
Is this the one you're taking on the 50 states trip?
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no this is one is a 74 mostly stock other than the bad body work and cheap spray job. it just hangs out interior Alaska for when we travel up here. Figured if it didnt go for atleast a short drive this trip itd be sacreligious. maybe gets 50 miles each last couple years.
But we will be taking our white 1970 we got off BaT in August.
 
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Well, you can knock off 4 states in a half hour or less - UT, CO, NM, AZ - Four Corners.

On the way from Texas take US 285 from Pecos, TX all the way to Pojoaque, NM (north of Santa Fe), then NM 502 to NM 4 just east of Los Alamos, then west on NM to Bandelier National Monument and Valles Caldera National Preserve. Continue on NM 4 to La Cueva, NM, then west on NM 126 to Cuba, NM. In Cuba, take US 550 north to Bloomfield, NM, then west on US 64 through Shiprock, NM to Teec Nos Pos, AZ. In Teec Nos Pos, take US 160 northeast past the Four Corners. After passing the Four Corners on US 160, you'll enter CO. In a few miles, turn left (west) on CO 41, which becomes UT 262 in a few miles. UT 262 takes you past Hovenweep National Monument on the way to Blanding, UT. From there, you have a lot of choices to see the scenic southern Utah canyon country - UT 95 through Hanksville and Capitol Reef National Park or US 191 through Moab and Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.
 
4Cruisers said:
Well, you can knock off 4 states in a half hour or less - UT, CO, NM, AZ - Four Corners.

On the way from Texas take US 285 from Pecos, TX all the way to Pojoaque, NM (north of Santa Fe), then NM 502 to NM 4 just east of Los Alamos, then west on NM to Bandelier National Monument and Valles Caldera National Preserve. Continue on NM 4 to La Cueva, NM, then west on NM 126 to Cuba, NM. In Cuba, take US 550 north to Bloomfield, NM, then west on US 64 through Shiprock, NM to Teec Nos Pos, AZ. In Teec Nos Pos, take US 160 northeast past the Four Corners. After passing the Four Corners on US 160, you'll enter CO. In a few miles, turn left (west) on CO 41, which becomes UT 262 in a few miles. UT 262 takes you past Hovenweep National Monument on the way to Blanding, UT. From there, you have a lot of choices to see the scenic southern Utah canyon country - UT 95 through Hanksville and Capitol Reef National Park or US 191 through Moab and Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.
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on trips from oregon to texas we have done walnut canyon np, moab, arches. 4 corners, roswell. slept in the parking lot at Albuquerque zoo did that with the kids. lots of stop out in Nevada at gold field, Rhyolite, tonopah mining park. lots of little places. lots of cool places out there to spend days
 
The wife's inspiration for what it should look like on the road trip. Paint is least of my concern but high on her list. I guess cant drive an ugly 55 that far or something is what she says. she gets to choose the main color as long as its stock two tone look.
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Believe me, you are gonna have a blast, and the people you will meet because of the 55 will be icing on the cake. Took my family of five for a month long trip in our '79 55, towing a 15' travel trailer in 1994. Disneyland, the the Southwestern states, about 4200 miles. You and your kids will be talking about it 30 years later, I promise.
 
island45 said:
Believe me, you are gonna have a blast, and the people you will meet because of the 55 will be icing on the cake. Took my family of five for a month long trip in our '79 55, towing a 15' travel trailer in 1994. Disneyland, the the Southwestern states, about 4200 miles. You and your kids will be talking about it 30 years later, I promise.
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thats the hope. will be a adventure either way. i guess the next trip will have to be once the girls are all out to take a 45 and do all states. all 5 in the swb is a bit tight but we've done it a few times around town.
 
While many of you have seen these photos before, they are pertinent to this thread and some of the newer guys may not have seen them. I'm now thinking this was more like 1990 as the smallest kid was born in January of '88 and I remember the kids went trick or treating on halloween night at a big rv camp in Death Valley. Besides I love showing off those 235 85 16s on split rims that I riveted clips onto so I could rock the hubcaps. Oh, of couse showing off my family as well..... Words of wisdom ' When towing a trailer into Death Valley, loaded down with a months worth of gear for a family (behind a piggy), enter the Park through the main entrance, not the Panamint Spring road on the West side.' But really, I was fine after a change of underwear.
55 with aloha in Oregon.webp
Death Valley 55 1.webp
 
sofj45 said:
The wife's inspiration for what it should look like on the road trip. Paint is least of my concern but high on her list. I guess cant drive an ugly 55 that far or something is what she says. she gets to choose the main color as long as its stock two tone look.
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Oh boy! Add it to the list...
 
if we started in ak we would tow a small trailer but going to end there as i can leave it up there easier for shipping back to hawaii. space will be tight but not super worried unless my wife decides we have to pack the entire house.

went to head out to south point over the weekend lost the slave cylinder on the way. managed to get it home by putting in gear to start and shifting with speed and rpm. was a slow go home. ended up buying a mid 80s yota pickup slave this morning stealing the guts out of it and back on the road like nothing ever happened. well made southpoint didnt make green sands beach.
 
I took the family of 5 down to the 48 and back in the Pig in... maybe '95. AC would have been nice but other than that is was not bad trip. Was running dual alternators and it turned oput the be a good thing when one failed. Carrying an extra fuel can too... which also turned out to be good idea as I was trying to make Deese lake on the third day. Even with the extra fuel, I was shutting the engine off to cost the downgrades and crossing my fingers. Probably would not do that now, but I was young(er) and dumb(er) then.

Mark...
 
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