the florida trip is a reality

heading down on the 26th, will be in crystal river the night of the 27th. taking kids to see the manatees a homosassa on the 28th and will bug Karl if he's around to see if i can drag something back to ohio.

28th after dinner shooting over to cape canaveral to do the space center, then up A1A to st augustine for 4 nights. may storm the GRM headquarters if open on the way up, or at least drive by and wave. heading home on the 2nd and taking 2 days to get back. 2 travel days each way because the baby gets pissed off in the car after dinner time, and i'm not listening to that howling.

if you see a black unclad avalanche with ohio plates down there, chances are it's me. if there's a pile of E36 M3 hooked to a rented dolly behind it, it'll definitely be me.

so tell me what i need to fill in the blanks. hop the beach in daytona and drive it a little bit instead of street? last time i did that i got stuck parking in the soft stuff but managed to rock it out, and that was a pegleg 2wd truck, not a 4x4 with a locker.

will have laptop and be trolling CL for a sub $700 roadmonster or caprice wagon. last time i was down there i failed to bring home a $500 rust free 92 gold woody, and have had regret ever since.

In the Daytona area, check out the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse. It's a little south, toward New Smyrna Beach. You'll really enjoy A1A from Ormond to St. Aug, I think. If you miss the Ponce lighthouse, there's a nice one in St. Augustine as well. Drive "The Loop" in Ormond Beach. Also, DeLeon Springs Sate Park and the Sugar Mill restaurant for pancakes on the way from Homosassa to the east coast.

If you like shrimp (or just really tasty fritters with powdered sugar), Dixie Crossroads in Titusville is a good place to check out.

I love the historic sites in St Augustine, but I'm assuming you already know about them if you are staying there multiple nights.

Just North of the Space Center is Mosquito Lagoon--- and it's an amazing place. If you have the time, and the weather permits, rent a boat for a quick tour. You'll see dolphin, sea turtles, tons of fish, white pelicans, osprey, and all kinds of wildlife--- and this time of year.....you won't have to worry about flying insects--- they've all gone away.

New Smyrna Beach is a nice town--- stop at Crabby Chris's Crab Shack on Rt. 1---- you won't regret it! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Crabby-Chris-Italian-Ice-And-Crab-Shack/421872134537906

New Smyrna and Ponce Inlet are separated by well....an inlet. You'll have to take U.S. 1 from Smyrna to South Daytona --- you can then head out to A1A and backtrack to Ponce if you like. It's a quaint little place-- and the lighthouse is cool.

You cannot drive the length of Daytona beach by car anymore--- they have cut it up into sections of where you can, and cannot drive. You can however, still get out onto the sand for a few miles-- and you shouldn't have any troubles with a 4x4 unless your judgement and skills are really bad! There is a pretty long expanse South of Daytona where you can drive for a few miles. Head out onto the beach as soon as possible in Daytona Beach Shores-- just North of Dunlawton Ave. You'll be able to drive on the beach all the way until International Speedway Blvd.

Taking A1A up from the Daytona area to St. Aug is the way to go. Hop over the intercoastal (heading W on Granada- Rt. 40 from A1A) and take your first right on Riverside / Beach St. This will take you directly into the "Loop".  It's a beautiful drive through canopied roads, marshes and forest. Stop by the marsh / river and your chances of seeing dolphin are pretty good.

http://www.ormondscenicloopandtrail.com/

Heading North on A1A, just South of St. Augustine is Matanzas inlet. This is also a cool place where you can take your truck out onto the beach---but watch the tide as the sand gets soft! Not a bad place to put a line in if you like to fish too!

I hope you have fun. Florida gets a bad rap--- but it's really an interesting place. If you take advantage of the good things, it can be a great place to live / visit.

Based on my FL experiences, you have a pretty good trip planned out. Both times I have gone for the manatee swim they were in the river and very cool to swim with.

Nice, I have fond memories of homosassa from my trip there as a kid. I wish I could make a recommendation, but that was 20 years ago and we stayed right around north of Tampa. Have fun

thanks Joe, that's the kind of stuff i was hoping for.

in columbia, SC for the night. made it farther than halfway. if no 5 month old would have made it all the way, but between her crap and my wife and needing to hit the bank, drop off a video, and feed the FIL's chickens on the way out of town we didn't really get on the road until 11, and then had to stop every 2 hours, plus the bi-hourly pee break for the 3 year old. the joys of travelling with children.

16.3mpg so far for the avalanche, mostly uphill to this point cruising between 75-82. just like pushing a brick through a straw. it's a very easy comfortable truck to drive long distances, so i've got that going for me. that and gas finally went down for a big trip instead of up, so the net gas cost from the anticipated price when the trip was planned is going to still be less than the rendezvous with the seats made of bricks.

oh yeah, can you dolly one of these if you pull the rear driveshaft?

http://daytona.craigslist.org/cto/4820542882.html

I don't think that anyone will be at the office this weekend, but the office will be back open on Monday.

In reply to patgizz:I saw that too. I've been surprised it's still there every time I check back. Yes you should be able to dolly it with the drive shaft removed, but it will most likely be gone.

If it's there monday i'm going to look... 2.5rs's in ohio go for close to wrx money Ninja edit, refreshed CL before i posted and it was live, refreshed a minute later and it's gone

On 301 heading toward ocala now

Even if i drive by the office after hours i'm still stopping to get my picture taken there.

We passed Ocala on 75 just a few hours ago.

The building looks good at night.

bravenrace wrote: We passed Ocala on 75 just a few hours ago.

where are you at? we're in crystal river, going to see the manatees tomorrow then going over to the space center for monday. did you 75 down? we had to bypass a load of 95(from before the 26/95 interchange to savannah on 16) due to accidents. we took the scenic way, stopped for gas, stopped for half an hour at a plantation and ate lunch, and when we got back on 95 at 16 we were in with cars that we had been with on 26. so we kept moving and stopped for almost an hour total and still made it the same distance as they did pulling their hair out in traffic. the only reason i knew such was because an old whitehair was driving a beautiful 94-96 fleetwood. and a jeep with way too much chrome.

We're in Rotonda West, which is between Sarasota and Fort Meyers. We avoided the 26 mess by taking 321down to where it meets back up with 95. Good thing too, as we later found out that 26 had a 3-1/2 hr delay.

cell 1-352-302-245 six

Karl,
Are you affiliated with Homasassa Springs?

So funny. I had no clue where Karl's place was, but just happened to drive by on the way to a scalloping/fishing trip in crystal river earlier this year.

Rotonda, huh? I grew up in Englewood. It's a sleepy little area.

Karl, you are a genuinely awesome dude, and if that fiero was a manual i'd be coming back with it. Forgot to ask if it was a v6 and if there was a title...but i can't think of a way to dolly an auto fiero without ruining things except pulling the axles, disassembling them, and putting the outer cups/stubs back in to retain the wheel hubs.

today: Kennedy space center. with a 3 year old infatuated with everything space. his head may explode.

new development - calling about a 95 m edition miata when done at the space center and on way up through daytona. i fear this may be like the 2.5RS - too good a deal - so it might be gone by the time i get there. i fear someone with the last name of suddard or wallens may see it before i get there.

i'd love to take a clean miata up north and see how much i could get for it, then when that fails turbo it and bring it back down in october.

Well, did you score?

On beach in daytona right now waiting for call back

Car was not a deal. At a grand it was 500 too much.

Saw a motorcycle rider get run over by a schoolbus, and bus driver got out to yell at the guy after he got up.

GRM office looks nice at night, wanted to stop during open hours but the 3 year old was having too much fun on the beach.

Having dinner at Maria Bonita in ormond beach. So far the chips and salsa are awesome. The 5 month old has a tooth coming in so she's quite pissy.

Pics later