Topic: Rocky Mountain Breakdown

The Rocky Mountains are absolutely one of my favorite drives.  My wife and I are very much looking forward to it.  Our car of choice is none other than the greatest sports car ever built in the entire world!  It comes with 4 pages of documentation of authenticity from carfax.  There might have been mention of a brief off road excursion, totaling the car 20 years ago.  With a salvage title the car continued to go from owner to owner, until it finally settling in Florida.  Although made of fiberglass like many boats, it didn't float when hurricane Ian came through.  Now it is all ours!

https://youtu.be/Rl4mFAit3Hc

PS Anyone in Denver who wouldn't mind accepting shipping and a short period of storage before and after the rally, please reach out to me.

2 (edited by The Hooptie Garage 2023-02-19 08:31 AM)

Re: Rocky Mountain Breakdown

I am nowhere near Denver, so I can't offer a temporary home for your rare exotic supercarboatthingy.  big_smile 

I'm bringing the daily driver (El Borrego) on RMB, as I'm headed to southern Utah and Moab to do some BLM road exploring the day after the rally ends.  (More overlanding than rock crawling--I don't have a rig for that yet.)  There will be stops en route, and hauling a few things across the country.  Makes no sense to add 40 hours/2500 miles of driving just to drive a turd in the rally only to turn around, go back home, and drive out to essentially the same area again immediately thereafter.

If I don't sell it for scrap, I may revive the dead car in the back yard for Rust Belt (it might be too unsafe to drive, due to all the rust), and use Earl Burner Civic for Fall Failiage if I don't have another project car for the summer.  (I have ideas, but the economy isn't in a place where I can dump a lot of money on anything.)

I booked the rooms a few months ago for RMB. Only the Casper stays are below $100. Hotel rates have gone insane the past two years.

Before and after the rally:   Super 8 by Wyndham Casper West by the River
Idaho Falls:  Best Western Driftwood Inn
Missoula: Super 8 by Wyndham Missoula/Reserve St.
Bozeman: Super 8 by Wyndham Belgrade/Bozeman Airport

--Rudy

Driver of soul-sucking appliances in the Rust Belt.
Instagramz: @thehooptiegarage

Re: Rocky Mountain Breakdown

LOL Cory, it'll be fun following (virtually) you and Phyllis in that Vette.  Hopefully it's at least a LITTLE quieter than the '67.  The subtle (and probably unintentional) digs at Freddy "Tavarish" Hernandez and his misadventures with his McLarens didn't get past my notice, either. 

I am absolutely all about doing a Rocky Mountain Breakdown some year, and I was going to attempt it this year until I changed jobs and reality set in.  Now my only shot at doing anything Lemons this year is going to be limited to either the Rust Belt Ramble (hopefully I can finish it this time) or Fall Failage. 

Drive safe, man!

Re: Rocky Mountain Breakdown

I hear you on the job change--I like my freelancer flexibility (so I'm able to do these rallies), but am hating (more like burned out on) the work I do and want to look at other opportunities. Not much time left to boost up the retirement savings either, so I'd be adding a job vs. swapping one for the other.

I'm debating Fall Failiage. My youngest might do Rust Belt with me if she has time off from work. Fall Failiage would be more interesting and I can visit friends along the way, but Rust Belt is like a "home" rally for me, so it's a slam dunk at minimal cost.  Hope you can make it @puttcharlie!

Can't think of a livery/theme for Rocky Mountain but honestly, given everything going on right now combined with weather that makes it impossible to do the car mods I wanted to and difficult to debug and/or prep a few things, I'll be lucky to be able to leave on time to do the rally.  I'm not in it to win though--I'm happy just working through all the checkpoints and discovering the story behind them, and it's through some of my favorite parts of the country.

--Rudy

Driver of soul-sucking appliances in the Rust Belt.
Instagramz: @thehooptiegarage

Re: Rocky Mountain Breakdown

puttcharlie wrote:

I am absolutely all about doing a Rocky Mountain Breakdown some year, and I was going to attempt it this year until I changed jobs and reality set in.

My own reality is that I have to look long and hard at the economics of doing each rally.  On my end, I can be somewhat flexible with time, but work not done during the rally is put off until after, where I have catching up to do, not to mention catching up on everything at home. The pre-rally/road trip chores at home also eat into available work time.  (This rally's timing is particularly bad because I'm in the middle of a large project that should have launched a couple weeks from now...but rally > project when it comes to going Out West™.)

So, that's mostly why I don't put much into a theme for the cars. I have to look at the cost of gas and hotels to get to and from the rally.  RMB for me is about 52-54 gallons of gas each way (I'm 1,200 miles from Casper), and one overnight hotel stay each way, along with overnights before/after the rally.  (I don't go "seedy" so they're usually $100+/night.)  Plus, tacos. Dude's gotta eat.  This is all on top of the rally entrance fee.  It's also why I don't pay the entry fee until the last day.

On a long trip like this one, I include a couple of stops for work-related reasons (stopping at the "home office" in Boulder, and a manufacturer/retailer/studio in Salina KS on the way home), so with a schedule to keep pre/post rally, no, I'm not driving a beater and no, I'm not dumping all sorts of decoration all over my daily driver (or spare car) unless it can be quickly made, and easily removed.  (Tip: vinyl graphics on top of a ceramic coating work out well, since they can be blasted off at the DIY car wash.) 

I'd love to drive something questionable, but it's another money and time sink that's not in the budget.  I'll never win one of these rallies anyway, so why bust my buns to come out on top?  The rally organizers pick some of the most interesting destinations and side roads I've ever been on--that alone makes the rallies worth doing.  The friends made along the way? Icing on the cake.   

My personal goal is to hit all the checkpoints, and get the "mystery" location each day--if I'm in the middle of the pack, that's plenty good enough for me.  Going solo, that's about all I can squeeze into a day and leave enough time for dinner and some prep back in the room for the next day's checkpoints.

I can get a little more involved with RBR due to it launching 20 minutes from my casa. But again, we'll have to see if I can get said "questionable choice" ride safely on the road.  If not, kiddo's car is black and I have a killer theme that she and I are both into, and the gold vinyl graphics would really pop on it. Plan C, of course, is Earl Burner, provided I can trace down that annoying clunk in the front end and replace the cat...

--Rudy

Driver of soul-sucking appliances in the Rust Belt.
Instagramz: @thehooptiegarage

Re: Rocky Mountain Breakdown

Casper? Food? Pre-rally meetup?  Nothing official is planned but there are a few places around town, as one would expect.

I'll be in town by late afternoon on Wednesday.  (I have to pick up a FedEx package being sent to me. Long story.) 

If nothing else comes up or nobody else plans anything, there is a spot called Old Chicago Pizza & Tap Room that has pizza, beer, wings, etc., and they have a bar area too, from what I can tell.  That may be a good spot and shouldn't be too hard to find.

https://oldchicago.com/locations/casper

I would probably get there between 6-7pm, as I have to eat anyway.  If anything else materializes, or someone has a better idea, offer it up! smile

--Rudy

Driver of soul-sucking appliances in the Rust Belt.
Instagramz: @thehooptiegarage

Re: Rocky Mountain Breakdown

We can't wait to see everyone tomorrow!

8 (edited by CWracer 2023-05-11 01:00 PM)

Re: Rocky Mountain Breakdown

After an amazing trip, my wife and I put to gather a short video.  Thanks everyone for such a good time.

https://youtu.be/XNVkhbGE_n8

Re: Rocky Mountain Breakdown

Great video, and good seeing you again!

--Rudy

Driver of soul-sucking appliances in the Rust Belt.
Instagramz: @thehooptiegarage