Thread: Tote and Nic's US Tour

Ok..... So I guess no one watches "Justified", the town was Harlan KY.
Anyway after putting 6000 Miles on a poor little Jeep Liberty (Cherokee in Aus) we flew across to LA and ended up with one of Mr Ford's Explorers.



I think while Ford had custodianship of Land Rover they may have grabbed a few ideas.
I've seen one of those knobs before in my D3


It also has the same rear exhaust as a D3, split fold seats that fold flat into the floor, hill descent control and a partial digital dash like the Range Rover. All in all its not too bad for an American vehicle, its got a sideways mounted 3.5 lt petrol V6 and cruises competently for a big vehicle. Whilst it looks like a Territory the size is deceptive as the load space is longer than a D3. I am under no illusions as to its off road prowess but it is an alright vehicle. They are available with a twin turbo ecoboost moor as well which would go quite well I imagine. Lots of Police seem to be using them, they would be the second most popular cruiser after the Dodge Chargers. There are still plenty of old Crown Victorias around in the police forces as well.

Regards,
Tote

A couple of shots of the stuff they let on the roads over here...

For anyone that remembers the cover to "Pump" by Aerosmith





This looks like a good way to get an instant oversize fine in Australia, they are more common on the East coast but we have seen a few in California / Arizona.



There seems to be a pretty big emphasis on aerodynamics on some rigs with fairings extending from the support legs to the back wheels of the trailers as well as round fairings filling in the centres of the duals on some trucks.

Regards,

Tote

There are also some weird combos of drive and trailers over here. I can only surmise that the line haul makes sense in some cases with shorter trailers. We have seen quite a few of these combos with a single drive prime mover, a short trailer and a dog.



Have also seen an old Isuzu cab over with a 6 litre ( Factory) petrol motor in it.

Regards,
Tote

Stop enjoying your Holiday so much and send more pics!!
Are you guys still in the Explorer? How is that going??

The Explorer is actually a pretty good vehicle. We did 750km today from Flagstaff back to LA today comfortably and economically. 568KM on about 3/4 of a tank. The onboard computer reckons that over the 2500 miles we have done we have averaged 21.5 US miles to the gallon which translates to 10.94 l/100KM. I reckon thats pretty good for something thats bigger inside than a D3. I got to use HDC on the road into Bodie and it only slows you to fast walking pace. Not much use for the tight stuff.... It will be an interesting comparison with the Territory that we have booked for the drive home from Sydney. I like it , my only gripe is it doesn't have enough torque and if I was buying one I'd buy the twin turbo ecoboost version.




Regards,
Tote

Yes, I've heard good things about them, so just wondered how it was all going.
They look alright too. Better than previous models...........
Good to see you've kept it clean too........

Originally Posted by discovery39

Stop enjoying your Holiday so much and send more pics!!
Are you guys still in the Explorer? How is that going??

Since you asked so nicely

The poor little Jeep



The ruins of Windsor north of Natchez Ms





Marie Laveau's Grave in New Orleans


Nicolas Cage's grave in the same cemetery, yes I know he's not dead yet....



The "Weeping Angel" in another New Orleans Cemetery



A12 Spy plane on Display in Mobile Alabama



The Girls seemed to think this bloke was alright


But the airboat ride through the everglades was well worth it




Sunset over Big Pine Key Florida, I could spend some more time in the Keys, as long as I could avoid the tourist hordes at Key West



Space Shuttle Atlantis at Cape Canaveral



NASA's bloody big shed



Uncle Jack and his competitor. Out of the two distilleries the JD tour is by far the best.





I get the feeling that this sign has a different meaning in Springfield MO than it might on Oxford St Sydney....




Route 66 from Springfield to Oklahoma City



Regards,
Tote

The best part of LA - The La Brea Tarpits. The kids grasped the relevance when they remembered the Futurama episode that featured them...



Total Lunar eclipse from Angels Camp in the foothills of the Sierras



Yosemite defies any attempt to capture it's Grandeur on camera



This little bloke was sunning himself on one of the trails and had to be chased off the path.



Death Valley



Competing Bail Bondsmen





You still see the occasional oldie



Somewhere else that is hard to capture in images is the Grand Canyon. If you have a look in the centre of this image you can just see the Bell helicopter against the other side of the canyon



Regards,
Tote