Cross Country Move in F80 (w/ dog and PACKED car!)

[duky]

So in June we were lucky enough to have decided to get rid of most of our stuff and drive cross country in our F80 -- me, fiancée and 50 lb dog. What could go wrong? As it turns out -- not tooo much! Had a fantastic trip and got to take some great photos in awesome locations so decided to briefly write it up and share some photos.

The trip really gave me a new found appreciation for America. We really wanted to do Euro delivery this summer but decided that we couldn't manage financially right now with the move so we're putting that off for the next car. But so happy we got the opportunity to see parts of America that we really wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

Fair warning: you may cringe at how packed the car was. We did not treat her too well on this trip despite trying our very best it was just a lot of shit from boxes to small furniture to clothes everywhere but I did my best to protect what we could. It actually came out fairly unscathed.

So now for logistics; this was our basic itinerary:

1. Depart Boston
2. Sightseeing in Niagara Falls
3. Spend the night in Welland, ON Airbnb
4. Drive through Canada and re-enter in Detroit
5. Arrive Ann Arbor for yummy tacos
6. Prairie view dog park for the pooch
7. Spend the night in Beloit, Wisconsin
8. Spencer dog park in Sioux Falls for the pooch
9. Sightseeing in Badlands national park at sunset
10. Drive through full Badlands loop - 30 miles of great roads
11. Spend night in Rapid City, SD
12. Sightseeing in Mt Rushmore
13. Sightseeing at Crazy Horse
14. Drive through Needles highway with amazing curves and views
15. Blast through Wyoming and stop in Denver
16. Dinner in Denver then amazing drives through CO along Colorado River
17. Spent night in Grand Junction, CO
18. Say hi to Prairie Dogs at UT entrance
19. Blast through to Moab, AZ
20. Sightseeing in Arches National Park
21. Sightseeing at Grand Canyon South Rim
22. Spent night in Flagstaff, AZ
23. Enter CA through Needles and eat amazing burritos
24. Blast up to San Jose with detour to see Willow Springs
25. Spend night with friends in San Jose
26. Arrive home in Oakland!

If anyone is doing a similar thing and wants Airbnb recommendations we had excellent experiences with all of our stays and had a dog so would be more than happy to recommend some. Otherwise, enjoy the photos; some trip highlights:

High point: Arches in Moab and Badlands at sunset -- both were amazing and far more beautiful than we expected. Arches was quite busy as we went close to 12 so I'd recommend going much earlier but still tons of fun (we didn't know about it before so literally stumbled upon it). Lots of police cruisers near Moab btw but luckily only got flashed to slow down, no actual stops.

Lowest point: windshield getting cracked twice on same 10 mile stretch of highway that had so many rocks on it in Wyoming (no signs warning of it either).

Best stretch of highway: Denver to Grand Junction -- going from mountains to desert, all while following the Colorado River with picture-perfect scenery. As a bonus we got to cruise with a few enthusiasts -- 911, RS4

Biggest letdown: Crazy horse. Partly my fault -- had no idea it wasn't completed but for them to charge $22 for this when Mt Rushmore was only $11 seemed like a complete ripoff to me. I would recommend skipping Crazy Horse for sure. Spent like 5 min there.

"Scariest": Driving from Grand Canyon for like 2 hours to Flagstaff in pitch black with signs repeatedly warning of deer and elk on road

Fastest: CLA 250 in South Dakota absolutely flying down the road. I was doing 90 and they passed me like we were on the Autobahn.

Best photo: The car at the Badlands at sunset. Absolutely love this shot and best part is that I didn't even try very hard for it. Was running back to car to get my other lens to take a pic of my girlfriend and dog up on a hill before golden hour ended and turned back to see this so snapped a shot real quick.

Best road: Needles Highway (similar to Tail of the Dragon) and surprisingly I had never heard of

Weakest segment: End of needles highway to Denver (through Wyoming). Not only did we get our windshield cracked in Wyoming but we encountered the worst hail storm I've ever been in in Denver. This was a real low point during the trip that had us start wondering whether we should have just shipped the car across. Crossed fingers that the paint/body was okay when we got out and luckily it was fine!

Rookie mistake: Not securing a bin that was in the rear seat that kept falling over when we'd make hard turns. We didn't manage to fix it properly until about day 3. Huge pain in the ass.

Biggest issue with car: Literally none -- the car handled everything so amazingly we couldn't have asked for anything more. If nitpicking I'd point fingers at the road noise.

Priceless moment: Finding a Radio Shack (I thought these were all gone) in Moab after discovering that my second SD card wasn't working right before we were about to drive off to the Grand Canyon.

Least fun: Driving 12h or whatever it ended up being from Flagstaff to San Jose. Boring, and the fiancée and I were having an argument for some reason I can't remember. Best burrito ever at Munchy's Taco Shop in Needles, CA really turned that drive around though!

Biggest shock: Gas prices in California! Wooo

Dumbest moment: Needing 50 cents to walk back to US across the Canada-US border at Niagara Falls that neither of us had.

But now that it's all done, the car is safe and sound in our garage and with close to 9k miles on it since getting it in March! Can't wait for the next road trip. Probably will be a small one to Yosemite this fall and then maybe Yellowstone in 2017!

Now I just need to figure how to replace the windshield then find a really good detailer in the Bay Area and start meeting some enthusiasts in the East Bay -- see you around!

Photos on Flickr: https://flic.kr/s/aHskE9tM1G

[slalomfever]

cool pics! Thanks for sharing your adventure. What a time to be alive!!!

[F80Dreamer]

Great pics, looks like a fun trip!!

[Liquid2.0T]

You sir have balls of steel. Black car, white interior, dog, rock chips....I feel my blood pressure dropping...

[damnitBobby]

Hell yeah this is what I like to see! Driving a car like what it was made for.

Great pictures thanks for sharing.

[pikkagtr]

All was fine. Nothing cringe worthy till you stated you moved TO Oakland......eek

[AIRPOWER]

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL!

Fantastic journey and even better pictures! Thanks for sharing.

I have lived 12 years in Europe now and yes there is great beauty in Europe but there is equally as much in North America and I can't wait to return home!

[davey111483]

That was a cool trip. Nice pictures too.

[csbear]

What an awesome post! America is truly a beautiful country. I would love to do that trip one day. Thanks for sharing.

And yes, for some reason I have seen CLA 250s blow by me a couple times going ludicrous speeds for a car isn't meant for it... Smh

[horsepower_and_hounds]

Awesome story. Brings back memories of living out west and of the two cross county trips I have made in my 54yrs on this fabulous earth

[VividRacingII]

This will be an unforgettable memory!

[bmwtrix]

That was awesome! Congrats!! I'm thinking of doing one from SoCal to Seattle to drop my daughter off at College and then back! If I do it, i'll post pics!

[ssuene93]

Looks like a great trip. Thanks for sharing!

[shockin330i]

I've done that drive from GC to Flagstaff in the dark. Scary as heck. My buddy smashed into something that was in the middle of the road. Ruined his bumper. Ain't doing that again.

[FormulaMMM]

M3's look best when being used. Bugs, road grime, all of that. Awesome trip, thanks for sharing.

[Analog Imports]

Omg those taco's.

[duky]

Originally Posted by bmwtrix

That was awesome! Congrats!! I'm thinking of doing one from SoCal to Seattle to drop my daughter off at College and then back! If I do it, i'll post pics!

That sounds like an amazing trip! Especially after reading this http://jalopnik.com/how-to-drive-the...ion-1709670729

[duky]

Originally Posted by FormulaMMM

M3's look best when being used. Bugs, road grime, all of that. Awesome trip, thanks for sharing.

I won't lie I was a little sad after it rained one of the days on the trip and the dirt washed off. It was looking like an art car for a sec with all the aerodynamic bug/dirt splatter

[khanyam4]

Hmmm I like it! Building great memories with the car as well as the fam, pictures are also nice.

btw what camera are you shooting with?

[Yas_Man]

If I drove for that long in the UK I'd have to do laps!

I love America, coming for a visit soon and fingers crossed will move out there in the next two years.

[PhoenixBimmer]

wow!

[duky]

Originally Posted by khanyam4

Hmmm I like it! Building great memories with the car as well as the fam, pictures are also nice.

btw what camera are you shooting with?

Sony A7RII with a set of Batis lenses. Great little camera if you're looking!