Today I spent time driving around Yellowstone National Park. I have about 9600 miles on the car now.

First, the obligatory Old Faithful shot:

It didn’t shoot as high as other times, but I wasn’t going to hang around another 92 minutes (I just missed the previous eruption as I was parking the Atom).

Here’s one of the park’s inhabitants keeping an eye on the Atom. Note that this is dangerous – don’t try to replicate this shot unless you have one foot ready for the accelerator. Yes, that blur on the bottom is the side of the Atom’s frame:

This really is an alien landscape – look at the crystal clear blue water. It is boiling and giving off sulphurous fumes:

I’m staying at the “Hibernation Station” (for those of you who know me, that’s appropriate) in West Yellowstone. I’ve decided to stop trying to drive like mad to make Chicago on Thursday – instead, I’m going to take my time, slow down, and spend more time taking in the sights.

Another very long day today. Quite chilly. 9270 miles. I’m heading to Yellowstone tomorrow. 

A very long day today – I didn’t stop until well after dark. 8840 miles on the odometer, 1090 since I picked it up at Brammo on Wednesday. Lots of pictures coming later (probably tomorrow). 

Update (pictures, as promised)

At the Port Angeles marina, near where I would have departed if I took the ferry into Canada:

The Kingston / Edmonds ferry charged me the (higher) car price, but put me at the front of the waiting line with the motorcycles:

I got a front row seat:

Docking at Edmonds (Seattle side):

I met up with a fellow Atom owner and formed an unstable molecule:

He took a picture of me as we were heading down I-90:

I’m in Forks, Washington tonight. That’s up at the top left of the state, just before Highway 101 turns east and heads toward Port Angeles. The odometer reads 8510 miles at this point.

It has been quite cool while driving, and (as you can see in the picture) mists come rolling in off the ocean. Because of this, I’m not going to do the Canadian part of my trip – it will just be too cold (according to the weather report, about 50 degrees). Instead, I’m going to continue along 101 and make my way to Seattle, most probably via Bainbridge Island.

I’m staying in Tillamook, OR tonight on my way up the 101 highway. The odometer currently reads 8240 miles. Here’s some pictures from Oregon’s Ocean Shore Park:

I’m in Crescent City, CA tonight. I picked up the car from Brammo this morning. At the start of this trip, the odometer read 7740 miles. It is now at 7987 miles.

Thursday I’ll be heading up the coast on 101 toward Washington State. I don’t know where I’ll stop for the night – this trip is a bit less formally structured than my previous one.

My Atom has been visiting Brammo since July for some work (mostly needed because of New Jersey’s liberal supply of potholes). I’ll be picking the Atom up September 5th, and if all goes well, I’ll be heading cross-country again. The plan is to go north from Brammo this time, up 101 to the top of Washington State, then across into Canada for a bit, then back into the US, stopping at Yellowstone. After that, it is pretty much a straight shot back home with as many miles per day as possible, so I have time to get some work done before AtomFest.

You can check out a Google Map of the planned route here.

Of course, what was initially forecast as a beautiful weekend changed (after everyone had arrived) to “scattered showers in the afternoon and evening”. However, after a relatively brief period of rain, the sun came back out and the attendees deployed their towels and squeegees to clean up the cars. 

The show is limited to classic American muscle cars (1973 or older), Corvettes of any age, and newer American cars by invitation only. When I pulled up to the entrance, the staffer there said “Please tell me that’s an American car – I’d hate to have to turn you away”. I told him it was (made in Oregon) and that I had cleared it with the event co-ordinator beforehand.

Vineland closes about 1 mile of their “main drag” in the heart of town for this show, and cars park on either side of the street:

The Atom received a lot of attention, though I couldn’t walk away and take pictures – a lot of the other attendees just rolled up their windows, locked their doors, and strolled up and down the street to check out the other cars.

After 2-3 hours of static display, cars pull out and cruise up and down the closed section of the street. The police and organizers hope that this occurs in an orderly fashion, but the spectators cheer the drivers on to do burnouts, etc. The police mostly tolerate this, as long as they aren’t enveloped in a cloud of burning rubber. The police also have a classic police cruiser (complete with “gumball machine” light) in the cruise.

This cruise happens at very low speeds – 5-10 MPH, with frequent stops to allow more cars to pull into the street and cruise. After 2 laps, a number of cars exited the show. I went for 3 laps and then exited, as the fumes from the burnouts and old engines were getting to me.

Overall it was a great experience and I’ll be back next year if scheduling permits.

Look for the Atom Across America at the 2007 Cruse Down Memory Lane in Vineland, NJ on June 9th (weather permitting). More info on the Cruise at http://www.corvettesunlimitednj.com/cdml.htm