Asphault Adventure: CarKid's Saints to Sinner Trip Summary

Its been a long time in the works, and I feel bad for not getting this online sooner. School, two jobs and life has been holding me up.

So, as last time, I will post text updates then go back and fill in photos as i have time. Hopefully in the next few days.

• Pre- Rally

I had done an Asphault Adventure Rally or two and I enjoyed the traveling and the sights along the way. I most enjoyed the competitors and all the fun that they bring to the table. Its a bunch of good people coming together for a good time.

So, when the Saints to Sinners Rally came up (S2S)I knew I wanted to join in on the fun. There was a slight catch...

The rally went from Rolla, Missouri and ended in Las Vagas, Nevada!

Thats a heck of a trip. I wanted to do it no matter what but i knew it would be a long trip full of possible failures, hardships and best of all adventure! I called, emailed, and texted all my friends and got a team together. Not long after I sent in the registration and the excitement started building =)

The adventure begins!

I'm looking forward to seeing your thoughts. I know I traveled the same roads and drank beers with you but I also know there were many side adventures I couldn't be there for and I love to see other people's perspective on these trips.

Things started off well. I managed to assemble a team: a girl who worked with me and one i went to school with. We all met up around January for dinner and everyone got to meet each other. Things went well. Everyone meshed well and i was excited and ready to go.

Fast forward a month and one of the girls got promoted at work. Thats great! Except her PTO started from 0 and now she could not make the trip. As happy as i was for her i was still bummed that we were down an eager teammate.

SIDENOTE: I should add at this point that a good friend of mine and his to-be-wife were also signed up. They were taking an old Jeep (CJ-5?7?)No top. No doors. through the desert.... The were getting married the weekend before the trip and this was their honeymoon trip. It was a fun wedding and i am happy they had a nice time on the trip and that we all got to go do this adventure together.

As the start time got closer (as in a month before the event) i started looking for a car. I had been browsing craigslist since the event was announced but being in school full time and working two jobs i just knew it was not too likely i would have time to "prep" a car.

I went with my back up plan.

1999 Saturn SL2. Its my beater and a high mile one at that. It had been slid in the snow mercilessly, spun out and hit a guard rail on an exit ramp, and had its top speed checked a few times...its seen a lot. i packed the title in the glovebox...if the car croaked its history. No questions asked.

I added a CB radio and antenna. Back in the day they were used to communicate car to car for rallies. Anymore though, as i found, its just a box that the passengers left knee always hits. Its not too practical. But the antenna is a nice touch

I went to the local junkyard to get a hood for the final touch for the rally car. Using an old projector i put the USA on the hood. We drew in the route along the way and added landmark stickers. A nice touch i thought.

The day before the trip i packed the car with a weeks worth of stuff, a cooler, some emergency tools, and my teammate Casey's stuff.

We were ready to go!

I believe we left my house at 9:30 or 10PM in Richmond Heights, Ohio. (outside of Cleveland OH) I had worked since 8am so i was a bit behind on sleep but i figured it would be to drive the first leg.

The event started in Rolla Missouri and Casey and I had never been to St. Louis so we decided to make a pitstop for a few hours there prior to the start of the Saints to Sinners Rally.

So, Richmond Heights to St. Loius MO it is. Thats 8.5 hours and 566 miles away.

Things were going well. We were wired and excited for the trip so the first two hours were a breeze.

Eventually the conversations died down and there was some napping. I however kept at the wheel and continued driving. We stopped for the obligitory "Welcome to ______ state" signs along the road and a few coffee and pee breaks but we just kept trucking.

Alas i am only human. Somewhere either toward the end of Indiana or slightly into Illinois my body said enough and i wearily pulled the car off the road at some gas stop and closed my eyes for 20 minutes. Alarm went off, i grabbed what might have been the WORST cup of coffee from Caseys General Store quick stop and back on the road we went.

We did stop for breakfast at McDonalds and once back on the road all refreshed we made the last leg of the journey to Saint Louis!

Made it in one piece. The car was ok. We were ok and i just got my second wind in time to explore St. Louis

First things first.

Casey and I REALLY wanted to go up into the St Louis Arch. Its a monumental architectural site and the geek inside me wanted to see it up close. It was a blast! Lots of history and tech explanations, and even though it was a touristy trap it was totally worth it.

Great view of the city and luckily we had a clear day.

One thing that was weird is the elevator up to the top is TINY! 4 people in this tiny egg shaped car and you are knee to knee and a bit hunched over.

It was so small...not good if you hate enclosed space.

While on the tour a gentleman and his wife and I got to talking. During the conversation he mentioned that Budweiser had a free tour of the brewery and the grounds and that it was worth it. Since we had time to kill and we both like our beer we went! It was a short drive away and that made it even better!

We paid a few bucks ($10?) extra to take part in the brew masters class and that provided extra sampling and some beer education.

Worth every penny. Man alive, what a tour that was. That alone could be a separate topic.

Now it was lunch time. Had some solid mexican food and planned the next few hours before we made a run for the starting line in Rolla MO. Found a motorcycle museum, vintage motorcycles, and it was free. im in

The motorcycle museum was awesome. Lots of odd ball bikes and some scooters. Seemed like a lot of 1920s-1970s bikes. Was quite a neat experience.

We went back to the car and Casey mentioned it smelled weird. I had left my left over mexican food in the car and the sun was out...i just assumed it smelled funny cause of that. Styrofoam + food + heat = ewww. I shrugged it off, opened the windows and we started along the final leg to the actual start of the rally in Rolla Mo at the hotel.

I had gotten quite tired at this point, the lack of sleep had finally caught up to me and i started getting tired-eyed and sleepy behind the wheel. As this happened Casey asked me why the car smelled worse. Kinda like the taco incident fom before but worse. i dunno. Rolled down the window and kept trucking.

Eyes kept gettin heavier...

"Kevin!!!! WHY IS THERE SMOKE COMING FROM THE STEERING WHEEL!? WHATS GOING ON!?"

WIDE awake now Swerve off at the exit ramp and get the car in a gas station parking lot and shut it down. The smoke keeps coming and i smell that god awful wiring burning electrical burning smell. no no no.

I grab my tool box and in seconds rip off the steering shroud and see that the headlight switch plug is melting and smoking. Unplug it and it stops. The switch internally shorted causing power to constantly be on...slowly cooking itself and ready to light the car up.

I get it under control and we grab a snack, get our nerves under control and get back on the road.

Adventures for sure

It's not a banger rally until there's an electrical fire ;) I've smoked a few cars.

Not fer nuttin but it seems the GRM community has abandoned the concept. But I still like reading your story!

We really want to do the one to Key West but apparently the people need me that week. They haven't lined up with my vacation time yet

Looks like a lot of fun. I'd like to do one...... Maybe on a bike.

I don't want to scare people into doing things but after this year the boss is talking about shifting the focus to private events so these open runs may not exist any more.

I'm only pointing it out because when BABE went away everyone lamented the fact they never got to do it while it was around.

Of course you can always contract a private event in the future if you really want to do it :)

Sounds like a blast! Can't wait to read/hear the rest of the story!

sethmeister4 wrote: Sounds like a blast! Can't wait to read/hear the rest of the story!

He's still on the preamble...it's about to get good.

I'll encourage him with random weird photos to explain ;)

Like when he aided in an attack of a giraffe and a t-rex on an unsuspecting passed out competitor

Or the time (same night) that he was stalked by a creepy dude getting out of the pool (which was closed)

On break so I want to get a few more installments in.

we made it to Rolla MO and the check in hotel. Got all the paperwork turned in and got the formalities out of the way so we could go out and talk to the other teams and say hi to people we met from other years rallies.

This is easily the highlight of this and every trip. there are people on this trip from all over the USA (sometimes Canada) and of all walks of life and color and religious background but when we get together we are all about having fun ad seeing cool locations and hanging out. You might keep in touch a bit over the year but as soon and you see each other it was like yesterday that you last talked. Its really a fun part of the trip, one which I really enjoy.

We got the cars stickered up for the trip and made a parking lot campsite if you will and all bs-ed and caught up and checked the cars over for the start of the rally in the morning.

How many teams were on this one? Interesting mix of cars?

Cotton wrote: How many teams were on this one? Interesting mix of cars?

Off the top of my head I think it was around 20. Very interesting mix, everything from a massively decrepit Fiat Spyder, to a Custom built C-cab replica hot rod, to an Acura NSX.

DAY ONE: Rolla MO to Tulsa OK

Challenge: Roadtrip Poker

I had never traveled much out West and I was most excited about that aspect for this trip. I knew it was part adventure, part competition but I was hell bent of first and foremost making sure I got to experience everything I could and not let the comp part take me too much away from that.

We set out with my buddy who had taken a open top Jeep. I have to admit, driving down old Route 66 is something else. Speed limit is 25 in areas up to 55 (unless its highway) and its a very relaxing drive and scenic like you would not believe. At this point both cars were running fine and things were looking up. Weather was darn near perfect and the sun was out all day.

We stopped at this little side of the road lunch place cause it was time to quiet the grumblings from my stomach. Two things that I desticnly remember from this restaurant:

1) The bathroom had the toilet up on a pedestal. It was two steps off the main floor level, easily a foot higher then the ground.

2) We ate the specialty, which was Frito Pie. Bed of Frito chips cover in chili with your choice of toppings and I must admit it was darn good. No complaints from me.

Ill have to go to work, ill update late an add pictures

Day One Cont:

We took Old Route 66 as long as we could that day. Its marked with signs along the highway but there were several times where we had to turn around and retrace our steps. We had a interactive map for Route 66 but it was not always helpful. (PITB to follow the little ball on the map)

I have to say that taking the long way 'round on this trip was one of the most rewarding things I have done in such a long time. It seems lately my life had been stuck in high gear in the fast lane and everything was a matter of getting things done quickly and efficiently. This trip was the opposite. TAKE the back roads. TAKE the scenic route. EXPLORE. HAVE FUN! The stuff you see on the side of the roads was fun, it was dare I say it, magical.

We made a stop at a particularly popular old gas station/ tourist stop. Ill go back and sprinkle in pictures soon to help the story out. It was at this stop that 3-4 teams had stopped as well to take a break from the road and to walk around and look at all the cool cars and antiques and just stuff that was there. There was an older gentleman and his wife outback and they invited all of us to sit with them and we got to talking.

We are complete strangers and these two just gather us around like we were their grandkids. we talked about the trip, our lives, the couples life story, the list went on. It was really something. The hospitality was second to none. At one point he asked if anyone was thirsty (musta been in the 80 degree area) and then proceded to tell us to just go inside the house and get a Coke from the white fridge. Just like that.

He had some wisdom in him too, and this part stuck with me to this day. Now I cant tell you word for word what he said but it was to the effect of: "Many people have travlled down old 66 for all sorts of reasons. Just let the road take you, let it talk to you, just make sure you keep going and you will find what youre looking for. You'll find what you need on your journey"

Route 66 is in fact something different. something special.

as we were saying our goodbyes to the couple he made mention of a must visit stop on the way up the road. He said when we got there say you were sent by him and the man will know all about it. What was there was not too specific but it was said to be worth the drive. At this point (all of day one on really) Mike & Ashley in the Jeep and Casey and I in the Saturn were sticking together so we decided this out of the way stop would be worth checking out. After all when is the next time we would be on Route 66?(there were names involved but I forget already , it was really like being part of small town first name basis America)

Best decision ever.

We made our way to this secret location a few miles off Route 66 and I can only describe it as an old timey little town time capsule. Appearently, this artist made it big with his figurines and comics and came back to his roots and made a town how how things used to be. I believe its called Red Oak.

We were looking around the property and the gentleman came out and introduced himself (he was the man in charge, the artist, the starter of it all) and for the next hour we got a guided tour of the grounds and his home. We got to hear all the funny old stories and the plans for the future of the property. It really was something else. Every single nook was filled with artwork or paintings or something creaetive and fun.

He invited us to sit down and hang out and talk some more but unfortunately we had to make up some time and make it to the hotel by the end of the night. we said our goodbyes and started heading west.

This is a part of the story that get interesting. you see, as you go westward, there are time changes. the GPS I had did not take into account the time changes. So all 4 of us thought we would make it to Tulsa Oklahoma (from Rolla Missouri) on time...WRONG! We stopped for gas and while everyone was inside I was making friendly with the locals and told them where we were headed and they kindly informed us that we were still many miles and 2 hours +/- away. Crap!

Told Mike, Ashely, and Casey and after a minute of grumbling and talk of breaking the GPS we went back the road to Tulsa.

We made it to the hotel late, much after dark, and rather tired. However, after checking in and taking a leak, we joined the group hanging out in the parking lot and things slowed down again and the fun began.

The motel is something that still gets joked about when anyone gets together. Our group was in a C shaped area and we had a good view of the street, and a decent view of the motel rooms all around. In short we had a good view of all the stuff happening and boy was it a busy night....

...there was a lot of women in and out who could only stay for a bit to hang out with their "friends" ....

...there were a lot of up and coming business people who met up to do quick business...

quite an interesting night.

I was laying low, enjoying a cold one or two and writing postcards. Later on I mingled with some nearby teams and called it a night.

Its a good feeling when your head hits the pillow and your smiling and you have a little bit of a tough time falling asleep because you know the next day will be as exciting as the last.

END of DAY 1