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| On The Road with Brad McGarr |
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Welcome!
My name is Brad McGarr, and I am an avid road-tripper. While I don't get out too often, I do enjoy cross-country driving. In this section, I will describe routes I've taken, and routes I plan to take.
Feel free to ask me a question directly, or contact me on the Roadtrip America Great American Roadtrip Forum, my handle there is Arizona Brad.
See ya on the road!
-Brad
Flagstaff 2007: Pine Run - Tempe, Arizona to Flagstaff, Arizona Completed. Check the status of this Trip Blog November 4, 2007 Departing: Morning Sunday, 11/4/2007, arriving in Flagstaff within a few hours. TRIP RECAP ON ROADTRIP AMERICA! Riding to Crown - Wenatchee, WA to Athol, ID & Bayview, ID April 2003 Route Map from Live Maps Departing Mid-Afternoon, Arriving Early Evening Duration: Planned Weekend, only 1 day attended It was time for make ready for May Coronation in the Kingdom of An Tir (Society for Creative Anachronism), and the Crown Tournement was slated for April. The weather was warm in Wenatchee, Washington and so no one from the College of Cranehaven packed for cold weather. We all departed at different times, so no one was traveling together. I arrived shortly before nightfall at the campground at Farragut State Park near Bayview, ID. The first night was frightfully frigid! Luckily I had packed some stew to heat up on the camp stove and some French Bread. It was easier to bear the night's freezing temperatures with a full belly. I packed a sleeping bag rated for cool weather, down to about 40 degrees F. That night, the temperature plunged to 30 degrees. Many of the older people in my group spent the night huddled around fires, keeping awake. I decided to turn in. Using my sleeping bag, the three extra blankets I had packed, my pillow, my jackets, a tarp from the back of my car, and an emergency blanket from a first aid kit, I finally had enough insulation to keep relatively warm in the frosty air... well, all except a path to breathe. I woke the next morning to a thin layer of snow on everything. It appears, during the night, the temperature had dipped further, and it had to begin to snow. Those of us from Central Washington, who barely packed for the cold weather, decided to enjoy the days events and leave before nightfall. I did not have a cell phone, since I was only 16 and such phones are useless in the mountains of Chelan County, so I was unable to call home and report that I was departing early. I retrieved my items and made my way home back through Spokane along I-90. I had left at about 8 PM to avoid traffic. I called home just outside of Spokane, Washington from a pay-phone and let my family know what was going on, and I started home. The sun had set shortly after that phone call, and it was still several hours to Wenatchee. Having not slept the night before, I recall being drowsy upon reaching George, WA, the junction of I-90 and WA 281, which was my highway north to Quincy. Art Bell was just coming on the radio as I turned north for Quincy, so I tuned in, hoping he would keep me awake. I arrived about 30 minutes later in Quincy, and proceeded West along WA 28 to East Wenatchee. I recall as I left Quincy, an ambulance had taken to the highway about a quarter mile in front of me. I followed the ambulance down the highway, but I don't recall much of the road until they turned off near the township of Trinidad. The road turns curvy as it dives down into the Columbia River Gorge from the Columbia Basin. The WSDOT had been doing clearing of an unstable cliff just south of Rock Island Hydroelectric Dam for the past several months, but at night, the blasting crews were silent, only the roadway void of all marker lines was present. Coming around a bend on a curve, my headlamps illuminated a rock about the size of a medium sized dog. Luckily for me, this stretch of highway is nearly dead that late at night, and I was able to avoid it. I pulled into home just north of Wenatchee shortly after midnight, cold, tired, and waiting for a warm bed. Silverwood - Wenatchee, WA - Athol, ID & Bayview, ID Summer 2003 Route Map from Live Maps Heritage Run - Wenatchee, WA to Moses Lake, WA via Ephrata, WA and Soap Lake, WA Fall 2002 My Great-Grandfather at one time lived in Soap Lake, WA, and so, one afternoon we packed up and drove to Soap Lake to see the old family homestead. With nothing better to do, we then drove into Moses Lake, and ended up in a K-Mart where we found the neatest tree topper for our Christmas Tree (a backlit globe with Santa and the deer elevated above it, the unit was motorized and rotated.) View Larger Map Relocation 2004 - Wenatchee, WA to Mesa, AZ June 2004 SEGMENT 1 Depart Wenatchee, WA: 3 AM Arrive Yreka, CA: 6 PM SEGMENT 2 Depart Yreka, CA: 3 AM Arrive Phoenix, AZ: 9:45 PM All times except start times Approximate. There I was, only 2 weeks after graduation, everything I could fit crammed in the various availible spaces of an 1991 Chevrolet Lumina sedan. Traveling with me was my, at that time, 14 year old brother Chris. We headed south over Blewitt Pass to I-90. (more coming soon) View Larger Map Uhaul Trip 2005 - Wenatchee, WA to Phoenix, Arizona
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