2008 Alfetta Transcontinental Trip
Kathy and I bought our 1976 Alfa Rome Alfetta GTV on eBay in February of 2008, and decided to "recover" it from Seattle back to our home in Connecticut. Making the task into a mini-vacation would allow us to do some great sightseeing across the northwest - an area we had not yet visited. See the link to left for a play-by-play as we documented the trip on the AlfaBB,After the auction, we had the car picked up by Group 2, an Alfa-friendly shop in Seattle, and had them do a quick once-over to help me judge the practicality of the trip, vs just shipping it back east on a truck. Well, they ended up doing a bit of work prior to our picking it up, which we did after flying to Seattle on June 6th. The heater was fixed, and the windshield was replaced. The brakes were done over, as was the steering rack and front-end ball joints. Our trip into the Cascades and the Columbia Plateau put all of this to heavy use!
We visited snowy and cloudy Mt. Rainier, crossed over the Cascade divide at the Chinook Pass, passed down onto the central Washington plateau, and visited pretty downtown Walla Walla. We enjoyed a fantastic Mediterranean-style lunch at Saffron.
We looked for out-of the way places to eat at along the way. There was Ernie's in Idaho. They had a spectacular new open-beam vaulted roof dining room, with a full view of a massive dual-spit wood-fired roasting grill. The owner was looking for an alternate outlet for his ranch's beef cattle meat.
While traveling across Idaho into Montana, we took the “long road”, down US 95 across the rolling plains of the Nez Perce Reservation, then back north on marvelous Rt 13 as it drops down a few thousand feet into Kooskia. US 25 then runs east for 100 miles along the Clearwater and Lochas Rivers. And I do mean ALONG. What a kick. This is listed as a "Wild and Scenic River Corridor". For 70 of those miles there is nothing but road, river, rapids and mountains. I didn't mention guardrail, as there is precious little of that. Thanks to the fine handling of the Alfa, the twisties were dwelt with easily. US 25 leaves Idaho as it crests the Lolo pass at 5300 ft, and then drops down to Missoula. The highlight of our overnight stay in Missoula was dinner at Montana's Iron Horse Brew Pub, a fantastic "local" bar/restaurant.
It was snowing in Missoula when we left in the morning! The roadbeds were above freezing, so the snow falling during the day did not present a traction issue for us. We travelled uneventfully today from Missoula to Big Sky Montana (yes, there is actually a town named that!), a distance of 240 miles. Gas consumption remained good, as do the brakes, steering and heater. Yes, we needed the heater as the temperature was in the 30's all day. Glad I had that fixed in Seattle!
Yellowstone National Park is relatively short excursion from Big Sky, continuing on 191 winding along the Gallatin River, through the village of West Yellowstone (nice shops - needed gloves) and headed into Yellowstone at the Western Gate. The snow was really falling and accumulating, but the road was mostly wet. Surrealistic scene in mid June... We took in some of the geyser areas, and were pelted with wind, snow and fog. I do believe we saw some blue water under the fog. Lunch at Old Faithful Lodge was followed by an exhibition of the main attraction - right on schedule, as expected.
Kathy got some nice pictures of the Buffalo wandering across the roads. Would not want to collide with one of those! After a night at Yellowstone’s to Grant's Village, we traveled north along the gentle Yellowstone to the "Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone" and visited the Upper and Lower Falls (the turbulent Yellowstone). The views really capped our visit, as they are the "classic" Yellowstone vistas. Thankfully the weather cooperated and the snow/fog dissipated so we could enjoy the view. Leaving Yellowstone to the East, US Rt 14 passes over the Sylvan pass), and down (DOWN!) into the Wapity Valley along the Shoshone river. The Alfa continues to enjoy these twisty two-lane roads, which seem so common in the Northwest.
The Buffalo Bill Dam is jammed into the tight slot just as the Shoshone passes into the Big Horn Basin, and we visited the nice visitor center there. When this concrete dam was finished in 1910 it was the tallest dam in the world, at 325 ft. Consider this: the dam is only 200 ft across at the top! Good spot for a tall dam.
After a night in Cody, WY, the sun was shining brightly and the temperature moderate as we set out . Our first goal was to traverse the Medicine Wheel Highway, US 14-A, as it climbed over the Big Horn range, snaking up the incredibly steep western scarp of the Big Horn Mountains in one of the most amazing set of switchbacks anywhere. The vast plateau atop Big Horn had a deep snow pack, and the pass here had just been opened, leaving 10’ high snow banks. We met the snowplow & snow blower equipment as we descended. Our favorite lunch stop of the trip was in little Dayton, WY, located at the end of the Medicine Wheel Highway. The Branding Iron Family Restaurant offered up the nicest omelet I have had in a long time. Kathy had some in-house-made "chip" potatoes, thin-sliced and deep-fried like chips, but tender like fries. Next-door was the studio museum of local Big Horn artist, Hans Kleiber. This original log cabin studio of the Wyoming pioneer artist, author, and naturalist was moved to town and is maintained as it was when Mr.Kleiber used it for painting. The locals staff it with a local "artist in residence" who offered us a free tour of the exhibit.
Our first car problem came after stopping the I90 service area located where the Gun Powder River crosses on it's way up to the Yellowstone. The Alfa would not start. Turning the ignition key was met with silence except for the hum of the fuel pump. With the help of a Good Samaritan, and Kathy also pushing, we popped the clutch in 2nd and she fired up. The Alfa was push-started after our night in Custer, courtesy of a Mr. Peterson, who was working from a truck in the next building. He dropped his work belt and gave a shove. 2nd gear drop and she lit instantly!
The Feds at Mt. Rushmore got a quick $15 from us as we motored up onto the parking lot to take a few pictures as the grand presidents gazed at our Alfa in wonder.
50 miles east of Grand Rapids, the Badlands National Park beckoned. With Kathy at the wheel, we traversed the Scenic Bypass Loop, which allowed me to take some pictures as we rolled along. Our goal after visiting the badlands was to cruise back to Connecticut, and managed to travel a total of 700 miles, just into Wisconsin. There were a few places of interest along the Interstate: The Big Green Giant stature in Blue Earth, WI, and the SPAM factory in Austin, MN
Our Alfa Recovery had progressed into the Eastern Time Zone. One problem with moving so quickly from Wyoming to Ohio in two days is that we lost one hour each day. Weather was cooler, and we managed to skirt the rain showers, which were on the horizon most of the afternoon I wish we had a picture of our "start" outside the Holiday Inn Express in La Crosse. We had parked the Alfa in an advantageous position to roll down a gentle incline, but someone had parked into our nose, which required us to back out first... up hill. Just next to us, two SUVs were being loaded with high-school basketball players and their gear, in town for a tournament. Well, look at all that muscle! I approached one of the coaches and asked for some assistance, and he immediately summoned up a number of 6-foot+ youths. They gently slid me back out of the space, and then just stood there.. Kathy, standing outside, asked them to give the Alfa a push forward to get it started. She said they looked totally confused... Then the two adults stepped up, and along with two youths began to gently roll the car forward. I'm sitting there, waiting to get up to a "walk" at least. Well it took three tries at that speed to fire her up. Kathy, in dismay, says the young men had no idea what we were trying to do, and that they probably have never seen a stick shift car push-started. Our mistake was that she stepped back, "damsel in distress", and let the "men" do thework. Hah! She says she won't do that again.
The Ohio Turnpike service area at mile 197 is as far east as we got that day. We noticed that the temp gauge, which had been at ~150, had risen to mid-gauge at 175. At the pumps, we had a coolant puddle under the car. Goodbye water pump, hello Mondo Car Repair in Twinsburg. Found them on the web, and “Fred” answered that they would be happy to repair the Alfa. The experience has actually been a pleasant one (under the circumstances). We called AAA, they connected us to the Turnpike Authority, who put us in touch with the towing service. The wrecker - a beautiful flatbed truck - picked us up within 30 minutes. Driver/owner “Josh” was able to get us around to the westbound side and on to Mondo's in short order.
What a relief it was to see all the Alfas at Mondo's. Tony and his son Pino have quite a collection in all, and several great customer Alfas in the shop. Considering the parts required, our repair could not be finished that day. So after discussing what we needed, Pino drove us to a nearby Comfort Inn, who gave us a bit of a discount after hearing our plight. It was a case of one great development followed by another. First, having seen the leak at the service area, vs at some 8300-foot altitude mountain pass. Then having that sweet, enormous, flatbed show up at the service area as quickly as they did. Next, finding the Mondo web page on first Google for "Alfa Repair Cleveland" - and seeing that they were only 20 miles away! (kudo's to a laptop with a Verizon Broadband Card)
After the repair work, our Alfa got us home in Connecticut later that day with no further difficulties. Trip Summary: #1 recommendation – get AAA coverage before attempting anything like this! #1 thing we did right in prep without knowing how important it would be: have that heater control valve installed & get the heater working - this is summer, right? #1 thing we did wrong in prep without knowing how important it would be: Not verifying there was a working +12 v cigarette lighter socket to power the GPS. Biggest surprise: How well she handled, stopped, and pulled Biggest disappointment: the Alfa devoured 10 quarts of oil over the 4000 miles. Biggest gamble that paid off: doing the trip Biggest gamble that came up short: that the weather would cooperate Quality of drive uplift: How quite and roomy the Alfetta coupe is vs. our Alfa S4 Spider