Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been in Vancouver, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe, Boise and Montana with more to come! I’ve driven in seven different states plus Canada so far. And it’s been a lot of fun.
It’s been more than 10 years since I was last in the US, when I did a fabulous road trip with Paul Morris, driving from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, in an old ex-police Ford Crown Victoria.
This trip I’ve spent time in Northern California and then driven through Nevada, Oregon, Idaho and into Montana. And the overwhelming impression, apart from, as always, the sheer scale of the place, is of the politeness and friendliness of almost everyone I’ve come across, both on the road and off it. Away from the bustle of coastal California, the road manners of the vast majority of citizens here puts much of Australia to shame and it’s a pleasure to put the miles under the car in such an environment.
The other takeaway from this north western part of the USA is the high quality of road building and maintenance, albeit some states are better than others. Nevada, Idaho and Montana have highways (both two lane and four) that are in beautiful condition despite the ravages of extreme temperatures, hot and cold, and plenty of trucks. If only the Bruce Highway were half as good as these roads. Someone in Queensland needs to be sent over to the US to learn how to build a road properly.
Possibly the greatest single day drive I’ve ever done was the trip from Boise, the capital of Idaho, to the mountains of Montana close to the area where the hit TV series, Yellowstone, was filmed. An absolutely fabulous six hour route with mind blowing scenery and great roads interspersed with little towns, some of which are straight out of central casting. If you’re ever bored with life, do the drive. It’s right up there with the best of the Austrian Alps and the South Island of New Zealand.
As a write, the chosen method of conveyance is an Infiniti QX80, or a Nissan Patrol with lipstick. It’s not a bad vehicle, but it is pretty dated and feels it. Fuel consumption is enough to make OPEC members smile, and the horses under the bonnet head for home once the QX80 is running at any sort of altitude. But the air-con is exemplary!
Frankly, having driven the latest V6 diesel Toyota LandCruiser back home, the QX80/Patrol isn’t a patch on it. It’s time for a new model from the Datsun team and thankfully one is on the way.
Last week, over in Indianapolis, I put a 1000 miles on a Genesis GV80, Hyundai’s take on a luxury vehicle. Frankly, when you recall just where the Hyundai/Kia build quality bar was set even just 15 years ago, the fact that they are producing German-grade vehicles these days is breathtaking. Having said that, I’d take the Kia Telluride version of this SUV over the Genesis on looks alone. Shame the Telluride doesn’t make it to Australia.
To be honest, I’d have preferred to have been driving a Cadillac CT5 Blackwing but needs must, and space for people and luggage meant going the SUV route. In fact, given how good the roads are in the North West, it’s probably a blessing in disguise that the ultra quick Caddy saloon was out of the question – every chance I’d have been in trouble by now…
One of the other stand outs for me from this trip is the fact that, despite the perception that the United States car market is totally dominated by large pickups (aka utes) and SUVs, that’s actually not quite the case. Twenty percent of the market consists of good old saloon cars such as the very popular Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Honda Civic. Certainly in states such as Indiana and California the traditional saloon cars are everywhere.
There are also a sizeable number of light pickups on the road such as the Ford Maverick, the Hyundai Santa Cruz and the Honda Ridgeline. These models would be more suited to the job that many urban-based Australian utes are put to than vehicles such as the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok, to be frank.
My biggest shock though, from driving through those NW states, has been the sheer number of RVs, or Motorhomes to you and me. With between 400,000 and 500,000 new RVs taking to the road each year in the USA, they are everywhere. And some of them are mighty impressive. I took time out to visit an RV dealership in Reno and the choice across the board of different models has to be seen to be believed. If only we could buy similar vehicles in Australia at those prices.
And now, Areveeing is officially a word, a verb, in the American vocabulary. Yup, that’s the often used term for taking off for the weekend in the RV.
This has been a fabulous reminder that whatever prejudices we may individually hold from time to time towards aspects of life in the USA, it’s still an unbelievably diverse, huge and beautiful land. Moreover, the sheer scale of the economy, and how it manifests itself across the country in so many forms, from manufacturing to agriculture, is always awe-inspiring.
It’s a quiet reminder, to me, around the marking of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, that this is the country that was capable, by 1945, of building and running a factory (in Willow Run, Michigan) that could produce one B24 bomber aircraft an hour.
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