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Along UT-95


Cold, Hot and Cold. 8 states. 16 days.

Spoiler Alert: The M850 GC is a really great touring car.

A couple more before we get going


Day 4 - Canyonlands National Park, UT


Day 14 - Mono Lake Overlook, Hwy 395 CA


THE REVIEW
Wow. What a year. Swapped into the M850, out of an 2021 M5C, on April 18th last year. Then immediately left on a 4,200 mile shakedown cruise through the desert SW. On snow tires. An 8" square set - way too small for this car, but they were mine from my previous M550. It was my only way out of the state due to a massive spring snow dump that affected all the passes. The car was great, but kinda squirrely - a big handling step down from the M5C. Couldn't wait to get home and get the summers on. The next 5 months included a lot of 250 mile day trips. Then September brought a 4,200 mile trip through some of the best that Colorado has to offer, along with some outrageous fall colors. There's a few pictures here:
https://f92.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1966646

The ride in the M850 is very comfortable - much better than the F90 - and makes for extremely pleasurable looooong drives. 500 miles is not a problem. I still have not driven an M8, so I can't make a full apples to apples comparison, but if it is anything like the M5, then the M850 would be the more comfortable grand tourer. I didn't have a problem with the M5 out on the highways and I would imagine the M8 being equally kick-ass there. It's just that city driving doesn't do it for me in a full M. Like, at all. And, the M850 has rear wheel steering - shortens up this land barge by quite a bit.

Went with Ceramic Pro and 45% tint all around, except the windshield. Unfortunately, the shop I used was slammed and didn't get the ceramic on until I'd owned the car 3 months. By that time I was already at 7,300 miles and had a couple hood dings. At 25,000 miles there are now a lot of hood dings. The long, low snout really attracts the rocks. The two M5's by this time were barely touched. In hindsight, the hood really needed to be PPF'd. The front fenders are fine ,though. Next time. It has the carbon package but no Bowers & Wilkens. While I like the carbony bits, I would do that swap in a heartbeat. But, I took it off the lot so I didn't have a choice. I've got the HK dialed in. I enjoy it enough not to hate it.

The M850 cabin is wonderfully appointed. The seats are comfortable but could be a tad better. You sit very low - I like, wifey not so much. The visibility is a bit suspect out the rear. There seems to be enough room for two adults in the back, not three. The A/C is the best I've had in a BMW. For once I can get air out the driver side vent and it all blows cold. Most of the time I'll get by on fan level 1. It does seems to get a bit hinky sometimes, but eventually comes around. The trunk could be a skosh bigger. It will take two large suitcases and some duffels. I don't know how 3 people could travel very far, because the back seat seemed to fill up with crap, too.

The engine is awesome. The N63 twin turbo V-8 purrs like a kitten. Even though it's only rated at 523hp, down from the 617hp my M5C had, I scarcely notice any difference. Acceleration is effortless and 2 lane road highway passing is a thing of beauty. If I go to my Sport Individual setting with the engine in Sport+ I literally have no sense that I'm still not in the M5. Even the sound is nice and throaty and gives off a pleasing resonance. I had been running the "Balanced" engine sound setting, but recently have jacked it up to "Sporty" and lately just run around like a hooligan. It doesn't leak anywhere and never needs oil. I get 18-19 mpg around town and close to 25 mpg on long trips. I've done several stretches in EcoPro and reached close to to 28 mpg.

My biggest gripe with the M850 is the tire and wheel set-up. The tires are also very low profile. The fronts run 245/35 on an 8" wheel. The rears run 275/30 on a 9" wheel. This is a long, heavy car and I feel they should be at least running the Alpina set-up, if not the M8 set-up. The handling is just not quite there - which is more important to me than horsepower, and as I've stated, the M850 has plenty of that. So, after much research and fretting, I went to a Vossen HF5 wheel. The fronts were increased to a 9" wheel with 255/35 and the rears went to the M8 width of 10.5". I went even wider than the M8 with a 295/30 set-up. I tried a 285, but they just looked dumb with that low profile. They needed the 10 extra mm. The tires are also 7mm taller, which fills up the wheel well a bit more. The fronts were pushed out 7mm and the rears by 15mm, giving the car a wider stance. The fronts are running 32 offset - I probably could've done the wheel with the 25 offset and gone out another 7mm.


The handling has been transformed and the beast is now very confident at high speeds, especially on twisty mountain roads. It finally feels planted. Kick on Sport suspension and this baby rocks. My M8 envy has finally abated, somewhat. Not completely, but somewhat. This car's a keeper. And, definitely not a garage queen.


THE TRIP
Now, on to New Mexico - with a few more before we get rolling


Day 1 - Hwy 20 near Juntura, OR


Day 9 - Welcome to Texas


Day 14 - June Lakes, CA

Over the years, we have basically seen most noteworthy sites all throughout the western states and Canada. Out to Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Colorado twice, the grand parks of Utah, all through Nevada, Arizona and California. Several trips to British Columbia and Alberta. The one SE diagonal slice from Portland to Carlsbad, New Mexico was all that was left.

The Basic Route - Trip was from April 18, 2023 to May 3, 2023. Route is clockwise from Portland.


We were leaving on the M850's one year birthday - a fitting gift for both of us (me & the car). And, like last year, we had late spring snow in Portland that also put snow into all the passes we would need to cross to get out of Oregon. I had just put on the new, fat Michelin PS4S summer tires and watched the weather anxiously. It kept snowing and was not warming up. I did not want to put the Alpin4 winter set back on just to get out of here. I'd only need them for 250 miles. Our route was I-84 East and the hazard point is the Meacham Summit east of Pendleton. The elevation is only 3,800 feet, but it always gets cold and nasty up there. Another route is Hwy 22 over the Santiam Pass east of Salem. That pass goes to 5,000' and it had been snowing hard. The third, and longest choice, would be to take I-84 to The Dalles, head south and take Hwy 20 out of Burns to Idaho. You still have to clear 4,000 feet, but it was snowing less. This particular Day 1 route was also the longest, at over 500 miles. It would be a game day decision.

Some basic stats on the trip:

Mileage at start of trip: 19,715
Miles driven: 4,765
Days on the road: 16
Average miles/day: 298
Long day: 509 Day 1
Short day: 85 Day 6
Avg. Miles/gallon: 24.4
Avg cost/gal (Premium): $4.63


This is a long thread - 300 pictures. It's also my 6th trip thread on Bimmerpost (3 M5's and 3 M850's). With 85,000 views and hundreds of hearty thank yous, I'll keep posting. It's also an easy way to share our travels using the Bimmerpost link with family and friends (who don't know anything about Bimmerpost), since I'm not on Facebook, or any social media for that matter. As soon as I get home, they ask, "Is the blog up yet?"

I'm reserving 4 posts. Bear with me as they get populated. This is a yuge undertaking. It might take a day or two. Keep checking back, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

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Days 1-3 Portland to Monticello, UT - 1,328 miles

The Meacham Summit was still looking problematic the day before departure.



Then they actually closed part of the freeway on the the day of departure. Plus, it was REALLY cold. Decision made: The route goes through Burns.


Day 1-3 Map


Day 1 - Portland to Nampa, ID - 509 Miles
The original route on I-84 is only 420 miles - and it's also 3 hours faster. Today will be 509 miles from Portland to Nampa - so we left early. We then lost 45 minutes to construction traffic while still in town. Gonna be a long day.

Multnomah Falls is only 30 miles east of Portland in the Columbia Gorge. Never get tired of stopping. I normally wouldn't include a picture with graffiti, but it doesn't bother me here.


We head south on US-197 at The Dalles and travel through some spectacular farming country. Everything is green, really green. The sun is out. We make our way through Maupin, Madras and Prineville before hooking on to US-20 that will take us the rest of way across Oregon. It is a marvelous 2 lane road with little traffic. The rain is always just off in the distance.


There is still a fair amount of snow on the ground at higher elevations. The weather is cloudy, but it's warmish. We will get out of Oregon today!


We reach Burns by 3 pm and gas up. Been through here a few times, but never went downtown. So, we went downtown.






Just out of town, I came up on a truck. While waiting to pass, it threw a rock into the windshield near the passenger A pillar. Got a dime sized divot and a 2 inch crack. Shit balls. We're only 340 miles out from home. We'll see how the crack goes.

The weather keeps threatening, but it doesn't rain. Just outside of Juntura, OR.




We reach Vale at 5 pm. I guess this is rush hour.


Nice little park with an F-86




Another hour and a half puts us in Nampa. And, we lose an hour. We're now on Mountain time. Long 12 hour day. But, we made it out of Oregon.


We hit Wingers - our go to wing joint in Idaho - for a tasty, well deserved dinner. We made it out of Oregon.

Day 2 - Nampa to Springville, UT - 431 Miles

Another long day ahead. We get up early. It's cold, really cold, but no moisture in sight. "Feels like: 16 degrees" Sheesh.




Head out east on I-84. Speed limit is 80 MPH. Most folks are doing 90. Cool. Gonna eat some miles up in a hurry. Dropped in to Mountain Home for a look see. Never been. Nice little downtown. Mountain Home Air Force Base is nearby and houses the 366th Fighter wing with F-15E Strike Eagles. One of the dozens of murals by local artists.


Lots of old motels down here where the highway went before the freeway was built.


The stretch ahead on I-84 for the next 150 miles is just boring brown. The scenery picks up as you turn south toward Utah. The mountains are green and there is a bit of snow by the time you cross the border - desolate, but scenic. I-84 near Tremonton.


Pulled off the freeway and headed south on UT-83. Suddenly things start to have a military look. Then I realized we were at the Morton Thiokol rocket testing facility - of space shuttle solid rocket booster fame. Northrop Grumman eventually acquired them. We then came upon a rocket garden at a Northrop facility, purely by chance. Pretty cool.






Back on the road heading up into the hills


Our main reason to get onto Hwy-83 was to make our way to Promontory Point. The Golden Spike National Historical Park is located here. It commemorates the completion of the first trans-continental railroad where the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad were joined in May 1869. There is a visitor center, exhibits and several trains.


The website says summer season opens on April 15th. Today is the 19th. Someone forgot to tell them. Nuthin'. Shit. No visitor center. No exhibits. No trains. No people.


Oh, well. Nice views on the way back down.


It's only 1:30 and we are just two hours from today's stop, so, what to do? The wife suggests the capitol building in Salt Lake City. We've been through SLC before, had even seen the capitol, but never been inside it. I'm in. This fits in with our mantra of seeing old downtowns, major college campuses and government buildings such as state capitols and county courthouses. The capitol is perched high on the hill above the city with spectacular views of downtown and the Wasatch Mountains. It is a magnificent building and I'm gonna rank the inside #1 of all the capitols I've been in so far. Just, wow.




















Traffic is heavy leaving SLC going south down I-15 at rush hour. But it moves nicely. An hour later we are in Springville, south of Provo. Solid metro area all the way down. Man, there's a lot of people here. All crammed in between the lake and the mountains. It's nice to see a major metropolitan area actually function with good infrastructure, people working, low crime and no graffiti. What a concept. Hey, there's another Wingers near by. We're in.

Day 3 - Springville to Monticello, UT - 388 Miles

Looking forward to today. Get to drive Hwy 24 through Capitol Reef, plus some new territory south of Hanksville.

Rise and shine - the view from our window. Nice. People live here!!


We meander eastward over to US Hwy 89 and head south. This is a spectacular 2 lane stretch through the mountains and a nice alternative to I-15. We gas up in Mt. Pleasant.






A little further along.............Manti Utah Temple


Salina, UT




We catch UT-24 at Salina and head east up through a spectacular mountain pass (alas, no pics). Then a steep decent into a landscape that is suddenly quite arid.

Lunch in Torrey, UT










Torrey to Hanksville on UT-24 is full of gobsmacking scenery as you pass through Capitol Reef National Park. Unbelievable, ever-changing colorful geology. And very, very orange. This region is part of the Colorado Plateau that is roughly centered over the Four Corners region of the SW US and covers approximately 130,000 square miles. There are 8 National Parks and 18 National Monuments here. This was our 3rd trip through the area in the last 4 years. It is truly spectacular. And the colors are mid-boggling.

Along Hwy 24








2019 throwback with the Donington M5




Continuing down Hwy 24 - newly paved since 2019, with turnouts. Very nice.


















Up the Scenic Drive from the visitor center (from 2019) - highly recommend this road.


Eventually the orange turns to grey as you head to Hanksville.


At Hanksville you can go underground for your snacks.


From Hanksville we turned south and headed out on UT-95. Judging from satelite photos I felt like this was going to be one, dry desolate stretch of road. Boy, was I wrong. Once you get the first 17 miles behind you, it's back to the colorful orange rocky landscape and wonderful scenery. And very few cars.


Before long, you are carving through the canyons again.




And then you pop out at the Hite Overlook. Just wow. The Colorado River down below. This is the upper, upper reaches of Lake Powell behind Glen Canyon Dam. The boat launch in the far right of the second picture is high and dry, Lake Powell is hurting right now - just like Lake Mead.








Another hour of great road brings us to Natural Bridges National Monument. We rush to get there before the visitor center closes at 5. We arrive at 4:40. The bastards closed at 4:30. So, we grab a park brochure and head out on a nice 12 mile loop to see some of the arches.


Sipapu Bridge




Hiked 250 feet down to the spectacular Owachomo Bridge. It's a fine arch. Then had to hike back up. Maybe I didn't think this through.








20 Miles further down Hwy 95 brings us to a startlingly beautiful geologic formation. Comb Ridge is an 80 mile long monocline spine than runs north to south and the road cuts right through it. The late afternoon light was perfect. The cover shot for this thread was taken here.












An hour more puts us in Monticello and we go looking for brisket. Luckily, it was right across the street from the hotel. It was so windy and cold that we drove over.

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Days 4-8 Monticello to Roswell, NM - 996 Miles


Day 4 - Monticello to Farmington, NM - 278 Miles

The first target for the day is the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. We did the Island in the Sky portion out of Moab back in 2019. Now we're back for the southern part. It's only 14 miles to the turnoff up US Hwy-191 from Monticello.

Church Rock on Hwy-191


We turn west on to UT-211. It's 41 miles to the end of the road. The first half is just stunning. Spring green everywhere. The second half merely awe-inspiring.


First up is Newspaper Rock - a petroglyph site from BC time to 1300 AD.






The road meanders through some marvelous canyons and the geography keeps pulling you over to stop for pictures.
























Eventually a high, arid plateau is reached




A quick stop at the visitor center, then on to Wooden Shoe Overlook. Hmmmm, I just don't see it.




The end of the road is at Big Spring Canyon Overlook. Maybe a tad underwhelming. Oh, well. There's still a 3rd road in from the highway to a high overlook. Next time.


The road back out




Back to Monticello for lunch, then on to the Four Corners Monument. Been wanting to go here since I was 5 and saw a picture in a book my grandmother had. Don't know why, just thought it was cool: Stand in 4 states.....all at once. Bucket List item.

We head south to Bluff, east on UT-162 and dip into Colorado, turn south on US-160 and dip into New Mexico for a minute, then up to Four Corners.




Each one of those bays in the back is a rented kiosk for tribal members to sell their New Mexican wares. They surround the entire site.




Back on the road we're in New Mexico for a minute again, hit Arizona for a few miles, then New Mexico again. New Mexico is a new state for us. Never been here. Well, a couple minutes twice in the last hour or so. The next 7 days will be all about New Mexico.






We follow US-64 east to Shiprock. The countryside is dry, there seems to be a lot of horses in New Mexico, but not much wealth. Carving out a life here does not appear to be easy. Shiprock is a town that time has certainly passed by. We reach Farmington in another half hour and things look up considerably. The hotel is very nice. For some reason, I want KFC for dinner. Must have been because my wife forced me to eat Thai food for lunch. Afterward, I realize I may have just eaten my last meal at a KFC.

Day 5 - Farmington to Santa Fe, NM - 326 Miles

Chaco Culture National Historic Park would be a nice nab, being so close to Farmington. Lots of Pueblo history and spectacular structures. But, near as I could figure out, a longs ways on a dirt road. So, on to Taos.

We head down US-550 to Cuba. I wanted to stay up on Hwy 64 and go over the Brazos Summit after seeing what the views are. But, alas, the road was still closed due to snow. The pass is over 10,500 feet. So, there's that. We endup taking NM-96 through the mountains and stop in Abiquiu for lunch. The artist Georgia O'Keef had houses up there and did a lot of her painting in the area. More on her later. After lunch we head to Taos. Would've liked to have spent more time there, but we only ran into the Taos Art Museum at the Fechin House and then headed to Santa Fe. The Rio Grande River is up here and we looped out to the northwest on Hwy 64 to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. It spans 1,280 feet and is some 600 feet above the river.






Another 24 miles brings us to the intersection of US-285 and Tres Piedras. Some stuff used to be here.


We head south between 2 snowy mountain ranges and arrive in Santa Fe in about 90 minutes. We'll be staying 2 nights here. A welcome rest. The only 2-nighter of the trip.


Our hotel is right on the edge of everything that happens in Santa Fe. We are next door to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi and stroll over for the sunset. It's supposed to be quite fabulous inside - it is closed for the entire time we are there, of course.


Day 6 - Around Santa Few and side trip to Los Alamos - 85 Miles

Santa Fe would have to be the cultural center of the entire Southwest. People come from all over the world to soak in it's culture, which includes music, museums (art and historic), galleries, restaurants, churches and historic buildings. Lots to do here. There are no mullets. It seems larger than it's population of 90,000 belies. Everything is brown and and every structure is adobe. Time to put the car away and just get walking. This stretch of the trip will see us through 7 museums, 3 churches, several galleries, a state capitol and a county courthouse. So. Much. Culture.

After breakfast, we stroll over to the Santa Fe Plaza. Not too many people are out yet, things are still quiet.

111 Plaza

We head a few blocks over to the Georgia O'Keefe museum. She was already an established artist living in New York by the time she came out to New Mexico in her early forties. She would spend the rest of her life living and painting out here for part of each year. The museum is nice and contains many of her works.




We hit up a few art galleries - all the paintings seem to be $6,800 and then tour the New Mexico Museum of Art. Nice collections of paintings, wood sculptures and glass. The streets near the plaza are filled with clothing stores, galleries and restaurants. Nothing is cheap.


We head over to the oldest church in America - the San Miquel Chapel, founded in 1610. Surely there is something older than that in the US - oh, wait, that's before the Mayflower hits Plymouth Rock. OK. Nevermind.


We grab lunch in a noisy Mexican Cafe and decide to head for Los Alamos, 30 minutes up the road. There's only so much much culture a person can soak up in a day.


In 1939, Albert Einstein wrote to President Roosevelt about the importance of uranium for the potential production of energy....and bombs. Several scientists in the US were experimenting and the fact that Germany was also starting to experiment garnered Roosevelt's interest. Yes, we need a nuke program. He tapped Robert Oppenheimer to lead the program. Originally starting in New York under the name of the Manhattan Project, it eventually moved to the remote areas of New Mexico to carry out the program in secrecy. Thus was born Los Alamos. The bomb was developed here, tested in the desert of White Sands south of Albuquerque and eventually ended the war with Japan. The nuclear age was born. Then came the rocket age. The the nuclear rocket age. It's amazing we're all still here. The Bradley Science Museum is top notch. Today, the Los Alamos National Laboratory's mission reflects U.S. priorities spanning nuclear security, intelligence, defense, emergency response, nonproliferation, counterterrorism, emerging threats and environmental security. It is a big and bustling place to this day.














Back to Santa Fe for a tour of the residential areas and then down to the Railyards Art District for a look around. Nice area.








Day 7 - Santa Fe to Albuquerque, NM - 89 Miles

Couple things left to do in Santa Fe. We walk over to the Loretto Chapel, then hit up the New Mexico State Capitol. Very unassuming on the outside. Very nice, and quite the art gallery, in and of itself, on the inside. Wandered back to the plaza and hit up a few more shops, then off to Albuquerque, just down the road.






Our first stop was to be the Sandia Peak Tramway, which goes to 10,378 feet just NE of Albuquerque. Guess what? Closed for repairs. (Of course it is.) So we went to the National Museum of Nuclear History (Lot of nuke stuff going on around here). Great exhibits and a nice static display of airplanes.


PGM-11 Redstone Rocket. First large ballistic missile. First nuke missile. First rocket to launch Mercury astronauts.


President Roosevelt's response to Einstein's letter, 1939.


Manhattan project


B-29 Superfortress - dropped the A-bombs




B-47 Stratojet - long-range, high altitude nuclear bomber


B-52 Stratofortress - long-range strategic bomber


F-16 Fighting Falcon


We head toward downtown Albuquerque on Central Avenue. The east end out here is kinda rough. It's the old Route 66 with lots of 60's motels that look like they've never been updated since. A lot of panhandlers. I had heard of a "Spaceship House" in a regular residential neighborhood not far off the main drag. Found it.




Drove over to downtown Albuquerque. It's 3:15 on a Monday and it's virtually deserted. Checked in to the hotel early and later headed to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Easy day.

Day 8 - Albuquerque to Roswell, NM - 218 Miles

Today should be fun - been hearing about Roswell and the alien cover-up for years. Sure hope we definitively learn something today. The truth is out there!

First, we drop in on the original Old Town Plaza, which was the birthplace of Albuquerque in 1706


San Felipe de Neri Church


Then off down I-40 to the east. Once you clear the pass through the mountains east of Albuquerque, the trees disappear and everything dries out. We turn south on US-285 at Clines Corner and I do not turn the steering wheel once in 26 miles. It gets real desolate, and bone dry. We make a slight turn to the SE and I don't turn the steering wheel for another 22 miles. There doesn't appear to be any farms, ranches, houses, animals or people. Nothing. I'm sure there are, but they got this camouflage thing down pat.


Then we pull into Encino to look for refreshments. Population 82. Why? Why are you here? There are No refreshments.








Another 112 miles through the desert brings us to Roswell. Wow. 48,000 people and an aquifer supplying water. Lots of farming and greenery.




We have lunch, head to the Visitor Center and walk the few blocks to downtown. We sense the aliens are everywhere. We just can't see them.


Wait. Found one. Probably an alien cop.


We go to the main attraction in town: The International UFO Museum and Research Center. We learn what really happened in 1947. Or, did we? Cool place.




See? It was only a weather balloon. Weather balloon......my ass.






Yup. I'm in. The evidence is overwhelming. They're here. I think a couple of 'em even moved to California and ran for congress.

Roswell is the county seat for Chavez County. Looking up at the dome.


We also drop in on the Roswell Museum. Interesting collection of paintings, native American culture, SW USA history and a great exhibit on physicist Robert Goddard, the father of American rocketry. He spent several years here sending his rockets skyward. Unfortunately, he died in 1945 before things really took off.






Went to the Texas Roadhouse for ribs. Now we're talking. Best meal of the trip. Roswell and the aliens. Check. Another bucket list item scratched off.

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Days 9-12 Roswell to Lake Havasu City, AZ - 1,157 Miles


Day 9 - Roswell to Carlsbad, NM - 178 Miles

Today we reach the farthest point from Portland - then start coming home.

Art Deco Roswell bus depot on the way out of town


Artesia is an interesting town 40 miles south of Roswell. Lots of places selling farm equipment and pick-up trucks. A refinery is literally on the edge of downtown.


From here, it's only 72 miles to Texas. I've been to Texas several times, but never driven there. An hour later, the M850 is in Texas and 1,726 miles from home, although its taken us 2,436 miles to get here.

Not the route here, just the shortest way to get home








We backtrack 18 miles north on US-180 to Whites City and turn in to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Carlsbad takes some getting to, but not to be missed.


The main cavern is 70 stories underground and you access it with a timed entry ticket at the Visitor Center, which must be purchased beforehand. You can hike down about 1.25 miles from the natural entrance on the surface, or take the elevator. We took the elevator. Once at the bottom, you hike a self guided tour of about 1.25 miles through the Big Room. It's basically 4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide and 255 feet high at its highest point. The trail is flat and paved and the lighting is just right. Big wow. It's quite stunning down there. Very impressive - and not at all claustrophobic. Carlsbad on the Bucket List. Check.






Back to Carlsbad for the night at a fabulous Hyatt. Brisket for dinner. Then some nice sun on the colorful local theater. What a great day.


Day 10 - Carlsbad to Deming, NM - 301 Miles

We had to backtrack about 40 miles up to Artesia to catch US-82 over to Alamogordo.


The road meanders through a parched landscape and eventually begins to climb as you head toward the Sacramento Mountain Range. Tom and Pam Runyon run a nice wayside with lots of goodies.




We're finally back in the trees as you approach Ski Cloudcroft and then the town of Cloudcroft itself at 8,676 feet. Main street.......


Lunch at The Lodge at Cloudcroft. Probably quite cozy in the winter.


Then it's a steep grade as we drop down 4,300 feet in 14 miles to Alamogordo. We find the Museum of Space History, with lots of interesting artifacts, overlooking the town.




Alamogordo in the middle distance, Holman Air Base at the far left and the White Sands Missile Range at the edge of the mountains.


Along with the air base, tourism became an important economic factor with the creation of the White Sands National Monument in 1933, just 16 miles away. Our next target.




From the visitor center just off the main highway you can take a 16 mile roundtrip loop out into the sand. The pavement ends at about mile 4. Then it's a freaking washboard that shook the living crap out of the car.




"Hey! I thought you said we were going to a white, sandy beach?? I don't see no water!"




I probably will not be doing that again. No, I will definitely NOT be doing that again.

A quick run through Las Cruces (everything is shiny and new on the north side of town) and an hour later we reach the uninspiring town of Deming, today's stop.

Day 11 - Deming to Green Valley, AZ - 330 Miles

Jeez, ya scooch way over and some doink does this..........


The first 157 miles today will take us out I-10 and then south on Hwy 80. Thought it was going to be dull and very dry. Newp. Once we start down Hwy 80 we skirt the Chiricahua Mountain Range to our west. The views are stupendous and everything is green. Alas, no pics. We cross back into Arizona and reach the Border town of Douglas. Smallish, but very clean and orderly. No signs of any chaos.

The end of the road.










From here it's a short hop up to the old mining area around Bisbee, AZ

A few of cars needing some TLC in Warren, AZ, a suburb of Bisbee.


Lowell, AZ is a cool one street ghost town (another Bisbee suburb) with original store fronts and old cars parked on the street. Very entertaining stroll.



75 years of progress.......



















The Lavender Open Pit Copper Mine at the edge of Lowell. Opened 1950, closed 1974 - produced 600,000 tons of copper. Plus, some gold and silver.


Bisbee was founded in 1880 as a copper, silver and gold mining town. Eventually reached 10,000 people. Today they survive on tourism. Neat place.















Visited the very interesting Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum, lunch and a couple of shops, then on to Tombstone. We were here many years ago. Very touristy, but kinda fun.






It's finally starting to get warm - it took eleven days to find the heat on this trip. Today we're gonna hit 90. We slake our thirst and head west out of Tombstone on Hwy 82. A delightful drive takes us up to a high grassy meadow and we grab Hwy 83 north to skirt Mt Wrightson. An hour later we are in Green Valley. We were here last year on the shakedown cruise - it wasn't that green. This year....very green. Had dinner with my cousin and her husband at a nice golf resort. It was good to catch up.

Day 12 - Green Valley to Lake Havasu City - 340 Miles

Blasted out of Green Valley and headed to Buckeye, AZ east of Phoenix to meet a couple of fraternity brothers at the Cracker Barrel for lunch. Portland had three of them for a few years, then closed them all down a couple months ago.

Gonna be hot today. Like Mathew Broderick said in Biloxi Blues, "Africa hot." It's 92F at noon. We follow I-10 across the desert and are glad we aren't heading into Phoenix.


We head north on US-95, travel through the town of Parker and then to Parker Dam. Parker Dam backs up the Colorado River to create Lake Havasu.


Above the dam, the lake is fairly narrow. At 25 miles the lake widens out and Lake Havasu City springs to life. 58,000 people - and they all have a boat.

Lake Havasu City started in WWII as an Army Air Corps rest camp. In the late 1960's, an entrepreneur and developer, named Robert McCulloch, purchased 3,353 acres on the east side of the lake to later develop. When London Bridge was going to be replaced in London in 1968, he bought it, disassembled it, numbered all the blocks, shipped it over to Arizona and rebuilt it. The hope was to attract tourists and home buyers to his lots there. All in for about $5,000,000.

The bridge was completed in 1971. Can we say boondoggle?


"If you build it, they will come." That line from Field of Dreams also applies here. Lake Havasu City now, from the reverse angle. Sheesh. Not a boondoggle.


We came through here 27 years ago, also in May. It was 107F. We stayed about an hour. Here we are as we arrive today........


We let things cool off, head out for a fish and chips dinner by the bridge (what else?) and get a few nice evening light photos. The place is packed. Cigarette boats everywhere. It's noisy.








90F at 8 PM. Doesn't feel too bad. It's a dry heat.

[snowbimmer]

Days 13 - 16 Lake Havasu City to Portland - 1,282 Miles


Day 13 - Lake Havasu City to Bishop, CA - 399 Miles

Long way to go today. A lot of desert. First stop is Needles, then on to I-40 for a real slog. My god. Just endless brown nothing until you hit Barstow. Barstow is one of the great crossroads of the country: a major east/west transportation corridor crosses I-15, the major freeway delivering hoards of Los Angelinos to the gaming tables of Vegas. It is on Route 66, but still feels as if the world has moved on. A lot of '60s kitsch remains.




We stop at a greasy hamburger place for lunch - it's packed - and then head over to the Mother Road Museum for Route 66 memorabilia. Neat place.






A 1964 1/2 Mustang






Lots of places like this


Back on the road, we turn north onto US-395 - our home for the next 346 miles as we make our way up the east flank of the Sierra Nevadas.


Things are still pretty brown and dry, but we are slowly climbing. The southern edge of the Sierras come into view. The mountains keep getting bigger. We see some green. By the time we get to Independence, they are fully formed and still quite snowy.


We finally reach Bishop at 6:30, check in to our hotel and head to the BBQ place we liked last year. Didn't like it so much this year. The hotel grounds were looking really good, though.




Day 14 - Bishop to Oroville, CA - 339 Miles

The day dawns in spectacular fashion - sunny and warm. First up is a trip next door to Schat's Bakkery for some goodies. The place is packed.




The mountains are glorious as we head north out of Bishop




We head up a pass and the views just compel you to pull over.













The snow becomes more prevalent and then we descend a bit toward Crowley Lake - still frozen over.






A quick trip in to Mammoth Lakes, and then on to Mammoth Mountain, brings the temperature down to the mid-30s. And they are still skiing. A lot of them.








We wind our way back to 395 and soon turn off on the June Lake Loop. What a treat. The lake was still frozen.











We continue on June Lake Loop for another for another 14 miles and pass Silver Lake and Grant Lake before rejoining 395. After passing Lee Vining and Mono Lake, you begin a massive ascent to the Mono Lake Overlook. Quite spectacular. The Sierras are still buried in snow.






A few miles further we crest Conway Summit at 8,143 feet. The view is glorious. A year ago we were going south, the temperature was 28F and the snow was coming down sideways at 50 MPH. And it was kind of dark. I liked this version better. Had a nice burger and shake at a joint in Bridgeport and before long we were heading up Hwy 50 toward Lake Tahoe. The deep blue of the lake was offset by the snow in the surrounding mountains. And, there's plenty of snow, as the lake sits at an elevation of 6,224 feet. We turn north, drop 20 bucks in a crappy casino at the north end and take a few pictures of the lake. In a month this place will be crawling with people.




We leave the lake behind and head north down to Truckee on I-80. From there, it's a wild, steep run down the west side of the Sierras until we pull off onto Hwy 20 and head to Nevada City. Nevada City was California's most important gold mining town around 1850. Today it is a delightful tourist destination with a large historic section where everything is spruced up just so. It is also the county seat for Nevada County. Very nice place.








An hour later we are in Oroville for the night.

Day 15 - Oroville to Grants Pass, OR - 301 Miles

This is going to be a great day. Even though I only spent 5.5 years as a structural engineer out of college before changing careers, large things still fascinate me. Bridges, buildings and large dams, to name a few. There are two dams on the docket today. But first, we tour downtown Oroville. Pretty quiet for a Tuesday morning.








Oroville Dam is just a few miles away. It is the tallest dam in the country at 770 feet. It is also an earth fill dam. The thing is enormous and impounds Lake Oroville, the second largest reservoir in California. It serves for water supply, hydro power and flood control and was completed in 1968. It's volume is the equivalent of 5,000,000 dump truck loads of rock and dirt.


The winter of 2016-2017 was the wettest winter in over 100 years. To relieve pressure on the dam, the long concrete spillway was opened. A large area of the concrete started to erode and they had to send water over the emergency spillway, which created another set of problems over there. They went back to using the concrete spillway, which lead to a severe erosion problem and the eventual evacuation of 200,000 people downstream. Repairs to the spillway that summer were said to have approached $1 billion.


By August 2021, just three years later, the hydroelectric powerplant was shut down due to low water levels from the draught. Today the dam is full again. Go figure




Upper spillway structure


The spillway after repairs. It's impressive to watch in action. And, it was going full bore today. It is 6,920 feet long.


The emergency spillway weir is the wide concrete sliver at the top, to the left of the main spillway. That water just flows down over the hillside. Yeah, that shouldn't cause a problem.


We make our way back down through town, get on Hwy 99 and travel through lush farming country until we reach I-5. Red Bluff and Redding come and go. Next up is Shasta Dam. I've been driving I-5 for years, passing over Shasta Lake - wondering how low the water will be each time. You can't see the dam from the freeway. I last saw it when I was about 8. This time, for once, I'm pulling off the road and going in. We exit at Shasta City and eventually reach a nice viewpoint. There it is.




Shasta dam is the 8th tallest dam in the country, completed in 1945. It is a concrete arch gravity dam, topping out at 602 feet. It dams up the Sacramento River, creating Shasta Lake. The reservoir is the largest in California and the dam provides hydroelectric power, water storage, flood control and recreation opportunities. It provides water to the Central Valley, California's main agricultural region. It is quite the impressive structure.








Lake Shasta, filled to the brim. The water level was 175 feet lower just two years ago. The docks were high and dry.


Lunch is a few miles up the road in a dining car at the quaint little Railroad Park Resort




A couple miles later is Dunsmuir, at the gateway to the Castle Crags Wilderness. Funky town, although maybe a bit threadbare.






We pass Mt Shasta - a glorious 14,000 foot snow covered volcano mostly in the clouds. Then, Yreka. Y not? Never pulled off here, either. Another cool little downtown.








Up Siskyou pass, cross into Oregon and a quick look at Ashland, OR. Found the Weinermobile.


Bed down for the night in Grants Pass, another 45 miles up the road. Fun day.

Day 16 - Grants Pass to Portland - 243 Miles

If you have to be on I-5, Grants Pass to Eugene is wonderful. The terrain is forested, mountainous and definitely not boring. No pictures, no side trips - we're headed for the barn. We're home in 4 hours. Spring came while we were gone - and we almost missed it. The grass I planted in the back yard before leaving has come in nicely, along with the leaves on the trees, and, the azaleas have bloomed. A lot has happened in 2 1/2 weeks. We are not in the desert anymore. It's good to be back.


Time to fix the crack. It eventually extended over to the drive's side. The rock hit over by the A pillar


Was able to get an appointment right away for the repair. Everything is online, the insurance company works with the repair shop. I pay the $100 deductible on a $2,500 replacement. Drop off day.


All in all, another great trip. Lots of new territory this time and even a new state. It was our longest by 2 days and 500 miles - not a problem for the M850.

I think we're done with the SW for awhile now. Maybe a complete change-up would involve going to Banff and Jasper in the Canadian Rockies. It's been over a decade since we were last there. And that was in a dopey rental car. We also honeymooned there. A long time ago. With a rental car, too. Yup, that's where we're going. It's only 850 miles to Banff. Just gotta convince the wife. Probly won't be that hard.

Thanks for tagging along.

1st wash after windshield replacement and rarin' to go.

[SmokieRiver]

Nice trip and write up!

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by SmokieRiver

Nice trip and write up!

Thanks, man. Just got Days 1-3 posted with 83 more pictures

[snowbimmer]

All pages appear to be successfully loaded and functioning.

[LuvMyE92]

Great thread, thanks for the effort. A few queries:

The Vossen look great. How much can you attribute the improvement to the wheels, and how much to the tires? Surely that's a factor as well.

Are you retired? Otherwise, how do you get the time for these trips?

What's your photo hardware? Great pics!

Have you considered taking the top 16 photos and submitting this to The Roundel?

[Bulent Ali]

I am lost for words..WOW!

[TupperBMW]

Great write up and tour!

[Accentu8]

I have to say that if someone told me I’d read every word and look at every picture of a complete stranger’s road trip I wouldn’t believe it. Not only did I read every word and look at every picture, I was highly entertained in the process.

Not sure what your current vocation is, but if you’re not working for National Geographic or something similar, you missed your calling.

Thoroughly enjoyed this write up…was so good I almost feel like I was there!

We live in DFW now, but originally from Midland/Odessa so pretty familiar with eastern New Mexico. We didn’t realize how beautiful the SW U.S. is until we left it. In the Permian Basin it’s mainly the sky which is always SO blue, almost hurts your eyes. Likely due to the clean, dry air.

Really, thank you!

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by LuvMyE92

Great thread, thanks for the effort. A few queries:

The Vossen look great. How much can you attribute the improvement to the wheels, and how much to the tires? Surely that's a factor as well.

Are you retired? Otherwise, how do you get the time for these trips?

What's your photo hardware? Great pics!

Have you considered taking the top 16 photos and submitting this to The Roundel?

Thanks, man.

* Impossible to really know, since I changed 3 inputs all at once: wheels, tires and stance.

Wheels: not sure if the Vossens are lighter - maybe not, since they are bigger than OEM.

Tires: I had Michelins on my 1st M5, Pirellis on my 2nd M5 and Pirelli run-flats were OEM on the M850. There's a lot of squawking on the Forum about Pirellis, but I can't say they ever bothered me.

Stance: Although I have a touch wider stance, I have changed the suspension geometry a bit. It's hard to stay close to OEM when you change the wheel width and screw with the offsets to keep things from rubbing or poking. The Vossens gave me a negative scrub radius of around -6mm at each wheel. I really don't know if this is enough to affect any part of the handling - good or bad.

* I was fortunate to retire early a few years ago

* All of my trip thread pics have been with the same 4 year old Samsung Galaxy S10. My digital Nikon doesn't come close. Of course you still have to worry about composition, cropping and editing.

* No. I'm not a BMWCCA member. Why 16?

[LuvMyE92]

Originally Posted by snowbimmer

* All of my trip thread pics have been with the same 4 year old Samsung Galaxy S10. My digital Nikon doesn't come close. Of course you still have to worry about composition, cropping and editing.

GOOD POINT. Hardware is the least important part.

Originally Posted by snowbimmer

* No. I'm not a BMWCCA member. Why 16?

Because 300 is too many and 8 is not enough.

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by Bulent Ali

I am lost for words..WOW!

Originally Posted by TupperBMW

Great write up and tour!

Thanks guys!

[snowbimmer]

Originally Posted by Say My Name

I have to say that if someone told me I’d read every word and look at every picture of a complete stranger’s road trip I wouldn’t believe it. Not only did I read every word and look at every picture, I was highly entertained in the process.

Not sure what your current vocation is, but if you’re not working for National Geographic or something similar, you missed your calling.

Thoroughly enjoyed this write up…was so good I almost feel like I was there!


Really, thank you!

Wow. Appreciate the nice words. I got my original inspiration when I came on the forum several years ago and read some European Delivery threads. Loved seeing cars and scenery. Several other threads had directed me to some nice roads and places to see around the US.

Be sure to check out the Colorado link in the Review section. It's, by far, the best thread.

So many roads..........so little time.

[Bulent Ali]

Please more. YouTube would be great for road trip vdo. We need people with their 8s doing road trip vdo and sharing with us . But ...please do not include heavy music in background...want to hear those engines as music

[Dr Thrillride]

Originally Posted by Bulent Ali

Please more. YouTube would be great for road trip vdo. We need people with their 8s doing road trip vdo and sharing with us . But ...please do not include heavy music in background...want to hear those engines as music

Unless there’s serious mods to exhaust, there’s nothing to hear mate.

[Accentu8]

Originally Posted by Dr Thrillride

Unless there’s serious mods to exhaust, there’s nothing to hear mate.

I don’t know, my exhaust sounds awesome and it’s just the 840. I realize some of it is piped in, but I’ve also hear it under a bit of load from outside the car and still a deep throaty sound that I thoroughly enjoy.