Dune Buggy trip - 2010
Montreal – Key West July 21st to August 7th 2010
Total mileage (kilometers)
4,201.9 milles (6,702.3km)
Total gas cost in US $
556.42$
Total gallons consumed:
184.241
Average consumption:
22.81 miles/gallon
Number of days:
18 1 | P a g e Contents Dune Buggy trip - 2010 ....................................................................................................................... 1 Montreal – Key West ................................................................................................................................ 1 Day 1 – Montreal, QC to Laurel, MD ......................................................................................................... 3 Day 2 – Laurel, MD to Waterboro, SC ....................................................................................................... 8 Day 3 – Waterboro, SC to Miami, FL ....................................................................................................... 13 Day 4 –Miami, FL to Key West, FL (Round trip) ...................................................................................... 17 Day 5 –Miami, FL ..................................................................................................................................... 23 Day 6 –Miami, FL to Orlando, FL ............................................................................................................. 32 Day 7 Orlando, FL to EPCOT, WDW ......................................................................................................... 39 Day 8 Orlando, FL to Hollywood, WDW .................................................................................................. 48 Day 9 Orlando, FL to Myrtle Beach, SC ................................................................................................... 53 Day 10 Myrtle Beach, SC ......................................................................................................................... 56 Day 11 Myrtle Beach, SC ......................................................................................................................... 58 Day 12 Myrtle Beach, SC ......................................................................................................................... 60 Day 13 Myrtle Beach, SC ......................................................................................................................... 62 Day 14 Myrtle Beach, SC ......................................................................................................................... 63 Day 15 Myrtle Beach, SC ......................................................................................................................... 69 Day 16 Myrtle Beach, SC ......................................................................................................................... 73 Day 17 Myrtle Beach, SC to Baltimore, MD ............................................................................................ 78 Day 18 Baltimore, MD to Home .............................................................................................................. 83 2 | P a g e Day 1 – Montreal, QC to Laurel, MD Good evening everyone, today we started our wonderful summer trip. We left
around 6:10am this morning. It was 17 degrees Celsius (63 Fahrenheit). We
arrived at the border crossing in Lacolle around 7:10am…Nexus line =
nobody. The custom agent asked us the eternal question: “Do you have a
top?” I told him: “It will not rain today”. He replied: “What about tomorrow?”
In addition to being friendly, he was cute…could not ask for more… When we
arrived in the Adirondacks, the weather was nice…rarity. Of course in the
middle we got fog, but at least no rain. Around 1:00pm when we were near
New York, it was 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) and later in the afternoon it was
38 Celsius (100.6 Fahrenheit), in short it was very hot. Vincent was dreaming
of the nice cold beer that he will drink and I was thinking of the nice shower
that I will take. We had to frequently verified the temperature of the
engine…it was very hot for it too. We arrived at Laurel Maryland around
5:30pm and it was still hot (36 Celsius / 97 Fahrenheit). Tomorrow we should
leave around 6:30am to go to Walterboro (SC). These are some pictures of
today.
Mileage today: 600 miles (966 km)
Have a nice night and talk to you tomorrow. Vincent et/and France
3 | P a g e 4 | P a g e 5 | P a g e 6 | P a g e 7 | P a g e Day 2 – Laurel, MD to Waterboro, SC We left Laurel this morning around 6:15am, the weather was
nice and hot (83 F / 28 C). We drove almost all day on the
Interstate 95. We hit lots of traffic near Richmond (we lost
about 30 minutes). Around 11:30am, we hit more traffic
(road construction = 1 lane only). At that time, the
thermometer indicated 110 degrees Fahrenheit (picture as
proof). It was very hot, but there were people who were
hotter than us, the construction guys who were doing the
asphalt. For lunch, I told Vincent, and it was not negotiable,
that we needed an air conditioned place and before going
back on the road, to put the Sombrero / Bikini top (from
Tijuana Kustoms). The woman was very happy because his
Man had uplifted her two wishes. Thank god that we drove
with the top, otherwise it would have been unbearable. Again
Vincent was dreaming of his cold beer and me of my shower…
When we entered in South Carolina, our new GPS announced
a few thunderstorms. We also saw two lightings. Decision to
take; stop to put the full top or drive with the Sombrero /
Bikini top? Because the radar photo was indicated that i would
be short, we decided to keep the Sombrero / Bikini Top.
What’s better than a nasty downpour (or thunderstorm) to
refresh us? More seriously, the idiot ahead of us didn’t stop hitting his breaks; Vincent worked hard to keep the engine from stalling. My Man is
very good because three minutes later, the dune never stop working and the downpour (thunderstorm) was behind us. It was realy cool (see the
videos). For supper, my Man was entitled to his beer even two beers…the guy was very happy. For those who are going on vacation Friday, we
wish you good one. Time to sleep because tomorrow, we are going to Miami Beach . Talk to you soon.
Mileage today: 553 miles (890km)
8 | P a g e 9 | P a g e 10 | P a g e 11 | P a g e 12 | P a g e Day 3 – Waterboro, SC to Miami, FL This morning we left the Holiday Inn Express of Walterboro around
6:25am. It was still very nice outside, less hot but very humid. Again
today we drove on the I-95. Two or three people talked to us about
the bad weather where we were going, they talked of tropical storm.
I need to admit that I didn’t really like it but well, we needed to reach
our destination. We often looked our GPS and the radar picture to
guide us. We decided to keep the Sombrero / Bikini top (from Tijuana
Kustoms). It was more windy and it was hard to keep it in place, it
tended to get out ( I know Tom, you will say that it was not installed
like it is suppose to but you know my husband and his phobia to
make holes in his Dune…) Our favourite sport was to often stop to fix
it. Around 11:15am, we removed it definitively to stop loosing time,
in addition we said that with the big thunderstorm, we would have no
choice to put the full top. Let me tell you that it was very hot under
the top, but well we should keep rain away from us. During 90
minutes the rain was there, twice at high density (see one of the
video about that). The good news was that the radar picture didn’t
indicate anymore rain in Miami. We decided to remove the top and
complete our ride open air…it was more pleasant. It should rain the
next two days, but we will try to do Segway tomorrow and go to Key
West on Sunday. The guy at the hotel advised us to not swim in the ocean tomorrow, this is not really important because we should enjoy the
ocean when we will be in Myrtle Beach next week. The guy also asked us if the Dune could stay a while in front of the hotel because it was cool.
At least the Dune will sleep in a garage, protected from rain. Do not try to follow us tomorrow, we should not use the dune, we will try to stay
around the hotel. Have a nice night and talk to you soon.
Mileage today: 581 miles (953km)
13 | P a g e 14 | P a g e 15 | P a g e 16 | P a g e Day 4 –Miami, FL to Key West, FL (Round trip) In 2004, when we did our first long trip with the dune buggy (Montreal
– Quebec for 310 miles (500 km)), many people thought we were
brave, but we said that it would be cool to go with the dune buggy to
Florida, but we did not expect to do so. The following years we went to
Boston, New York, Washington, Myrtle Beach and last year to California
to meet Mr. Bruce Meyers (another dream because he is an idol but
also an inspiration for us). This year, six years later, another dream
comes true. Okay, some improvements were done on the version of
the dune buggy that went to Quebec City, but we should never
despair, dreams do come true sometimes. We modified our plans
Saturday morning because the weather was so nice, so we went for a
ride to Key West. Wow, what can we say more than Wow Wow Wow.
We left the hotel around 9:30am and came back around 7:30pm. Did
we hit rain? Oh yes, for about one minute, but it was raining very
strong and the funniest part…we didn’t have any tops on the dune. It
was very cool and no do not worry, after few minutes, everything was
dry. We are very happy to have gone to Key West (the further south
region of the U.S. East Cost). You will see in a picture that we were at
mile zero. Oh yes, we took the opportunity to take few pictures of the
dune. So have a wonderful day and we are going to do a Segway tour and another one with the air boat.
Mileage today: 342 miles (551km)
17 | P a g e 18 | P a g e 19 | P a g e 20 | P a g e 21 | P a g e 22 | P a g e Day 5 –Miami, FL Today we went for our Segway tour along the beach. When we arrived at the starting
point, we were a little bit disappointed because we saw only one hands free Segway and
two regular Segways. We asked the guide why they didn’t have three hands free and he
replied that we will try it later. The tour was never the less very interesting. We have
amongst other a picture of us in front of the most photographed house of South Beach,
the one where Versace was killed. We also tried the hands free Segway and yes it was
very cool. Vincent also mentioned that he wants one. I told him that it will be very usefull
in the snow; he replied that he will modify the wheels. After that, we came back to the
hotel to pick up the Dune to go about 30 minutes from South Beach for our air boat tour.
At the beginning of the tour, it was raining, but after few minutes, the rain stopped and it
was very hot. We were lucky, we saw three alligators and you will see on one picture, how
brave I was. We really enjoyed our tour. On our way back, we were hit … and very hit by
the rain at about 7 streets from the hotel. At least the Bikini / Sombrero (from Tijuana
Kustoms) was on to protect us. Vincent, when we arrived on Friday, mentioned that he
would have to put his feet into the ocean so this is what he did before supper. We really
appreciated our stay in Miami and will probably come back soon. Tomorrow we are going
to Walt Disney World
23 | P a g e 24 | P a g e 25 | P a g e 26 | P a g e 27 | P a g e 28 | P a g e 29 | P a g e 30 | P a g e 31 | P a g e Day 6 –Miami, FL to Orlando, FL Today our recap will be dedicated to one of our friend who passed
away yesterday. Josée, along the day we thought of you, you can
now rest in peace. We left South Beach around 6:00am, it was very
humid. The traffic was perfect and it was nice to drive to Walt Disney
World.
We arrived around 10:00am, it is our first time staying at the French
Quarter - New Orleans and it is very nice. To park the dune, the girl
at the front desk gave me a piece of paper to use as our parking
pass. I told her that we might have a problem if it rain. She asked
her supervisor to see what could be done. After 5 minutes, the piece
of paper was laminated. We spent the day at Animal Kingdom and
again I yelled like a nut case when I did the Everest...Vincent was
calm taking a video of the ride and was laughing at me of course. For
the dinner we went on the Boardwalk to try the River grill restaurant
where they are making their own beers. Are you surprise if I tell you
that Vincent was more than happy. Tomorrow we will spend the day
at Epcot.
Goodbye Josée, and thank you for the wonderful moments that we spent together, we will never forget you.
Mileages today: 239 miles (389km)
32 | P a g e 33 | P a g e 34 | P a g e 35 | P a g e 36 | P a g e 37 | P a g e 38 | P a g e D
Day 7 Orland
do, FL to EPCO
OT, WDW We spent the daay today at Epco
W
ot. It was fantaastic from the beeginning to
t end. Thank you to all of yo
the
ou who sent me a little note or called
c
me, I
r
really
appreciatee it. The waitin
ng time for the attractions
a
was not
n so bad.
L
Lovely
the interrior attractions when
w
it is so hot outside…the sun
s and the
h
humidity
were present today
y. We had lun
nch at the Nin
ne Dragon
r
restaurant
at th
he Chineese pavillon
p
and haad dinner at the
t
Cellier
S
Steakhouse
resstaurant at thee Canada Paviillon. Both meals
m
were
e
excellent.
Ramii at the France Pavillon
P
was lau
ughing when I sh
howed him
m access card,, where my firstt name was indicated and the access
my
a
card
o Vincent wheere his last nam
of
me was indicateed. He couldn’tt believe it
(
(France
with a Parisien).
P
He also
a showed them
m to his colleag
gues. I am
s
sure
that he willl remember us for
f many years. I can’t believee that at my
a
age,
I waited in
n line to have picture taken witth Mickey, Min
nnie, Pluto,
G
Goofy
and Donaald…but it was a special day fo
or me, I could no
ot miss this
o
opportunity.
Viincent as spoiled
d me a lot and I need to mentio
on that he is thee most wonderfu
ul husband of thhe world. Thank
k you so much
h
honey.
Epcot iss really one the theme park thatt I prefer and I can’t
c
wait to com
me back. Tomo
orrow we are gooing to Hollywo
ood for our last
d at WDW. Our
day
O vacation is so
s wonderful an
nd we are enjoyiing it to the max
ximum.
39 | P a g e 3
40 | P a g e 41 | P a g e 42 | P a g e 43 | P a g e 44 | P a g e 45 | P a g e 46 | P a g e 47 | P a g e Day 8 Orlando, FL to Hollywood, WDW Today we spent our day at Hollywood (previously MGM). Again the weather was wonderful. We got a few rain drops at the end of the afternoon but we were inside an attraction so no problem for us. We started with the Tower of Terror and Aerosmith, but this time, I yelled less, I felt sorry for Vincent's ears. Again we loved our stay at WDW and if everything is going well, we should be back in December 2011. We will go to sleep early tonight because tomorrow we will leave early (between 5:30am and 6:00am) to go to Myrtle for a week of beach, Segway, horse riding and winery (to be confirmed) with few friends. 48 | P a g e 49 | P a g e 50 | P a g e 51 | P a g e 52 | P a g e Day 9 Orlando, FL to Myrtle Beach, SC Today we left WDW around 6:00am for Myrtle Beach, it was very humid
outside. The engine tended to run like a Harley and this worried Vincent. So he
sent a post on The Samba's forum to have the views of other owners of dune
buggy when we arrived. We want to thank everyone who responded and a
special thank you to Joe Spittler from the Manx Club (who called). With all
your responses, the diagnostic seems more obvious and less scary (Dirty idle
jets). The timing was just perfect to arrive at the hotel because we got a real
storm....like my father loved them (myself as well). We are on the 7th floor
with ocean view, so it was very nice to watch. We went with our friends for the
dinner and again it was very plaisant. Tomorrow should be a relaxing day at
the beach. Good evening to all of you.
Mileage today: 512miles (824km)
53 | P a g e 54 | P a g e 55 | P a g e Day 10 Myrtle Beach, SC Today we started our day by doing the groceries and also buying some carb cleaner. While
I was putting the groceries away, Vincent cleaned the dune (water + salt = very dirty).
After that, we went to the Ocean Lakes Campground to meet our friends. Vincent cleaned
the jets and now, the dune is working much better. We spent the remaining of the day to
relax at the beach. The day was really ideal…a little bit hot but with the wind and the
ocean, we could not ask for more. We shared dinner with our friends and again it was very
pleasant…they are very nice people. You will be able to see in one video with what we are
playing with while we are camp ground…such a little thing could amuse people. After, we
went to the mini golf and Sylvie drove the Dune Buggy…she loved it. The evening was
very humid…a little bit too much for us but we still got lot of fun. Tomorrow, another day
relaxing at the beach.
56 | P a g e 57 | P a g e Day 11 Myrtle Beach, SC Nothing really special today, beach and shopping at the Outlets. More waves today but the weather was ideal, not too hot, not too humid, really good. It is really less expansive in the Outlets...thank god that I don't live here....Good dinner with our friends and it was again very nice. Tomorrow, should be beach again, but for the moment the weather looks like it will not be a very nice day....we will see. 58 | P a g e 59 | P a g e Day 12 Myrtle Beach, SC The day started with 3 to 4 hours of violent storms...it was so beautiful but the bad news
was that the dune was not covered under the car port, it was in front of the hotel. You could
not imagine how much water was in the dune...the seats were all wet, the carpet was
soaked and the trunk as well. We tried to dry as much we could before going to the
campground. Our friends were not there but Vincent took the opportunity to remove
everything, even the trunk to dry all of it. During that time, the lady was lounging at the
beach, the weather was gorgeous, good wind and few people...it was ideal. Around 6:00pm
our friends arrived and we went with them to dinner. This evening, Vincent will sleep better
because the dune is under the car port...and it should have t-storm so no trouble this time.
Tomorrow, another relaxing day at the beach. Talk to you soon.
60 | P a g e 61 | P a g e Day 13 Myrtle Beach, SC Quiet day at the beach. Nice weather, no rain. Went to see to reserve a Beach House for next year. Have to wait until November. Dinner at Olive Garden with a super cool waiter (Brian). Tomorrow morning we are going to do Segway. Have a nice evening‐day. 62 | P a g e Day 14 Myrtle Beach, SC Today we started our day with a Segway Tour at the Huntingdon Beach State Park with Sylvie and Sara‐Maude. It was an excellent three hours (never seen before). For Sylvie and Sara‐
Maude it was their first Segway experience and they loved it. We got the chance to see an alligator to please Sara‐Maude. After that, Vincent and I went to meet Élizabeth (my niece) who is at the campground next to the one where our friends are. The funniest was that as we arrived in front of their campsite, her mother was calling us. We stayed few moments with them; just enough to see Élizabeth do some surf in the ocean. She is really the daughter of her father (I am repeating her words) because she was at the beach with her swimming suit, socks and her running shoes…I will pass almost all day tomorrow with them. For the dinner, we were with our friends and went to the Longhorn Steakhouse…Denis and Vincent somewhat abused the good things. To digest everything, we went to visit Broadway to see the fireworks. It was another wonderful day. Talk to you soon. 63 | P a g e 64 | P a g e 65 | P a g e 66 | P a g e 67 | P a g e 68 | P a g e Day 15 Myrtle Beach, SC The day began in a very funny way. At 4:36am the fire alarm woke up and we evacuated the hotel. Only 10% of the occupant evacuated. We were downstairs for about 10 minutes when they told us that we could go back to our room. The elevator didn’t work so Vincent asked when we would be able to use them and the answer was, we just contacted the fireman and it is only them who could reactivate them, so we don’t know when they will be functional. We took the stairs to go back to our room. Vincent stayed outside to take a video of the fireman, me I went back to bed. At 5:06 the fire alarm started again. Vincent told me to wait and finally the announced that it was a false alarm. We finally went back to bed and sleep. Vincent and I went to see the Beach Houses that we would like to rent next year. We really hope that our top 3 will be available. After that, Vincent did a small repair on the Dune (odometer was working only once in a while), and he also washed the exterior of the trailer of our friends. Me, I spent the day with my niece Élizabeth and it was really pleasant. She and I occasionally misjudged the waves and it was funny. After that, I went back to see my friends and went for dinner at Rioz (a Brazilian restaurant). We were 14 people and it was another excellent evening. We hope that the night will be better because tomorrow we are waking up around 4:00am because Vincent is going high sea fishing with Yannick and Caroline (the daughter of René the brother of Denis). I will spend our last day at the beach. 69 | P a g e 70 | P a g e 71 | P a g e 72 | P a g e Day 16 Myrtle Beach, SC Good evening, the day started at 4:30am this morning because Caroline, Johanne, Yannick and René were going to pick us at 5:15am. Caro, Yannick and Vincent should be at the boat for 6:00am for their adventure to the high seas fishing. Johanne and René brought me back to the campground where I spent the day (at the beach). The weather was wonderful with a lot of wind. Around 5:00pm Johanne, René and I went back to pick up the trio. Caroline found her day a little bit rough. She was sick but around 1:00pm she was feeling better. She even caught several fish. Yannick was also sick, but less than Caro. He also took some fish. Vincent, when he has beer, everything is fine. Everything went well for him and yes he also took several fish. After the day, Caro was comparing herself to a large fries of McDo. Nevertheless, they all really enjoyed their experience. For the dinner we went to Olive Garden near the hotel because tomorrow we are leaving Myrtle Beach for our first day back (we should arrive in Montreal on Saturday). Ps. Yes I still smell like fish after 2 showers... 73 | P a g e 74 | P a g e 75 | P a g e 76 | P a g e 77 | P a g e Day 17 Myrtle Beach, SC to Baltimore, MD Today we left a little bit later than what we were supposed to because when we woke up, the roads were wet and we preferred to wait to have them dry. We left around 6:30am and thankfully no rain and it was about 80F (27C). Around 10:50am I was a little bit afraid. We stopped in a gas station and Vincent was inside. I was waiting for him in the Dune when I saw not one but two big trucks with what? Oh yes, lots of little pigs. For those who followed us last year, when we went to California, we got a bad experience by following a truck, in traffic, a yellow truck with pigs…I can still remember the smell. Thankfully, we stayed far behind this truck because the other side of the road, we crossed an empty truck (that was carrying pigs before) and I can tell you that the smell was similar as the one from last year. We could say that until 2:00pm everything went well, the engine was not running hot and we think that we had the wind in behind us. We hit 100F (38C) during the day. We drove on the 301 and it was more pleasant than I‐95. After that we got a lot of lights (red obviously) and traffic. We arrived at Edgewood (near Baltimore) around 4:50pm. Vincent really enjoyed the beach and the ocean but he prefers much more being here because he just came back to clean the dune and no more mist (salt) like in Myrtle Beach. We went to Giovanni’s for dinner and we met Joe who invited us next time we will be in Florida, he provided us his cell phone number, his home number (in Maryland) and the phone number of is Condo. 78 | P a g e 79 | P a g e 80 | P a g e 81 | P a g e 82 | P a g e Day 18 Baltimore, MD to Home Today we left Maryland around 6:30am. The weather was nice but not very hot 68F (20C). We got a nice day without rain, however it was windy. Again this morning we must have had a tail wind because it was driving smoothly, no overheating from the engine. When we stopped for lunch, we were in a Rest Area and somebody asked me two questions that came often: “Wow, what do we call that?” and “Is it legal on the road?” Each time I'm asked the second question, I would like to answer “No it is not legal but we just drove more than 3,500 miles…stupid oups”. Our bigger satisfaction today was when we crossed the borders. Thanks to the Nexus card and the dedicated line…we saved between 1 and 1.5 hour of waiting time. Nobody in front of us in the Nexus line, we were alone…it was WONDERFUL. We arrived home around 5:40pm. 83 | P a g e 84 | P a g e 85 | P a g e 86 | P a g e 87 | P a g e