The Final Stretch

Waking up in Sun Valley, Idaho is one of my favorite things to do.  I love this place and feel at home.

We spent the morning washing the bugs off the Lotus, took some photos around the lodge and favorite spots, and hit the Konditerei for a delicious, Austrian-inspired breakfast complete with a cream puff swan for dessert.  What can I say, I'm a sweet tooth!

Our final day of driving was looking to be a easy shot through Boise and on to Oregon, but at the last minute we switched it up and decided to head out the Galena Pass through Stanley, ID and the Sawtooth Mountains.  Although peppered by intermittent thunder showers, the drive was absolutely gorgeous and this ended up being our most fun day in the car.  We finally got the GoPro camera out and shot some great footage through the twisties. 

Close Encounters and a Day of Rest

I neglected to mention in the last post the most entertaining/terrifying part of our drive into Jackson.  We knew while running on battery power alone that we couldn't use our headlights.  They would drain the battery the quickest and possibly strand us somewhere.  The plan was to drive as far as possible during daylight hours only.

In a navigation blunder due to the dying battery on my cell phone, we missed a turn and ended up over 40 minutes south of our intended route.  Re-routing us back on track put our arrival time in Jackson now a full 30 mins past sunset.

I drove as fast as I safely could but we simply couldn't make up the time.  As we entered the Teton National Forest the sun was fading rapidly into the west and visibility was getting more challenging.  Our first surprise came when a very large elk and her calf appeared out of nowhere, narrowly missing the front of the Lotus.  Heart in my throat, we drove on, albeit a little slower.  Not long after the elk near miss we passed the entrance to Yellowstone National Park and encountered another elk, this one standing inches from the road just hanging out.  We drove by slowly as we had no idea if he would spook and slam into us like a freight train.  Moments later we slowed again as we saw a large-ish object in the road, just on the other side of the center line.  Turns out it was a beautiful, white snowy owl!  Why it was hanging out on the road is anyones guess.  Needless to say, Stephen was on eagle-eye alert, leaned out far over the dash and scanning the highway the remainder of the drive.  We ended up running with the headlights on for safety the last 20 mins of the drive.  Our trusty, new battery held out just fine.

After all the drama with alternators, batteries and near attacks by vicious elk and wild-eyed owls, we needed a short, easy drive and some down time.  Thankfully, Sun Valley, ID was only 4.5 hours away and a pretty boring, straight shot across eastern Idaho.

We took our time leaving Jackson, had a nice lunch downtown and got a quick photo op in front of one of the antler arches.  With all three batteries locked and loaded, we hit the road.

Tourist doesn't even notice the supercar to her right. Sheesh.

Who knew I was buying an electric car?

My co-pilot slept the entire way and we made great time into Sun Valley on one battery only.  We made a quick stop to grab a drink at the Sun Valley Lodge, had a relaxing dinner at the Pioneer, one last drink at the Cellar Pub and called it a night.  Tomorrow she gets a bath and a proper photo shoot.

WASH ME

Dead Presidents and Dead Batteries

We arrived in Keystone, SD the night before - the Lotus running great as we screamed through South Dakota - to the President's View hotel just down the hill from Mt. Rushmore.  After some slices of pizza and beer in town, we retired to the hotel for a well-earned nights rest.



The following morning we awoke early to see some dead presidents.  Arriving at Rushmore before the crowds, we felt like we had the place to ourselves and the weather could not have been more perfect.  Not ones to linger, we took the requisite photos, enjoyed the "Monumental" breakfast for $6.50 and hit the road again.  The goal was to fuel up, swing by the new Crazy Horse monument then head out toward Wyoming.  Unfortunately, the alternator in the Lotus derailed our plans again.



After stopping for fuel in Custer, SD, the Lotus wouldn't start again.  We had the foresight to keep the old battery (and get it fully-charged at O'Reilly's) so we popped it in and she fired right up.  Luckily Custer had a little Napa Auto Parts store.  We were able to test the alternator and sure enough it was dead again.  We were warned that this repair was only a bandaid and it could melt itself again.  Now what?

Even further from civilization, our only option was to limp along, essentially leap-frogging with the two batteries we had.  No AC, no lights, no music... we ran as lean as we could to get us to the next big town.

Our first battery lasted about and hour and a half and after all the gauges died and the engine started to stutter we limped off the highway (barely) and out of traffic to swap batteries.  The second battery got us to Gillette, Wyoming where we could stop at O'Reilly's again and have them both charged.  After calling around to parts stores far and wide, we eventually found the proper alternator in Billings, MT, just over 3 hours away.  This was definitely a doable drive with our dual battery leap-frogging but we ran into the same issue - no one to install the alternator until Monday.  After some conversation and mapping distances, we struck upon another idea.  We purchased another battery.  This time a deep cycle marine battery with a 210 min reserve rating.  The advantage of the mid-engine Lotus is the battery is in the trunk, not fitted tightly into a cramped engine bay.  Access to it is actually quite easy and we can line up the back-up batteries in the trunk and simply swap them as we go.  Between the three batteries we calculated we could get to each additional stop on our trip, recharge at night while we sleep, and make it back to Bend where Outland could perform the proper repair.

Sheridan Lake in the Black Hills, SD

We are happy to announce, so far so good!  The new large capacity battery ran over 4 hours yesterday without a hitch, getting us all the way to Jackson, WY.  When we plugged it into the charger at the hotel it still had 10% remaining.  We can do this!

Snow at the top of the Big Horn mountain range in Wyoming

Heading into Teton National Park

This is where the magic happens!

On the Road Again

Stuck in Huron, South Dakota.

Sourcing a particular alternator to work with this car in the middle of South Dakota was not looking good.  Our best-case scenario was to have one overnighted from Minneapolis for Saturday delivery then beg a local shop to stay open to install it - not to mention this was all during "Wheel Jam" weekend in Huron - things weren't looking very good.  More likely this was all going to have to wait until Monday.  Our unexpected pit stop was about to turn into a long stay in a town far from home.

Plan B: After staying up half the night researching parts and repairs, we came up with a new solution.   The melted voltage regulator could be replaced by itself, possibly without having to remove the alternator, if we could just find the part locally and a shop to do it for us.  Turns out, the best alternator repair and rebuild shop was a place called Nielsen's, just over an hour away in Brookings, due east from our location - the entirely wrong direction.  It was either that or wait till Monday.  Brookings or bust it is!

With a brand new battery installed and a full charge we were confident the little Lotus could make the journey to Brookings on battery power alone.  We called ahead and Jeff and McCoy at Nielsen's cleared their schedule for us.  Thanks to these incredibly talented and generous guys, less than 2 hours later we were back on the road with an alternating reading 14V and charging as it should.

Thanks to Jeff and McCoy for getting us back on the road

The culprit: melted voltage regulator

Just like Willie Nelson we're "on the road again!"

  

South Dakota flew by in a flurry of billboards advertising every imaginable roadside stop.  We took a few quick pit stops here and there but were on a mission to make up time.  We did have to stop in Wall, SD at the famous Wall Drug store for 5 cent coffee and FREE ice water!

Meaningful Side Trips and Unexpected Pit Stops

Day 2 started off a little late as we shook off the foggy remains of a fun night on town in Minneapolis.

And by foggy, I mean we couldn't even seem to find our way out of a cloverleaf leaving town.



As Paisley Park was a mere 25 mins away, our first stop was to pay our respects to the Purple One. The side trip ended up being more meaningful than we expected.  Fully a month after his passing, many devoted fans still roam the grounds outside the famous studio and residence. Everyone seemed to have a "I remember when" Prince story and we might have even gotten a little teary eyed at one point.  We made our exit known with windows down, blasting Purple Rain on the radio at full volume in tribute.

Flying by back country roads at 80mph you can miss a lot.  Thankfully we caught a picture-perfect farm out of the corner of our eye and did a quick u-turn back to http://atthefarmwaconia.com/ and met the lovely owner, Donna Frantz.  We left with some fruit, jam and fresh-made cookies.  That's my kind of stop!



The unexpected pit stop came a few hours later when, after switching drivers, Stephen pulled over to a road-side restaurant and the Lotus decided not to start again.  We noticed some black goo had dripped on the top of the AC compressor - this is the dreaded sign of the alternator voltage regulator melting its resin insides and killing itself.  So, no alternator.  Three minutes after closing, the nice guys at O'Reilly's let us in and spent over an hour with us as we ran diagnostics on the battery and alternator (yep dead).  I guess tonight we sleep in Huron, SD!

Heading West

After picking up the Lotus and giving it a good test run through the surrounding neighborhoods, we felt confident she was ready for the long road ahead.

The goal was to head toward Minneapolis while searching for roadside attractions that might be worthy of a photo op.  Other than a few odd, very large and brightly-colored creatures here and there, turns out there is not much else to see.

The giant, orange Moose of Black River Falls, WI.  It's a truck stop, with a water feature, and a moose.  That pretty much sums it up
















A quick pit stop in the college town of Madison, WI (go Badgers!), a large green dinosaur spotting and we're off to Minneapolis.

Quick snack in Madison, WI

Minneapolis "Mill City"

First Avenue Nightclub made famous by Prince in the movie Purple Rain

First Impressions

Walking into the garage at Custom Classics and seeing this beauty waiting is the way I should start every day. 

Impressions:

- Small. But I knew this going into it. The Lotus Esprit is no higher than a standard kitchen counter. 

- Striking. Even with the large rear wing, unique to the S4S, this Esprit is balanced and well-proportioned. 

- Sexy. 

Kid in a candy store. 

Bryan Reehoff giving me the rundown on all the work they did to prepare the Lotus for our journey. 

Stephen approves.

After a quick photo shoot, we said our thanks and goodbyes to Bryan and his son, Jason, and hit the road. 

Next stop: Madison, Wisconsin.