Skiing Transportation

[JimG.]

The youngest get stuck in the middle, obviously.
Ahh, the many hours of "Little Brother Volleyball" while driving cross country.

3 boys: 3, 9, and 11.

Amazingly, my 11 year old volunteers for middle seat duty, and he's a big kid.

My boys are quiet and keep themselves busy with games or DVD's. The 3 year old sleeps alot. They're all very cooperative on these trips; we've gone a far as the MWV which is 6 hours each way.

I'm not sure what Subaru puts in the back seats to make them this way, but they don't act that well at home.

 

[hammer]

3 boys: 3, 9, and 11.

Amazingly, my 11 year old volunteers for middle seat duty, and he's a big kid.

My boys are quiet and keep themselves busy with games or DVD's. The 3 year old sleeps alot. They're all very cooperative on these trips; we've gone a far as the MWV which is 6 hours each way.

I'm not sure what Subaru puts in the back seats to make them this way, but they don't act that well at home.

Consider yourself fortunate...my two (12 YO boy and 8 YO girl) usually have a lot of problems on ski trips when I've had to fold down one of the seats to fit the skis inside my Toyota Highlander.

I'm definitely getting a box for this season.

I also have an Outback, and IMO it's not the greatest on gas mileage (around 22 - 23 MPG highway). I'd ideally like to find an AWD car that can get closer to 30 MPG, but the Outback's paid for and the additional gas costs are much lower than a car payment...

 

[smootharc]

Gas Mileage aside....

....I recall reading somewhere that our homes are WAAAYYYY more destructive to the environment (via greenhouse gases) than vehicular emissions. Don't know if this is true. But perhaps something to shade the environmental angle. Alot more about how we live than just the vehicles we drive determine our individual impact on the environment.

Dartmouth just put out a press release regarding the Big Green Bus....which toured the country running on waste restaurant fat fuel....

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2005/08/03.html

Man, wish I could have journeyed on one of those in my day.....a summer just a burnin'. I volunteer to be sonic curator and bring the mix tapes......

 

[JimG.]

I also have an Outback, and IMO it's not the greatest on gas mileage (around 22 - 23 MPG highway). I'd ideally like to find an AWD car that can get closer to 30 MPG, but the Outback's paid for and the additional gas costs are much lower than a car payment...

Totally agree; but it's alot better than my previous ride, a Dodge Durango. That thing chugged gas and got sick alot (always something wrong with it).

My wife has a 96 Legacy wagon...still runs like a top with over 150,000 miles on it. I offerred to buy her a new one, but she likes the one she has so I just spent some dough for new tires, brakes, and a tune up. Works for me!

 

[Brettski]

MWV?

6 Hours from Hopewell Junction?

Which direction?

Do you mean MRV?

by 1/21 my kids will be 13, 10, 8

Boy/Girl/Girl

The boy looks like a high school senior...he's 5'9" and looks like a linebacker....or a big teddy bear...

And my kids are great travelers...not only all the trips to the 'skills and the week in the Northeast kingdom...but we've done the florida trip the last 4 years...

You can't beat the comfort of my T&C..and now with this new one and the DVD player...forget it...we don't over use it, because then I'm sure they'd just tune it out...Like on a 12 hour run they watched 2 movies...we listen to books on tape a lot...that holds their interest a lot more than the movies it seems. Then there always the game boy thing, but we try and limit that...we have reading times, ect...

Man, I just want to hop in and go North right now....

 

[JimG.]

MWV?

Mount Washington Valley; Gorham, NH to be exact.

It's a little less than 6 hours, but definitely 6 with a dinner stop.

MRV (Mad River Valley) is 4-4 1/2 hours each way.

 

[Rushski]

Also, for all you people who think bigger gas vehicles are destroying everything, do you use gas powered lawnmowers? A few years ago it was reported that a typical 5 HP gas push mower put off nearly as much emissions as 20 Cars...

Part of the reason I have a rechargeable electric. Plus no gassing up/oiling.

 

[Brettski]

Well as for destroying everything...my father-in-law is an ER Doctor in Jersey City...just outside the Holland Tunnel...and he mentions the amount of damage those things do compared to convention automobiles...bot to the driver and the people they hit...he's says they roll those suckers a ton

PS They gotta make the electricity somehow..I think a lot of it is from clean burning coal they have out now...

 

[bigbog]

'Rubaru's a great option- good size, nice price. You could also look at the Volvo stationwagons, though I don't know that the newer ones depreciate fast enough to fit the budget, and the older ones remind me of refrigerator boxes. I do agree with danpop (to an extent)- I hate the SUV drivers who have no need whatsoever for a vehicle of that size, and simply drive it as a status symbol. I mean come on, a Cadillac SUV? They haven't made trucks since 1920 or so (trivia- the first tow truck was built on a Caddy frame) I know kids require a lot of stuff, but I think a lot of people way over do it. My brother has a new baby, adn they carry very little with them- a bottle, an extra diaper, and a pacifier. They also have a really cool stroller, but I digress.

Totally agree with you ctenidae, I mean...isn't that another reason why the roof box was conceived? If not, it certainly will do its job as far as holding things that can't be held inside with 2-4kids in the backseat of a burb' subcompact. I lived in the suburbs of Boston for 10yrs and would look at the families in their SUV with highway tires on it...knowing fair well the only reason they'd be touching dirt was when there is construction going on....pipes...etc.
The highspeed Rail thing is decades overdue for rush-hour transportation....IMO.. :angry: :angry:

 

[bigbog]

Re: Gas Mileage aside....

....I recall reading somewhere that our homes are WAAAYYYY more destructive to the environment (via greenhouse gases) than vehicular emissions...

We certainly don't design & build vertically, like the Japanese do.... America's the land of never-ending suburban sprawl.......

 

[Rushski]

Know that many of us are going off on a tangent, but if people actually cared about the environment then we would see more wind and solar power.

And to those opposed to the windfarms off Nantucket, grow up.

 

[madman]

I dont see motorcycles taken into concideration in these threads.I have a Jeep Cherokee I drive mostly for trips, for commuting I ride my bike 8 months of the year.Not an easy task but I force myself.Over the last 10 yrs I have ridden 40k mi mostley to work and back 50 mi round trip.I dont like to burn gas anymore than the next guy but living on a dirt rd and having two kids a wife and a dog we need some carrying capasity. Asmaller car loaded with four people and gear for a weekend trip could be dangerously overloaded.The Jeep gets driven when there is snow on the ground and the bike more than offsets the cost of fuel over the year.

 

[Brettski]

I read that too fast...I thought you wrote two wives and a dog....I'm like, man the guys a glutten for punishment...riding the bike and all, I mean...

 

[smootharc]

Agree on the wind farms...

[quote="Rushski"... if people actually cared about the environment then we would see more wind and solar power. And to those opposed to the windfarms off Nantucket, grow up.[/quote]

...they are kind of cool looking, in my opinion, and seem to have many more plusses than minuses. I think we touched on windmills in a previous thread somewhere, but haven't searched back. Yankee Mag had a big article about a town in VT with all the pros and cons....

No easy answers....

Gas, btw, is about $7.00/gallon in the UK, so I understand....

 

[madman]

Hey Smootharc whats that yer rideing looks nice! nice road to!!

 

[Tin Woodsman]

It's all about the 325/330xi. With Nokian tires on, you own the winter road.

 

[smootharc]

I'm a ridin' a Ducati 748S Superbike....

Hey Smootharc whats that yer rideing looks nice! nice road to!!

....and my wife swears I'm having an affair with her....

Road is in Central NY, state route 13 between Chittenango and Cazenovia. Basically a canyon with about 300' +/- of elevation gain/loss and about 60 curves on my 6 mile up and 6 mile back "laps"....

My Sunday morning prayers are taken on that road....

Beautiful stream and 160' waterfall and state park are just to my right in that photo. Ma and Pa bluehair usually gawk from the bridge, as the Duc has, well, a beautiful and distinctive sound with my unrestricted exhaust.

 

[madman]

Ducati SWEEEET! My dream bike after the BMW R 100 S. Got the beemer new in 83 about to turn 90 k allways said I would get a Duc but marrage and kids came first. Now I am in a battle just to get another beemer. I will win this one! Who cares about siding and kitchen cabinets anyway.

 

[bvibert]

Who cares about siding and kitchen cabinets anyway.

Ummm... I gonna have to say the wife probably does... Their priorities are all out of whack!

 

[sledhaulingmedic]

Re: I'm a ridin' a Ducati 748S Superbike....

Hey Smootharc whats that yer rideing looks nice! nice road to!!

....and my wife swears I'm having an affair with her....

Road is in Central NY, state route 13 between Chittenango and Cazenovia. Basically a canyon with about 300' +/- of elevation gain/loss and about 60 curves on my 6 mile up and 6 mile back "laps"....

My Sunday morning prayers are taken on that road....

Beautiful stream and 160' waterfall and state park are just to my right in that photo. Ma and Pa bluehair usually gawk from the bridge, as the Duc has, well, a beautiful and distinctive sound with my unrestricted exhaust.

Sidecar with a Yakima box for the winter? :wink: