Road tripping GSW

Hello golfmk7.com,

This will be my build thread/ travel log/ intro thread

Little history I have had all kinds of cars but nothing has really stuck. Had a 05 sentra, 10 ralliart, 04 mazdaspeed miata, 95 celiac with a 20V blacktop, 90 civic hatch, 91 crx, another 91 crx, 90 240sx, 85 camaro, 02 miata, many have bin **** boxes but some where nice.

















But recently I had some growing up to do and wanted to do a complete 180. I decided to part the car out and buy a GSW




The reason I went with the GSW is that I could do this



I did a lot of traveling with the miata and I will continue to do so with this car.




So less about my past ****boxes and more on my current one.



I picked up a fully loaded TDI SEL about 3 weeks ago and have put on 1800 on it already and love every moment of it.

Drove down to STL for a Cystic Fibrosis fundraising bike marathon.



Hung out with some friends

Saw this by one of there houses



do want


Stopped at the pink elephant which is a antique mall



And stopped at the arch

So this trip started when my friend told me he is going to go to a flight traffic control school in denver and he is going to be driving. I told him il follow you in my car to keep you company and see some west coast friends and see some west coast things.
5AM leaving chicago




First stop











Stopped at some airplane museum in Nebraska


Got to denver that night and that was that. Woke up to go to pikes peak and continue this adventure.

They had some storms a few days before so this was as high as i could get on pikes peak before i hit the road is closed sign





More pikes peak


Randoms at pikes peak





SANTAAAA




So we continued out drive to durango CO for the night





Next day we started our day by stopping at Mesa Verde on our way to 4 corners, monument valley and ending the day in Page AZ

On the road to Mesa Verde

Mexican hat



Getting close to monument valley



This photo was taken 3 min after the lady in the booth asked me if I have 4wd to continue and i said UHUH SURE




And then about 45 seconds after the last photo things got super fun




The 3 sisters









Ended the night in page AZ

Next day our plan was to go to antelope canyon but that plan ended since the night before i was on phoenix craigslist and saw a car i wanted to buy for a long time so said screw it and skipped some things.



Stopped at the grand canyon



Then a Flinstones park



Then we drove down to surprise az and i bought another money pit that iv wanted for a very very very long time




Hung out in phoenix for a few days with my friends got the mr2 shipped back and continued my adventure. Got my wheels he has bin holding for me for the past 2 months


and got my 10K service done.

Got some inn n out




That DAM TDI




Drove to vegas for a night then to ABQ for a night saw some breaking bad places, then it was off to Oklahoma city.

Stopped at cadillac ranch




Then it was basically a straight shot home.

Few days later got my BLQ's on






Till next time

So what a fun two weeks. Had a friend move down to florida and he payed me to drive down with a bunch of his crap from Chicago to orlando. Ended up thinking to myself where else can I go since I'm already down there....





Installed the Nuespeed rear bar before the trip



Stopped at the tail with a fully loaded car and ended up over heating the brakes







This was the view from the driver seat of the back



ATL



Stopped at his house unloaded the car got some sleep and then headed out to key west

Saw this giant lobster


key west was such a ****ty drive 50mph the whole way



After key west drove back to my friends place spent the night and then hit the road again to another friend in pensacola


hung out with him for the day

Did beach things



Got some sleep and back on the road, woke up to go to NOLA




Stopped at another friends place, He owns NOLA MUSCLE PARK a ninja worrier gym out there. super cool place to visit if you are into that.





After spending the afternoon working out with him and getting dinner I hit the road yet again. Made it to the border and slept in hotel VW

So I got back Tuesday night and then Friday I hit the road again with a bunch of people.



The group



Found a abandoned drive in



Stopped at kitchi iki kipi super cool place





Did more driving




Saw this cool boat





more driving



Stopped at the tunnel of tree's



more beaches





This trip I was just tagging along and didnt plan a thing... It was nice not having to plan anything just go along for the ride.

Went to TDI FEST


Bought a skid plate







And then a cargo box



Did some biking




Went to devils lake




Did a kerma tune





Then i drove to colorado....

Biked down pikes peak



and drove down pikes peak



Did some exploring




Found some hot springs



and then dome cool roads



And a very low lake





Then went to the colorado monument






hiked hanging lake 10/10 would recommend



and then rocky mountain np



Then I started doing mods




got a bomba shorts throw shifter





Then went on the road again





saw the great smokeys




White golfs come, park in our spots





And then went full potato in florida




And then I installed some ST coils






Then i bought some VMR wheels



And then got some TTRS brakes.... banana for scale



Dinner plates in the front, tea saucers in the rear

GTI front sway bar installed and the car feels amazing

Oettinger front splitter? Damn you guys travel a lot, I'm jealous!

TDI wagon looks like an awesome road tripping car!

We should do a little VW meet up for those that live in the Chicago area!

Quite possibly one of my favorite threads for the sheer jealously i have for your ability to travel the U.S.

Great pics!

Makes me want to track down and repurchase my 1996 Passat TDI wagon, with its 25 gallon tank and 1,200+ mile range.

Sadly, it can't handle the powder sand beaches here, so I replaced with a 4Runner.

Good grab though. Last of the TDIs in the US. Great post(s).

stillwellm10 said:

We should do a little VW meet up for those that live in the Chicago area!

Click to expand...

are you on the chicagoland mk7 Facebook page? we have done a few meets

Derushi said:

Oettinger front splitter? Damn you guys travel a lot, I'm jealous!

TDI wagon looks like an awesome road tripping car!

Click to expand...

its a eBay splitter, and its a amazing road trip car, just wish it was AWD

BlueHen said:

Makes me want to track down and repurchase my 1996 Passat TDI wagon, with its 25 gallon tank and 1,200+ mile range.

Sadly, it can't handle the powder sand beaches here, so I replaced with a 4Runner.

Good grab though. Last of the TDIs in the US. Great post(s).

Click to expand...

I wish this thing had a 25 gallon tank that would be amazing