Behind the Wheel
Everyone has to get from point A to point B somehow, one of man's favorite machines does just that: the automobile. Anything pertaining or relating to cars in terms everyone can enjoy and understand, that's what you'll find here.
Ok...I am going to turn 16 soon, and in my state that means that I will be learning how to drive. I am scared to death!!! I really don't know what all the buttons on the car do, let alone what all the signs on the road mean. I know where the brake and the gas pedal are, and thats pretty much it. I know, not a very good start. Could you just give me a brief summery on how to drive, please???
What are the most common size (wheel diameter) of tires sold in Africa. How about a guess.
Chuckles's comment: The most common tire diameter for cars is 14" and 16" for light trucks. These seem to hold true all over the world as well as I can tell. I cannot find any specific data for Africa.
Behind The Wheel
Its time to go to college. Your Purple PJs operations manager was staying with me in California and we had to get her and her (new for her) car to her school in West Virginia. This means a ROAD TRIP! Road trips can be awsome. Route 66 groupie she is, we had to retrace old Route 66 as much as possible at least from LA to Saint Louis where we had to off in a different direction on Interstate 64.
We loaded up the jalopy to leave on August 10th for a four day road trip to West Virginia and than after a short rest, onward to Pittsburgh. OK, so a 2005 Chevy Cavalier is not an jalopy. Actually it is quite a nice little car being totally trouble free for the entire trip. We checked the oil and tires beforehand and made sure evrything was running well. We left about 8:30 in the morning on August 10th, 2008.
With your operations manager at the wheel, we headed out from Costa Mesa, north up California State Route 55 to get on State Route 91 eastbound where we got on Interstate 15 towards Barstow. After a quick stop for hot dogs at one of our favorite truck stops, the Flying J, we were eastbound on Interstate 40. The I-15 from San Bernardino to Barstow and the I-40 from Barstow to Oklahoma City were built on top of much of the old Route 66 though are stretches where the old Route 66 still exists. Of course, we had to get on one of these and before long we were in Amboy CA, the site of the soon to be ressurected Roys Cafe and Motel.
This long abandoned place is being restored and put back into service. Yes the gas was a little expensive at $5.29 a gallon. And being out in the middle of the desert, we were not sure we felt safer or not as the gas station attendant was packing heat. He had an automatic pistol in a holster on his belt. But it certainly was reminiscent of the days of the old west. To complete the atmosphere, it was about 105F there.
A bit further down old Route 66 we had to get back on the I-40 and we stopped for Dairy Queen in Needles, CA. We skipped the next Route 66 loop through Oatman and the Sitgreaves Pass as we had gone through there a few years ago in an SUV. But we took the next Route 66 loop through Peach Springs and merging with the I-40 again at Seligman, Arizona. Peach Springs was the inspiration for Radiator Springs in the movie Cars. And yes, that's the Purple PJs operations manager in the picture taken across from the Roadkill Cafe on Route 66 in Seligman AZ..
We departed the I-40 again at Williams Arizona in the late afternoon and headed north and we made it just in time to see one of the most impressive sights on earth, the Grand Canyon. After dark we drove down to Flagstaff and got a room at a Super 8 motel. We got a 10% discount with our AAA card. After getting take out dinner at Arbys next door it was lights out by 11 PM.
Flagstaff is a really nice place, even higher up than Denver. It is not what yoi expect for weather in Arizona, being quite a bit cooler than Phoenix. And it is surrounded by pine forests.
Our driving tip of the day is to stay with the flow of the traffic on the Interstate. Sometimes this is a little hard to do in Arizona where the speed limit is 75 MPH and the high speed there cost us about 4 MPG, combined with constant air conditioning use, bringing us down to 32 MPG for this day. We can normally get 36 MPG or better on the highway with a Chevy Cavalier or Cobalt. On the two lane country roads, 55 is about as fast as it is safe to go, specially on the less maintained parts of Route 66. At least we did not have to go between Barstow and Needles in the middle of the night like they had to do in tha days of The Grapes of Wrath.
Next time I'll tell you more about Arizona and our time in New Mexico
We loaded up the jalopy to leave on August 10th for a four day road trip to West Virginia and than after a short rest, onward to Pittsburgh. OK, so a 2005 Chevy Cavalier is not an jalopy. Actually it is quite a nice little car being totally trouble free for the entire trip. We checked the oil and tires beforehand and made sure evrything was running well. We left about 8:30 in the morning on August 10th, 2008.
With your operations manager at the wheel, we headed out from Costa Mesa, north up California State Route 55 to get on State Route 91 eastbound where we got on Interstate 15 towards Barstow. After a quick stop for hot dogs at one of our favorite truck stops, the Flying J, we were eastbound on Interstate 40. The I-15 from San Bernardino to Barstow and the I-40 from Barstow to Oklahoma City were built on top of much of the old Route 66 though are stretches where the old Route 66 still exists. Of course, we had to get on one of these and before long we were in Amboy CA, the site of the soon to be ressurected Roys Cafe and Motel.
This long abandoned place is being restored and put back into service. Yes the gas was a little expensive at $5.29 a gallon. And being out in the middle of the desert, we were not sure we felt safer or not as the gas station attendant was packing heat. He had an automatic pistol in a holster on his belt. But it certainly was reminiscent of the days of the old west. To complete the atmosphere, it was about 105F there.
A bit further down old Route 66 we had to get back on the I-40 and we stopped for Dairy Queen in Needles, CA. We skipped the next Route 66 loop through Oatman and the Sitgreaves Pass as we had gone through there a few years ago in an SUV. But we took the next Route 66 loop through Peach Springs and merging with the I-40 again at Seligman, Arizona. Peach Springs was the inspiration for Radiator Springs in the movie Cars. And yes, that's the Purple PJs operations manager in the picture taken across from the Roadkill Cafe on Route 66 in Seligman AZ..
We departed the I-40 again at Williams Arizona in the late afternoon and headed north and we made it just in time to see one of the most impressive sights on earth, the Grand Canyon. After dark we drove down to Flagstaff and got a room at a Super 8 motel. We got a 10% discount with our AAA card. After getting take out dinner at Arbys next door it was lights out by 11 PM.
Flagstaff is a really nice place, even higher up than Denver. It is not what yoi expect for weather in Arizona, being quite a bit cooler than Phoenix. And it is surrounded by pine forests.
Our driving tip of the day is to stay with the flow of the traffic on the Interstate. Sometimes this is a little hard to do in Arizona where the speed limit is 75 MPH and the high speed there cost us about 4 MPG, combined with constant air conditioning use, bringing us down to 32 MPG for this day. We can normally get 36 MPG or better on the highway with a Chevy Cavalier or Cobalt. On the two lane country roads, 55 is about as fast as it is safe to go, specially on the less maintained parts of Route 66. At least we did not have to go between Barstow and Needles in the middle of the night like they had to do in tha days of The Grapes of Wrath.
Next time I'll tell you more about Arizona and our time in New Mexico
Chuckles's comment: I hope you understand that learning to drive at age 16 is not mandatory. My daughter had no need to drive when she was 16 and did not get her license until she just turned 20. She was living in places that had good public transport and it was sufficient for her needs at the time.
If you are scared, the first thing to do is not feel pressured to get your license. A scared driver on the road who learned before they were ready is not a safe driver. Do not start to learn to drive until you feel you are ready. even if your friends pressure you to do so.
I suggest that you enroll in a professional driving school, where they teach you in a classroom before you get behind the wheel of a car. As well, obtain the drivers manual at your local DMV and study it. If you are nervous, learn from a professional instructor. Because learning from a friend or relative is very stressful on the relationship and many lessons from an amateur end in the student and amateur instructor screaming at each other. And you learn their bad habits.
In the mean time, whenever you are out with someone else who is driving, ask them to explain the controls as you use them. There are not really that many and their functions are pretty well obvious from their names. Also get them to give you a running commentary on the signs they are observing and after a while you will pick up what they mean. Because again, the signs are not there to confuse you. The picture symbols mean just what they are drawn to mean. This is a far better way to learn because you are observing what is happening and how the controls and signs relate getting from place to place safely.
Also, no matter what the guys say, do not learn to drive on a car with a manual transmission. You have too much else to learn to also have to cope with a clutch and gear shift. Always learn on a car with an automatic transmission.
But again, do not be pressured and do not pressure yourself to learn to drive sooner than you are comfortable with it.