“Creature comforts” means the little things that make you feel comfortable, like a place to sleep and relax. The speaker is saying they’d rather not rely on an RV for that.
Yellowstone National Park is a famous national park in the U.S. The host is using it as an example of a place where they’d rather not deal with huge RV traffic.
A front hitch is a towing attachment on the front of a vehicle. It lets you pull something from the front, which is useful if you want a specific towing setup.
Super Cruise is a feature from GM that can help drive on certain highways. It can let you take your hands off the wheel sometimes, but you still have to stay alert.
Vent windows are the smaller windows in the doors that can open a little for fresh air. They’re useful when you want ventilation without rolling the whole window down.
“Cigarette windows” are small windows in the door that open on their own. The name comes from an old habit of using them for quick airflow without fully lowering the main window.
A road rally is like a planned driving challenge where you follow a route and rules. People are often timed at stops, and arriving at the wrong time can cost you points.
The “Cannonball Run” is a nickname for a very fast, long-distance driving challenge. In this conversation, it’s mentioned as an example of the more race-like version of road rallies.
In these timed events, “penalized” means you get punished for not hitting the right timing. If you arrive too early or too late, you lose points or add time.
Topic
overcrest rally
The “Overcrest Rally” sounds like a car event where people drive a planned route over a long distance. It’s the kind of trip that can take days, and it’s more about the challenge and experience than just racing for speed.
A road trip is a longer drive where you plan a route and make stops along the way. People often use it to see how practical and comfortable a car is for hours of driving.
Formula One is the highest level of professional race car driving. Teams race very advanced cars on tracks around the world, and the season is made up of many races.
The Renault Clio is a small hatchback car, and the 5-door version means there are doors for both front and rear passengers. The podcast also mentions a Gordini edition, which is a sportier version of the same model. It’s the kind of car people pick for city driving because it’s compact and practical.
A “manual” is a car where you change gears yourself instead of the car doing it for you. It usually involves using a clutch pedal and moving the shifter each time you want a different gear.
A Renault Clio is a small car (a hatchback) that’s common in Europe. It’s the kind of car that’s fun and practical for driving around cities and doing long trips.
They’re talking about the Formula 1 race route in Monaco. It uses regular city streets, so it’s tight and twisty—more like careful driving through town than a wide-open track.
“Surface streets” just means normal city roads. For racing, that usually means tighter turns and less room for mistakes than on a track built only for cars to race.
Place
Fairmont Tunnel
A tunnel is a road passage through a mountain or hill. Here it’s mentioned as a specific stop on the drive, the kind of landmark that helps plan a route.
Term
side view mirror
The side view mirror is the mirror on the outside of the car that shows what’s beside you. When streets are really narrow, you have to be careful not to hit the wall with the mirror while turning.
Power steering helps you turn the wheel with less effort. If a car doesn’t have it, turning—especially at low speeds—feels heavy and takes a lot more strength.
A stall is when the engine shuts off because it’s not getting enough fuel/air to keep running. In slow driving, you have to keep the engine from dropping too low so it doesn’t turn off.
Term
revving this engine
Revving the engine means increasing engine speed (RPM) by pressing the accelerator. Drivers often do this at low speeds to maintain enough RPM to prevent stalling, especially when maneuvering in tight spaces.
Car
Ferrari
Ferrari is a famous Italian brand that builds high-performance sports cars. Here, the speaker is describing driving one around Ferrari’s hometown area.
Maranello is an Italian town that’s strongly connected to Ferrari. It’s where Ferrari is based, so it’s a special place to drive one of their cars.
Topic
Steve Grand Prix
“Steve Grand Prix” sounds like a fun nickname for a driving adventure they’re talking about. It’s more about the story than a specific car or racing category.
The Ferrari 458 is a famous Ferrari supercar. It’s known for being very fast and exciting to drive, and the host is talking about testing one when it was new.
The Nürburgring Nordschleife is a very famous race track in Germany. It’s known for being long and twisty with lots of ups and downs, so it’s a tough test for cars. People brag about driving it because it’s challenging and iconic.
Topic
ancient F1 track
They’re talking about an old Formula 1-style race track. It’s the kind of place where people go to drive like it’s a real racing event.
A roll cage is a strong metal frame inside the car. It’s there to protect you if the car flips or crashes, and it can also make the car feel more solid on a race track.
A downpour is heavy, sustained rainfall. In driving terms, it drastically reduces tire grip and increases the risk of hydroplaning, so lap pace and confidence drop quickly.
Qualifying is when race drivers try to set their fastest lap to decide where they start the race. They’re saying their driving felt like that—focused and intense.
Place
Nordisch life
They’re likely talking about the Nürburgring “Nordschleife,” a very famous race track in Germany. It’s long and twisty, and rain makes it much harder and scarier.
Lap time is how long it takes to drive around a track one time. People use it to compare how fast different cars (or drivers) are.
Place
North Slife
They’re talking about a famous race track in Germany called the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It’s very long and twisty, and when it rains the grip changes a lot, so driving fast feels really scary.
Joshua Tree is a famous desert national park in California. The host is talking about driving there and camping so you can experience the desert scenery up close.
The Alabama Hills are a dramatic rock area in California near Lone Pine. The host is describing it as the next day’s destination after Joshua Tree, with big mountain views nearby.
Highway 395 is a main road in California that goes through the mountains and desert areas. The host is saying you take it north toward towns like Bishop and Mammoth to reach the Alabama Hills area.
Mount Whitney is the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states. The host is saying the Alabama Hills are right near it, so you get amazing mountain scenery.
Death Valley is a very hot, very low desert area in California. The host is using it as a contrast to Mount Whitney to make the point that the trip is surrounded by extreme geography.
This is a forest of bristlecone pine trees that can live for thousands of years. It’s not just a quick roadside stop—you usually need to plan a route and a short hike to really see it.
Place
Mammoth
“Mammoth” most likely refers to Mammoth Lakes, a town in California near Mammoth Mountain. It’s a common base for hikes and scenic drives in the Eastern Sierra region, which is why it comes up as a stop on longer road trips.
This is a big, comfy Jeep SUV from the early 1990s. The hosts are saying it’s great for road trips because it has room for camping stuff and can be set up to enjoy the outdoors.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a family-sized SUV made for both regular driving and rougher roads. It’s the kind of vehicle people choose when they want space and versatility. In this podcast moment, it’s being brought up in the context of older Jeep SUVs from the early 1990s.
This means a V8 engine that uses a carburetor to mix fuel and air. The host is basically saying it can be less dependable and more annoying to keep running on a long trip.
They’re talking about swapping in a bigger GM engine (about 6.0 liters). The idea is that it should be easier to live with and more dependable for long-distance driving.
Dana 60 axles are a tough, heavy-duty rear/drive axle setup. The host is saying it would make the SUV sturdier and better suited for a road trip (and likely rougher conditions).
“18 miles per gallon” is the fuel economy figure being claimed for the modified Grand Wagoneer setup. It’s included to sell the idea that the road-trip build would still be reasonably efficient compared to typical big V8 SUVs.
Term
rear window that rolls down into the tailgate
This is a feature where the back window can roll down and disappear into the tailgate. It helps you get fresh air and see out while you’re parked or camping.
A drivetrain is the power system that gets motion to the wheels. When they say “modern drivetrain,” they mean newer parts that usually work more reliably and drive more smoothly than older ones.
A “classic car” is an older car that people like for its look and history. They’re talking about keeping the classic vibe but using newer mechanical parts so it’s easier to live with.
Term
six liter GM eight swap
They’re talking about putting a GM V8 engine into a different car. “Six liter” means the engine is big—about 6.0 liters—so it usually drinks more gas but can feel really strong.
An AC line is one of the sealed tubes/hoses that carries refrigerant between the AC components. The host jokes about putting a pinhole in the AC line to make it leak, which would require frequent recharging because the system can’t hold pressure.
LIVE
Welcome to Best in Class, the podcast where we're talking about the best versions of the
best cars.
I've got my two best friends here, Veronica and Andrew.
How are you guys doing?
Hi.
Pretty good.
Loving it.
Okay, good weekends.
I haven't seen you guys in a little bit.
Great weekends.
Andrew, I mean, I feel like this was your weekend.
Yeah.
I didn't do much,
I didn't do much.
No, I just kind of hung out by myself.
Whoa.
That's very independent.
Kind of a peaceful, yeah, yeah, independence day.
This is so bare work.
Would never quite strive.
Any fireworks?
Yeah, fireworks.
Drove through LA.
What was it, around 9 PM on that night?
And I saw a bunch of different fireworks.
So this hall's pretty cool.
OK.
All right.
Not very exciting, though.
I mean, the Lexus, about as exciting as it gets.
I think I was asleep by like 10 PM, you know?
Wow.
You guys have more exciting.
Please tell me you had a exciting Fourth of July.
How did you celebrate 250 years of America?
Oh, wow.
I mean, for every year I celebrated.
Oh, with a cocktail?
No, I wish.
No, I did the very American day, actually.
I have not gone to the beach in any meaningful way,
where people bring a towel and an umbrella and a chair,
and they spend the day there.
I did that during the day.
And that was really, really enjoyable.
OK.
Yeah.
And then for what?
What's that?
Like big group?
Or is it just you?
No, just me and a friend.
And then he had a few friends roll through.
And there were lots of tents and people and people playing
music and dogs.
It was a good old time.
And then in the evening, we barbecued and had a friend over.
It was pretty relaxed.
OK.
I don't know.
What about you?
Nothing thrilling.
There is a world famous parade in Pointe Dume in Malibu.
Is that right?
Where people, shall we say, dress up their golf carts
and parade them around.
No, don't say it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, my gosh.
I wish you told me I would have tailored mine back to LA.
And that's why I didn't bring it up.
Ah, it's heartbroken.
Yeah.
Heartbroken.
That's OK.
I'm OK with it.
I'm OK with it, actually.
Did you ride in a golf cart?
I did not.
I did not.
I passed on the event.
Yeah, because it's just sitting in the hot sun
in a very slow parade.
And yeah.
So.
OK.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So what did you do instead?
You know, very casual little tennis.
And then I have a dog.
So when fireworks come, kind of give them a big hug
and make sure he's all right.
Yeah, that's true.
That's true.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, I am waiting for them to invent the quiet fireworks.
This is the drone shows they got going on.
Yeah.
You know, those make a lot of noise, though.
If you've ever been here a swarm of those things,
it's horrible.
Yeah.
All right.
Now that we've just said the most depressing 4th of July
celebrations ever, is ever Veronica.
I think Veronica won that one.
I think I finally win something.
Yeah.
He held it down.
He held it down for the podcast.
This week, it was Andrew's choice of what the topic would be.
And you decided to pick road trip.
There wasn't much given to us about that.
It was just very general.
Yeah.
So we'll see.
I had one in mind.
I'm going to share what I've actually done.
And then we're going to leave it up to you two
to try and beat that.
So before I go into it, I wanted to ask you guys,
because again, we barely know each other,
what your idea of a road trip is.
So I'm going to start with a couple of questions.
And just an overview, what makes a good road trip?
When I say road trip, what comes to mind?
Hatred.
Whoa.
Yeah, we've got to make the trip for the podcast a little bit.
Veronica has made it.
Veronica does not like road trips.
And I was just thinking, maybe we could use this as like,
what would Veronica's favorite if she had,
if you had to do a road trip, what would it be?
But she's like, I would not do it.
I would not do it.
OK.
OK, well, this podcast is going great.
This is phenomenal.
I would boycott the road trip.
You did not mention any of this when we were discussing topics.
No, I actually was excited to be the one outlier of the three of us
I anticipated this.
I this is going to be against the road trip because I can't be the only one
that hates a road trip, but yet loves cars.
OK, well, we know with your Lamborghini,
Qantas ownership experience that you just don't drive it and you would trade.
That's right. So it does. It does. OK.
Well, I was backwards, but yes.
Can you save the podcast and tell me what what do you think of when you say road trip?
I think of seeing nature and going from point A to point B,
but it's not exactly about point B entirely.
It's also about seeing something cool along the way.
You know, road trip to me is like, well, I could have taken a flight
and gotten there really fast, but, you know, maybe there's something
really beautiful along the way I'd like to see.
And that's that's what makes a road trip.
Does a road trip have to have a purpose?
No. No, I'd say, well, just the road trip itself could be the purpose of the road trip.
Yeah. OK.
Andrew, you are a romantic.
Can I just say you're right.
Compared to the other two people on this podcast,
ours love a road trip.
I love a good road trip.
It's amazing. Yeah. OK.
Again, this isn't really for Veronica,
because I don't know where she's going with this.
We will find out.
Participate. We will find out.
What's what I say road trip?
What length? What's the ideal road trip length?
A short possible than zero other than zero.
So I.
I'd say like a week.
I'd like say six nights, 697 days.
You know, you really got to make sure you have enough time to not
to not run from each destination to destination.
Are you driving every every day?
Yeah, I mean, but there's some hikes, you know, you stop along the way,
go for a hike, see something cool, you know.
OK, picking picking any flowers every time.
Not only no, no, no, but I'm not a big flower guy, I got to be honest with you.
But I'm a big rock guy everywhere I go.
You know, you got to pick a rock, a cool rock.
That makes a lot of sense.
And it's just a lot of sense.
I like rocks. Yeah.
This doesn't surprise me at all.
Considering the fact that you're from Palmdale,
I bet you probably were hunting for geodes on the regular.
I mean, yeah, yeah.
Well, I can't say I've ever been like really rock hunting specifically,
but I'm always just like, gee, that's a nice rock.
I'll pick that up.
Do you admire it or do you take it home and destroy it
for someone else's experience later?
No, I let him collect dust in my own home.
Oh, OK. I continue to continue the erosion process,
but on a wooden shelf.
So the like take only pictures, leave only footprints doesn't apply to you.
You're like that applies.
I'll tell you, one place that applies is the Petrified National Forest.
You know, the Petrified Wood Forest.
I'd never take a piece of Petrified Wood out of there
because I think it's a felony.
It's also not a rock.
That's a piece of what?
It's a piece of what?
Yeah, I guess it doesn't even count what I'm talking about.
That's right. OK.
All right. So we're going for a week.
That's what we're saying.
Yeah, it's not OK.
A week, right? OK.
You guys are not going to like my story.
I'm all.
There's a question in here.
At what point does a drive become a road trip?
Does a what a drive become a road trip?
I mean, well, I feel like we're really getting into the nitty gritty.
Do you do you have an opinion on this?
I feel like in my mind, the best road trips, there isn't a.
Well, I don't know.
I feel like there shouldn't be a time or any specifics.
You can have an end somewhere, but.
Yeah, like a general idea of where you want to be at the end of each day,
but you got to allow for some adventure in between. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, how many how many hours a day
are you driving on your road trip, Andrew?
What's what's what's acceptable?
Well, I think.
And also, I'm sorry, if you're doing a week of a drive,
you tell me you're not driving a Porsche or a Lexus.
I mean, either like a Winnebago or something.
Well, well, you know, some people.
Why would I be in a Winnebago?
Well, not a Winnebago. I'm not in an RV. No, no.
What an RV. Why would you be in an RV?
I don't know, because maybe, you know, it's like on the road again.
And like, you know, you want to have like a place to nap.
Oh, no, no, no, no.
I'll be honest. They're called.
Creature comforts.
I'm driving through Yellowstone National Park or whatever.
The last thing I want to see come around the corner is a massive motor home.
I won't add to that.
I'm a graphic.
I don't like a dope air stream.
Well, now now an air stream behind the vehicle that I'm choosing.
Yes, that could be cool.
But I actually the whole time in my roadtrip,
I actually have a motorcycle on the back itch.
But technically speaking, I could do a front hitch
and have the motorcycle in the front and have an air stream in the back.
But I think RVs are terrible.
Yeah. And I have for vans. No, they should they should be outlawed.
I have all my lodging planned out.
So I don't I don't need the air stream.
Oh, you're going you're going deep.
OK. All right. OK.
I talked about whether it should be spontaneous or planned.
I'm a spontaneous road trip person. Oh, are you guys?
Oh, really? Yeah.
You have a plan makes me itch.
I need things planned.
I need to know where I'm going and need to know where I'm staying. OK.
You know, and maybe that's why I don't like a road trip.
The only the only plan that I need to make myself feel comfortable
during a road trip is a plan of how much money I can spend
and and enough money to spend.
That's the only thing that matters during a road trip. OK.
But I mean, where are you spending money if you're on a road trip?
I mean, dependent, I guess, on where you're driving to.
Yeah. Well, you know, it's just like it's nice to think like,
you know, if I blow up an axle on the Tioga pass,
you know, I have enough money to just take care of it that day.
And just, you know, money makes a lot of things go away pretty quickly.
Yeah, it does enough money, especially on the Tioga.
We're in podcast fantasy land.
So we're we're there's the budget isn't a part of it.
No, of course. Yeah. Yeah.
All right. Are you guys motel campground or we luxury?
I'm a luxury hotel person.
So what do you what are you guys doing?
All of the above.
Really? All of the above.
You got to mix it up a little bit.
You got to make a little bit.
OK. Really?
You're going to sleep outside somewhere at some point.
Well, yeah, because, you know, you got your 10 by 10
canvas tent in the back of the vehicle.
You set it up and I got a whole plan.
I got a whole plan. You'll hear shortly.
Well, excuse me, I'd like to answer this.
Yeah, I get it.
Luxury Hotel 24 seven. OK.
So not driving at all.
Well, we've already discussed this.
If I have to drive, I'm driving with an intention of getting there in one day.
And we're not doing like a long distance.
I mean, Vegas is as far as I can handle.
So even Vegas, would you just fly?
I prefer to fly, but I'll be honest.
I don't mind the drive because I do like to stop in.
What is it? The one with the temperature gauge?
What's that one?
That Baker Baker.
I like to stop in Baker.
Baker, that's a big thermometer.
Yeah, I like to go there.
I get a pickle at the Mad Greek.
I get alien fresh jerky.
Yes, alien fresh jerky.
And then maybe some scratchers at the Lucky, whatever the heck it is.
You know, they have geodes there, Andrew,
if you've ever driven. Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah. Nevada, beautiful place for cool rocks.
Yeah. I don't know what else, but they got some great rocks.
Just luxury hotel.
Yeah. And then, you know, and then that's where I'm going to drop some cash
on the piegout table.
OK, OK. All right. All right.
OK.
Are you guys solo roadtrippers or is there another human with you?
You know, I really like a solo road trip.
Yeah.
Because nobody can tell me like what music to play.
But I feel like on a seven day road trip,
it would be nice to have a companion with you, you know,
just kind of break up the monotony.
Someone you know or new person.
Probably a loved one.
You know what I mean?
Just somebody that, you know, you really like and they really like you
and you're pretty confident that that's true.
You know, I'm good.
What about a dog?
Would you bring a dog with you, Andrew?
I would. I would.
In this pool, there's a bench seat.
So, you know, having a little corgi next to me.
Oh, that'd be amazing.
I love it.
OK. Veronica, what about yourself?
I'm I'm taking the fastest possible way and route to get there.
OK. So a Tesla model.
Wild with with the autopilot or super cruise.
Absolutely not.
No, if my road trip is to Vegas, I'm I'm driving a nice, you know,
vehicle that's a manual that's got a great, you know, stereo system
because I, too, Andrew, like to listen to my tunes and loudly.
OK. Maybe a podcast.
Maybe I'll listen to a best in class podcast.
Nice shout out there. Yeah.
Yeah, I see. OK. OK. All right.
What's the furthest you've driven by yourself then, Andrew?
Oh, gee, probably eight hours straight.
That's not that long. It's
Where'd you go when I'm talking about distance?
Like, have you driven the East Coast?
No, I've never done a cross country road trip by myself.
I have done a cross country road trip,
but the most I've done is probably like Southern California and the only California.
Sandy, what's the longest?
What's this cross country road trip?
How would you go from where to where?
Well, my sister was going to school in Upstate New York
and she had the Jeep there and I won my Jeep back.
But she had to have it up there because that four wheel drive and it snows or something.
You know, and you drove it back to LA or drove it back to yeah.
And we went to each each national park we could.
So it was kind of a zigzag across the United States.
So Veronica would be having a horrible time because he's like, why are we not going there?
Yeah, because we would just go like south to Washington, D.C.
You know, Shenandoah National Park.
Then we go up to like Indianapolis and then all the way over to
what's the power monument?
You had to be in a car, Veronica.
Like, have you have you gone to another state?
Yes. OK. I I my husband and I went to visit friends in Draper, Utah.
OK. And we broke it up in two days, even though it's like,
let's just say 10 hours roughly from Los Angeles.
I was good to Vegas.
And then the minute we left Vegas within the first hour,
I was just livid.
I was livid because there's there's something about like driving on freeways
where there's nothing near the freeway to just like quickly pull over
and like pop into a cute little store or see what's going on at the country market.
Like that I'm down with.
But if it's just highway.
And and like beautiful landscapes.
You want a mini? Yeah.
Yeah, it was it was subpar.
I would say this, Andrew.
You had a great time doing all of the all the national forests and parks.
That's exciting.
But I probably would have slept between them
so that I could just get to each destination.
OK. What about you, Steve?
I feel like we're missing out on your your narrow.
I mean, I have driven to Canada.
I drove to Canada. Wow. By yourself.
Yeah. Yeah.
What was that running from the law?
No. Oh, it was just to see.
I had a friend flying up there and I thought, well, this will be a fun road trip.
I've driven to Colorado.
Wow. Yeah.
So you're a fan of a road trip.
A road trip.
A road trip where I don't have to.
Like not not.
I don't mind stopping.
I'm not in a race, but just you're just going to kind of drive
and explore as you go. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. No. So no, I'm I'm I'm a driver for sure.
But that's that when I purchased the Defender, it was in Ohio
and I was tempted to fly out there and drive it back.
And then I talked to my friends and they're like, you're an idiot.
Do you have any of the stuff it's going to take?
And you're going to put thousands of miles in your car before you can get home.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So but it would have been an adventure.
It would have been a it would have been something but yeah.
No, smarter voices prevailed and I did not.
Good friend said paid someone to drive it back for me. Yeah.
Oh, oh, you didn't ship it.
Somebody actually I mean, I shipped it.
Oh, OK, OK. All right. All right.
Well, like you're rich, you know.
Oh, well, no, just irresponsible.
I think that's that's what it is. Yeah.
Yeah. I'm like, gee, how much would it cost?
Like how much would somebody pay me to drive a car from Ohio back here?
You'd have to pay me a lot of money to do that in a normal.
But your number. I don't know.
I don't a couple of grand at least, you know, grand or two.
Yeah. Veronica, you charge more than that.
How much you know, how much is it to throw it on a car on a on a.
Quite like four grand. Yeah.
Is it really four grand? Yeah. Damn.
Yes. Yeah.
What would what would it cost to get you to drive from Ohio to L.A.
Maraca, what would be your number?
No, I would. First of all, I will tell you this.
I get sleepy, you know, like when you don't do it, it's not a race.
It's not a race.
Say, I put 500000 dollars in your account
to get a car from Ohio to L.A. No time frame.
You're doing it. Yeah, you're doing it.
I think you do it. I think it'd be way less than that.
OK, well, listen, if I could cheat along the way, then then, yes, I'm in.
What's cheating? What do you mean, cheating?
I don't know. I'll figure it out. I got ways.
I'm going to find somebody else to drive for you and just.
I'm going to link like seven different drivers to drive her
back to California in the same car.
Seriously, though, for for half a million dollars, you wouldn't drive from Ohio.
I'll I'll I'll drive using air quotes it there.
Yeah, sure. Wow. OK.
OK. All right, I got a few more questions and then we can get through it.
Playlist. What are we doing?
Or is it not? I don't need the actual tunes.
But are you doing tapes, CDs, is it a podcast music?
What are you what are you doing?
Well, I love Spotify, you know, I got living in a blessed age
where I can just go in between all of them at the same time.
And you know, the well, you'd be Playlist podcast and then album.
OK.
We're on album.
You got to go on.
You got to listen to what's going on by and gay start to finish.
OK, start to finish. OK.
No audio books for you guys.
Oh, oh, yes. Oh, yes.
Oh, yeah. Love an audio book on a road trip.
Yeah. Oh, God, I might have taken a nap as we're talking.
I would say, yeah, I'm with you, Andrew, minus the audio book.
I podcast music.
I don't know that I would go album front to back, but.
Yeah. Yeah.
So I got a you know, have you guys ever heard of the application called nugs dot net?
Nugs. No.
It's a really odd name, but is this is this appropriate?
It is. It's a music streaming service.
And what they do, they just post live concerts of all these different artists.
So it's just like it's like Spotify.
But you know, if you want to listen to a certain night of Billy Strings,
they got it. And it's just like, that's so fun on road trips, because you can just do.
Well, I want to listen to Bruce Springsteen from 1999.
Then you can go to 1978 and then you go to 1984.
Compare all the differences. You know, it's it's fun.
OK, right. I got a question.
When you said Billy Springs, I was strings, strings, strings, strings.
But when you said Billy Springs or whatever you said,
I didn't know who you were talking about.
And then I realized you mean Bruce Springsteen.
No, no, no, Billy Springs.
Yeah, Billy, Billy, Strings and Bruce Springsteen are not that close.
You know, not very, very different. Yeah, very different.
Oh, OK. Does one play the guitar?
Well, strings does, you know, has the name has the name.
And then Bruce Springsteen also plays guitar.
And so does he or does he just shake his little booty with?
No, he's a good. Yeah,
We know what's up.
Could I convince you guys to take a analog road trip?
Oh, does that mean I don't drive?
Um, am I going to SIM?
What does that mean?
That means nothing digital.
You got to use an actual map. Oh, God.
Yeah. No, you're.
So I have I have a like a realistic case.
I think it's from Radio Shack back in like the 70s or 80s.
And you can fit 12 different cassettes in it.
And you can just bring the whole little briefcase with you on the road trip
and listen to each one in order.
That would be amazing.
And, you know, bring a couple of maps with you.
I think I think.
Yeah, torch, torch of Veronica would be like, you need to.
Take a road trip in the scout.
Oh, have everything be period, correct.
Yeah, with zero AC.
Yeah.
Just pull over on the side of the road.
The whole the whole thing is smoking because it can't.
No phone.
Does it have vent windows?
Does the scout have the smoker windows?
It does have cigarette windows.
Yes, that's great.
No ashtray. Oh, that's not true.
There is a center ashtray.
I take it back.
Hmm. OK. Yeah.
I'll actually be driven to smoking if you force that upon me.
Oh, OK. Interesting.
Yeah. All right.
And I don't know if we've talked about this, but have ever
either of you ever been on like a road rally in your car?
I have not.
What's like a checkpoint, like anything like that?
No. What can you explain what that is?
Well, there's different ones.
There's ones that are like a race, right?
You're familiar with that to get to like a cannonball run.
Sure. Yeah.
Yeah, you can do that.
Or they have ones that are timed.
So you need to get to each checkpoint at a specific time.
If you get there too fast, you're penalized.
If you get there too slow, you're penalized.
And so they get at the end money.
Well, it's just for fun.
It's just to see how perfect you could be.
No, no, no.
It's in a classic car. No.
No, not sold.
No, this I mean, unless we're talking about like 30 minutes,
like, sure, I'm in, but you're talking about
like hours or days. Yeah.
Yeah. Well, if you guys have you guys heard of the overcrest rally?
Yeah. Yeah. So they just they just announced,
I think it might have been today that the one in the fall is going to be in
California, but I have a buddy.
He's got a 1991944 Porsche
and he drove from Florida all the way up to the top of the country
for this most recent rally by himself.
I have friends that drove from LA.
I have a friend who drove from LA. Yeah. So amazing.
And Veronica, you're not doing it. You're
No, I'm cringing as I'm hearing these stories.
Now, by the way, only if I were to envision myself doing it,
I applaud those that do it.
I, you know, we have a friend who just moved back to Canada
and drove, you know, down to the East Coast and then to Texas
and then here and then she went back.
I commend her.
OK, but not for me.
Not for you. OK.
I did a I mean, years ago,
I did a poker rally.
So each stop, you get one card.
And then at the end, whoever has the best hand wins.
Well, that's fun.
So I've done that on the like 912 registry and 356
registry drives, but those are, you know, kind of like those holiday weekends
where all the 356 is meet up and same day drive.
But then they didn't have the poker draws and everything.
Yeah, I won a wine bottle when I was twelve years old.
Oh, no, couldn't do much of that.
It explains a lot. Yeah.
Was that was a goal?
Yeah. Yeah. OK.
Do you still have it?
No, I think I tried it a couple of years ago and it was terrible.
A couple of years ago.
Yeah, not not worth it.
You've been for twelve years.
Yeah, I kept it for a long time because I had a cool Porsche sticker on it.
I'm like, that's a neat bottle.
Really tastes terrible.
Yeah. Yeah.
OK. All right.
So those are all my road trip questions.
Great. Moving on.
We're going to jump into it.
Right. So I'm going to tell you the ultimate road trip.
And this is one I actually did.
And then you guys are going to be up.
So about ten years ago, I think.
Anyway, it doesn't matter.
Probably longer. That's what's sad.
I followed Formula One around Europe.
That's amazing.
I flew to Paris.
Picked up my Renault Clio Gordini edition,
which you know, because it has stripes on it.
Mm hmm.
Very French.
It's like a souped up mini, essentially a mini Cooper.
Back in the day.
And it's cute.
Yeah, it's a famous race.
What year was it?
201213
So probably have something like that.
It's blue with white stripes.
Very manual.
And I when I picked it up from the rental place, they were like,
we've never had anyone actually rent this.
Because they had like 11 miles on it because nobody wants a manual.
And so a blue shift.
Do you remember it had a blue leather shift boot?
Or I don't know.
That's phenomenal. Wow.
Yeah, it was the best.
It kind of looks like the body of my car, my fiat of Barth.
Yeah, it's basically it's a mini Cooper Barth kind of.
It's a yeah. Yeah.
It's a Clio, a Renault Clio is what they call it.
So cute. Yeah.
So I picked that up in Paris
and I drove following Formula One around.
So I went to Germany, German race.
I went to the Hungary race and then back to
Spa in Belgium.
And how'd you do the accommodations?
Every night, a local spot or every night, I'd stayed at an amazing hotel.
Real I can tell you how much money I spent over the course of probably 60 days,
maybe a little less, but I did 11 countries.
Well, I think I put 12,000 miles on that rental car by the time I returned it.
Amazing.
While I was in Italy, I rented a 308.
I didn't have one yet.
I rented a 308 from a guy who had an Italian villa.
Only spoke Italian.
Signed up for it online on the internet as you do.
Went to this guy's house.
He only spoke Italian, gave me all the instructions.
I had never driven a three way before.
He gave me all the instructions and I went to his house and his backyard,
which is filled with classic cars.
Whoa, it just.
He frosted you.
Yeah, I mean, who wouldn't?
Who wouldn't?
Well, I know of you.
Yeah, OK.
And so I got pulled over by the Italian police.
Yeah, Polizia.
Who just wanted to talk to me about the car.
We had ice cream together.
They were very nice.
And I drove through the vineyards
where they play the music for the grapes.
I don't know if you're familiar with this.
I have heard of this. Yes.
Yeah. And you can drive through there.
Wow. Which I'm sure they appreciated the wine of the great way to.
Yeah. Oh.
And I visited all the factories.
So you had like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Ducati.
They call it like engine value or motor sports value
or something like that.
And again, three F1 races.
Went through the Alps, went through Italy,
went to Monaco, took the Cleo and drove the F1
Monaco track because it's just surface streets.
Fairmont Tunnel did all that.
And a bunch of museums and arts and saw the saw the Lilies
from is it Monnets, Monnets, Lilies, Lilypads, famous paintings.
It's actually a real thing.
You can actually go and see, you know, the same view he had.
Same exact view.
They have it marked out that you can stand and you can see the bridge
and the Lilies they have in the pond are genetically related to the ones you painted.
Wow. Like.
Well, so let me just real quick.
You've got to walk me through the story of the of the ice cream.
So you're driving this rent and thrill wait.
I'm sure you're a little stressed out because.
Gee, I've never driven the three away before.
And then you see the lights behind you.
Yeah. But what's that like?
You're like, oh, I should be pulled over by the police.
I know lights.
It was just a very strong get over.
You know, that type of thing.
It was not.
It was very, very controlled.
And I think at the time I was on like a almost like a gravel road
because like I didn't know where I was.
I had no.
That's most of Italy.
Yeah, no maps, no cell phones, no nothing.
No, no, I mean, I had a cell phone, but I didn't really know
because there's like they call them like, oh, this is a dirt road.
And they call them different like they're like different colors or I don't know
how they do the maps, but I had no idea.
So I was driving around and I was probably just driving around the same place
and people were like, what is this person doing?
And they finally just yanked and pulled me over.
Yeah. And how close was the cream?
What's that? How close was the ice cream?
It was just in town.
I think they just kind of pulled me because they I don't think they wanted me.
Well, basically what happened was I'd been driving
and I ended up going through like a historic town.
And base of the streets are super narrow.
It started out giant and then all of a sudden it just got narrow, narrow, narrow, narrow.
And I was literally, I mean, you couldn't the side view mirror
into the wall was inches and everybody thought it was very funny
because I'm trying to maneuver and make these turns.
No power steering, revving this engine and trying to not stall it.
Oh, my God. It's so hot.
I'm just ripping sweat.
And I thought, oh, I'll just reverse.
But by the time you're in there, you're like, I can't.
So going four miles an hour for probably 35 minutes
to get out of this town.
Oh, it was just it was there was some advantage.
But but everybody was like cheering you on like all the kids were hanging out of the like.
He's a national hero because it was a Ferrari.
And everybody in that town to this day has that memory, probably.
Probably. Yeah.
And so at the time I was traveling on a British passport.
Because I have British citizenship.
So I rented the car on that.
And then the police were like, well, you sound you don't sound English.
And I had my other passport.
And so they were like, OK, so you're an American.
In an Italian car on a British passport, just passing through like, where are you going?
And I was like, oh, there's no real plan.
Like it all sounded, you know, nowadays, it probably would be way more suspect.
But at the time, they were just like, Sir, you're going to finish your ice cream.
You're going to drive back to where you're staying.
And we don't want to see you driving this car anymore.
And I was like, OK.
And yeah, I went back to the villa and they had found out where I was staying
and had called that place because they were like, where are you staying?
And I was like, oh, it's a house or it's a man.
I didn't really know.
And they had called and said.
And then when I got there, that guys were like, yeah, you're you're not allowed.
You're not supposed to leave.
I'm sure. OK.
So I had to return.
I had to return the car like two days earlier or something.
Yeah. So back.
So back into the Gordini.
Yeah, which I was relieved.
I was like, oh, that's enough for me.
But I did drive it.
I did drive the Ferrari around Maranello, go up around the center square.
Did you take any photos of it in the in the town?
Oh, yeah, I have a whole I kept the blog.
That's what we did back in the day.
Oh, yeah, of course you had a blog.
Yeah. Mm hmm. Cool.
We might need to see it when it's called the Steve Grand Prix.
I'll send you guys a link. Oh my gosh, this is.
We're going to need to link that.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, this is peak.
And at the time was when the 458 was just coming out.
The 458
And I test drove that and a guard.
Because, you know, you can rent them.
They let you drive around town. Yeah.
And so the if you drive a Ferrari in Maranello,
you there's no stop signs.
There's no you just kind of do.
Yeah. And I can remember this is a poor memory from it,
where the guy that's with you, once he realizes you're not like a crazy person,
he's like, oh, yeah, go ahead, just just go, go.
And you're on.
You know, city roads going very quick.
And I came up on construction and I was like, oh,
these guys saw the car and then they waved the flags like
a racetrack driver and like encourage me on.
I was like, oh, this is so so Ferrari.
And so anyway, a lot of fun adventures.
So look at that.
Gelato driving through a tiny hilltop town,
getting encouraged by the, you know, workers on the road.
I mean, it was kind of made everybody's day, I feel like.
Yeah. And then I ate lunch at where Enzo would eat lunch every day
across street from the factory.
It's a little restaurant. Yeah.
That's pretty cool. Pretty.
Do you remember what you ate?
Did you eat the same thing as Enzo?
I ate the same thing that Enzo ordered.
Nice. What did you order?
You have to tell us.
I can't remember what it was.
It was pasta something.
OK, it was a pasta. All right.
All right. Yeah.
He was carboating the day. Interesting.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
I know it was an adventure.
So drove around Europe, ended up going all through
like the Netherlands, France, Denmark, Norway, all the way back.
And I drove on the.
Is it the they called the Nordschleife?
The Nürburgring Nordschleife. Yeah. Yeah.
So I drove on that.
Do you know what that is, Rana?
No, it sounds Norwegian, though.
What is it? Very Germany.
It's an ancient Germany.
Ancient F1 track.
And what they allow you to do is because it's essentially a toll road.
So you can drive on it and there's no speed limit.
OK. And basically, you just pay for your ticket
and everybody drives like animals on there. Wow.
But yeah. And you can go on YouTube and look up crazy videos
and they use it as a test track and whatever on that day.
Two people on motorcycles had died. Oh, geez.
Yeah. Yeah. So I bought my ticket.
And everything got delayed.
I got a Renault, McGon, Megan, McGon.
But there's like a this would be like Andrews World,
where they basically take a car, strip it out, put a roll cage in it.
And that's what you rent.
Down. So I got to rent five laps, right?
Thinking I'm the best driver in the world.
I got this. Yeah.
What I didn't know is that one lap is like 14 miles.
Oh, wow. It takes a while.
It takes a while.
And you're flooring it.
I mean, you're going at what's your what's your top speed
or what's your median speed?
I thought I was flooring it, but it's truly terrifying.
Everybody goes in there confident.
And also you have a bunch of cars going past you.
Right. I'm in a little whatever Renault.
And I've got Ferraris, Porsches, motorbikes, whatever,
kind of going past you at all sorts of times.
No, gross. Yes. So I said, you know what?
I'm going to be clever about this.
I'm going to wait until the end of the day
when there's not as much traffic.
Uh huh. Perfect. Yeah.
Got my ticket, got my little car, go on there.
Starts pouring.
Oh. Oh. My 40 laps or whatever I did were in a downpour.
I was out there by myself driving through pouring rain.
Just laps to lap. Yeah.
So. And were you crying, holding the wheel or?
I felt like I was qualifying in like a grand prix from like a movie.
Yeah. I was like, this is this isn't getting the full experience.
But yeah, it was a lot. Wow.
That was my that was my Nordisch life. Wow.
So that's my road trip. So very nice.
There you go. I don't know.
I got to say, I don't know if that in my mind is a road trip.
It's it's more of like a vacation.
You know, like a road.
I know you started this question, this this podcast
with the question of like what constitutes a trip.
But when I hear that, that has such like structure and story.
And, you know, it's like when someone says,
I'm going to go visit Italy and France and, you know, Greece and so on.
It feels more like that to me.
Whereas like a road trip, at least however, I've always envisioned it.
And maybe it's that I've had the wrong.
Vision of it is more like what we were talking about at the onset,
that American road trip of like we're driving.
Oh, oh, hi, or you're driving to Canada.
You're driving, you know, I think you guys just got a dream bigger.
I think that I think maybe that's it.
You I think what Andrew has to say.
I maybe yeah, I don't know.
Drunk. OK. All right.
You guys are up. You know, my road trip.
Oh, I think one thing to that is that like the road trip is kind of an American
experience because well, no, I think it's like New Jersey to Texas.
You know, how much how many European countries can you cover in that distance?
I mean, all of them, all of them.
But you know, so it's like Americans have
relied on cars to travel these long distances more so than Europeans
historically because America is so spread out, you know. Yeah.
That's ridiculous.
I'm on Andrew's train.
OK, OK.
So my trip was too long to be road trip.
I was it was too too too exotic, too complicated, too too layered.
OK, it has to be like a one track mine.
We're just going. I don't know.
I don't know, Andrew, are you are you with me on that at all?
Or are you disagree with me?
I don't know. I mean, that's just I think that's just like the best road trip ever.
Short of mine, of course.
But you know, I just you rent a car and you see a lot of things.
That's a road trip.
Hmm. I was in a car the entire time on a road.
And you saw a lot of things. Yeah. Yeah.
I feel like.
But OK, that's right. There's no wrong answers.
Let's Andrew.
Well, do you remember your lap time?
Do I remember my what?
Or a fastest lap time around the North Slife.
It was raining. So you're just terrified.
No, I was I was.
I mean, I think I felt like was out there for two weeks.
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, because I think I got like 14 minutes in a Volkswagen Toron
when I was riding around the I don't know what it was,
but it was it was the longest lap to my entire life.
I didn't think I was going to make.
I was just like, well, I paid for these things and I was leaving my.
That was the last like I was leaving from Paris 40 hours later.
So I was like, this is the last thing I wanted to do on my.
Did you have anybody in the car with you?
No. Oh, see, that's nice.
What are the people that rent you the car?
Do a couple laps with you just to make sure you don't die.
And then they say, go ahead.
And because they're like, look, there's no one out here,
just just go till you want to come back.
And I was determined to like get better on each lap.
And then I was like, what am I doing?
Nice. Yeah.
All right, let's get through your guys road trips.
Let's hear it.
All right. Well, my road trip is a little closer to home.
It's kind of a California road trip.
It starts in the Santa Monica mountains in Malton.
You know, you start, you know, maybe like.
Does it leave the Santa Monica mountains?
No, it just goes around now.
So I kind of road trip.
You started like a little place or something.
I started to get like a burrito or something.
And then you drive out to Joshua Tree.
So when you're out in Joshua Tree, you can kind of, you know,
you have the tent set up and everything.
And you set up next to the Jumbo Rocks.
And then from there, you know, you camp out, kind of have that natural experience.
Day two, you drive from Joshua Tree to the Alabama Hills.
Have you guys, you guys know the Alabama Hills at all?
Is it in Alabama?
No, it's in California.
It's up Highway 395 up towards like Bishop and Mammoth.
And like Lone Pine area.
And so the thing about the Alabama Hills,
it's right at the base of Mount Whitney.
So when you wake up that morning, you just wake up to the best valley on earth,
I think, you know, because on the other side of the mountains,
on the other in the other direction, you have Death Valley.
So it's just you're in the middle of this, you know, the lowest point
in the contiguous United States and the highest point.
Really beautiful place.
That is beautiful.
So day three, no flowers, no flowers, a lot of rocks, rocks.
And day three, Alabama Hills.
And you drive all the way up to Mammoth.
So in Mammoth, that's where you get kind of the high end hotel.
Let's see, did I have is it by the way, is it summertime?
Is it winter time?
I'd say it's fall time.
Fall time. It's fall time.
But you know, so Alabama Hills is kind of dispersed camping.
So you're just kind of parking up and unloading and just.
It's just kind of free there.
But Mammoth, you got the Weston.
I printed this out, the Weston Monache Resort.
That's the nicest resort in Mammoth.
That's where I'd go because you got to know two nights of camping.
You're going to want to take a shower.
Yeah, like an actual meal and Mammoth, you go walk down into town
and they usually got live music or something like that.
All right. So day four, you wake up in Mammoth, California.
How many days is real quick?
77 days, six nights, six nights and seven days from.
So so Mammoth, you're going to go to your seven.
You're going to go to Yosemite.
And have you guys ever done that drive?
Yes, 395 over to Yosemite.
Beautiful, beautiful drive. Yeah. Yeah.
And so that, you know, you can stop and I'm kind of missing a lot of stuff here
on the Alabama Hills.
I'd want to see the the ancient bristlecone pine forest.
That's really cool along there.
Mammoth, you know, there's a lot of good hikes kind of adjacent.
You know, you have.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Time to lake and everything.
And you cannot just jump through this bristlecone pine forest.
You got to tell the people what this is.
This is stunning.
It is really one of the most beautiful places on earth.
I did not.
Get facts and figures on the place,
but they got some of the oldest, oldest trees in existence at this park.
OK. Wow.
I mean, these are just these really complex looking trees, you know,
the the bark of the tree is all twisted.
And it's all pointing right up to the sky.
And the thing is, I was just saying,
it's they look like a Disney movie character, right?
These trees and growing.
The thing is, they're like almost I think they're almost they're near the
tree line of the mountain.
So they only grow in this unique area.
And the road trip, I feel like.
Yeah, I'm coming on your road trip, Andrew.
OK, so you got that.
And then a cool place.
It's a bit somber, though.
It's not very, you know, lighthearted, but along Highway 395,
you have Manzanar. Have you guys heard of Manzanar?
No. Yeah, I have.
That's that's that's that's it's the Japanese internment cap from the fours.
Oh, and it's preserved in everything.
Yeah. So, you know, I'm driving up Highway 395.
And as you said earlier, you're looking at a bunch of nothing.
Yeah. Well, no matter how soft it is,
it's nice to be able to stretch your legs and walk around a little bit.
Sure. And, you know, kind of a cool history place you can stop by and then.
Oh, that's where you want to stretch your legs at the internment.
Yeah, you know, just walk around a little bit, because it's like I'm I don't want to
get into that. But what a terrible thing to do to people, you know?
Yeah, at least they left it there so we can remind ourselves of what not to do.
You know, yeah, except that we're doing it today.
Well, yeah, yeah. Yep.
Yeah. Well, OK, so behind, you know,
beyond that, you can go up to Bishop.
You guys have been to Bishop?
Yep. And you got mahogany smoked meat.
You got shots baked bread.
You ever go into that bakery up there? Oh, yeah.
Just packs of people.
You got to hit the bakery on the way out.
You got to. It's just a cheap bread.
Well, you get there.
Really, really tasty.
Have you done this road trip, Andrew?
I've done the first half of it. OK.
Yeah, I've done it in sections.
If I really want to link it all together, I think it's a real good seven day road trip.
It's from from Bishop.
You go up to Mammoth and between those two, you have up to lakes and,
you know, places to hike.
You can go fishing.
Really, really.
Yeah, you got hot springs right there.
Yeah. So that, you know, that's kind of a whole day of driving.
There's not it's not a long day of being in the car, but you can stop off and everything.
And now we're back to the Weston Monache Resort in Mammoth.
You know, you just get a nice cooked meal there and go to the bar, you know,
actually socialize.
And then in Yosemite, I'd stay at the Awani.
You know, the Awani Lodge.
Does that ring any bells?
No.
But so it's like it's a historic landmark inside of the park.
And you know, this place is cool.
This is the kind of place I would want to get drunken.
Yeah. Yeah. You know, and think of think you got to imagine that your
Theodore Roosevelt or John Mirror and you're just getting drunk.
OK. Yeah.
You know, thinking about how beautiful Hetch Hetchy Valley is before they filled it
with water, you know, things like that.
Things things to think about when you're in Yosemite Valley.
OK. So then, you know, you wake up in Yosemite and that's one of the most
beautiful places to wake up in America, in the world even.
I'd say in the universe, man, these aliens, they haven't seen Yosemite Valley,
you know, beautiful, beautiful place to exist. OK. OK.
Then we're going to cut across California and go all the way to the coast.
Bodega Bay.
And there's there's there's a there's a sandwich place out there called the
Marshall Store.
And you look at the Marshall Store and it's one of the best sandwiches I've ever
had in my life.
It's worth driving across the state for.
What's what's the sandwich?
Tell us. Yeah.
They it's a bunch of seafood sandwiches.
So I can't really like, you know, it's like but the oysters there.
Oh, yeah.
All right. Really, really the best.
OK.
And then back in the car with you, by the way.
I was out.
So in Bodega Bay, you know, it's kind of more pastoral and rural.
So the you're not going to find a five star resort there.
So I found this place.
It's called the Farmhouse Inn.
And it's in the Russian River Valley.
But they have a Michelin Star dining program.
So how about that?
You know, have some good eats in the Russian River Valley.
Wake up the next day.
Yeah.
And drive to Big Sur.
Something I'm sure you guys have all been to Big Sur, you know.
Yeah. Yeah.
I'd, you know, try to get a campground at Kirk Creek, you know.
But that's almost impossible to reserve a campground there.
But, you know, in a perfect world, that's where I'd be.
You wake up in Big Sur that morning, drive down to Santa Barbara.
And then once you're in Santa Barbara, you get lunch and then you're back home.
It's my seven day six night road trip.
Wow. I can I just say your road trip is very well planned out.
Well, thank you.
You've chosen great places.
What? I.
Hold on. You had your moment.
Hold on. What?
You made you make mine sound reckless.
Well, yours was reckless.
You drove too fast and you almost died.
No, I did not.
OK, keep going.
All right.
The farmhouse in which I feel like we need to plug looks amazing.
It's really, really cool.
It's real cool.
Well, the thing is, is it?
Is it though? Is it the one in Sonoma?
Is that the one you're on the Russian River Valley?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, it's gorgeous.
So this being a car podcast.
We haven't mentioned what type of car I'm driving that time.
You know, there we go.
Yeah. Are you driving the same car the whole time?
Are you swapping cars throughout?
Well, so so I need to have the ability to have my canvas tent in the back
and some like, you know, cooking supplies and, you know, the ability to live out.
So I need some space in the back,
but I also want to be able to put my, you know,
blanket down on the beach and look at the, you know, waves crashing down on the coast.
Yeah, well, and I'll tell you what the best vehicle for the job.
Well, Andrew hasn't been snapped up yet, but I know.
This is going to get I feel like it's coming.
I feel like it is.
It's going to come.
It's a 1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer.
Three weeks in a row.
Of course it is.
Well, no, I got to make this clear, though, because you think on a road trip,
nobody wants to be driving an AMC carbureted V8, you know, really not that reliable.
No, I think you take the final year Grand Wagoneer and you put a GM six liter in it
with Dana 60 axles.
I mentioned this before, a 60 60 Grand Wagoneer.
Yeah. Then you have 18 miles per gallon.
Ice cold AC, a rear window that rolls down into the tailgate.
So, you know, that's a super underweight.
You're going in a classic car. You're doing it.
I had a class car in mind. There's other.
Well, no, no, no, but it's a modern.
It's a modern drivetrain in a classic car.
So you have all the benefits of modern reliability and all the style
of the Jeep Grand Wagoneer, just like Andrew.
And it fits all the children that you're going to have, the five kids that you're going to.
Well, and, you know, it's either children or, you know,
I just kind of imagine myself doing it with a Corgi on the passenger seat.
Yeah. You know, just looking out.
What's the Corgi's name?
Oh, I don't know. I used to have a Corgi named Buster.
I'll just name him Buster, too. Buster, too.
You know, I miss that. I miss that guy.
Yeah. May he rest. That's right. That's right.
That's a great trip.
Yeah. What do you think, Steve?
How does that?
I mean, you got an echo, right?
Yeah, that was odd.
I thought, yeah, for a second, that's OK.
I mean, I think I feel like it could be a little more grandiose,
but I get it. Very well thought out.
Hey, hey, this is history.
No, I know. I'm just saying.
It's perfect road trip.
Perfect road trip.
There's, you know, there's a whole world out there.
I think I've converted.
I think I've converted Veronica here.
I mean, I'm seeing some cool things along the way.
And then here's the thing.
It's very accessible. I could go do this tomorrow.
That's right. If I didn't have a job, of course.
That's right.
Maybe the three of us do it together.
That'd be a great time.
Yeah, I am not available that way.
Sorry, I'm busy.
Whatever week it is, I'm busy.
Would we go in the same vehicle?
We'd have to.
We would record the pod every day.
We don't. Oh, man.
It is like Lord of the Flies.
Just what the people.
Three individuals losing their minds in a cheap wagon here.
How long do you think you'd last, Veronica?
You think you make it?
I'm in and out.
So when when the camping happens, I'm out, you know.
Oh, but, you know, good.
Andrew and I in the.
Yeah, I'm thinking, are there any campgrounds in Alabama?
Or I'm sorry, hotels in Alabama Hills.
And I don't think so.
Yes, I don't do.
I got to say, the Alabama Hills is also a very historic film location
for Hollywood movies.
You know, those really cool rocks and people, you know, filmed in the 60s.
You know, it was usually filmed at the Alabama Hills.
Oh, interesting.
So we've got one road trip left.
Oh, man, this road trip.
Did we save the best for last?
It is short.
I don't know. I'll be honest with you.
I'm I was boycotting this one.
So I'm not I did not plan a road trip.
OK. And it's, you know, it's it's.
It's just not for me, guys.
It's not for me. Can you can you tell me?
Take me through.
There's no scenario.
The husband surprises you.
Amazing classic car.
Amazing hotels along the way.
No.
We're going on a road trip.
And it's a scenic route.
No, there's nothing I can.
There's nothing I can do to get you to do it.
I just can't do it.
I get just can't do it.
It's not enjoyable.
It's OK.
It there's just nothing that makes me.
Find it as a as a romantic enamoring.
Is that is that a word enamoring experience for me?
For you know, no, again, if I'm going to Vegas,
I got a destination.
I got a plate up table to hit.
I'm I'm on my way.
If I'm going to go to like, I'll tell you this,
I do enjoy driving up to San Francisco.
OK, that's crazy.
If I'm not on a freeway.
Oh, OK, I was going to say the fire freeway.
No, because it's terrible.
You understand it's terrible.
I can't get hair.
OK, that's a road trip.
That's five hours at least.
Oh, more than five hours.
You're more the one.
You know, oh, the one's going to be.
Yeah, you're you're now a road trip person.
You do that.
Well, here's the thing.
If I'm being forced, if
that's that's essentially what we're doing.
OK, well, then then I'll do it.
I mean, as short a distance as possible, I'm in.
Would you take that same distance from LA to San Francisco,
but just do it in another place in the world?
I mean, in Italy, I would do it.
OK, OK, so see, see, you know, I do it.
It just needs to be elite enough that you do.
That's right. That's right.
It needs to be bougie enough that I'm doing it.
That's OK. I did think about doing
I did think about this because I did do this.
Coming around, I knew we'd get you there.
Just take me through it. You're in Italy.
So no, I'm actually not in Italy now.
I did this once and now, mind you, we were not driving.
We were on a production.
My husband's a photographer.
So we were on a production and it was in.
In where were we?
The Highlands.
So we flew into Edinburgh and then part.
And then the shoot was in the Highlands.
So there was a, you know, transpo van or whatever you want to call it.
And we drove up to the Highlands.
Let me tell you, it is stunning.
Yeah. And that that was a road trip that I enjoyed.
I think you are a road trip person.
I didn't drive. This is why I was a road trip person.
Well, yeah, but would you but you you.
OK, road to driving road to a passenger road trip person.
See that's right.
OK, OK, OK.
That's different.
That I that I'll all consider.
Would you sit up front or you would like sit in the back of the Rolls Royce
and be driven on your road trip?
Well, our driver was quite a bit of a character.
So, you know, I moved around.
It I would get my fill with him and then I'd be like, I got to tap out.
I got to go to the back of the bus.
But yeah, I mean, if the driver is a good custodian of the land,
I think we made a lot of progress today.
You started out vehemently against road trip.
You were just like, no, I'm participating.
And now we know it just has to be super high end.
Yeah. And bougie and you're not driving.
That's right. Very similar to your Kuntas ownership experience.
That's correct.
You know, have you have you ever got one of them party buses going up to Vegas?
Like that'd be a really good time.
You ought to do that. No, but I would like to do you know, with the LED lights.
And then you go on a bus.
Oh, well, the stripper pole. Yeah, I mean, yeah, you go on a bus tour.
Well, I mean, if for five hours, though, that feels like a lot.
OK, OK. Don't you think, Andrew?
Well, I'm like to.
I just you just be like a Mojaveer in Spaceport.
That's about all you can see on that drive. So yeah.
OK. All right. No, I'm this has been a success.
Are you happy? Yeah.
Yeah. Because you were so anti and it's just just the right amount of money.
I thought that Andrew chose this to to to bring me down because, you know,
we did offline have this conversation.
But but no, maybe maybe I just need to hang out with Andrew more because I think
you do, you know, you break my shell.
You got to just you got to find the beauty and everything.
You know, even if it's just a simple rock, you know, it's still got beauty.
It's just a dollar figure is what it feels like.
I think it's true.
Well, speaking of dollar figures here, I actually have one for you.
Oh, though the base route that I kind of calculated my road trip would be
would be 1300 and 53 miles.
But I'm just going to say 1500 because I'm going to be driving off
the trail and whatever. OK.
So I probably need about 83 point three gallons of fuel.
Oh, so the estimated estimated cost overall would be 400 and 82
dollars and fifty cents. And I tell you, that's very affordable.
500 bucks in gas.
Yeah, it's flying.
Yeah, when today's flight costs, I think that's great.
Yeah, but this is only enabled with the six liter GM eight swap.
That's right. Of course.
Yeah, yeah. Why would you drive anything else? OK, that's right.
All right. That's right.
Like I said, I'm taking this as a win.
I think we're going to turn the corner. Yeah.
And I think the best road trip here. Yeah.
I should do this next week. But I get it.
I learned that all road trips have to be American.
I had no idea. Yeah, that's right.
That was that was the thing.
But apparently just like pizza, it's an American invention.
Well, whoa, whoa.
That is where that is where gloves come out.
Yeah. Or off. Shall we? Shall we?
All right. OK. Well, I'm I would I'm trying to think I would probably go.
I who you won't you've already gone.
I know I'm just trying to think like if I had to pick one of the road trips out
of you two who would I go with?
Like which? Yeah. Oh, we'd have a good time.
Come on. Come on.
I think I think going through Americana with Andrew. Yeah.
We're really like I would want to be there.
Veronica, what did you say earlier when they were a very good custodian of the land?
That's a really good way of putting this.
Just like when I go on road trips with my buddies,
they just telling me to shut up, dude, we do not need to know about what's going on around us.
Oh, no, I'm a talker. Yeah. Yeah.
And I'm just like, I just, you know,
Steve would enjoy my rose.
Rose of land.
That's right. It's like it's like you're being you've got like a like a personal
what's it called like a like a Star Maps tour.
Oh, no, that's not right.
I think people call it a captive audience.
No, but it's really got a guide.
Before we leave,
do now that we've got you on to the road trip.
Well, ish, but go on. Mm hmm.
Do you have any road trip rules?
Like when you're in a car with someone?
Yes, I just had this conversation the other day and I was like, what?
Before we leave quickly, do you guys have any road trip rules?
I hate air conditioning.
Oh, OK. I hope Andrew just passed out.
I have heat stroke.
It's what do you guys? I have heat stroke.
OK, what else? Anything else?
Hate it. Just hate it.
Do you not like the like the the dryness?
I feel like the because it because it like dries out the air.
I don't want to be.
Listen, if I'm outside of my home, there's a reason I want to be in nature.
And I'm shocked that you're not in the same boat with me here, Andrew.
You want the windows down, you want the air in your ears and in your hair.
Maybe the sunroof is down as well.
The music is blasting and you're living.
I grew up in the sunny town of Palmdale, California.
Yeah, AC, very important.
I know, I know. Any other little known fact.
Yeah, my husband also grew up near Andrew
and he is a lever of what do you call it?
Ice cold air conditioning. AC. Yeah. Yeah.
I really like R 12.
What's R 12?
Well, Steve, you know, Steve's got R 12 in his Ferrari.
Yeah, it's kind of an older style of refrigerant.
Now cars use R 1.
It's like, oh, it's an air conditioning thing.
Free on, yeah, refrigerant.
It's the chemical that runs through the pipes.
Oh, good. That's great.
So you're breathing that.
Well, not exactly.
Not exactly. I don't even turn the car on.
I just turn the AC on.
I like I like putting a pinhole in my AC line so it leaks into my car.
You have to recharge every couple of days.
Any other any other?
Yeah, Andrews, he didn't say.
What? Yeah, Andrew, what's your road trip rule?
I really don't have many rules.
The I'm a little weird about crumbs in my car.
OK, you know, kind of.
Well, I'm OK with eating, but it's just some of my buddies
tell me they're going to be careful.
And then I look at the seat after they've walked out of my car.
And it's just the whole burger is on the seat.
And I'm like, what happened here?
So that's my pet.
Yeah.
Who? I would have to say.
Road trip rules.
When you get out of the car.
Close the door.
Respect. OK.
The people that get out, the people that get out of the car
and just leave the door open and then go do something
and then they just leave the door open.
Drives are crazy.
Can't do that.
Are you road tripping with children?
I mean, what adult doesn't?
A lot of people, a lot of people like just to leave it open
and like get something out of the back or just it's like just just close the door.
Yeah. Yeah, you need you need new friends.
And then I would have to say.
Oh, we're all adults by this time.
By this time.
A bathroom break doesn't come on suddenly.
Like figured out.
You got to plan it.
It's just we know we've stopped.
Why don't you just go?
I'm going to tell you that's me.
Yeah, that's me.
Just comes out of the blue. I got to go.
I got to go.
You got to pull over because I got to go.
Yeah. OK. OK.
I feel the same way.
Same way about like hunger.
It's not instant like plan.
Just just kind of be like, oh, yeah.
It's not I'm not.
Yeah. So anyway, those are days on a road trip.
You got to have snacks. You can't be.
Yeah. Yeah. No, you can have.
OK, give me your road trip snack and then we'll get out of here.
What's your oh, I mean, I mean, I'm I'm clearly going to Rainbow Acres or Aero
One and I'm getting all kinds of, you know, maybe these are above my tax bracket.
Andrew, we're rich in this.
That's right. That's right.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
What so what are you getting? What
I'm going to get some some fish jerky.
I'm going to get some.
Yeah, some fish jerky.
Are we talking like tilapia or salmon salmon salmon?
OK, OK, OK.
So not white fish jerky.
I didn't even know that exists. OK.
I don't even think that smell like salmon jerky.
It smells like protein and health, Steve.
Probably salt and pepper, mainly.
Oh, yeah, it's great.
Maple, some popcorn, but I will say the I'm with you, Andrew.
I don't like messy stuff in the car.
So what I like to do with pop, I like to.
Yeah, I like to put it inside of a cup.
That way you're just, you know, you're just chugging.
While you're OK.
That's I got to say,
Nutri-Grain Bar, I'm definitely going to the Andrew.
You guys know the salmon sticks and popcorn.
Yeah. Yeah. OK.
Nutri-Grain Bar. Go on, Andrew.
I got to say, no Nutri-Grain Bars in my vehicles.
No, those are too much of a mess.
Too many crumbs, too many crumbs.
But you know what my snack of choice of is on this road trip?
You got to bring a panini press
so you can just make roadside grilled cheeses.
But not while you're driving. Not while you're you can.
You can. It's got to be something you can eat while you're driving.
Well, no, no, no.
So the cordy can pop over the bench seat and onto the back seat.
And then you have the panini press open on the bench seat, seat.
Yeah, not doing it with a tiny little pop pressing.
You could also just make them ahead of time
so they're kind of melted already.
But then while you're driving, you turn on the panini press
just to rewarm them, you know what I mean?
Get them all warm up again. I'm crushing this.
Give me an actual give snack.
Ah, gee. I really like a Mike and Ike.
Oh, OK. You know what I mean?
I really like a Mike and Ike.
And that's a nice.
But, you know, you just feel like crap after eating it.
But, you know, it's a road trip.
So you can have Andy.
I will probably go.
I probably if I'm really treating myself, I'm probably a Funions guy.
Oh, of course you are tasty.
What does that even mean?
You kind of seem like a Funions guy or a Bugles guy.
Not Bugles. Those aren't even real things.
I don't like the taste of a bugle.
No, you can put them on your fingers and then eat them off your fingers.
That's a mess. No.
Mm hmm. OK.
A Funion guy. Funions.
I got to say, I'll do I'll do licorice, some sort of licorice.
Black or red?
I'll probably typically choose black, but I'll do the red.
Any anything but twizzlers or red vines.
Right. I can't I can't do those two brands, but the other licorices are good.
OK. What other licorices would you do in America?
I mean, it's it's it's all about the boutique.
Well, I'm sure the Italian one, but the small batch licorice, you know,
that's a good time. OK.
OK. A car podcaster.
Yeah.
You're making you're making paninis in your car.
Don't don't give us a hard time.
It's not cruising right snacks with your car.
Making you I'm telling you a filled with dog hair on real keys.
Oh, that. Yeah, that's so gross.
You know, with the tiny little paw presses, the panini may go.
No, it's not a.
Although I have a little chef's hat for the court.
No, that's good. Yeah.
A panini paw press.
If that doesn't exist already, I think you need to you need to.
Yeah, make that patent that.
Well, because it'd be like a waffle press,
except you just have the imprint of a pop on it.
People would. Oh. I.
OK, you heard it here first. Yeah. Right.
Yeah. If I see that on Etsy tomorrow, I'm going to know.
So moral of the story is we are taking a road trip together
and we're going to do a best in class road trip.
And we can record it together.
Yeah, it's going to be live streamed the whole time.
Live streamed. That's a good idea.
It's going to be 72 hours.
That's a great idea.
It's just going to be me me sleeping in a tent
for eight of those hours, just silently.
I'm not I'm not taping you sleeping.
That's a step too far.
I like this idea. All right.
I'm in as long as we're just going somewhere short.
OK, Canada, it is.
There you go.
I'm thinking actually the Dalton Highway
way up in Alaska.
Is that what that? Oh, yeah, that might be too far.
Veronica, that's way too far.
All I'm saying is we started this podcast
with two road trip aficionados and now we have three.
Well, well, OK, I accept.
I accept. Yeah. Yeah.
That's progress. That is progress.
That's amazing.
We went on a journey today and we got we did.
We did. We didn't have to leave the seats of our homes.
No.
Whose choice is the next week?
Is it it's mine?
OK, OK, it's mine.
I'm really excited about it because I haven't given it any thought.
OK, I'm going to give it some thought.
And it's going to be pretty epic.
Just whatever it is.
I don't believe in it.
And I'm just going to say no.
It's going to be great. Yeah.
All right, everybody. Good to see you too.
I'll see you next week. Always the pleasure.
Always a treat. All right.
Let's run through our social media real quick.
Steve was no. We did that.
They already know. They know.
They know.
No, we run.
Hey, you know what?
All that anybody needs to know is if they're in the T.O.
A.K.A. Thousand Oaks, where are they going to go?
Andrew, you're going to go and motor sports.
That's right. The best automotive repair shop in town.
That's right. OK.
All right, let's get out of here.
All righty.
About this episode
The hosts kick off with casual Fourth of July stories, then pivot to Andrew’s topic: what makes the ultimate road trip. The group debates whether road trips are about the destination or the scenery along the way, how long they should be (roughly a week), and whether they should be spontaneous or planned. Andrew loves the journey, stops for quirky roadside sights and snacks, and even has lodging strategies. Veronica openly dislikes road trips, while the others balance luxury hotels with occasional camping.
This week we are talking about the best road trip you’ve been on or wish you had. You’ll need to choose a car, have a route and defend your choice. Veronica has a strong anti-road trip policy, Andrew once again keeps it all-American while Steve takes more of a global view. Who is right? And what are your road trip rules?
