Traveling with The Great Race the last two years has been a very exciting experience. You see new places and meet new people. This past summer though it was an adventure just getting to travel outside the United States into new territory.
After entering Canada from Michigan, our first checkpoint was a quaint little church way out in the country.
Our first overnight stop was in Greater Sudbury Ontario where we enjoyed delicious food from the A & W.It was also where I first tried Poutine.
From there our next overnight stop was in Barrie Ontario.
Our finish for the day was beautiful even though it was overcast, windy and chilly. The highlight of the day was that the scoring crew known as the computer nerds had to set up the scoring area at the nearby Hooters!
Traveling in Canada was definitely an adventure. Seeing the landscape, meeting the people and eating the food was an experience I will not soon forget. Sometimes I would briefly forget I was in Canada until I read the signs on the roadside or in stores. You don’t see Washroom signs here in the USA or see signs up at convenience stores that tell people they have to buy something to use the washrooms either.
If you have ever heard someone say Jeep Cherokee’s are tough, they are. Talking to friends and family about their Jeep Cherokees and routine maintenance It was quite interesting to learn how tough they are.
My best friend Mike owns a 1991 Jeep Cherokee Laredo that has over 350K miles on it. Engine and transmission are the originals. However, he informed me it has been close to a year since he changed the oil… He doesn’t even remember the last time he did a tune up either. So the other day he asked me to order a tune up kit from Crown Automotive.
Early in the Spring I ordered a tune up kit from Crown for $45 w/shipping. It comes with six spark plugs, spark plug wires, distributor cap & button, fuel filter, air filter and an oil filter.
Last week I had to order another tune up kit for a friend of mine who owns a 1999 Jeep Cherokee Classic with over 280K miles on it. She and I had spent most of the summer together traveling to Texas then to Michigan into Canada, New York and to Dearborn, Michigan. Between the two trips we put on close to 6K miles in 4 weeks time! She too couldn’t remember the last time her Cherokee had a tune up.
As you can see from the photo below it obviously been awhile.
Spark Plugs from a 99 Jeep Cherokee Classic
What I usually do during routine maintenance is change the oil, air filter if it is needed. I then check the brake fluid, antifreeze, power steering, transmission fluid, battery and go over the belt and connections. Every other time I will clean the throttle body/idle air control valve. With the tune up kit from Crown Automotive you cannot go wrong. It’s a great way to remind you to get all of the typical maintenance out of the way at one time.
Summer 2012 has gone by fast and now school is starting in my area. That means it’s time for my Jeep to get “back to work” and be the taxi for all three of my kids. Half the summer though she sat parked under trees at my best friends house while I traveled over 8,000 miles, most of it in a friends 99 Jeep Cherokee Classic.
Shortly after school ended for the year the plan was to head down to Santa Fe, Texas (and Galveston to the beach) to take my oldest son to my dad’s house while I was working The Great Race. Originally the plan was to rent a vehicle from Enterprise rent-a-car. However, after adding up the costs of adding me as a driver, plus insurance and a $150 deposit, we couldn’t justify spending over $500 to rent a car for a week. So my friend outright said lets take her Jeep instead. Besides, we had just prepared it to go on The Great Race as soon as we got back from Texas.
Round trip we drove 2,000 miles, 860 miles to get there plus running back and forth from Galveston for our daily dose of the beach (and our hotel was there too) which is approximately 40 miles round trip each time. There were days we did it twice…
Enjoying Sunny Beach in Galveston, Texas, Summer 2012
Plus I don’t take the way Google Maps says I should. There are tolls the way it says I should go and I don’t care for traffic. Besides, my kids always look forward to the Bolivar Ferry Ride each year, which is free. It also gives us a chance for one last restroom break and stretching our legs until we make it to our destination.
Thank goodness we were in the front of the line although it was quite unnerving when they let the front gate down! My son (seen in pic) always enjoys getting out of the vehicle to go upstairs and view everything around him. During the daylight you can see dolphins swimming around.
Our Jeep summer adventures didn’t stop in Texas though.
Less than a week later Janice and I were on our way to Traverse City, Michigan to begin working The Great Race, a vintage car rally that went from Traverse City, MI into Canada and around the Great Lakes that ended in Dearborn, MI. Each day we traveled anywhere from 200-300 miles during the actual rally. We were checkpoint workers so we had the opportunity to sit for nearly two hours watching 80-90 cars go by while we take their times. Some days we were lucky enough to get lunch at their lunch stops. The best part though was that since one of our overnight stops was in Buffalo, New York, Janice and I planned ahead that we would travel to Niagara Falls.
Enjoying Niagara Falls on the Observation Deck after a ride on Maid of the Mist
The Great Race trip total was two weeks long and 3,600 miles. Add that to the Texas trip and JeepGirl nearly did 6,000 miles in four weeks! That put her total mileage at 280K.
Let’s just say it was definitely time for an oil change and a nice tune up after all the adventuring we did…
For the past four months my Jeep Cherokee has been plagued by random stumbling/bucking issues. I’ve lost count as to how many times the fuel pressure has been checked at this point. I’d even added a can of Sea Foam to at least say I tried that. Every time though it reads normal. So the next step was to do a tune up, stumbling and bucking was still lingering. The next step was to change the throttle position sensor, which we did twice (one was a spare and the latter one is new). Still the stumbling lingered. We cleaned the throttle body, connection to the crankshaft position sensor and the stumbling/bucking lingered. It had even gotten to the point that at random times it would also just die on me. So Mike and I changed out the distributor, which showed some wear. We drove the Jeep over 100 miles in one day and it did perfectly fine. The next day the stumbling returned Sigh…
I ended up buying a crankshaft position sensor since my Jeep friends suggested that I replace it. My best friend drove it to work the following day and it ran smoothly—for the day. I go to take it home and halfway home the stumbling returns. This time though I caught the tachometer fluctuating.
After enjoying a trip to Atlanta to the 4 Wheel Drive Truck & Jeep Fest and to Summit Racing in McDonough, Georgia, I was in the mood to pop open the hood and inspect as many wires as I could and clean the idle air control valve and the ECM connection. It’s day three and so far the Jeep is doing well. In fact, she seems perkier now.
For the second year in a row I was asked to work the Hemmings Motor News/Coker Tire/Hagerty sponsored The Great Race. Last years Great Race I was working with the scoring crew as the runner. This year I had the privilege to work as a check point worker allowing me the opportunity to travel more of the actual route (working w/the scoring crew required us to get to the overnight stop ahead of everyone). This year’s race started in Traverse City, MI went into Canada around the Great Lakes, back into the US and ended in Dearborn, MI.
For a total of 14 days my friend Janice and I were on the road starting from home and stopping in Morristown, TN to stay at one of the other checkpoint workers’ home on our way to Detroit, MI, to the airport to meet the other checkpoint worker and get the rental car. Our next overnight stay was originally going to be Findlay, Ohio but since it was still quite daylight we went further north to Toledo, Ohio mainly because I remembered that is where the Jeeps are made 🙂
After getting settled in to our hotel in Toledo, my friend Janice and I headed out to find the new Jeep factory where the big JEEP letters were as well as locate where the Jeep factory that made the Cherokees once stood. We were able to find both which made the stay in Toledo that much sweeter.
Traverse City, MI was our next overnight stay, actually it would be where we stayed from Wednesday night until Saturday morning. For the most part it was enjoyable, minus the whole traffic congestion issue. Sault Ste. Marie, MI was our next overnight destination. The town was wonderful as they embraced us being there. While waiting in line to get a brat, I met a family from the northern Michigan area. They obviously could tell my accent was from the South. Of course me opening my mouth up and pronouncing Petosky WAY off had them all snickering. In fact one of them said from now on they would pronounce it like I did! It was great just getting to know other people.
I was definitely anxious about going into Canada. It would be my first time there and a dream come true. Of course it was once again raining so trying take pictures was nearly impossible. The best picture I got was at the border where it said Sault Ste. Marie Ontario Canada. Crossing the border was no where near what I thought it would be like. I guess with everything that has went on since 9/11 I expected officers with big guns and German Shepherds. Not so much.
Janice and I were chosen as the first checkpoint which was set up at an old primitive church way out in the country. Apparently the minister found out about the Great Race coming through so she cancelled the Sunday service, invited the congregation from the church as well as another one to come out and watch the vintage cars go by. At least 50 people were there and the excitement was incredible. The ladies of the church were so generous to the two of us-feeding us delicious muffins and tea. We had some amazing conversations with some of the people there. The most special thing they did was take the three Great Race programs and the hat we gave to the minister and held an auction. Right then and there they raised $112! Janice and I assumed they would take the money and put it towards improvements on the church. Instead the minister went over to Janice and handed her the cash to donate to the Autism Foundation that was created in part by Rex Gardner, one of the drivers participating in the Great Race.
After we finished up at the church we headed to our next overnight stop which was in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. While in Canada I made the goal I would find Poutine, which I found at the A & W. While the gravy obviously tasted as if it came from a can, it was really good. Sometimes now I wish we had a restaurant nearby that served Poutine as I don’t think I could even try to make it myself.
