The Kinda Grand Tour [FINALE]

Community Challenges & Competitions
142

Team Bamford

“So where’s this rest stop?” asked Phil, scanning his map with confusion

“Crescent Lake” replied Simon “Near Forks”

Jason perked up “Forks? Hear that Phil, Forks!”

Phil went as white as a sheet and was deathly silent for the next few miles while the other two boys laughed.

The team made a 30 minute stop at Crescent lake where Ken and Simon had a brief check over of the car and Jason followed a nervous Phil around, constantly ribbing him about their location.

“Right!” called Ken from under the bonnet “What in all that is holy are you two going on about!”

“Phil used to date a girl who moved here” replied Jason

“So?” asked Ken as he slapped the air filter against his pants

“She was obsessed with those Vampire films that they made here”

Phil finally broke his silence “She tried to drink my blood…”

There was a brief moment of silence before Ken roared with laughter

“Now that is something else!”

With their break over and the car running fine, they rejoined the road on the way to their next POI, with Ken joining in the fun and constantly asking Phil if he’d seen any vampires running behind them.

8 Likes
143

TEAM OUTRIDERS

Blake: yawn

Marc: zzzz

Luigi: yawn Stop that, it’s contagious.

Blake: Sorry.

Marc: yawn I needed that.

Luigi: Of course you did, that’s all you cops do.

Marc: No we don’t!

Luigi: Really, so you swing by the RV lot behind the building as your patrol route?

Marc: Yes, we keep an eye on that as well to make sure nobody is doing anything they shouldn’t be.

Luigi: And that happens to take 45 minutes to an hour?

Marc: You exaggerate.

Luigi: At least the ones driving the Senecas have an excuse with that carbon monoxide leak TSB. But you drive the other ones, so you have no excuse.

Marc: Anyway, what’s the game plan?

Blake: We’re coming up on Ruby Beach, I’m thinking of stopping so we can stretch our legs.

Marc: Good idea, I’m feeling better after that little nap, so I can take over.

Blake: Fine with me, I can catch some shuteye then.

Luigi: Shotgun!

Marc: You can’t call shotgun when you’re still in the car. It has to be when we’re headed for it and the car has to be in sight.

Blake: Eh, you can take the front. I want to stretch out in the back.

7 Likes
144

You motherfucker, you know what you did :joy:

1 Like
145

Team BAGS

Brian: We’re approaching Ruby Beach. Should we stop there for a while?

Gary: If we do, we’d get a chance to rest and take in the scenery.

Amy: We can keep up our pace if we just drive on…

Stephanie: …but believe me, continued long-distance driving without rest stops will eventually take its toll on us. So I suggest we stop this time.

Brian: Agreed, we’re going to stop there as soon as we arrive. We’ll need to make up some time thereafter, though, one way or another. And for good measure, during each rest stop, we’ll inspect the car to see if anything is amiss.

5 Likes
146

#Team ‘Southend or Bust’
Original Post - Previous Post

The story so far: Three uni students in a clapped-out orange Merna touring the Pacific North West. It’s been smooth running so far with Martin at the wheel, but for the first time, they’ve got an issue…

“Oh my…” James said with excitement as they turned off the 101 and into the parking area for Ruby Beach. “That’s…it. That’s really it”. He’d become like a child all of a sudden.
“Hey, I’m the Geography student here, I’m the one who’s supposed to get excited by oceans” replied Seb in a mock-angry tone. “Anyhow, Martin, what’s up?”
Martin was comparatively annoyed. “Lights keep flickering whenever we brake. It’s only minor at the moment, but it means either the alternator or the battery are about to go bust”.
“Shite” replied Seb.
“Yeah, not good. I’m gonna look under the hood, do you mind finding the service manual and seeing when the battery was last changed?”
“No problems, shall d- Hang on, where’s James?”
James was already running down the hill to the sea. Martin managed managed to catch a glimpse of him just as he disappeared around some bushes.
“I think he’s gone to see the sea” said Martin.
“Well that solves that then” replied Seb, bringing out the service book and flicking through it.

James, meanwhile, had found the beach, and was quietly sitting by watching the sea. For all his typical laddish hardness, he had a soft spot for certain things, and one of them was beautiful parts of the world. This was no exception; not only had finally managed to see the Pacific properly, but he’d done it on an recluse, other-wordly beach, surrounded by pine trees and covered in dead trunks. A little way out to see, a large cut-off rock stood, surrounded by smaller stacks that had once been part of the mainland. He thought to himself, ‘if I were a film director, I’d definitely use this place for something’.

.

Back on the road, Southend Or Bust were no longer quite at the back, having overtaken some of the teams that had also stopped at Ruby Beach. The going was good, though Martin was keen to solve the battery/alternator problem.
“I’m still thinking its the battery, it’s 4 years old and it looks pretty tatty too” he said.
“Yeah?” replied Seb “And we haven’t got a spare on us have we?”
Martin chuckled. “Nope!”
James was behind the wheel now, still smiling about that beach.
“God, James” said Martin, “that beach really made you happy didn’t it”
“It did, Martin. It so did”. James’s thoughts returned to the beach.

“God you guys” exclaimed Martin. “First Seb meeting his mancrush and now James finding a beach. It’s made you two so soppy!”
James and Seb looked at one another. “Don’t get too jealous” said Seb.
“Oi” replied Martin. “Well never you mind, I will have my soppy moment too”.
Silence in the car. James snickered. Martin did too. “That sounded so wrong” he said.

.

At last, they made it to the Columbia River estuary, and the border with Oregon.
“Woop woop!” shouted James as they climbed onto the Astoria-Megler Bridge.
“Yeah!” returned Seb. “Good driving guys, I think we’re doing quite well for time”
“Shit, are you actually checking?” said Martin.
“Er…no?” said Seb. “Eh, who cares”.
The other two agreed.

As they continued over the bridge, Martin thought of something. “Wait, wait, I recognise this”
“What, have you been here before?” asked James.
“No, it’s um…”
“What?” returned James.
“Oooh! It’s from a film, with Arnold Schwarzenegger in it” said Martin excitedly, “One of his funny ones”
“I didn’t know he was in any funny films” said Seb. In fact he’d barely watched any Arnie films at all.
“Oh god I know it, this place we’re coming up to is where it’s set, he’s an undercover police man and there are loads of little kids”
James looked aghast, slightly shocked. “What sort of film is this?”
“KINDEGARTEN COP!” Martin shouted, surprising the other two.
Silence.
“Okay…” said James shortly after, slightly bemused.

6 Likes
147

team 1'); drop table participants; --

Introduction  |  Previously

Friday, 6pm-8pm

Sitting in city traffic, driving through Port Angeles

Da Wei : I’m glad they provided a GPS for us. Well a map too for the older folks if they prefer it. But we can see where the other participants are with this GPS. Which is…… 30 miles+ ahead of us. how much ground have we gained up again?

Frank: The only thing I know is we’ve lost about 45 minutes. We shouldn’t have trusted in that damn battery from the start.

Da Wei : well. it is an old car. it might be that the alternator is on it’s limit and is going out soon. which, i hope doesn’t happen on the road. i’ll check it again when we’re at the next stop.

Frank: I wouldn’t worry about that, we got a new alternator prior to the roadtrip. That should do. When do we finally get out of that town?

Da Wei : it’s a small-ish city. so we’ll be stuck here for 30 mins at worse. maybe? so. among the few snacks that we brought, what did we brought?

Frank: Uh, bought some apples at where we started, and I brought some cookies. Leibniz, De Beukelaer, … it’s in the box behind the driver’s seat.

Da Wei : i’ll fetch the apple then. while it’s still fresh, you want some too?

Frank: Yea, give me one too. Helps against tiredness.

Da Wei reclined his seat trying to expand his arm’s reach. fetching the bags of snacks, and taking out 2 vacuum sealed apples and then opening both of them before handing one to Frank.

Da Wei : here you go.

Frank: thanks. takes a bite of the apple as traffic starts rolling again

On a straight stretch of road somewhere past Lake Crescent. Frank is pulling past a pickup truck, the speedometer approaching 80 mph.

Da Wei : hey. i know we’re trying to catch up here. but doing 80 in this road is reckless. slow down. besides, the time we lose by slowing down, we make up for less time refuelling. plus i’m gonna take a nap now, so i can drive the next stint. so be reasonable. okay?

Frank: lifts off throttle, puts on a sarcastic undertone Right, forgot we’re in ‘murica. The land of the V8 and the land of travelling at crawling speed. Guess we’re never gonna catch up. sigh

Da Wei : bitch all you want. catching up slowly is still better to me than never catching up at all because our car breaks down. now. i’m going to sleep

Frank: Okay, I’ll let you sleep for some hours. But some time in the evening we should do a driver change. I’m getting tired as well. Plus, we’ll need to refuel. Only got about one third a tank left.

Morale: +2 (+1 total)
Fatigue: +3 (+5 total)

6 Likes
148

Friday 4-6PM

Mr Hankey Rolls into the parking area at Ruby Beach.
Bill: This is really nice, Aunt Toni!
Toni: It’s nice, sure, but I’ll take the Gold Coast anyday.
Bill: Really? Ooh, there! That’ll make the best photo. Hold on.
Toni: We should probably grab a bite here somewhere. Then maybe a driver change.
Bill*: Agreed. And I’ll take the wheel. You jump in the back and have a rest. Fred can stay on the maps.
Toni: Fred?
Bill: (Gestures at Wookiee)
Toni: Why don’t you two get along?
Bill: Don’t have to. Besides, he messes with other people. Someone will eventually snap. Then, I’ll be forced to back him up, not an idea that I relish.

Beach wander and burgers down, they return to the patiently waiting V8 powered giant borrie.

Wookiee: My drive!
Bill: Fail! I’m up.
Wookiee: I’m still navigating then? Fine. Tomorrow, that wheels mine.
Bill: We’ll See.

4 Likes
149

And I’d do it again! MUHAHAHAHAHA.

###On another note,
I think I failed to clarify something with regards to upcoming POI and next waypoint. These are informational, and not happening during the current data posting. a couple of you in this last round have posted that you are at or beyond Ruby Beach. Not a single car has gotten there yet (but very close for many). I put the POIs out so you can PM me if your team wants to stop/rest/gawk in the next round of data (because it affects many things like mileage, morale, and fatigue). The Waypoints I throw out for RP flavor, but you do not actually reach or interact with the waypoint until I state in your team’s notes that you’ve made it to there. With the teams starting to stagger significantly in mileage, this will become more apparent. I’ll PM the people I’ve spotted who are a little ahead in their RP.

While we’re on topics of upcoming stuff

Overnight rest. You can Google and specify a place you’d like your team to stay overnight (campground, hotel, etc.) if you wish and I will make sure to run your team’s stats accordingly. If you don’t PM me to specify something, I will assume the first night you camp at Fort Stevens State Park in northern Oregon.

10 Likes
150

I was getting a bit confused with everyone talking about getting to Ruby Beach and even crossing into Oregon already. I thought I was a lot further behind in my RP than I really am. I also hope to get some RP up soon as well, been busy and this has been progressing a bit faster than I expected overall.

Would hotels reduce fatigue more than if we overnighted in tents or our car?

5 Likes
151

Hotels: Biggest decrease in fatigue. Modest increase in Morale.
Campgrounds: Biggest increase in Morale. Modest decrease in fatigue.
Dispersed camping or sleeping in car: Lowest decrease in fatigue, no morale effect, shorter duration than other rests.

Hotels and Campgrounds are considered to have approximately the same duration (slower pace for breakfast but quicker checkout at hotel, quick breakfast but have to take time to break down camp for camping)

For teams that are resting overnight, I will make sure to mark any time periods when your team is asleep/resting and note your progress as 0 during those timeframes.

And for those wondering, high Fatigue levels will lead to Morale decreases as well as increase your chance of an accident.

7 Likes
152

Then my question is : At wich Fatigue Level someone is considered “Sleepy”

153

Fatigue related problems start at 10 points of fatigue (your teams all started with an undisclosed but identical amount of fatigue due to having been up for a few hours before the start)

I will be warning teams in notes when they start to feel fatigued.

Fatigue-based problems start to accelerate at 15 points.

Please bear with me; tonight’s data will be done a little later. I had something unexpected come up tonight.

6 Likes
154

Legend of Terms:

TBDC: Time Block Distance Covered. This is the amount of mileage covered during the current 2 hour period.
ODC: Overall Distance Covered. This is the total distance that the team has covered since Noon on Friday
MRL: Morale modifier
FTG: Fatigue Level
Notes: Any notes I have for your team during this time block. Including POI results, car issues, etc.

Friday, 6PM - 8PM

Weather Conditions: 61 degrees, mostly cloudy

All vehicles are on US101 South.

Upcoming POI (optional, let me know if you want to stop at them for rest/sightseeing): None.

Next Waypoint: Fort Stevens State Park, OR

VicVictory:
TBDC: 98 mi OD: 341 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +4 Notes: Refueled in Hoquiam, WA (near end of time block) Team is starting to feel tired.

@yurimacs
TBDC: 89 mi OD: 330 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +5 Notes: Refueled in Hoquiam, WA (near the end of time block) Team is feeling tired.

@Fayeding_Spray
TBDC: 92 mi OD: 341 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +4 Notes: Refueled in Hoquiam, WA (near the end of time block) Team is starting to feel tired.

@Madrias
TBDC: 60 mi OD: 306 mi MRL: +2 FTG: +0 Notes: Team has taken a 1 hour break at Ruby Beach to repair their intake system and rest. Repair: successful.

@BobLoblaw
TBDC: 101 mi OD: 336 mi MRL: +2 FTG: +2 Notes: Team has taken a 15 minute rest break at Ruby Beach

@CriticalSet9849
TBDC: 99 mi OD: 323 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +5 Notes: Stopped to refuel in Hoquiam, WA. Damn this car is uncomfortable.

@BailsMackenzie
TBDC: 101 mi OD: 230 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +3 Notes: None.

@Mikonp7
TBDC: 92 mi OD: 333 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +4 Notes: Team is starting to feel tired.

@TheBobWiley
TBDC: 96 mi OD: 340 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +4 Notes: Refueled in Hoquiam, WA. Team is starting to feel tired.

@DeusExMackia
TBDC: 95 mi OD: 336 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +4 Notes: Refueled in Hoquam, WA. Team is starting to feel tired.

@HighOctaneLove
TBDC: 94 mi OD: 339 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +4 Notes: Fueled up in Hoquiam, WA. Team is starting to feel tired.

@strop
TBDC: 102 mi OD: 350 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +4 Notes: Stopped to refuel in Raymond, WA. Team is starting to feel tired.

@stm316
TBDC: 0 mi OD: 244 mi MRL: +2 FTG: +0 Notes: Team has elected to stop and car-camp for the night at Ruby Beach.

@JohnWaldock / @Sillyducky
TBDC: 93 mi OD: 336 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +5 Notes: Refueled in Hoquiam, WA. Team is feeling tired.

@abg7
TBDC: 92 mi OD: 240 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +4 Notes: Refueled in Hoquiam, WA. Team is starting to feel tired.

@rileybanks
TBDC: 100 mi OD: 345 mi MRL: +0 FTG: +6 Notes: Refueled in Hoquiam, WA. Team is feeling tired.

@koolkei / @FrankNSTein
TBDC: 102 mi OD: 313 mi MRL: +2 FTG: +3 Notes: Team stopped for fuel in Queets, WA.

@Rk38
TBDC: 99 mi OD: 340 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +4 Notes: Refueled in Hoquiam, WA. Team is starting to feel tired.

@Nomade0013 / @ramthecowy
TBDC: 77 mi OD: 320 mi MRL: +2 FTG: +1 Notes: Team has spent a half hour resting and refueling at Amanda Park, WA. Team

@SkylineFTW97
TBDC: 88 mi OD: 327 mi MRL: +1 FTG: +4 Notes: Refueled in Hoquiam, WA. Team is starting to feel tired.

The following cars are within visual range or in a pack:

341 mi - Ardent, Bushell
340 mi - Bil, Maesima
336 mi - Erin, LPV

Team Greasy Lightning

Team/Car info

(No RP from us this session, too tired…)

9 Likes
155

##Team Artiseros

It was probably in 7:30 PM that Ernie started to feel dozy that he felt the need to stop in the side of the road

Ernie (in his mind): Dammit i feel freaking tired, i probably should pull over to the side of the road.

And so Ernie did,after closing the convertible roof and pulled over to side and killed the engine

Ernie:Ahhhhh,Sweet Release

Ernie dozed off as he fall to sleep,with the others still sleeping

Stats:

Overall Fatigue: 10 points (its time to stop and prob sleep i guess)

Overall Morale : 6 points (nothing bad happening since it is silent)

Note: I will probably ask if the trio can sleep in the side of the road in the car if possible or allowed

5 Likes
156

In my last RP I stated that my team would stop at Ruby Beach but this was not reflected at all. So must I PM you to make my team stop at a point of interest?

157

Team Bamford

Phil had calmed down considerably now that they were at least 50 miles clear of his ex’s town and he told the team of the adventure that was his girlfriend who tried to achieve eternal life by drinking his blood, which led to his miraculous escape from a hotel room in London and the subsequent foot chase with the police as he ran naked through the city.

The howls of laughter from the other 3 could have been heard for miles.

Once they’d all calmed down and the sun had set, the frenzied chuffing of the inline 3 and road noise was all that could be heard.

Jason broke the silence “We should come back this way, I want to see the sights around here when we’re not racing against time”

“What makes you say that?” asked Simon

“Look at the map, Long Beach and Centralia are within driving distance of each other”

Ken frowned “It’s the wrong Long Beach”

“What?”

“Yeah, there’s two Long Beaches, I once flew out here with a Lola Formula 5000 car back in 1975 and found out that I’d gone to the wrong place and missed being part of the first ever Long Beach GP”

“And that isn’t the Centralia with the mine fire” added Simon

Jason sighed “Well, we saw a nice fort anyway, guess we don’t have to come back here”

“Tell you what Jason” said Ken after a few moments of silence “We should come back here, we’ll bring a real car though, something from my collection”

“We brought a real car” muttered Phil

“No, I mean a real car, something with a big V8 and IRS”

“Well I’ll bring this car back anyway” he replied.

The conversation once again died and the team spent the remainder of the leg staring out of the windows at the passing lights.

7 Likes
158

#Team ‘Southend or Bust’
Original Post - Previous Post

The story so far: After managing to somehow travel into the future, our boys have snapped back to reality and are now where they actually are meant to be.
This is otherwise known as “I’m naive and thought were way further ahead in the journey than we actually were”

With the sun setting, the little Merna continued to saunter down the western edge of Washington state. James had wacked on the “Evening Driving” playlist and had set the mood perfectly.


“Dammit James, this song is so perfect for this!” said Martin, still driving.
“Hence why I chose it” James replied, proudly. “How tired are you feeling Seb?”
“Yeah, I’m starting to yawn” he said, sitting in the back with the faint orange light catching the details in his face. “I’m assuming we want to stop fairly soon?”
“I certainly do, ha!” said Martin, “and the car will too, fuel gauge is almost in the red”

.

With the Olympic mountains now behind them, the boys pulled into Hoquiam, a quite town with two bridges and a mini airport. Martin filled up the tank while Seb and James got dinner out of the boots.
“Check these out! Pre-made pasta pots!” said James as though he were advertising them.
Seb paused. “Wow James, those are great” he said sarcastically.
“Well excuse me, if you’re not in the mood for my great cooking, you can go buy your pack of e-numbers from the shop” he returned.
“Eh, true”
“Martin, do you want green pesto and cheese or spicy bolognese for dinner?” James called.
“Er” Martin said, placing the pump back in its place, “the pesto please”
“Good choice” James said to himself.

.

The boys sat in the car and ate, reflecting on the day. “I’d say we’ve done very well so far” said Seb, “even if we have no idea about pacing and what not”
“Does that really matter though?” said Martin “It’s the taking part, remember”
Seb chuckled. “And I’m driving tomorrow I guess?”
“Yoouuu bet you are!” said Martin.
“Good stuff. Nice pasta by the way James”
“Thanks” James said, stuffing in another mouthful. “And what about tonight? I’d like to find a hotel or even motel if we can”
“Mmmm” Martin thought, “I say we keep going for a bit and see if we can spot what any other teams doing. I know the Maesima and that Ardent aren’t too far ahead of us, or weren’t too far ahead of us”
“Good shout” said James. “So, hotel if we can find one, camping if we can’t”
“Yeah” Martin said uneasily. He hated camping.

6 Likes
159

I’ll RP to catch up in a bit. Things do happen. There will be an incident when the car stops to refuel, because getting Kai to stop driving when he’s in endurance driving mode will probably be like prying the wheel out of his cold dead hands, but no way Strop is sleeping in the same car that Kai has been driving for 6 hours straight.

5 Likes
160

My apologies, yes… please PM when you want to make a POI stop or if you want to specify an overnight place that is not the default. I probably read it but forgot to mark it down.

@yurimacs - sleeping on the side of the highway isn’t allowed (state patrol would make you move), but the default overnight point for the night (Fort Stevens State Park) has a campground, and you could sleep in-car there. You’re easily close enough to get there in the next time segment.

3 Likes
161

team 1'); drop table participants; --

Introduction  |  Previously

Friday, 6pm-8pm

Arriving at Queets Trading Post, WA. Da Wei is still dozing.

Frank: Wake up, man. We’ll take a short break, then you’re driving for the rest of the day.

Da Wei : oh damn we’re at the fuel station already? i meant to wake up before we got into the town

Frank: We’re in Queets. You’ve slept for a bit over an hour. looks around This place couldn’t fit better into the scenery.

Da Wei: right. you get gas. and i’ll get some photos. hahaha. just kidding. i’ll fetch us some snack and drink. and i may take a bit since i’m also gonna take a few photos. so if you’re done refueling just take a rest in the car. i still need to check the electrical systems too anyway.

Frank: Alright. I also need to stretch my legs for a bit. Concerning the electrics, didn’t have problems so far but you can never be sure.

Da Wei went to some high places to takes some nightly pictures for a while and then went inside the trading post. meanwhile frank could be seen doing some warm up moves to stretch his body under the gas station lights. about 5 minutes later Da Wei comes back to the car to find that Frank is playing some games on his phone sitting down in front of the gas station store

Da Wei : Here you go. i had mine first to i can take a look at the car

After putting the food to the side of Frank, Da Wei walked back to the car and opened the hood to inspect the alternator and other electronics. He can bee seen walking a few times between the front of the car and getting something from the trunk, and Frank lazily eating his food due to being tired.

Da Wei : hey frank. you ready yet?

Frank: We can go if you’re ready. I’ll finish eating that sandwich in the car.

A few miles south

Frank: Have you thought of where we’re going to sleep yet? I’ve heard most of the teams will stay at Fort Stevens Camping Ground.

Da Wei : hmm. if we also go there, at what time do you think we would get there?

Frank: Types some stuff into his already opened laptop About 3 hours from now. So 10pm-ish, if we don’t need to stop somewhere for long.

Da Wei : yeah we’ll sleep there, and get up at say, 5am or 6am?

Frank: 5am sounds good to me. So we can have some breakfast, take down our tents and get on the move again. I finally want to pass some of the other teams.

Da Wei : okay then. you just relax for now.

Morale: +2 (+3 total)
Fatigue: +3 (+8 total)

7 Likes