RoadTrip Blog

Fresh Snow is falling at Tioga Pass — check out the Web cam at the east gate of Yosemite National Park!

Look at it this morning! (Tuesday) There must be close to four feet of fresh snow next to the kiosk — gorgeous blue skies and four feet of snow! Let’s go!

Mark

Mark Sedenquist snow, tioga pass, yosemite

I just received a press release from Global EXpedition Vehicles, which has entered the custom off-highway RV market. Global Expedition Vehicles, based in Ozark, Missouri is building all-wheel drive RVs built on a Unimog U-500 chassis. This new model is called a Safari. According to the press release, it has a 154-inch wheelbase and a 31.5 feet turning radius. It’s powered by a Mercedes-Benz 6-cylinder (6.4-liter) diesel engine, water-cooled, turbo-charged and intercooled. I haven’t seen any these units yet, but is supposedly able to camber over rocks or fallen trees three feet high and still reach 70mph on the highway.

One of the appealing aspects of building a RV on a Uni-mog is that it is possible to physically differentiate the living compartments from the chassis and thus reduce the torque transference from the chassis. Some of the installed gear includes premium solid wood cabinets, a 4-person dining area which converts into a 2nd bed, stainless steel refrigerator and freezer, 2 burner diesel cooktop, convection microwave/grill, LED lighting, dry-bath with separate shower and toilet, queen-size bed, 2 flatscreen LCD TVs with full sound system, and plenty of storage areas. Prices start at USD $180,000 and most rigs roll out the door at $300,000+ More information and photos here.

Mark Sedenquist expedition, four-wheel drive, Off-highway, Vehicles

I’ve been experimenting with a new trip planning tool created by Traffic.com using data and mapping from NavTech.  It’s one of an entire suite of trip planning tools (their primary focus is packaging and delivering traffic flow information for most USA cities).  What’s interesting about this application is that appears to be utililizing current weather and road travel conditions to calculate traffic flow and come up with reasonably accurate estimates.

For a trial, I put in coordinates from my Las Vegas office to a field office in Pasadena, California. I know this road very, very well. Surprisingly, it didn’t route the entire way along I-15 (the normal road), but instead chose to go east to US-95 and then back to I-15. Normally, this would be a glaring error — but it turns out that due to construction work in Mountain Pass + the rain right now –I think the program is probably correct. Very Impressive!

Mark Sedenquist routing, tool, traffic delays, Trip Planning, weather