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Spotted! The 'Top Gear' Gang is Road Tripping from Vegas to Mexico

The Top Gear guys are back in the U.S. for another epic road trip that has already taken them from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.

Yesterday Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond were spotted driving three supercars—an Aston Martin Vanquish, an SRT Viper, and a Lexus LFA—through Baker, California. Today they are in L.A. where they were looking for two girls to "get into the back of the Aston Martin."

According to Clarkson, who is still adjusting to the time change, their final destination will be Mexico, which they plan to hit sometime next week.

[Photo: jalopnik.com]

Hurricane Sandy / Frankenstorm 2012 / Hurricanes / Travel Tips / Delays / Weather / Rental Cars / Road Trips / → All Tags

Surviving a Cancelled Flight 101: The Impromptu Rental Car Road Trip

Now that Hurricane Sandy is upon the East Coast and canceling flights in droves, we're dedicating today to using all our travel know-how (and some on-the-fly advice, as half the Jaunted team is stuck at airports as well) to help you ride out the storm despite delayed travel. Stay tuned and stay safe!

Obviously flying on the east coast is just not an option for the next couple days and many will make the executive decision to either attempt driving to get where they're going (hopefully still avoiding the brunt of the storm) or driving on an impromptu road trip to enjoy the few days of unforseen delay. Regardless, stuck travelers will be paying out for extra hotel nights, extra meals, extra everything but airline change fees (thank god for that), so save all you can on fuel prices when you do rent that car. Here's our tried and true tips for just that:

· If offered an upgrade from compact or economy to an SUV, decline or inquire about other options.
Oftentimes (twice recently to us), rental car agencies have sold through their economy or compact car options. As an apology move, they may try to upgrade you to an SUV. If you have a family or gear to tote, this could be a huge benefit. If not, your first thought should be fuel consumption and how much this supposedly free upgrade will end up costing you at the pump. Don't be afraid to tell the rental agent that you're watching your fuel consumption and would prefer a smaller or hybrid option, if available. This approach recently scored us an SUV with eco-driving system that relayed fuel consumption information to us directly on the dash.

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FlightCar / Rental Cars / Cars / Road Trips / Car Shares / Car Sharing / Driving / → All Tags

FlightCar: A Brilliant Alternative to Long-Term Airport Parking

There are all kinds of rental car and car sharing schemes, but the latest idea to hit the marketplace just may be the best one we’ve heard yet. It all takes place at the airport, where there is an abundance of two types of car-driving travelers: those who don’t currently need their cars (long-term parkers) and those who need to pick up a car. FlightCar hopes to link these two sets of people in driving happiness.

Basically what you’ll be able to do with FlightCar is rent out your car while you’re not using it. That keeps your car happy since it gets to drive around and keep busy—cars have feelings too—and it’ll keep you happy since you’ll be earning cash instead of shelling out bucks for the parking garage.

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Greece Travel / Greek Islands / Mykonos Travel / Island Travel / Travel Tips / Road Trips / Scootering / → All Tags

Awesome and Affordable Scootering on Mykonos

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

We've heard it before and, heck, we've even uttered it ourselves. And that's just what we did when we were in, well, Greece. After arriving on Mykonos, we saw heaps of scooters going every which way and it looked like the best way to experience the island.

Locals have the right idea to get around the island, navigating narrow laneways. A sputtering scooter turns a trip around the island for a gliko frappe or a spanakopita into a lickety-split affair. You not only get to see a lot more than just one city, but you'll escape the hordes of tourists all looking for tacky souvenirs at the same shops.

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Road Trips / Australia Travel / Nature Travel / Landmarks / → All Tags

Road Tripping to the 12 Apostles Down the Great Ocean Road

Let's take a trip—a road trip. Most of our stories have a common theme revolving around airports and planes and seats and in-flight meals...but this one's about driving. It's the good ol' fashioned American road trip with one caveat: this one takes place in Australia. We're heading way South to the Great Ocean Road to stand amongst the 12 Apostles.

Functioning as the world's largest war memorial, the Great Ocean Road is in remembrance of the ANZAC (Australia/New Zealand Army Corps) soldiers who fought for freedom in World War I. The returning soldiers were tasked with building a road to serve as a link to smaller coast towns for the timber industry and tourism.

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Los Angeles Travel / Road Trips / Cars / Politics Travel / → All Tags

Los Angeles Politicians Urge Calm as Carmageddon 2 Looms

A 10 mile stretch of Los Angeles's 405 freeway—"the 405" to Southern Californians who know how to refer to freeways properly, "405" to the rest of you people—is going to be closed September 29-30. As with the 2011 405 closure, this event is being met with the panic usually reserved for planetary collisions with particularly large comets.

Los Angeles hospitals are bracing for disaster and taking emergency measures because apparently just telling people to 'go around' or 'take side streets' isn't sufficient. The LA economy has been fully reconfigured to "encourage Angelenos to stay out of their cars and...close to home." The mayor even held a press conference to try to contain the rising panic, during which he assured residents that they would will still be able to have "fun" despite not being able to drive on that particular 10 mile stretch of asphalt.

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Rental Cars / Fall Travel / Hertz / Cars / Road Trips / → All Tags

The Return of the $5 One-Way Hertz Rental (and More Deals)

If you need a rental car anytime soon you might want to check out Hertz when doing your online shopping. The rental car behemoth is preparing all kinds of promotions for the fall, and it’s all part of their global sale.

You can save $40 per week in Florida, keep an extra $40 on your weekend rental, and even save up to $100 on one of their fancy car rental from the Prestige or Adrenaline collections. The scoop on some of these deals can be found right here, so just copy and paste the appropriate code thing and enter those credit card digits.

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Movie Travel / Cars / Auctions / James Bond / Celeb Travel / Literary Travel / Road Trips / → All Tags

Christie's Will Celebrate 50 Years of James Bond by Selling You His Cars

A pre-production replica BMW Z8 Roadster made for 'The World Is Not Enough'

Update: the catalog for both online and live auctions is up! Check it out right here.

Right after you finish that mid-day vodka martini (shaken, not stirred), take some time to daydream over this fact: Christie's will be auctioning off a slew of James Bond goodies as part of the celebration of 50 Years of James Bond. The auction takes place online from September 28-October 8, and live in London on October 5 (the anniversary of the first screening of Dr. No).

There's trinkets from past Bond movies, such as the bullet belt worn by Scaramanga in The Man With the Golden Gun and a model of the shuttle from Moonraker, as well as the newest Bond memorabilia from the as-yet-unreleased Skyfall. We're eyeing that blue velvet Tom Ford dinner suit like whoah.

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Road Trips / Lists / Cars / Beach Travel / California Travel / Water Sports / Active Travel / Hiking Travel / → All Tags

Three Awesome Beaches on the Southern Stretch of California's Pacific Coast Highway

So you want to get out on the open road, huh? Let’s face it—there are many great reasons to hop into your car and watch the big city shrink in your rearview mirror. Whether a road trip is wrapped up in familial obligations or you're just going on a photo drive on backroads, we've done it all and no matter where we are heading we prefer it to be a scenic route.

Today we want to talk a bit about one of the classic picturesque drives in this here country: California's famous Pacific Coast Highway.

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Space Travel / Museum Travel / NASA / Neil Armstrong / Road Trips / Air Force / → All Tags

You Know, There's Already a Whole Museum Honoring Neil Armstrong

What you already know by now is that Neil Armstrong, NASA pilot and first man on the moon, died Saturday at age 82 of complications from cardiovascular procedures. What you probably don't know is that the man already has a museum dedicated to him, and it's been around for thirty years! The museum opened in 1972, three years after the famous first moonwalk 1969.

The Armstrong Air and Space Museum sits in the tiny (under 10,000 people) town of Wapakoneta, Ohio, Armstrong's birthplace. Since Ohio has a reputation as a breeding ground for aviators, astronauts and presidents, the structure branches out beyond Neil to cover all Ohio's contributions to the history and politics of space flight.

Among the items on display are Armstrong's uniforms, an F5D Sky Lancer, the Gemini VIII spacecraft (in which Neil flew and which also made the first space docking), Apollo 11 artifacts (Neil's backup Apollo 11 spacesuit!) and a moon rock. Even the architecture of the museum is notable; it resembles the moon rising and the dome that gives this effect contains a star theater.

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Road Trips / Cars / Travel Tips / Travel Tech / California Travel / Ask an Expert / → All Tags

Advice from an Expert: What to Check on a Car Before a Road Trip

Put gas in car. Put luggage in car. Put people in car. Google Map some directions and get out there on the road, right? WRONG. Not so fast—the most important step was skipped, and that's checking over a car before embarking on a road trip.

Popping the hood and kicking the tires may seem a bit outdated and it's true that modern technology in the auto industry means it's faster and easier than ever to plan, navigate, and set off (not to mention keep everyone entertained); however, you do want to keep that car running the whole way.

Right now we are going to talk a little about what you should do before even buckling the seatbelt. I myself am an ASE-certified mechanic and I've seen all sorts of anxious road trippers without a clue and without much of a car to drive. It's not a reassuring sight, as you can expect.

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Wine Travel / Road Trips / California Travel / Drinking Travel / Winery Reviews / → All Tags

At California’s Sanford Winery: A Pinot Noir Pioneer

You've seen the 2004 movie "Sideways," right? It played on HBO for, like, a straight year, we swear. Well, if you have then you've already seen Sanford Winery, one of the stars of the film focusing on California wine tasting. Luckily for everyone, it's not fictional.

Sanford sits in the Santa Rita Hills AVA, a reasonably adolescent wine region if you were to make the mistake of comparing it to the older Napa Valley Area. About a decade ago it was officially given the AVA (American Viticultural Area) designation. Owing its popularity to "Sideways," the whole region has actually been producing various Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs since the early 70s, when Sanford Winery started planting the first Pinot Noir vines in the area.

These vineyards are nestled between the uncommon east-west mountain valleys, making for a perfect natural climate and protection of the very delicate vines for which Sanford meticulously cares.

While recently staying in the Santa Barbara area, we took a very scenic drive to see what all the fuss was about.

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