(Words and Photos by Bryan McTaggart) – Editor’s Note: Bryan McTaggart is an OG BangShifter and he filed this report of cruising his hemi powered 300C from Arizona to his wife’s place in Kentucky. Bryan is a bonafide Mopar loon and instead of just taking the fast way to Kentucky, he took some scenic roads and stumbled upon some truly neato stuff along the way…)  – Its been a year since my last road trip, a rather unpleasant affair that involved my dearly departed Mirada driving from Washington State to Arizona. With no speedometer, no air conditioning, a stereo that could not overpower the sound of the exhaust, and seats that were designed to broil, I was put off on road trips for a while. But after acquiring my 2006 Chrysler 300C, I was looking forward to heading east so that I could spend the summer with my wife and take a break from what has been non-stop college. The route would be rather simple: Take I-40 and I-25 into Colorado Springs, where I would visit with my younger brother and mother; then I-70 across, stopping in Kansas to see my youngest brother at Fort Reily; a stop in southern Illinois to see my stepmother and sister, then finally to Kentucky.

I left Arizona at 10:30 at night, simply because I could not sleep.  With the satellite radio on, I cut through the darkness to a rest stop just short of the Arizona-New Mexico border, where after four hours, my body had finally decided it was nap time. I pulled a blanket over myself and knocked out for two hours. One point for the 300C: I can sleep in it just fine.

When I woke up the first tinges of green in the sky were beginning to show. I sped off, figuring that I would make it into Colorado Springs by 2pm. I settled into 80 mph and ate up the miles, and I made my schedule. I checked into the hotel and gave  my brother a call.

My visit went well, and I slept like a rock. The next morning I topped off the tank, and after an irritating 30-minute search for breakfast that culminated in a McDonald’s visit (ugh), I drove out Highway 24 for Limon. I know this particular route pretty well, so I decided to stop at some of the places along the way and grab some pictures.

The first thing I saw was that there was still snow on the ground in May. This isn’t normal unless you’re at the mountains. In this case, this is just past Peyton, Colorado, about 40 miles from Colorado Springs.

This abandoned garage is in Callahan, Colorado. I can personally attest that these forlorn vehicles have been in the same spot since 2000, when I first drove by them. There were many scenes like this, finding old iron everywhere…I didn’t have the time to stop and shoot pictures of them all.

By mid-day I was in Kansas. I-70 in Kansas is a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that the highways are good, the speed limits are good, and you can make great time across that state. The downside is that there isn’t a damn thing to look at for hundreds of miles at a time. Besides grass, anyways.

During one of my phone conversations with Haley, I kept bitching about the lack of views and how it looked like I was driving through the Windows 98 picture. At one point I remarked something about “how I’d like to see one entertaining thing within the next ten minutes”. I was rewarded about five minutes later, after cresting a small hill, with two cows getting it on in the field next to the Interstate. Be careful what you wish for.

About an hour later I came into the windmill farms that cover great sections of central Kansas. I have never gotten used to seeing these things. The scale is incredible. I have to wonder what future generations will think when they see these things…

I got into Junction City, just outside of Fort Reily, about 3pm, and checked into a tiny hotel room that looked like CSI had just finished cleaning. I’m almost certain I saw where the body lay. My brother Zack showed up about an hour later and we headed to Topeka, where we met up with BS’ers Don (KSJ2) and Ron Ward. That particular story is documented elsewhere, but suffice to say good times, good laughs and bad food were had by all. Zack and I returned to Junction City and after he left to go back to base, I crashed.

The next morning I topped the Chrysler off and found an IHOP. After the worst service I’ve ever seen by a young Army wife who could’ve cared less about her job, I made the run for Illinois. Along the way, I was determined to stop into a place in Missouri I’ve seen every trip. I forgot to get the location, but it’s east of St. Louis Metro and it’s off on the south side of I-70. This time I stopped in and grabbed a few pictures:

I left after this picture, when a guy covered in grease and dirt came around the corner screaming at me. Apparently they were closed. What I could see were several AMX’s and Javelins, several second-gen Camaros, a Mopar E-body of some type, and numerous others.

The remainder of the trip was rather uneventful. St. Louis was under major rework, with some of the older brick factories in the east end being torn down. Illinois is corn, corn and more corn, and my visit with my stepmother and sister had to be cut short due to an urgent need to get to Kentucky that night to attend a family funeral the next day. Kentucky itself is currently the land of road construction.

I will give the Chrysler credit: It is by far the best roadtrip car I’ve owned, and after the 2006 Monte Carlo SS I had put over 25,000 miles of vacation time on, I didn’t think it’d make it to that list. The 5.7 pulls that sled like a freight train, it gets impressive highway mileage (I was averaging 24, but that includes city driving and every onramp I saw), has great range (nearly 400mi), and is the smoothest-riding car I’ve ever owned.