Florida 2009

[dav850]

Hello everyone,

I just signed up here and thought I would share one of my volvo-powered adventures with you guys. I mainly drive my 850, so I hope you guys don't mind me sharing this here.

In April of 2009, my buddy Josh and I drove from Toronto, Canada down to Florida to photograph reptiles and amphibians. Here's some pics of the volvo in action and some interesting animals we observed on our trip.

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I hope I didn't bore you guys too much with all the critters.
Thanks for looking!!!

Dav

[myzomela]

Not bored at all! And if PJ810 can post his S60 drive here, your post is not at all out of place.

But the questions that spring to mind are:
1. How venomous are the snakes?
2. How close did you get to them?
3. You didn't say anything about how the 850 handled the trip - so I presume it was mechanically uneventful?

The odometer shots made nice bookends. I'll remember that touch next time we do a long trip.

[dav850]

Hi myzomela, and thanks for the reply.

Some of the snakes we observed were indeed venomous, such as the first two snakes in my post, the Florida Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorous conanti) and the Dusky pigmy rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius barbouri). These two snakes have quite potent venom, although, like most snakes they would much rather move along and mind their own business than engage in an altercation with a human. Also, the second last snake pictured, the copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) is also venomous (related to the cottonmouth), but no fatalities have been recorded from their bites.

In general, I strive to photograph wildlife without disturbing or manipulating my subjects, so I try not to get too close to them, although I do regularly move animals (including venomous snakes) off busy roadways.

Although surprisingly gentle and timid animals once you get to "know" them, venomous snakes must always be given a wide berth and treated with respect. Most bites are a result of people trying to pick up or kill snakes.

As for the 850, despite my stupidity's best attempts of sabotaging her engine, she did just fine:o
Embarassing story: Somewhere half way down through the states, we stopped to gas up, check fluids, and switch driving duty. I burnt/leaked some oil so I topped it up. Fast forward about an hour or so down the road. Josh is driving, out of the corner of my eye I see a red blink on the dash, then again. Finally it lights up long enough to identify it as the low oil pressure warning light:eek: I command Josh to pull on to the shoulder and shut the car down. I pop the hood, and notice that my oil filler cap is sitting neatly beside the filler port on the spark plug cover and my engine is covered in oil, check the dipstick, nothing. Luckily, I brought an oil change worth of spare oil and still had the cap, so I filled her up and on we went. Could have been a lot, lot worse, as I realize some people don't really mind warning lights too much, and I suspect Josh would have seized the engine up before he realized something was wrong. Also, near the end of the trip, I blew a crank shaft seal (yes behind the tranny) after several trips up and down pigeon mountain (very steep incline and a ton of switchbacks). I had the tranny locked in 1 so I could use some engine breaking, but I suspect the increased crankcase pressure from driving this way blew out this already tired seal. Interestingly enough, I noticed this leak from the rear of the car, as the oil had somehow seeped back along the undercarraige and was dripping off the bottom of the fuel tank (wierd). However, the car made it back to Canada with no issue, and I only had to add a litre or two of oil along the way.

Cheers,

Dav

[mrslomo]

Hello dav850!

Thank you for sharing photos of your 850. You certainly took the effort to photograph the colorful "locals"! Good job!

My husband and I have 3 Volvo wagons and only one is an XC. Depending on the road conditions, we take the best car for the drive. Keep posting more photos!

[matt4960]

Bet those snakes aren't half as venomous as the ones in South Beach, Miami!:p Looks like it was a great trip! Sorry to hear about the oil and seal issues and I hope the 850 is ok now. Welcome to the forum!

[PJ810]

Great photos. Thanks for sharing!