DRIVE: Blazing a trail to the Trinity Site, with map

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DRIVE: Blazing a trail to the Trinity Site, with map

(2 comments; last comment posted October 3, 2007 09:30 pm)

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<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='1'><tr><td><img src='http://photos.freenewmexican.com/2007/10/03/60718_375x375.jpg' border='0' width='375' height='345' usemap='#imgmap60718_375x345' ismap /><map name='imgmap60718_375x345'><area shape='rect' coords='0,0,375,345' href='#' onclick='window.open("/slideshow.php?storyid=69864&galleryid=&photoid=60718", "slideshow", "width=700,height=700,resizable,scrollbars"); return false;' alt='' /></map></td><td valign='top' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/r.gif);'><img src='/images/shadow/tr.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr><tr><td align='left' class='small' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/bl.gif);'><div><div class='caption'>8. Photos by Jay Binneweg</div></div></td><td valign='top'><img src='/images/shadow/br.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr></table>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='1'><tr><td><img src='http://photos.freenewmexican.com/2007/10/03/60717_375x375.jpg' border='0' width='303' height='375' usemap='#imgmap60717_303x375' ismap /><map name='imgmap60717_303x375'><area shape='rect' coords='0,0,303,375' href='#' onclick='window.open("/slideshow.php?storyid=69864&galleryid=&photoid=60717", "slideshow", "width=700,height=700,resizable,scrollbars"); return false;' alt='' /></map></td><td valign='top' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/r.gif);'><img src='/images/shadow/tr.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr><tr><td align='left' class='small' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/bl.gif);'><div><div class='caption'>7. Photos by Jay Binneweg</div></div></td><td valign='top'><img src='/images/shadow/br.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr></table>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='1'><tr><td><img src='http://photos.freenewmexican.com/2007/10/03/60716_375x375.jpg' border='0' width='375' height='320' usemap='#imgmap60716_375x320' ismap /><map name='imgmap60716_375x320'><area shape='rect' coords='0,0,375,320' href='#' onclick='window.open("/slideshow.php?storyid=69864&galleryid=&photoid=60716", "slideshow", "width=700,height=700,resizable,scrollbars"); return false;' alt='' /></map></td><td valign='top' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/r.gif);'><img src='/images/shadow/tr.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr><tr><td align='left' class='small' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/bl.gif);'><div><div class='caption'>6. Photos by Jay Binneweg</div></div></td><td valign='top'><img src='/images/shadow/br.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr></table>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='1'><tr><td><img src='http://photos.freenewmexican.com/2007/10/03/60715_375x375.jpg' border='0' width='352' height='375' usemap='#imgmap60715_352x375' ismap /><map name='imgmap60715_352x375'><area shape='rect' coords='0,0,352,375' href='#' onclick='window.open("/slideshow.php?storyid=69864&galleryid=&photoid=60715", "slideshow", "width=700,height=700,resizable,scrollbars"); return false;' alt='' /></map></td><td valign='top' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/r.gif);'><img src='/images/shadow/tr.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr><tr><td align='left' class='small' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/bl.gif);'><div><div class='caption'>5. Photos by Jay Binneweg</div></div></td><td valign='top'><img src='/images/shadow/br.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr></table>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='1'><tr><td><img src='http://photos.freenewmexican.com/2007/10/03/60714_375x375.jpg' border='0' width='375' height='221' usemap='#imgmap60714_375x221' ismap /><map name='imgmap60714_375x221'><area shape='rect' coords='0,0,375,221' href='#' onclick='window.open("/slideshow.php?storyid=69864&galleryid=&photoid=60714", "slideshow", "width=700,height=700,resizable,scrollbars"); return false;' alt='' /></map></td><td valign='top' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/r.gif);'><img src='/images/shadow/tr.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr><tr><td align='left' class='small' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/bl.gif);'><div><div class='caption'>4. Photos by Jay Binneweg</div></div></td><td valign='top'><img src='/images/shadow/br.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr></table>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='1'><tr><td><img src='http://photos.freenewmexican.com/2007/10/03/60713_375x375.jpg' border='0' width='375' height='309' usemap='#imgmap60713_375x309' ismap /><map name='imgmap60713_375x309'><area shape='rect' coords='0,0,375,309' href='#' onclick='window.open("/slideshow.php?storyid=69864&galleryid=&photoid=60713", "slideshow", "width=700,height=700,resizable,scrollbars"); return false;' alt='' /></map></td><td valign='top' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/r.gif);'><img src='/images/shadow/tr.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr><tr><td align='left' class='small' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/bl.gif);'><div><div class='caption'>3. Photos by Jay Binneweg</div></div></td><td valign='top'><img src='/images/shadow/br.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr></table>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='1'><tr><td><img src='http://photos.freenewmexican.com/2007/10/03/60712_375x375.jpg' border='0' width='375' height='254' usemap='#imgmap60712_375x254' ismap /><map name='imgmap60712_375x254'><area shape='rect' coords='0,0,375,254' href='#' onclick='window.open("/slideshow.php?storyid=69864&galleryid=&photoid=60712", "slideshow", "width=700,height=700,resizable,scrollbars"); return false;' alt='' /></map></td><td valign='top' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/r.gif);'><img src='/images/shadow/tr.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr><tr><td align='left' class='small' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/bl.gif);'><div><div class='caption'>2. Photos by Jay Binneweg</div></div></td><td valign='top'><img src='/images/shadow/br.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr></table>
<table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='1'><tr><td><img src='http://photos.freenewmexican.com/2007/10/03/60711_375x375.jpg' border='0' width='375' height='233' usemap='#imgmap60711_375x233' ismap /><map name='imgmap60711_375x233'><area shape='rect' coords='0,0,375,233' href='#' onclick='window.open("/slideshow.php?storyid=69864&galleryid=&photoid=60711", "slideshow", "width=700,height=700,resizable,scrollbars"); return false;' alt='' /></map></td><td valign='top' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/r.gif);'><img src='/images/shadow/tr.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr><tr><td align='left' class='small' style='background-image: url(/images/shadow/bl.gif);'><div><div class='caption'>1. Photos by Jay Binneweg</div></div></td><td valign='top'><img src='/images/shadow/br.gif' width='10' height='10' border='0' /></td></tr></table>

8. Photos by Jay Binneweg

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Download the Trinity Site route

By | The New Mexican
October 3, 2007

With the site of the first atomic explosion opening to visitors this Saturday in Southern New Mexico, we scout a way in the Chevy HHR Panel

The Trinity Site will be open this Saturday, Oct. 6, for tours. When The New Mexican published a brief to that effect last month, I loaded Scout in the test car and hit the road.

In my driveway was the endearing Chevrolet HHR Panel; the regular HHR is the retro-styled wagon version of the Chevy Cobalt, with the same powertrain options, two economical four-cylinders.

The Panel model was new for 2007; it replaces all the rear windows with uninterrupted sheetmetal, and the rear seats with a flat cargo area. Seating for five is replaced by a plastic-lined load floor that has tie-downs at the corners and cargo nooks underneath. The rear doors no longer have external handles — instead, they are opened by buttons mounted on the dashboard. The hatchback remains untouched.

The HHR Panel can be hard to see out of: Backing out of my driveway, I’d check both ways and then just hope for the best. But you’ll be surprised by how little of your around-town driving involves looking out the windows this HHR doesn’t have; you won’t miss them.

The HHR proved an ideal kennel, where Scout didn’t have to hide from the solar rays. We agreed that, when I got out and the coast was clear, she could just follow through my door, a move made easier by the raised level of the cargo floor and by a passenger seat that reclines way back, almost fully flat, or can fold flat forward to become a table.

The test car had a two-piece set of plastic mats that covered the whole cargo area, keeping Scout and her carrier from being tossed around as badly as hard-plastic floor would suggest, so it should work for equipment. And it came with XM satellite radio to keep me company as we wandered around the middle of the state, blissfully lost.

The part of the drive that stays with me is the awesome emptiness and breathtaking beauty of the open land we saw on the way back, the stretch past where the gates to the Trinity Site will be open on Saturday. It’s not like in the city, where you’d never let your dog out to wander on real, seen-on-maps roads: When the light was just right, when the mood struck, I’d pull off onto the shoulder, let Scout out, and we’d just strike out on foot, never seeing another speeding soul.

I wasn’t entirely sold on the proposition of giving up the rear seats, especially since they fold flat anyway, but I did love how easy it was to clean all the fur out of the HHR because interior materials are all so sturdy: leather, rubber, plastic and only the occasional carpet. Anyway, for 2008, you can get all five seats and still choose the hip panel look.

Convenient in town, well-sorted on the highway, economical to drive and secure to park (the blank body sides keep prying eyes off the tools of the handyperson this vehicle was made for, aided by the smallish lockable compartments molded into the plastic cargo floor), the HHR Panel knows how to haul. And with the sort of squatty style that the kids love, strangers inquire about and everyone else debates — what better vehicle to publicize your small business?

But, whatever you drive, we’ll see you Saturday at the Trinity Site; the gate’s open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. What a shame the HHR is long gone — think of all the Trinitite it could haul back!

2007 Chevrolet HHR Panel LT

Base price: $18,595
As tested: $24,144
Type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, two-passenger cargo van
Drivetrain: 2.4-liter inline four, producing 172 horsepower at 5,800 rpm and 167 pound-feet of torque at 4,500 rpm; four-speed automatic
EPA mileage: 23/30, premium recommended
Length: 176.2 inches
Wheelbase: 103.6 inches
Weight: 3,208 pounds
Built in: Mexico

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(2 comments; last comment posted October 3, 2007 09:30 pm)