hello all!

i'm planning a rather large road trip for this summer, and i'd like to get some input on how best to prepare. i will be taking off from northern virginia, heading west. far west. i'll be picking up friends in south dakota, then continuing west to seattle, south to portland, further south to berkley, returning friends to south dakota, then either ending at my parents home back in northern virginia or straight back to school in georgia, depending on how the calender works out. i would really really like to take my beloved volvo, a '90 245 with 300,000+ on the odometer. especially when considering the alternative car, a friend's ford contour. the thought of spending so much time in his stuffy econobox stifles me. anyway, i have only owned the wagon for the past eighteen weeks or so, and also am a student of an arts academy, so i haven't had the time or money to replace things as i'd like to have upon purchasing the car. it had been sitting for at least a year without frequent use prior to my buying it (for $750!). i've thus far only been able to change the oil and filter, flush the radiator, replace all the fuses (after cleaning and treating the fuse panel), and replace all four tires. i've only been able to make a few highway trips with the car so far. on the nine hour drive from virginia to georgia the car did not seem to want to go much faster than 75 mph, as the temperature gauge would begin to climb pretty quickly above that speed. at that point the car had only been back in service for two or three weeks. just this past weekend however i had the pleasure of taking it up to atlanta. the volvo performed beautifully! the car had no trouble speeding off the on ramp and passing traffic, and was running between 85 and somewhere just above 90mph non-stop (except for gas of course) the four hours up, and seemed very happy cruising between 70 and 80 for the four hour return stretch. i went up for a concert mid-week (ie in between classes), so all of this driving occurred within twelve consecutive hours. anyway i do know i need to replace the shocks and springs and add ipd chassis braces from the way the car handles bumps. i certainly will be replacing the blower motor, as it is inoperable and the three other passengers would not tolerate it as i can. i also think i should be replacing the fuel pumps and filter, the (manual) transmission fluid, the cap and rotor, i'd like to get some performance plug wires, and all belts. what i am wondering is should these things be enough? i know it is quite a request for the volvo, from east coast to west and back again, but i haven't found any reasons this far into ownership why my happy happy wagon shouldn't be able to come along. my primary concern is to eliminate as many possible issues as i reasonably can, to ensure we spend our time exploring the west coast rather than the lobby of a midwest volvo garage. my second concern is economy, are there ways to get a slightly better mileage out of the wagon? i keep my tires inflated at the higher side of the suggested range, i won't be going faster than 70-75 mph, and i was thinking about purchasing an ipd adjustable cam gear and retarding it as much as i could stand to. are there other steps i can/should take to prepare the car? i love my volvo, and really would like to make this trip work. sorry about the long post, i've just been thinking about this a lot lately (i really do not want to wander west in a contour). thanks in advance for all your insight!!