rwbern

Great run over 26 days. The complete journal is on the General Porsche Discussion Forum if interested, but here is the Addendum/Summsry:
Addendum - ‘24 God is my Copilot - Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I neither encourage nor endorse all 911 jockeys getting on the road & cruising at triple digits, or crossing the center line as often as I may. I started with P-car in a new 1965 356SC & the first 911, ‘70 911T, was in 1972. Approaching 80, with a few miles behind me, and maybe gaining a little wisdom along the way, I have learned to look ahead, way ahead, and anticipate the village idiots possible dumb decisions.:-)

The STATS:

• Days - 26
• Miles - 8,119 - about 1,800 less this year
• States - only 18 this year
• Cities/Towns overnight - 22
• Elevation change - < 12’ - 16,800’
• Temp change - 33* - 113*
• Fuel - approximately 326 gallons - Almost 25/gal. - pretty impressive!
• Issues - 1 -Tire blowout
• Brake wear - aprox 10%
• Oil change - 2
• Features/options used - cannot think of one not used :-) Heated & ventilated seats in the same day once !
• Weather - very little rain driving when 80% of the nation is in a heat warning, but experienced a rare winter storm warning in WY, wildfires in CA & dodged floods in NM heading home to an early hurricane - I miss anything?
• ER visits - 3 :-) - 0 last year
• Budweisers - Many
• Seat time - would be a useless, nice to know stat, but I did not keep a log :-(

Driver’s Awards

• Services Award- VA Hospitals / Rotech Medical Supplies - unexpected ER visits in Cody WY, Mitchel, SD & Albuquerque, NM, provided excellent care in a timely manner to get me back on the road. At each stop, the respiratory issues were treated, blood work completed, did a chest X-ray & provided meds for daily intake. Rotech Medical - expedited overnight shipments of the needed equipment & supplies when necessary. The driver in Albuquerque delivered Oxy at 5:00 AM.
• Equipment Award - Escort Redline Radar Detector - saved “thousands” in fines, insurance increases & maybe bail money a few times :-)
• Network Award - Porsche dealerships - St Louis, unscheduled oil change/inspection. Reno, replaced front tires & inspected. Plano, Tx., unscheduled oil change/inspection. All understood and somehow rearranged the schedules to get me in & out. Great conversations with the staffs at each. The Service Managers at each made it a point to find me.
• Hospitality Award - While I did not have a bad experience the entire trip, one stands out above all. Not the Marriott Resort, but the Cottonwood Club in Lubbock TX ! A lay back, full service facility, great food & a staff that is off the charts.
• MVP - And the BIG trophy goes to ……. TA-DAH! The star of the show …. the 911 ! Turned the key 26 consecutive days, asking the max each day on the interstates, back roads of varying conditions, elevation changes from below sea level to over 15K’, sometimes twice in a day, temperatures from the 30’s to 112*, as much as 10 hours in a day. You would think that after six hours of two lane, twisting, climbing & descending, punch down passing, something would would begin to protest a little …. wrong …. (maybe that’s why we win so many LeMans) …. the N/A flat six jumped to life through that magic 4K mark, each & every time, instilling another hundred miles in this ole jockey. The car will probably take the odometer to about 89K before it rest for a while & I will have no second thoughts about asking it to do it again ….. next year, health permitting;-)

The emotional close - if there is a message in any of this journey, it is the 911 is engineered & built be DRIVEN ! Shame on each & every one of the driveway trophy owners for wasting the car and never knowing the road or understanding the car. Enthusiasts are begging for allocations while you change the oil once a year, maybe. Go buy a Ferrari or McLaren! Purchase stock if you have to & let the drivers drive!

These words are offered in sincerity from a literal lifetime with Porsche, and not meant to offend anyone. I understand we each travel our individual paths, but hopefully, there is a little thought given for how our actions affect others.

Life is a Team Sport.



Thanks for tagging along this month; hope you enjoyed.

Godspeed ….. till next year :-)

Porsche_nuts

Great post. Certainly impressive. Sounds like a great trip.

Only 1 flat.

Tier1Terrier

Can you link both Chapters 1&2 in the OP? I could only find Chapter 2.

I remember reading the start of this Epic journey when you started it.

Rudyr

Curious how you see the value in a detector with things like Waze? I feel like I haven't used one in years and haven't missed it.

sunspot2013

Thank you for taking the time to share this experience. I hope to do a road trip like this in my 911 at some point.

rwbern

Well, Waze is dependent upon the waze community for input wherever you are. On a cross country trip like this one, at different times of the day or night, on back roads or interstates, you would be surprised to find a state HP in the middle of what you may think is nowhere! Cruising across SD, heading west on a two lane back road, at twice the limit, absolutely alone for over 100 miles, I get a chirp on the Escort. “Can’t be” is the thought. I played safe & brought it down … quickly! Reaching the limit & a few minutes later, he passed headed east. No Waze input here I can assure you.
I also use the Escort Drive Smarter app that does the same thing as Waze within the Escort community, albeit with a smaller network. It provided the actual HP/Sheriff spotting in every state.
Between the two summer trips, almost 20K miles across all 48 states with zero stops. Value? A bargain at twice the price IMO.

Please do not let the detector Q&A hijack the thread !! :-)

awittig

Great write-up! I appreciated reading about your previous roadtrip last year. Sounds like a bucket list trip!