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DAY 22/23 - A little about last night; arriving in the downtown area of Albuquerque, the ole body said I should find a full service hotel.one of the taller building name was The Clyde. A local non chain was the obvious choice. Was that time of day, sent the bag to the room & straight for a cold one. Enjoyed a delightful southwestern meal & rolled their borrowed wheel chair to the entrance. Very few guest on a Sunday, so it be me my personal patio.A rare rain began to fall; zoom in, raining on the left, but not right:
The valet brought me a nightcap & about half way through I could feel a respiratory issue coming (sorry for this, but part of the day). With help to get in the car, went to the local VA ER. The usual treatment, but was able to doze off & on. Returned to the hotel about 4:30 A.M. Do I go to the room for a little sleep? The obvious smart decision, so I had the bag brought down, never did see the room, & headed east. Short interstate & than mixed 2/4 laneyo Lubbock TX. 328 miles. 3.48 - kudos to Escort :-)
Obviously no stops for pics, but very, very few worth it anyway. There is a great hotel I have used in the past; The Cottonwood Club. Nice TX throwback decor with a pretty good bar & restaurant. A few of the employees remember previous visits so like a family visit. Can do almost nothing for myself, just what I need tonight. Sitting outside oil the TX size courtyard. It’s only 98* this afternoon, but a great breeze. An older clique, “it’s a different heat”. :-)
Ya have to keep your sense of humor on these trips; at midnight was giving thoughts to the tombstone & this afternoon enjoying a cold beer, with some help of course. The human body ….. and a few drugs, are an amazing instrument. :-‘
Will give some thought to next few days with the 4th approaching. Sorry, no car pica today.
OK - one car pic that pretty well sums up the evening, except for a great meal.
wow, what a trip! very sorry for your health challenges, but i love the way you roll. i just missed you on the SLC/reno/tahoe/sacramento segment. i was driving a suburban, wishing i was in the spyder (but which do i leave behind, the dog or my wife???). 1650 miles for me and i saw exactly 3 porsche cars: one 911 coupe, one 911 cab, and 1 boxster. if you zipped by me, i would have known! best wishes for many more great miles.
DAY 24 - Had a great nights sleep after maybe two ER hours the,previous evening :-) Relaxed evening in the courtyard in 100* West TX “different heat; never break a sweat. Remember I am a bayou boy, so when I say the Chef here makes extra miles worth the time. Different, but best crab cake out of New Orleans ever.
Think the stuff has adopted me ! Every single one strongly refused a tip for far above normal services. I have been blessed in many ways.
The dreaded west TX drive turned into a really fun 300+ mile run to Coppell TX, my kids & grandkids are there. Took a different route than usual. Combined two/four lane stretches, all fast with challenging curves if well over the limit. I cannot offer the average, but will say, at 302 miles I had to stop for gas. I filled up right before I left & it took 15.65 gallons. Almost a 100 miles less than a normal day :-)
The solo travel kit is pretty well thought out after years of experience, but wish I had included driving gloves. Not a leisurely drive today; roads were not the best, a lot of the road surface was the type that will not you simply drive straight without continuous left-right corrections. Add a little crosswind at triple digits and passing a truck is no time to relax. Add 5K mountain & back roads and the hands and fingertips are calloused :-). :-)
Without a set itinerary, I find myself in Coppell close to the 4th; last year it was DC. Bad days to be driving anywhere, so the next few days are in question. Just wait & see what tomorrow brings.
No pics today:-) Would have an even better day with a few more 911 along for the run ….
DAY 25 - Another 5K miles down, so oil change time; Plano Porsche came through like last year & in & out early morning. Great service staff & manager; my SA, Scotty, remembered me from last year.
Begining to think the 4th might be the best day to drive; everyone should be where they are celebrating. Hate to miss the 4th with the kids, but really not sure the Escort would help this weekend drive. Will wait to see how much grief I catch from the family :-)
Safe travels to all this weekend. Hope you are half as grateful for this marvelous country as I. So much more to offer than the telecast news & events.
DAY 26 - Happy 4th! If I was dreading the West TX drive, this last leg to home plate is below that on the list. In another life, I was a MFGR. REP (nice job title for traveling salesman) covering LA, so I have driven most of the roads over the years & try to see the kids once a quarter for the last 12 years. Sure I said before, ya just never know what to expect on these trips. :-)
Without as much grief as expected from the family, they let me out before sunrise; pulled onto I-635 west of Dallas at 5:45 AM. Guessed correctly with little traffic & no HP. The trip is different when you can “run”! With a stop for fuel in Natchitoches, was in Alexandria in 2:29, 222 miles. Please, no comments about numbers, I have been doing this for over 50 years. Oh, if interested, the fuel consumption was almost 25mpg … pretty impressive.
The spirit pulled me off to the back roads south of Alex and to my surprise, found a road I have never driven
Great winding road with a few straights to let it go for short spurts. Along the Atchafalaya River with sugar cane fields on the the side. One a straight, looking ahead, it appeared the road surface was about to change, nothing drastic, just a little ripple to the surface; same color. BOOM!! Rolling about 90, one little bump & was driving on rock & gravel ! Ya never know …. sound familiar? We “wiggled” & danced for well over a quarter mile bringing it down to a controllable speed, keeping it between the ditches, headed in the correct direction:-) PTM “probably” helped a little :-). :-)
The surface turned to pretty hard packed dirt and maps indicated about 10 miles along the river; turn back? By now, I am sure you know that is not in my vocabulary. Continued on; really not too bad, not good, but nurse it down the road. A few nice recreational parking areas along the way. Not to many years ago l would have gone back for a six-pack, hung the jungle hammock & gone fishing for dinner, spending the evening. :-)
Well, the road ended at Henderson, LA, at I-10. Had to tolerate the Baton Rouge traffic, 24 hours a day - avoid it if you can. About 30 miles from NOLA. I could not resist & headed for a very familiar MS River Road to home base. About 15 miles away, passed through the river spillway (river flood way to protect NOLA from the MS in the spring).
Maestro ! Music please, “Be it evvver so hummmble, there’s nooo place like home”
Just kidding (maybe in a different life). Along the river.
No emotional close, what should have been a 7 hour bore, turned into a 10 hour marvelous 4th of July drive and a great finale. Did not head directly to the house, but stopped, can you guess, at the local watering hole across the street. Will unload in the AM. It is good to be back where etouffee is not a foreign language, the coffee is dark with architecture that includes a front porch :-)
I will work on a postscript/summary post over the weekend. Need to put the final “stat sheet” together, spend a little time in reflection & maybe find a message in it all for the last few weeks. So one more to come & I leave you alone.
And thanks for all the encouragement along the way ….. you have no idea how much of a boost it was at times.
DAY …. Let’s call it a Bonus Day - Had a relaxed evening on the 4th & spent the next day day slowly unloading the car getting things back together. Really not able to wash it myself right now, a locally guy I use often took care of at least getting it to a non-embarrassing condition:-) I sleep better with a clean car!
BONUS I have a little experience with addiction; had to withdraw from morphine in the USMC in Vietnam a lifetime ago. After a few weeks, turning the key almost every day, the urge to drive was overwhelming! Like that thoroughbred that just loves to run, I took off on a River Road west-bank run to Baton Rouge.
Stopped by the dealership for a quick inspection. Like a physician follow up after a procedure :-) I am sure I mentioned gat the car will go through 90K miles this year without a squeak, rattle or leak. After the 4th I wondered wether that statement would hold up. It does!
Always have to drive through campus on the way out.
Its July. Security is a little lax :-) An end zone shot would have been great!
Almodt no traffic along the river, so a fun run south, detouring to an out of the way favorites
I have not eaten my own food in almost a month, so plan to spend a “little” time in the kitchen beginning to restock the fridge.
Winding down, I have not been this relaxed in a long time …………………….. the upcoming withdrawal, beginning tomorrow, I promise, cannot be more difficult than it was 60 years ago! :-) …… or can it? Recap tomorrow & I really will sign off.
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.
Even though you’re a “coon ***” and “Bayou Bengal” and I’m part “Razorback” and “Longhorn”, plus I’m “Air Force” 😇😂🤘, I have thoroughly enjoyed your trip and journal. You have made me rethink what is important in life as we move through our senior years. I want to wish you the best and I sincerely hope I’m reading your journal next year. All the best to you my friend!
#16
07-01-2024, 10:35 AM
