West Coast NSXPO Caravan has begun!!

[AGNSX]

The West Coast Caravan to NSXPO '04 has Left the Station!

The smallest possible caravan (me by myself ) Left Seal Beach this morning at 9:00 AM

It was a very uneventful trip all the way to Mesquite NV non stop on I-15. After a brief Gas and Pit stop (i.e. potty stop ) I was back on the road and drove through one of the most beautiful stretches of road so far. This area is the Virgin River Gorge. If you have seen it you know what I mean, if not, you just have to head north out of Mesquite and in 15 minutes you will know what I mean. Sorry, I was unable to take any pictures as the road is a bit twisty and the traffic (which was light) made pictures too risky

Just past St George, UT I ran into a couple of brief rain showers that didn't last long enough for me to stop and take off my "speed lingerie" and install my windshield wipers . It was just enough to make my job of cleaning the car tomorrow moring (I can't start the day on a trip to NSXPO without the car being CLEAN (Just ask anyone who has been on any other caravan with me right Dave G?) The one advantage to being in a single car caravan is that I won't need to clean any other cars like I have on other caravans (Just ask Kent Shepley or Mark Johnson).

I arrived at my first stopover point in Richfield, UT at about 6:00 Local and only had one close call with the law just before I arrived. The speed limit was 75 and I was on the north side of 85 and my V1 was silent. As I came up a slight grade in a left sweeping turn, as I crested the hill my V1 "LIT UP"! A quick stab of the brakes and WHEW! Mr. Bear kept hibernating!

Well I'm off to dinner and an early bed so I can get up and clean my "Baby" and hit the road for the longest day of the trip. Tomorrow I leave Richfield and head to Denver over the Loveland Pass (11,000 + ft) and then head Northeast through Sterling, CO (I will be very carefull to not speed there "Remember the Sterling 11"!! I will then pick up I-80 and drive 1/2 way through Nebraska to spend the night in Kearney, NE.

I will let you all know how the day went tomorrow night!

574 miles down 2126 or so to go

 

[AndyH]

have fun and be safe Steve

 

[ss_md]

Drive safe and have fun at NSXPO. Keep us posted.

Scott

 

[FuryNSX]

Steve,

Safe driving and enjoy the trip. I wish I could be there too, but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up with you. I'll be following this thread for sure!!

-Randy

 

[LJSB]

Steve,
As the only NSX coming from California, breaking what looked like a California/West Coast boycott , I’m glad you’re making the trip. I look forward to meeting you. Thanks for coming and drive safe.
Joe Lomoriello

 

[TheYellowBeast]

If your trip is half as much fun as your writeups, you'll have an awesome time! Keep up the great posts!

 

[NemesisX]

Steve...Your simply...THA MAN!!!

Love your write up. Glad your taking the time to do the write ups! Be safe!
Kevin

 

[AGNSX]

I made it to Nebraska!

WOW what a day!

Today I drove 823 miles in 12 hours

I started out at 6:00 AM and gave my "Baby" a quick bath! Then a shower, breakfast and I'm on the road heading East at 9:00.

The drive was nothing short of Beautiful until I reached Denver.

As I drove out of Richfield the Willie Nelson song "On the Road Again" was on my mind I passed the place where I took a beautiful picture of my car when I drove to NSXPO #1 (1997) in Denver, and as I drove along the road just outside of Green River UT I remembered finding the top end of my NSX (170 yes I have it on Video ) when I drove to NSXPO #1. In honor of the event I pumped it up to lets just say well over the century mark (no I didn't repeat the top end run as there was just too much traffic for that )

Then it was just a matter of sitting back and taking in the awesome grandeur that is the Rocky Mountains! . I drove straight through to Glenwood Springs CO where I stopped for gas and "you know" While I was filling the tank some local kids came running up and started asking questions so fast I couldn't keep up with the answers.

Oh, I almost forgot, just before I got to Glenwood Springs I noticed 2 CO State patrol cruisers sitting on the side of an on ramp Needless to say I stabbed the brakes and let them merge just ahead of me They both followed a Pick-up and finally lit him up and both of them pulled him over! Whew another close one!

The rest of the drive was uneventful (as far as the Law is concerned). When I got to Vail Pass (elevation 10,000 ft +) I noticed what I thought was rain ahead. Much to my surprise it was SNOW It was very light and was not sticking to the road so I pressed on. When I got to the Eisenhower Tunnel (again over 10,000 ft) I got some more snow mixed with rain. Needless to say I wasn't making great time through all this.

Once I broke out of the mountains I got a beautiful view of downtown Denver and the bad weather was behind me along with the interesting scenery I pressed on all the way to North Platt NE and stopped for gas and dinner (no Dave it was not MEAT! )

I drove the final 107 miles to Kearney NE in the dark (thank goodness for those SOS HID's ) I arrived at the Hampton Inn at about 10:00 PM CDT

Now I’m off to bed to get up tomorrow and head for Chicago to spend my Birthday with my brother

1417 miles behind me only 1283 to go!!!

Type to you all tomorrow

 

[AGNSX]

Day 3 & 4 are Done!

Hello again!

Sorry, I didn't post my progress yesterday. I was too busy celebrating my B-Day with my Bro' (More on that later_

As for the drive from Kearney NE to Chicago?...

Can you say "CORN"? CORN CORN! Other than that the drive was pretty boring. I didn't even have any close calls with the State Patrols. What I did pass of some note were the birthplace of John Wayne & Ronald Regan (not the same place ) the location of the movie (and true story of the "Bridges of Madison County". But I would have to say the highlight of that segment was seeing the Shrine to "ZIG ZAG" in Des Moines IA!
(COOL MAN )

To celebrate my Birthday my Brother took out to a restaurant that made up for all the previous nights without MEAT! It was a Brazilian Barbeque For those of you who have never been to one of these establishments all I can say is "if you like MEAT you will think you have died and gone to Heaven" (You actually may die if you go there too often ) They have waiters walking around with swords full of every kind of MEAT imaginable and if you give them the high sign they come to your table and carve the meat off the sword onto your plate! I think I have OD'd on MEAT

Today I got up late and hit the road about 12:30 PM and drove to Avery OH just outside of Sandusky OH (home to one of the best amusement parks in the country known as Cedar Point ) This is also the location where Thomas Edison was born. (I bet you never thought this post was going to be a history lesson )

Tomorrow is the final leg to Corning NY! Thank goodness! I had forgotten how far the drive across the country is It is OK though I am just glad NSXPO is in Phoenix next year!

2381 miles driven only 350 more to go!

I'll let you all know how the final part of this journey went tomorrow

 

[ss_md]

Steve,

Happy belated Birthday.

<a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/13/13_10_3.gif' alt='Birthday Song' border=0></a>

The Mid-West sure is flat!! Pretty boring if I do say so myself. The Brazilian BBQ thing is really good if you are a really really big eater. It's a buffet. There are a couple out here (possible future drive and dinner?????)

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

I think I know whos going to win the longest drive this year.

 

[SilverOne]

Sounds like Fogo de Chau? Yum Yum..,

All that extra weight can help with lowering the car for better handling Drive safely.

 

[NSXTC]

Meat Meat Meat

Hey Steve- You are lucky you did not drive through Dallas again this year! Fogo is an "experience", Have fun and post some pics when you get there!

Say hi to Miled for me. He will no doubt be in front of the hotel detailing his car once again this year.

-Marc

 

[Yellow Rose]

Unbelieveable !!!

As the only NSX coming from California.....

I am shocked. No, I am not being facetious, I am truly stunned nobody else from California is going.

.....breaking what looked like a California/West Coast boycott

Without throwing flames, would someone please tell me why?

 

[DaveG]

Andy:

Surely you know that Steve was joking, right? There is no >west coast boycott<. Trust me, there's not.

You don't really expect everyone on the west coast to respond and list their individual reasons for not attending, do you?

DaveG

 

[RSO 34]

Steve is at the hotel safe and sound. The "boycott" reference obviously was a joke but it is somewhat disappointing that with the number of NSXs in California there are only a couple coming East, especially in light of the fact that the NY metro area sent 8 cars and 17 people last year to California.

 

[coolnsx]

Andy, There is other SoCal folks going, some must work 18 hours a day MTW so I can FLY to NSXPO Thursday, hope to see you there!

 

[ss_md]

Re: Unbelieveable !!!

As the only NSX coming from California.....

I am shocked. No, I am not being facetious, I am truly stunned nobody else from California is going.

.....breaking what looked like a California/West Coast boycott

Without throwing flames, would someone please tell me why?

I can tell you why I'm not attending, if you really want to know.

 

[coolnsx]

Steve, If you've got an open seat for the Poker Run Friday, love to join you. Gil

 

[Yellow Rose]

The "boycott" reference obviously was a joke but it is somewhat disappointing that with the number of NSXs in California there are only a couple coming East, especially in light of the fact that the NY metro area sent 8 cars and 17 people last year to California.

Exactly my point, because the East Coast and the West Coast swapped years of hosting the NSXPO. A point of serious bone of contention that resulted in major strife between me and The Board of NSXCA, when I was still in the fold.

REGARDLESS I am disappointed that there are so few Westerners going to WGI! Why, when you consider how many Easterners went to Laguna Sect and again to Sears Point?

If there is an “issue” then there are some MAJOR childish topics that need to be resolved.

 

[coolnsx]

Andy, Will you be at NSXPO 2004?

 

[Yellow Rose]

No

In two days I will be in Bolivia, afterwards in Russia.

 

[AGNSX]

I Made it!!!

As you all can see from RSO34's post I MADE IT!!!

I arrived at the hotel at about 2:30 local time.

Again the drive was uneventful (well sort of...)

The only scare I had (with the Ohio State Patrol) was during a pass around a truck with someone in a SUV who wanted to go much faster that I did that was tailgating me. So, I punched it to get around the truck and away from the fool in the SUV, only to have my V-1 go off and there I see a Cruiser in the Westbound lanes I just had time to let off the gas (I didn't hit the brakes as I would have been introduced to the SUV! ). When I looked down at the Speedo I was doing about 71 in a 65 so I figured that the cop got me at 75 or so and I was TOAST!

Well... I must be living under a lucky star or something as I never saw the Cop turn around and come after me Whew!

The view on this last part of the trip was much better with lots of trees (which are just starting to change ) and some beautiful rolling farm land.

I finally got tired of being on the interstate and noticed that there was a "shortcut" I could take from Olean NY to Corning on a Country road (NY 417). Well, it started out to look like a bad decision with having to slow down to 40 MPH and then 30 MPH as I went through lots of little villages along the way. After a while though I got out in the "Back Country" and found myself on a beautiful, slightly twisty country road with little or no traffic! This was a delightful end to a VERY long journey!

Now that I am here (with my car) and starting to see the other NSX owners I am VERY GLAD I MADE THE TRIP

One of the first persons I saw was LUD so maybe I can have him show me how to get the pictures out of my digital camera and post them up here.

I will try to keep posting updates on the event each day but I think that LUD will do a much better job of that.

Anyway here are the final numbers:

2731 Miles, 12 States, 10 stops for gas (not all were fill-ups!) 41.5 Hrs, 2458 dead bugs (yes I counted ) and one tired butt.

The journey to NSXPO is over now let the festivities begin!

Later

 

[AGNSX]

Comment on the California attendance Issue

Steve,
As the only NSX coming from California, breaking what looked like a California/West Coast boycott , I’m glad you’re making the trip. I look forward to meeting you. Thanks for coming and drive safe.
Joe Lomoriello

As you can all see from the above quote is was not me who talked (joked) about the California boycott is was Joe!

I have to agree somewhat that it is a bit disappointing on the turnout from the West Coast.

I think this is the result of a number of things. Not the least of which is that NSXPO '03 was in California and NSXPO '05 will be in Phoenix.

Overall I think that everyone who decided to not come and give me company on the drive out really missed out!