[DeTomaso] Chris Kimball 2013 POCA Fun Rally final entry

[Ed Pike]

Chris,

I really enjoyed reading you accounts of the trip. Thanks so much for
posing. Sounds like a good time was had by all!

Ed...


On Wed, May 1, 2013 at 8:37 PM, michael at michaelshortt.com <
michaelsavga at gmail.com> wrote:

> Very entertaining series of reports. Fun to read, like being there except
> with more calories.
>
> Thanks for keeping those of us homebound informed.
>
> BTW. The Jetson's was set in 2062 and the dog's name was Astro.  I think
> you get a pass on that one.
>
> Michael Shortt
> On May 1, 2013 8:15 PM, "Christopher Kimball" <chrisvkimball at msn.com>
> wrote:
>
> > May 1, 2013
> >
> >
> >
> > Since I had been meaning
> > to check my intake manifold bolts for tightness but kept forgetting, I
> set
> > my
> > alarm this morning for 8:00 AM so I would remember to do so before we
> left
> > for
> > the last leg of our journey.
> >
> >
> >
> > I must have been so
> > excited about tightening the bolts that my internal clock got confused,
> > because
> > I woke up at 7:15 AM!  I saw Brian
> > loading his car (he said he woke up at 4:15, or something like that.
> >  Anything before 7:00 AM doesn’t even register
> > in my brain) and I decided to have breakfast first, then tend to the
> > manifold
> > business.  I had some juice, a strawberry
> > Yoplait, and a blueberry waffle with two butters and three syrups.  When
> I
> > say “blueberry waffle,” what I mean is
> > a waffle made from the pre-mixed waffle substance provided by the hotel.
> >  I never saw any actual blueberries in it,
> > just a few small specks of something blue.
> > What it was, I’ll never know.
> >
> >
> >
> > We went to the same across-the-parking-lot
> > gas station we used last time we were at this hotel (last week).  It
> turns
> > out it is not “Astro gas” as I
> > reported in that day’s journal.  It is
> > actually called “Space Age gas,” which renders my Jetsons joke completely
> > invalid.  Well, it’s not completely
> > invalid, since the Jetsons were supposed to be living in the space
> age—but
> > I
> > admit, that’s a pretty weak connection.
> > I’m blaming Brian for the confusion, though.  I asked him the name of the
> > gas station, and
> > I’m pretty sure he was the one who came up with the “Astro gas” thing.
> >
> >
> >
> > I forgot to mention that a day or so ago I passed the 45th
> > parallel.  It reminded me of when I was in
> > kindergarten and made the offhand comment to my teacher that the
> > 45th parallel is often called the halfway point between the Equator and
> > the North Pole,
> > but the true halfway point is actually 10.1 miles north of the 45th
> > parallel because the Earth is oblate,
> > that is, it bulges at the equator and is flattened at the poles.
> >
> > I also told her at this latitude the sun is visible for 15 hours, 37
> > minutes
> > during the summer
> > solstice and 8 hours,
> > 46 minutes during the winter
> > solstice.
> >
> > She sent me to the principal’s office
> > for insubordination, and I think that’s when I lost my sense of
> direction…
> >
> >
> >
> > It was another beautiful drive
> > today.  I enjoyed the great weather and impressive
> > scenery all the way to Ellensburg where we stopped briefly for gas.  At
> > the station, a young man approached me and
> > asked a few of the typical questions about the car.  The, in a
> > demonstration of sophistication and
> > eloquence, he asked the rhetorical question, “I bet you score a lot of
> > chicks
> > with that car, don’t you?”
> >
> >
> >
> > I didn’t like the assumed
> > answer to that rhetorical question, so I gave a non-rhetorical answer,
> “I’m
> > married, so for me, it’s just about one woman.”
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Sensing I might, in one
> > area of my life at least, be almost as responsible as Brian, he quickly
> > backpedaled
> > and gave his tacit approval of traditional, monogamous marriage.  I could
> > tell he was slightly embarrassed at
> > his faux pas, so to make him feel better, I adopted my pre-marriage,
> > rock-and-roll drummer persona, and said, “Hey, if I wasn’t married, this
> > car
> > would be a real chick magnet!”  He seemed
> > quite relieved that it had turned out he and I could relate so well after
> > all.
> >
> >
> >
> > As we got closer to
> > civilization, we were forced to share the road with more and more cars,
> > trucks,
> > and other motorized obstacles.  What
> > really annoys me is when someone in another vehicle is in the left lane
> > going
> > below the speed limit, and then when he or she pulls into the right lane
> > to let
> > you pass, suddenly speeds up to the same speed at which you are
> traveling.
> >  I feel like rolling down my window and
> > yelling, “Make up your mind—do you want to drive slowly or normally; or
> > are you
> > just oblivious to everything around you?”
> > Of course, if it’s the latter, they wouldn’t hear my yelling anyway.
> >
> >
> >
> > I filled the tank once
> > more just before arriving home late this afternoon so I could check my
> gas
> > mileage average for the entire trip.  It
> > turns out I used 171.52 gallons and traveled 3,222 miles.  This works out
> > to about 18.8 miles per
> > gallon, which I consider to be fantastic considering it includes all the
> > in-town driving I did along the way and in Phoenix.  Not only that, there
> > were a couple of times I
> > drove rather un-miserly-like, including up a twisty, windy hill I
> > negotiated
> > during one of the planned drives during the Fun Rally.
> >
> >
> >
> > Figuring an average price
> > of $3.70 per gallon, and including the cost of all the Octane Boost I
> > bought
> > along the way, the cost for fuel worked out to be about $700.00.  Since
> > Brian and I split the hotel costs, my housing
> > cost was only $480 for the entire trip, including tips.  For those of you
> > counting at home, that
> > totals $1,180.00 not including the registration cost of the Fun Rally.
>  It
> > also doesn’t include food and snacks.  If my food and snacks are taken
> into
> > consideration, the total cost for me increases to $1,000,000.00 or so.
> >
> >
> >
> > I got home and greeted the
> > dogs (two miniature dachshunds) who went positively apoplectic when I
> > arrived.  They really missed me.  And there are some people who have the
> > audacity to say pets won’t be in Heaven!
> >
> >
> >
> > This weekend I’ll need to
> > wash Pandora and see if the Griot’s bug shield works as advertised.  I’ll
> > also install my fourth chin spoiler—I wonder
> > how long this one will last!  I may check
> > the header bolts as well to ensure they are still tight.
> >
> >
> >
> > Other than that, Pandora’s
> > ready for the summer car show season, and next year’s Fun Rally.
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-- 
Thanks,

Ed...