MY 1st cross country trip, and yes I was crazy.

[mptoledo]

Well I thought I would break this down into a couple different parts. I have also repeated this on both forums I belong to. First: The car For those who didn’t read my first post, I am from Ohio and bought a 2001 Boxster S with 50k miles on eBay, from a guy in California. Yep I decided to take a 2400 mile road trip in a car sight unseen. Well luckily the guy selling me the car was a service manager from the dealership he bought it from. The car was better than advertised. Absolutely no oil leaks and only one scratch that was disclosed beforehand. It had 18” tires and the spare had never been used. I checked the oil after sitting in my garage overnight and still not a drop of oil!! Apparently the economy is really bad in Sacramento and people are literally selling all their possessions just to survive. So if you are looking, look to the west young man!! The Flight: Ok this might get long so I apologize ahead of time: It all started off Tues when I flew into San Francisco. Oh I was shocked as hell they let me on the plane with my carryon bag. I had more electronic devices than inspector gadget. My passport 9500ix, touch phone, car adapter for touch, binoculars, camel back hydration back pack (just in case), electronic cigarette (trying to quit), digital camera, duct tape, and my guns and ammo magazine. If I was the guy at the x-ray security machine, id think this would reek of a terrorist. He looked at me kind of funny; I looked back, smiled and said you might as well open it up as it would be easier to explain. He laughed and checked me through. I am thinking cool, but then I thought I could have easily gotten my glock 45cal through (not good). Of course the girl threw out my 50 sun block as it was over their limit of ounces aloud even though I argued that it was only half full and that it indeed met their limits. Of course I didn’t want to argue the fact with Helga the German shot putter with the rubber gloves, so I complied and threw it out(more on that later). The trip: Day 1: After a grueling flight sitting next to a guy twice my size, Oh I am 6,2 245lbs, we finally landed in San Fran. I inspected the car, signed the check over, got the title and was on the road by 3pm. I drove to Reno NV as I wanted to get a feel for the car and see if it was road trip worthy. No doubt in my mind I literally stole this car. Oh by the way, stay away from the buffet at the nugget hotel (more on that later). Hotel was awesome for $49 a night. I mean this should be rated 5 stars, with huge rooms, beautiful indoor pool, secure parking… Day 2: Woke up bright and early 5am Jumped in the car put the top down and I was ready to conquer NV and Utah. Oh crap the desert is frickin cold in the morning, so up goes the top. About 4 hours later down went the top , Oh crap I forgot the idiot at security threw out my sun block, I Luckily found a small ink spot on the map called Winnemucca, and by luck it had a Wallymart. I bought a family cooler, bag of ice, 2 gallons of water, fix flat, 1 quart mobile 1, trail mix and an 8 pack of Gatorade. Oh S**T I forgot the sun block, so back in I go. For those with Boxster, the family cooler fits perfectly in the frunk (take out the tire iron and tools). So back on the road with the top down through NV and Utah. The drive through Nevada was simply amazing. I mean it was picturesque traveling through the mountains. The Porsche was definitely built for the mountain terrain. Hugged the curves and effortless breezed up the inclines like nothing I have ever driven. Even with the cruise on, I was surprised I never felt the engine lunge going up the hills. Ok Now as I was going into Utah with the top down I started feeling a burning sensation. As luck would have it sun block needs to be reapplied every few hours. I also started feeling a gurgling sensation in my middle stomach region (remember the buffet? Well more later, much more). Helpful tip: Don’t drive with your top down in the first part of Nevada, as the salt flats really smell like dead fish. I mean it reeked!! So I stopped off in Park city to take care of that gurgling feeling and get something to eat. Stopped at loco lizards. Had a steak sandwich and almost made it through Wyoming. I stopped in Laramie Wyoming. BY the way, Wyoming doesn’t have trees(I didn't know that), but it does have prairie dogs and they would sit along the road and just stare at you. So being me I had to pull over and mess with them (being the dog lover I am). Timid little creatures as they were, I couldn’t get within 30 feet of them(even with trail mix). That was probably a good thing as I didn’t want to get a tetanus shot that day. Found a Super 8(yeah I am cheap) as i just need a place to crash until the sun comes up. What a dump!! They had duct tape holding the batteries in the remote. The shower felt great though. Day 3: Well remember the buffet at the Nuggets? Well I can’t really find true words to describe what came out of me; I don’t even think Home depot could match that color green on their state of the art color matching computer. OK I know “too much Info”. Well apparently the Leg of lamb they had on their buffet had a hidden agenda. Not only did I have food poising I realized that hair doesn’t protect the scalp from sunburn. Frickin ouch!! So now I had food poising and sun poising. I appreciated the fact that I averaged 28 MPG (27 with ac), but my body needed a few more frequent stops at the stations. Now, it was just a mission to make it home. Nebraska went by quickly enough as I didn’t see one cop and traffic was light. So I tested out what cruise control at 100mph felt like. Actually it felt just like 55mph but things went by alittle quicker.  I was damned determined to make it through Iowa, but I really started getting sick, I mean dizzy and nauseated. Not a good condition to be alert and driving. So I limped into for the night. Found a “clean” super 8 and crashed at 6pm. I woke up around 1am and was lying in a pool of sweat. Actually that was a great sign as it showed my immune system was taking over. Chugged a bunch of water, downed an Advil and crashed till 8am. Day 4: I felt much better but still couldn’t find match on Home Depot's color chart (sorry). So the final day was only like a 6 hour drive. I enjoyed the scenery through Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. The ride was pretty much uneventful except for the few mustang owners who had to come up and try to challenge me. I just smiled nodded and pretty much ignored them. They would race off and then about 10 minutes later after the fear of driving over 80 set in, I blew right by them with my cruise set at 80 something. I did enjoy the smiles from the girls as I drove by, especially the ones with their hubby’s in the car with them. You could see them arguing in the rearview mirror (What were you looking at). At about 20 miles out of Indianapolis, I started feeling this warm fuzzy feeling (no it wasn’t the lamb from the buffet). The air smelled better, the people seemed nicer, OMG It was the Ohio boarder!! Home sweet Home!! That last Hour seemed like Heaven on Earth!! The Verdict: It was a fantastic adventure, Yes I would have love to have skipped the Leg Of Lamb at the Nugget casino, but such is life. Oh, I said screw the worlds largest ball of twine, wasn't worth the 2hour trip. So here is an abbreviated break down of my trip: $$ to get the bugs off at the carwash=$8.00 Air fare to San Fran= $265 Gas/hotels/junk food=$600 Leg of Lamb @ the Buffet=Just plain Stupid!! (but it was delicious) 9 states/ avg speed of 85 ish mph and no tickets=Just Pure Talent Baby (ok maybe a little luck) 4 day journey across our beautiful Country= Frickin Priceless

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[Protein]

Great post! I'd love to drive cross country some day, excellent to have done so in a Porsche!

[flexstar]

very amusing read and very poor timing for food poisoning

[mptoledo]

Originally Posted by flexstar

very amusing read and very poor timing for food poisoning

It was still worth it. If I had known the "s" had 3 radiators and little chance of overheating, I would take the southern route I40, through vegas,new mex,texas,oklahoma,ark, and then stopped for BBQ in memphis.

Funny thing is I felt fine the next day. Everything(including plumbing) was back to normal. I was telling the other forum I almost said "what the hell" and went for the east coast. But why tempt fate?

[Macster]

Originally Posted by mptoledo

It was still worth it. If I had known the "s" had 3 radiators and little chance of overheating, I would take the southern route I40, through vegas,new mex,texas,oklahoma,ark, and then stopped for BBQ in memphis.

Funny thing is I felt fine the next day. Everything(including plumbing) was back to normal. I was telling the other forum I almost said "what the hell" and went for the east coast. But why tempt fate?

and altitude of I-40. Or even I-10. I've driven my 02 Boxster thru 116F heat in southern AZ no problems.

As long as cooling system in good shape -- you don't want to venture into hot country with a "slow" coolant leak -- car and engine will be just fine.

Oh, I've done the I-40 and I-10 route more than once... 221K miles on my '02 Boxster. Original engine. These ain't delicate cars and as long as properly maintained are good for some big miles. In any kind of weather. I have pics of car about to drive through desert country dust storm outside of Albuquerque and parked in between many feet high piles of snow in Flagstaff.

Sincerely,

Macster.

[mptoledo]

Originally Posted by Macster

and altitude of I-40. Or even I-10. I've driven my 02 Boxster thru 116F heat in southern AZ no problems.

As long as cooling system in good shape -- you don't want to venture into hot country with a "slow" coolant leak -- car and engine will be just fine.

Oh, I've done the I-40 and I-10 route more than once... 221K miles on my '02 Boxster. Original engine. These ain't delicate cars and as long as properly maintained are good for some big miles. In any kind of weather. I have pics of car about to drive through desert country dust storm outside of Albuquerque and parked in between many feet high piles of snow in Flagstaff.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Wow, I would be happy if my Box got half that 110k miles. I plan on doing the maintenence by the book, and when I figure out how to do the oil myself I will probably do it more often.

[Macster]

Originally Posted by mptoledo

Wow, I would be happy if my Box got half that 110k miles. I plan on doing the maintenence by the book, and when I figure out how to do the oil myself I will probably do it more often.

I don't think that's good enough. It is designed to soften the blow of higher priced cars with reduced servicing costs, not to prolong life of engine and drivetrain and car.

Buy a Bentley Porsche Boxster manual and oil/filter change instructions are provided. Oil/filter change pretty easy.

I do oil/filter services every 5000 miles.

Sincerely,

Macster.

[Josh@TPCRACING]

WOW! Great story! Enjoy your Boxster, they are outstanding cars!

[erik@sachssport.com]

Sounds like a great experience (for the most part) Welcome back to Ohio!

[Cpa4S]

great story = i have looked at a couple of cars in vancouver and calgary and thought it would be so much fun to buy and drive back east

[Into Eternity]

sounds like a fun trip, definetly a memorable one, may do something similiar if neccessary on my next purchase. I hear about people doing this quite often for the "perfect" car or deal for them and sounds like fun, great way to get to know your new car as well.

[DRE1615]

Originally Posted by Protein

Great post! I'd love to drive cross country some day, excellent to have done so in a Porsche!

I completely agree. I'd love to drive cross country some day, whether it be solo or with a caravan of cars, sounds really fun.

[Porsche323]

Great post, sounds like you had a drive of a lifetime.

[mptoledo]

funny thing is, its only been like 15 days and I am ready to do it again. Actually I am thinking about heading to the east coast. Make it a coast to coast thing. My only regret(besides the buffet at the nugget) is that I didn't take more time and plan out a few detours along the way. But what the heck I am young and I can learn from my mistakes.