drivetofive

Odometer:  496,423

I found my future home location yesterday.  If I don’t end up at the Tyson RV Park in Quartzsite, Arizona, I’d like to live somewhere near the intersection of Legendary Drive and Legend Trail Rd near the Legend Trail Golf Club in Carefree, Arizona.   There is just WAY too much “Legend” going on in this particular photograph.  Way.

Today’s adventure was about 170 miles each way from the Phoenix area.  I picked up a couple of adventurous friends, Jared and Matt, and we headed for the Kartchner Caverns of southern Arizona.

My “standard” stop between Phoenix and Tucson is the DQ at Picacho Peak at exactly the halfway point.  The Legend filled up on 91 octane Shell gasoline and I filled up on a grilled chicken sandwich.

From the visitor parking lot at Kartchner Caverns State Park, the air was so clear that we could see the mountain range about 30 miles to the south that resided just within the Mexican border.  The caverns were discovered in 1974 and to this day are some of the best preserved examples in the world, thanks to a humidification system and a series of 4 air-lock doors that guests must pass through ($28 million worth!) during the 90-minute tour.  Photographs were not allowed but here’s one I pulled off the Internet.

What an eye opener to see formations that have been “growing” for 50,000 years or more.

Exiting the park grounds, I took advantage of the photo-op and made Jared be a part of it with me.

Another road trip completed without a hiccup and the car still moseys right along at 80 mph.

In other news, on Friday night I had the pleasure of spending an evening with my friend Rich who I’d met via the Acura Legend forums.  He hails from the Atlanta area and flew all the way to this side of the country to buy a local black 1994 Legend LS coupe.  After a dinner and some Legend talk, Rich and his friend Matt headed northbound to Flagstaff and eventually eastward toward home.  As of this posting I still believe they’re on the road.  Safe travels, Rich, and thanks for stopping by!

And lastly, a cell phone pic of what is perhaps the most ideal parking space in the world.  What car lover would not love to have his or her baby protected on all sides?  This happened at lunch the other day and I couldn’t help but document it.

Tomorrow the Legend coupe goes in for an oil change at Acura of Tempe.  I received this week two service coupons from that dealership.  I’m also going to have the rear upper control arms redone.  Ever since about 487,000 when I had them changed before, I’ve had a very pronounced creak from the rear suspension.  I’m almost positive the cheaper quality aftermarket control arms that I used are to blame.   Lesson learned – only Acura OEM parts from here on out.  Not that I should need anything at this point –only 3,500 miles to go!  I can practically see the finish line from here!

This entry was posted on September 26, 2011 at 4:18 am and is filed under Arizona, Legend, Road Trip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.