Day 6 – Scottsdale, Arizona
Odometer: 9,204
Trip Mileage: 3,744
Home sweet home!
As much fun as it is to travel, I love the feeling of pulling back into my driveway after a few days away. The ILX not only survived its 3,744 mile journey, it actually seems to be performing ‘better’ the more experienced it gets. My gas mileage went to a record (for me) high of 33 mpg today.
Over the course of the last 6 days, Alex the ILX and I have traveled an average of 624 miles per day. That’s a lot of seat time! But I’m happy to report that the newest member of the Acura family does not disappoint. It instead delivers all the amenities I’ve come to know and expect over the last decade of driving Acura vehicles.
This is a look at the total trip, with a pinpoint at each of my nightly stops.
And this was today’s final leg of the journey:
Good morning from Gallup, New Mexico. Looks like we got a little rain overnight.
Just 20 miles westward, I celebrated a reunion with my home state.
I shifted gears into a new music genre just for fun. Ironically, “Cadillac Ranch” came on. Just yesterday I drove past Cadillac Ranch and blogged about it!
At Holbrook, Arizona, I left interstate 40 and instead sought out some back roads to get me back to the Phoenix area. Town was pretty quiet on a Sunday morning!
The first part of the drive looked a lot like this on Arizona Highway 277 – wide open roads, zero traffic, and perfect weather.
So perfect, in fact, that I opened the moonroof and enjoyed some of the fresh morning air.
Soon I connected with Highway 260 which winds along Arizona’s “Mogollon Rim.” This is the area where I took my Acura Legend camping last year. Beautiful area!
Finally, I was home! Perhaps worth mentioning here: I’ve driven 4,292 miles since my last oil change and the “Oil Life” indicator on the dashboard still says 70%. These highway miles must be pretty easy on a motor.
The first order of business was a CAR WASH! The last thing I want to do when it’s 100 degrees outside is let all those bugs get baked on.
BEFORE
DURING
AFTER. Tucked in for a rest after the long journey.
Thanks for coming along on the ride to Wisconsin with me and I hope to share more adventures in the coming months!
Time for some rest & relaxation here. Cheers!
drivetofive 
July 29, 2012 at 4:43 pm
Whew! Glad you’re home safely! Does 3744 miles translate to about 60 hours of travel time? Ish? Acura will love all your feedback. Your trip is much like Dean Karnazes and his quest to run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days or some such thing. It’s a good thing you’re young! And how much was the fuel cost for that many miles? It would be sweet if Acura could help out with some of that! Get some rest.
July 29, 2012 at 5:39 pm
Rest? What’s that? I got home, did laundry, washed the car, cleaned house, unpacked, blogged, went to work to catch up on 3 days’ worth of emails, went to the gym, and just spent a few minutes up on my rooftop watching a storm roll in! Yes, the drive was 60-ish hours in total. I haven’t yet totaled up the fuel expense… kind of afraid to!
July 29, 2012 at 7:02 pm
thanks for the text, glad you made it back. ALWAYS a good read on The Drive to Five!
July 29, 2012 at 7:06 pm
You betcha! I’m glad people care to keep tabs on me. In the unlikely event that my Acura leaves me stranded sometime, plenty of people will know where I am at any given time! Haha. Hope your weekend’s been great.
July 30, 2012 at 6:40 am
Nice posts Tyson. Glad to see you made it back ok from your quick in and out of Wisconsin.
July 30, 2012 at 7:14 am
Thanks Marc! Depending on the location of NALM 2013, maybe we’ll see one of those pristine Legend coupes come out of hibernation 🙂 Thanks for following along on my trip.
July 30, 2012 at 8:38 am
I hear you- maybe they will appear at a meet beyong the tristate area here! The weather forecast has to be perfect though 🙂
July 30, 2012 at 4:06 pm
So how’s the ILX cockpit compare to the Legend on long drives?
Welcome back home.
rich
July 30, 2012 at 5:27 pm
Hey Rich – big difference to go from a Legend cockpit to ILX cockpit. The ILX dash feels “higher” – you’re really sunk back into your seat. You also can’t see the hood at ALL from the driver’s seat. Fit and finish feels good, and there’s a lot of technology at your fingertips – bluetooth, XM, push-button this and push-button that. The door don’t close with a ‘bank vault’ thud like the Legend’s do – they feel a bit cheaper. Overall the cabin feels comfortable and cozy. Seat doesn’t offer quite as much side bolster support as my coupe’s. Thanks for the welcome – it’s good to be back home!