drivetofive

Odometer (ILX):  34,184

Ham, sausage, bacon and sharp cheddar.  Those fine ingredients are the makings of the Country Combo omelet at my favorite brunch place in Phoenix:  The Good Egg on Central Avenue.  On Sunday morning, the Acura ILX made its way there with its cousin, a 2006 TL owned by a friend of mine.

Jeremy’s TL has just 111,000 miles on it.  The 2004-2008 TL bodystyle has been a longtime favorite of mine.  This TL is powered by a 270-horsepower, 3.2 liter 24-valve V6 engine.  Jeremy regularly gets 29 mpg on the highway.

After brunch I had a few minutes to kill so I continued down Central Avenue to the south.

At the entrance to 15,000-acre South Mountain Park lie the remains of a building that was once a candy store. The building was constructed in 1936.  As of the 1960’s when the owner was in his 70’s, it was still in operation.  It’s called Scorpion Gulch. Here’s a picture of the area from an undated historic archive:

Oddly enough, I’ve lived in Arizona for over 7 years and never even seen a scorpion, but apparently they’re out there.  I’ve probably jinxed myself and will have one in my shoe tomorrow morning when I get dressed.

During late 2012 and early 2013, a “stabilization” effort took place at Scorpion Gulch wherein new window frames were outfitted for the building and the roof was removed (it was too dangerous before).  Only the walls remain.

From a 1966 article about Scorpion Gulch:

In 1936, Lunsford purchased the 100 feet of frontage. He personally hauled the rock and built the store with living quarters attached where he and his wife lived and operated the business. His wife died several years ago and Bill now lives alone.

He doesn’t make much money, what with giving away bottles of pop, and he is one of the few remaining merchants who sells penny candy. He probably gives away more candy than he sells. He just can’t resist giving away candy and pop to his “grandchildren” who lack the necessary money.

It would’ve been great if Scorpion Gulch was still in business so I could buy a drink and a treat.

Does anyone else get nervous like me when they see these “SEVERE TIRE DAMAGE” devices that you can’t back over?

Fun with a mirror in a parking structure in central Phoenix.

And some raindrops later in the week that did little more than muddy up the car.

At the other end of the country, Alan in Florida is putting his 1992 Acura Legend sedan to the test.  He recently pulled a boat with his car.  Now there’s a fine looking tow rig if I’ve ever seen one.  I’m sure he turned a few heads at the marina.

On Monday night, I had a visitor from out of town.  Jake has a 1992 Acura Legend LS Sedan in Sirius White Pearl with 135,911 miles on the odometer.  He’s had it since Fall 2011 and and it’s in excellent condition!

Keen-eyed Legend enthusiasts will notice that Jake ditched the factory 15″, 20-spoke from 1992 and replaced them with some really nice refinished 16″ GS wheels.  His updates carried on to other parts of the car, too.

Up front, a body-color front grille graces the hood.  And inside, Jake has incorporated a GS shift knob.  He went to great lengths to track down some dual piston “Type II” brake calipers and installed those too.

Jake’s next plans for the Legend are some new leather and possibly some window tint.

Thanks for stopping by, Jake!

Finally, I recently came across a list of the 27 “official” Parkways, Historic Roads, and Scenic Roads in the state of Arizona.  It’s time to start crossing these off.  Here’s the list (website allows download of the 6-page PDF).

One in particular that caught my eye was Sky Island Parkway.  So many nearby roads begging to be driven!

Let’s see where I end up next.  Saddle up.

This entry was posted on April 10, 2013 at 6:28 pm and is filed under Arizona, ILX, 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.