Pics: Birthday Weekend 33
Odometer (ILX): 109,058
Odometer (NSX): 99,301
Happy New Year! Got a grab-bag of pics to share today as we kick off 2015. I’m feeling pretty ancient these days! I hit my 33rd milestone birthday last Sunday, December 28th. All threes, baby. Kind of like that road trip in July 2008 when I rolled threes in my Legend.
The outpouring of birthday wishes was overwhelming. At least a couple dozen of the posts on my Facebook page had some reference or another to car stuff, like this special Happy Birthday graphic made with Honda & Acura emblems.
This was one of my faves:
As well as this from Dillon:
Thanks, Dillon!
And a few references to road trips rounded out the mix:
One friend (HondaPro Jason) even went to the effort of making me a video! My mom made a special card for me.
The whole weekend was filled with festivities. Every year between Christmas and New Years, my dad & stepmom come down to Arizona from Utah to visit. We always find fun projects to work on around the house. This time, we focused our attention on the front yard. The area near my front door has always been a bit of an eyesore.
The ILX doubled as a pickup truck when I went to Lowe’s and picked up 17 bags of large river rock. We ended up making at least two other trips – transporting probably 40 bags or more.
Step 1 – Clearing out the area.
Step 2 – Dad working on a pesky root that was in the way.
Step 3 – Laying down the new rock.
Step 4 – Finished product!
My dad also got me some storage containers for my cabinet in the garage and we organized it.
Time for an ILX bath.
And a visit from Joe who drives this 165,000-mile 1995 Legend LS coupe.
It was great to catch up with Joe again.
But wait, there’s more. Walter, who owns the gorgeous 2015 Legend Coupe, stopped by in his new Acura RLX Sport Hybrid.
That pearl white was blinding in the afternoon sunlight.
We took a quick spin around the block and onto Loop 101 for a spirited onramp acceleration exercise. This car can get up and go!
Gorgeous from every angle.
Those 19’s really set the car off.
Just 110 miles on this beauty.
There were only 250 of the SH-AWD RLXs produced. It’s a very limited-edition model.
Dinner with some friends.
Sunday morning hike up Hayden Butte in Tempe.
View overlooking the city. Gorgeous December day!
The ILX got its 3rd set of tires on New Year’s Eve. I went with Michelin Primacy MXM4’s from TireRack. I got 56,649 miles out of my last set. The cool thing is, I picked up an extra full-size 17″ wheel, so now I’m using that as a spare tire instead of the teeny little donut that came with the car.
And finally, my old red car had a fun week in the hands of my buddy Devan who was back visiting from school in Indiana for the holidays and needed a “rental.” He took good care of it and even gave it a detail.
Foam bath
All clean
Check out those racing stripes in the carpet!
Follow Devan’s detailing biz on Instagram at @dnaautodetailing. He does great work, as you can tell!
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
drivetofive 
January 2, 2015 at 8:30 am
What a great birthday you had! Cleaning cars, hiking, organizing closets, and sprucing up the yard, as well as eating good food and mingling with great people…. all elements to constitute a fabulous day! See you in a couple weeks!
January 2, 2015 at 8:52 am
Yeah, it was a great b-day! Look forward to seeing you very soon. Happy New Year!
January 2, 2015 at 8:32 am
P.S. I believe your 109,000 odometer photo above is your ILX, not your Legend…. and how about that RLX which your friend drives? THAT’S what I’m talking about!
January 2, 2015 at 8:51 am
D’oh! That’s what I get for trying to post when I’m half-asleep.
January 2, 2015 at 10:20 am
Our cars look great. It was good to catch up. Im glad i finally got my bumper painted. It makes a big difference in photos
January 2, 2015 at 10:22 am
Yeah thanks for coming over!! You going to cars & coffee tomorrow morning?
January 2, 2015 at 10:41 am
Yessir. Ill be there around 745 or so
January 2, 2015 at 10:52 am
Happy (belated) Birthday! I hope 2015 is a great year for you.
January 2, 2015 at 11:39 am
Thank you, Brad! The new year is off to a great start so far! Hope yours is going well, too. Biggest question: Has the new Honda snowblower been put to use yet?
January 2, 2015 at 12:26 pm
The new Honda snowblower is so efficient that it apparently blew all snowstorms away in their entirety! We recorded ZERO snow for the month of December — first time that’s happened since 1912. Last year, we set records for both massive snow totals and cold temperatures. #climatechange
January 2, 2015 at 11:37 am
Happy belated birthday Tyson. I celebrated my birthday on Dec. 27th. By the way who is Mama Tia, your mom?
January 2, 2015 at 11:40 am
Thanks! Sounds like we have similar birthdays. Yes, Mama Tia is my dear mother! She’s by far my #1 blog commenter. haha
January 2, 2015 at 11:56 am
Great minds think alike. 🙂 Your parents look really young! Nice to meet you Mama Tia? Do you use Twitter? I had a set of Michelin Primacy MXV4’s (the cushy version of your tires), and three of the tires lasted 85,000 miles! Currently, I am running the same tires with about 65,000 miles with 5/32nds left! We are currently in Nebraska with my dad’s 2012 CRV. I didn’t drive at all yesterday.
January 2, 2015 at 11:57 am
Tyson, I was asking if you use Twitter (just to clarify).
January 2, 2015 at 11:58 am
What engine do you have in the ILX? Do they still use the K24 engine?
January 2, 2015 at 12:00 pm
Yes K24. I have a Twitter account under @TysonHugie but I don’t really use it. My parents are young indeed!
January 2, 2015 at 4:04 pm
RLX’s are rare in general, I’ve seen them on dealership lots, but NEVER out on the roads… shame! Btw, does your ILX burn any oil at nearly 110k?
January 2, 2015 at 5:16 pm
Hi Farid, no oil burning here! On my way home from work, I got a Tire Pressure Monitoring System error. Guessing Discount Tire messed something up when they installed my new tires on Wednesday.
January 3, 2015 at 10:20 am
Definitely no oil burning with the way you take care of the vehicle. I got a quick question for you: since I had my engine block replaced due to a casting issue from Honda does that mean I am starting over from “0” miles again? A lot of people in this area believe that it is a “new” engine, but I was told by Arts Automotive (reputable place in San Francisco) that the block is a subassembly of the motor. Well, I guess this quick question ended up being an essay. Have a great weekend!
January 3, 2015 at 8:25 am
That NSX is “aging” remarkably well. Oh yeah….almost forgot…. Happy Birthday Tyson. 🙂
January 3, 2015 at 10:59 am
Thanks Carlos!! Hope you’re having a great weekend!
January 3, 2015 at 9:03 am
I was almost about to give you a hard time for a dirty car… 😉
January 3, 2015 at 10:08 am
Tyson’s car never looks like it left the showroom. 🙂
January 3, 2015 at 10:09 am
I mean it looks like it never left the showroom.
January 3, 2015 at 10:16 am
Boy, I wish I was in Arizona right now. Sunshine is becoming rare in the MidWest. We also have strong winds and minus temps hitting us.
January 5, 2015 at 1:34 pm
Bundle up! I’ll send some sunshine your way.
January 3, 2015 at 10:15 pm
WOW!!!!!!! gorgeous NSX
January 5, 2015 at 1:34 pm
Thank you!
January 5, 2015 at 12:31 pm
Y’all are invited up to my place to straighten out my mess of a garage! Hope you had a great b-day.
January 5, 2015 at 1:34 pm
Haha, alright, I’m on my way, Dave! Thank you for the bday wishes.
January 6, 2015 at 6:52 pm
Great blog as ALWAYS, Tyson. 🙂
Thanks for that little share. Cars are looking great and the new front ‘yard’ you is a neat little gift. Great family time it looked like.
January 7, 2015 at 6:19 am
Thanks Dillon! Happy New Year to you!
January 6, 2015 at 8:53 pm
Happy belated birthday Tyson! Wow your ILX got almost hit 110,000 miles soon.
January 7, 2015 at 6:19 am
Thanks Josh! Yeah I will roll 110k in the next week or so, I think. Great start to the new year 🙂
January 8, 2015 at 9:00 pm
Happy belated Bday Tyson. Haven’t checked your blog lately. Too busy on Acura ‘stuff’ 😉
January 9, 2015 at 6:02 am
Haha, quite alright, and thanks Marc! I know you’ve had a lot of Acura stuff going on 🙂 thanks for keeping me in the loop about it. Exciting times.
January 27, 2015 at 2:22 pm
I have a feeling that last 700 miles will take a *very* long time on that red one!
January 27, 2015 at 2:24 pm
You’d be surprised! I’m already around 99,500 I think! Eeeeek!