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Sunday Group Drive: Long Loop to Lynx Lake, Arizona

Posted in Arizona, ILX, Milestones, Road Trip, Vehicle Reviews on April 27, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 533,182

Odometer (ILX): 123,824

Trip Distance: 243 Miles

“My Bugles spilled all over!”

That was James’ flustered exclamation immediately upon exiting his Ultrasonic Blue Mica Lexus NX200t on a pullout of Highway 89 on Sunday morning. This particular road is unlike most of our state highways for a few reasons: It delivers seemingly endless twists and turns, the corners are banked, and the pavement conditions are as smooth as can be. For any car enthusiast, all those factors can only mean one thing: Wheeeeee!

So, as James took the corners aggressively in his “cute-ute” SUV to keep up with me in the ILX and Peter in his 3-series station wagon, his open bag of Bugles chips that was sitting on the floor repeatedly got rolled over by a rogue water bottle. And James, hands white-knuckling the wheel at 10:00 and 2:00 positions, was powerless to stop it from scattering crumbs all over the place in the process.

It was all worth it, and this Sunday drive did not disappoint. This was a small group with 3 unique luxury cars:

2002 BMW 325iT (Peter) – $36,250 as tested
- 5-speed manual
- Sport, Premium, and Cold Weather packages
- 2.5 liter Inline-6
- 189 horsepower
- 190,155 miles
2013 Acura ILX (Tyson) – $31,980 as tested
- 6-speed manual
- 2.4 liter 4-cylinder
- 201 horsepower
- 123,824 miles
2015 Lexus NX200t (James) – $43,398 as tested
- 6-speed automatic
- F SPORT and Navigation packages
- 2.0 liter 4-cylinder
- 235 horsepower
- 2,901 miles

From our home base in Scottsdale, we made our way northbound (Loop 101 -> Interstate 17 -> Highway 74 -> Highway 60) and our first stop was for fuel and snacks at the Mobil gas station in Wickenburg. That’s where James got ahold of those Bugles which later became the strewn-about crumbs in his back seat.

Peter’s 5-speed 3-series took the lead with Jack playing the role as copilot. As soon as traffic and road conditions permitted, the white station wagon quickly left me in its dust. Thanks to its custom upgraded H&R Sport suspension and 18″ low-profile tires, the BMW was well-suited for the twists & turns of Highway 89. The ILX, too, seemed to be right at home in that environment. Jack drove it for a stretch and commented on how superior Honda’s stick-shifts are. (A shame, since as of the 2016 model year, Acura has nixed the option). Between Wickenburg and Prescott, the highway ascended about 3,300 feet in elevation; rowing between 3rd and 4th gears it was fun to hold the motor in the higher RPM range and make use of VTEC technology.

Prescott welcomed us with light rains, refreshing pine-scented air, and cool mountain temperatures. There was only thing one left to make it a perfect road trip: tasty food. And for that, we went to the Lone Spur Cafe on Gurney Street in historic downtown Prescott.

Since it would be on our way home anyway, we decided to hit up Lynx Lake for a few pictures. I last visited both Lynx and Watson lakes in the Prescott area in February in the ILX. When we turned off Highway 69 at Walker Road, I noticed that there were even a few snowflakes on the roadside as we headed toward the south shore of Lynx. We were glad to have sweatshirts. I know all my readers up north are rolling their eyes at how we Arizonans crank our seat heaters to “HI” when the temperature dips below about 70 degrees.

James let me take the wheel of the Lexus for the drive home from there.

Coming from a lower-slung sporty sedan, I expected the NX to be a little less agile around the corners due to its higher center of gravity. What I instead discovered was that the NX “thinks” it’s a car, and behaves accordingly. If I had closed my eyes while driving (not recommended!), I could have easily mistaken the ride & feel for a sedan, and that is impressive considering the vehicle’s heft and profile.

Lexus tries hard to put all the controls at optimal locations. I noticed that the cruise control stalk (tucked away behind the lower right side of the steering wheel) is the same one that my mom’s 2003 Lexus GS430 had. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix/change it! The rest of the cabin is a nice place to spend time. I liked the red stitching on the dashboard (part of the F SPORT package) and the abundance of soft-touch materials surrounding the driver.

Among other adds for F SPORT are the sport-tuned suspension (which we definitely put to work), perforated leather-trimmed steering wheel, cornering front fog & driving lamps, special door scuff plates, and active sound control (“ASC”). That feature is a bit of an oddity: It’s a dial mounted to the dashboard below the steering wheel that controls the level/intensity of engine sound coming into the cabin. Oddly enough, the NX even has a G-meter. Those are all nice efforts to make the vehicle fun and sporty, but something tells me its primary buyers are folks who probably aren’t going to care. I picture the NX spending more time fighting for parking spaces at the mall than doing any kind of technical driving. I have to wonder how the NX would fare on an extreme road like Bloody Basin.

All-in, I enjoyed driving the NX200t more than I thought I would. At 80 mph on the freeway, there was almost undetectable wind noise. We streamed Bluetooth audio from James’ iPhone and the 8-speaker audio system rocks out (thanks for reminding me that Bloodhound Gang exists!). We got dumped on by a cloudburst coming down a curvy section of Interstate 17 between Sunset Point and Black Canyon City. Even though the NX was wearing summer tires, traction was grippy and confidence-inspiring. The windshield wipers (front and rear) did a great job of sweeping away the rains and I must say I really enjoyed the higher ride height of a crossover and the visibility it gave to what was going on around me.

Many thanks to James, Peter, and Jack for coming along and to the folks at Toyota/Lexus for giving James access to that sweet NX so it could join us for the drive. That about wraps it up for this weekend’s adventure. Thanks as always for coming along! Photo gallery below.

Westbound on Highway 74, following the Lexus

Peter’s E46 takes the lead

ILX spotted in the sideview mirror of the NX

Just about to start our climb from Wickenburg to Prescott

Mile marker near Yarnell on Highway 89

Quick pullout off the highway

Arrival in Prescott

Walking a few blocks to our lunch spot at Lone Spur Cafe

Lunch bunch at Lone Spur

Peter knew just the right angles to get on his wagon pictures

Lining up the cars

Beauty shot

And hey, check out this milestone I hit a few days ago! 123,456! If it had been one degree warmer, it could have almost been a perfect capture.

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Weekend Roady: Wedding in Salt Lake City, Utah

Posted in Ghost Town, ILX, Road Trip, Utah on April 20, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (ILX): 123,150

Odometer (Legend): 533,182

Trip Distance: 1,454 Miles

11:10 p.m., Saturday night. Intersection of 600 West and 100 South. Dark alleyway near the train tracks. It felt like a horror movie in the making already.

I took the driver’s seat of the ILX, pushed in the clutch, and punched the “START” button. Something seemed off. The exhaust sound – it was louder than I’d anticipated. My ears were drawn to the back of the car. Slowly I turned around to look over my right shoulder. Glistening in the moonlight were hundreds of pieces of broken glass, and wide open to the outside air was my right rear window – or what used to be my window. I’d just been a victim of vandalism.

Back outside the car (with it still running and headlights now turned on), I walked around to assess any potential body damage, but didn’t find any. My next thought – was anything missing? I reached for the trunk release button and opened it up. My laptop computer and suitcase were still in there. At this point, a microscopic feeling of relief crept in. I debated about calling the police right then and there – but, what good was a police report going to do in a city 700 miles from home? I already knew I’d be out of pocket a few hundred bucks for a new window regardless.

It wasn’t until I got a few blocks away, sitting at a stop light on West Temple, that the thought dawned on me: MY WORK LAPTOP. I had two computers in the car. The second one had been sitting on the floor in its black bag behind the passenger seat of the car. Gone. At that point, mind racing, I did dial 9-1-1. The operator calmly told me I’d need to submit the police report online. So, instead of continuing on to have a good time with my friends, I went back to where I was staying and got on the SLC PD website to fulfill that action immediately. What a night.

The rest of the weekend more than made up for that horrible incident, but I will forever remember the night of April 18th and the 10-hour return drive from Salt Lake City to Phoenix with no right rear window the following day. Thankfully for most of that stretch, I was on Interstate 15 southbound with its 80 mph posted speed limits so it went by quickly.

My 1,400-mile weekend trip’s purpose was to attend the wedding reception of my cousin Kelsee who got hitched at the Salt Lake City Mormon temple. Along the way, I made a bunch of special visits that broke up the trip and made it memorable. The first place I had to check out was the teeny town of Holden, Utah off Interstate 15. I knew Holden wasn’t going to be of any great size when I saw the “NO SERVICES” sign attached to the exit sign on the offramp.

Sure enough, it’s a quaint farm town with a couple of boarded up stores and probably a higher population of livestock than human beings. The town was established in 1855 as a Mormon pioneer settlement. A sign at the entrance to town states the following about the people of this community:

Residents of Holden still radiate the enduring qualities bequeathed them by their hardy pioneering ancestors: thrift, perseverance, and a strong, abiding love of God.

My friend Chandler grew up in this community and just happened to be there, so I paid a visit to him and his family. They certainly do radiate those qualities!

At Chandler’s recommendation, I again pulled off the interstate in Scipio, Utah about 15 miles further north on the interstate. Originally settled in 1859, Scipio has never really ‘boomed’ but rather lingered in the population range from 300 to 500 people in the last 150 years. Today, the main street – “State” – has an antique store that still looks to be in business. A couple of other buildings are most decidedly NOT in business. I positioned the ILX in front of a couple abandoned gas stations for pictures. Those old pumps are my favorite.

After lunch with my dad & stepmom in Salt Lake, I visited my friend Branson and rode around his neighborhood at a whopping 10 miles per hour on a Yamaha golf cart. I also took a peek at Branson’s 164,000-mile 1995 Acura Legend LS coupe 6-speed. He takes great care of it. Branson and I originally met through a Legend enthusiast forum in 2003.

Branson and I decided to take his nieces and nephew for a mini road trip in the ILX to Herriman, about 7 miles away. There, we checked out a 2,800-square-foot home that was built in 2011 and modeled after the feature home in the 2009 Pixar movie “UP.” However, unlike the home in UP, this one didn’t levitate with balloons! It sure did stand out, though, amidst all the monochromatic, cookie cutter homes surrounding it.

Here’s what the Pixar movie house looks like:

And the real deal:

My cousin’s wedding reception was a top-notch affair at the Ivy House on 600 East in downtown Salt Lake. It was great to reconnect with friends and family members there.

The randomest thing of all was when I ran into my grandparents at a gas station in Beaver, Utah on the way home. I ended up following grandpa’s white 2000 Toyota Avalon the rest of the way to their home in St. George, about 100 miles away.

As for a conclusion to the dramatic opening story: My employer issued me a new laptop computer within 2 hours of my workday today, and my ILX goes in tomorrow morning for a $349 rear window replacement at Safelite so all will be well soon.

Thanks for coming along for the trip! A few more pictures are below.

Chandler’s family’s backyard with garden in Holden, Utah

Entrance sign to Holden at the north end of town on Main Street

Antique store on State Street in Scipio, Utah

Sign back to Interstate 15 from State Street

Another abandoned service station in Scipio

Location of that service station – intersection of State & Center

Loved this old pump

Lunch with dad & stepmom (and friend Jeremy) in Salt Lake at Cheesecake Factory

Shot of the “UP” house in Herriman

Love the Wasatch Mountains! It was a perfect weather day.

Springtime is in full swing in downtown Salt Lake. Here I was parked just outside the Ivy House reception center.

Fueling up next to mom & Todd in their 2010 Volkswagen EOS in Nephi, Utah

32 Comments »

1992 Acura NSX – 100,000 Miles Achieved

Posted in ILX, Maintenance, Milestones, NSX on April 16, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 533,180

Odometer (ILX): 121,438

I couldn’t have asked for a more fitting time or place for my 1992 Acura NSX to turn over its first 100,000 miles.

My friends and I were just finishing up an exhilarating run up southern Arizona’s Mount Lemmon, last Friday, April 10th. As the NSX odometer’s numbers crept steadily upward like digits on a Vegas slot machine in slow-motion, I watched as the “1” started peeking its way up from below. Digital odometers will never be as fun as those old “rolling” kind!

Followed closely by my Legend coupe (driven by Peter) and Legend sedan (driven by Jason), we turned west on Pecos Road from Interstate 10 as we came into the south end of the Phoenix area. Just 5 miles later, I had to pull over to the shoulder for this short video clip:

I’m a historian in every sense, so if you’ll bear with me I’ll share a little about my NSX and its life since its February 1992 date of manufacture in Japan. I’m the fourth owner of this NSX. The first owner made his purchase on September 29, 1992 and had the car for almost 5 years. The second had it for only a year. The third owner had it for over 13 years, and then I came along. I first test-drove the car on Sunday, December 11, 2011 while my friend Matt and I were in the Bay Area for a Metallica concert. It had 80,441 miles on it.

Love at first sight?

The following Saturday, December 17th, I flew back to San Jose and sealed the deal with a certified check and a handshake. The car had 10 more miles on it by then, and I drove away at 80,451 as the new proud owner. My first fuel stop was at Gas N’ Go on Blossom Hill Road in San Jose. I paid $3.65/gallon for 12 gallons of Premium and went on my way. Yes, I saved that receipt.

I listened to the Top Gun soundtrack on cassette tape (it came with the car) for a good portion of the 721-mile drive home.

I’m still in contact with all 3 prior owners. In fact, shortly after I bought the car, I snail-mailed some current pictures to its original owner, William, and he responded gratefully with the following comments:

That is indeed my NSX. I really was interested in owning one from the time they came out, but the feeding frenzy drove the prices out of reason. I drove it on the weekends and sometimes on Friday to work. I was racing Formula cars at Laguna Seca at the time, so I drove it to Monterey once a month and parked it with the Ferraris, the Porsches, and the occasional Lambo that the other racers would bring.

Its second owner, Gary, also had some fun at the very same track:

I did manage to race that car on an open track day at Monterey’s Laguna Seca racetrack and I guarantee that the weakest part of the car was the driver! How many cars have you had that can be driven through traffic jams and then spend the day racing around the track at 8000 RPM, and then step back in for a wonderful return home trip. Most of the other participants had to trailer their cars to the track and have all the spares they felt they needed to keep the car going. Two Corvettes had such brake failures that the ran into hay bales at the end of the long straight.

The day before the track day I managed to spin the car four spins while trying to enter a curving onramp near my home. Mostly because I needed to replace the Yokohama tires that really wear out too quickly and with bad grip at the rear the car really starts acting more Porsche-like and hard to handle. New Dunlops were perfect timing for the next day on the track and never again spun out the back end.

Up until that the day I picked the car up, it had lived 100% of its life in the San Francisco Bay Area. I bought the car as a 30th birthday present to myself in December 2011 and brought it to its new home in Arizona. Since then it’s been with me on a number of adventures. Here’s a lengthy post where I shared a bunch of those.

What does it cost to own and operate one of these old cars? As mentioned, I took delivery at 80,451 miles. Today, the car has 100,060. So, I’ve put on 19,609 miles and I’ve spent $2,347.14 keeping it on the road. That means it’s cost me 8 cents per mile. Keep in mind that we’re of course excluding the cost of fuel, registration, insurance, and emissions testing. This is strictly a maintenance cost.

Unlike on my Legend coupe, I don’t have “all-inclusive” records back to new on this car, but I do have quite a chunk of paperwork in a 3-ring binder that I’ve taken the time to log and that I continue to track on an ongoing basis. Here’s what I have record of on this car since it was brand new:

18 oil changes (I currently use Castrol GTX 10W30)
4 batteries
1 timing belt & water pump change (Jan 2011 @ 78,239 mi)

Aside from that, there have been various other repairs over the years. The big ticket items were a $1,700 repair due to a “snap ring” issue (common a certain subset / production run of these cars) at 37,000 miles and a $2,500 repair at 65,000 miles that included mostly brake work. Total maintenance cost on record (remember, I’m certain that I don’t have a piece of paper for everything that’s ever been done to the car) for 100,060 miles and 22 years of service is $16,498.55. That comes out to 6 cents per mile over its entire lifetime.

Here’s my detailed spreadsheet if anyone is interested in the nitty gritty.

The car currently has a few maintenance needs which I’ll be addressing prior to the NSXPO event in Palm Springs this October.

Passenger rear inner CV boot leaking
Oil pan gasket leaking
ABS pump accumulator faulty

I’m lucky to have the country’s premier NSX service & repair facility right here in my own backyard. Science of Speed in Chandler, Arizona has made a name for itself as the place to have NSX service or upgrades performed. Every time I’ve been into the shop, there are at least a half-dozen NSXs up on the lifts getting something done to them.

On the topic of milestones and maintenance:

The ILX drove 9,015 miles in the little over two months’ time between February 3rd and April 11th. It went in on Saturday for an oil change, tire rotation, and replacement of the alternator belt — a $275 service at Acura of Tempe. It sure is nice being able to go three times as far on an oil change in the ILX than I was used to doing in my Legend.

I took a quick shot of “old” and “new” ILXs on my way out. You can see the subtle differences in the rear bumper and the taillights between the 2013 and the 2016 models.

Cheers!

19 Comments »

Easter Weekend Road Trip: Family Shuttle to Palm Springs, California

Posted in California, ILX, Road Trip on April 6, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 532,850

Odometer (ILX): 120,919

Trip Distance: 1,619 Miles

I got home from work this afternoon and found a package in the mailbox addressed to “The Road Trip King.”

Thanks, Alex, for sharing that awesome “AQRA” Illinois Route 66 plate! I have some of the coolest friends!

As much as I enjoy my solo time on the open road, I always welcome the chance to have a road trip companion (or three). This time, my car transported some very important cargo, including my mom, my grandmother, and my aunt.

My overall drive consisted of four roughly 400-mile-each stretches of road: Phoenix to St. George, Utah; St. George to Joshua Tree, California; Palm Springs to St. George; and then returning home to Phoenix. It seems that Palm Springs has been on my frequent destination list lately. I was just there a couple of months ago for a visit to Thermal Raceway as part of our NSXPO 2015 planning activities. This time, the purpose of our trip was to attend a surprise birthday party for my grandma’s brother, Reo. The first part of my journey was the drive up Highway 89 from Flagstaff on Thursday night.

By midday on Friday, I’d picked up my 3 fellow road trippers and we hit the highway, headed for southern California by way of Las Vegas, Nevada. As soon as we exited at Nipton Road on Interstate 15 southbound after crossing into the California state line, I knew we were in for a roller coaster ride. For the next 75 or so miles, the Morning Star Mine Road took us through the Mojave National Preserve (the same route a friend and I took last November).

While the desert was a beautiful place to be, it’s also a very rugged and dangerous environment to be because of the extreme weather and remote location. Luckily the temperatures were friendly to us. Road conditions, however, were less than optimal. There were potholes the size of manhole covers and at least 6-8” deep. We definitely smacked a few of those at 55-65 miles per hour and felt the impact.

After we had driven through the desolate towns of Cima, Kelso, and Amboy, we started closing in on the community of Twentynine Palms, named for the trees found there by Colonel Henry Washington in 1852 while completing a survey of the area. Aunt Jodi piped up from the backseat. “Look, there’s one of those homestead shacks I was telling you guys about!” Sure enough, it was time for a history lesson and a prime opportunity for a pit stop.

As it turns out, in this “Wonder Valley” region of the Mojave Desert, there are hundreds of teeny homes that dot the landscape. And by teeny, I mean they’re typically no larger than a one-room, 12-foot-long rectangle. These structures started springing up around 1938 when a homestead act was put into place, granting up to 5 acres of land to settlers in exchange for just being willing to build a structure on the property. Very few of them have endured the test of time. In fact, probably 9 out of 10 have crumbled to nothing more than a few walls and a caved-in rooftop. Here’s a very interesting article from 2004 in the Los Angeles Times about the history and fate of some of these homes. We stopped to get an inside look at one of them.

Our evening was spent watching the sunset from the second-floor balcony of the High Desert Lodge on Twentynine Palms Highway after a delicious chicken enchilada dinner at Mi Casita Nueva Mexican Restaurant down the road.

The next morning, we had places to go and people to see. Right off the bat, a special occasion took place on Highway 62 through Morongo Valley: My ILX rolled 120,000 miles.

We took Indian Canyon Road on into Palm Springs for a hearty breakfast at “Bit of Country.” After a quick visit to friends Scott & Sandy, it was time for the grand event: My grandma’s brother Reo’s surprise 85th birthday party. All of our time in the car was made worthwhile in the space of just this one-minute video clip:

After enjoying several hours of food, family, and friends, it was time to set sail yet again. For the return leg of the trip, instead of going through the Mojave Preserve we opted to take interstates 10, 210, 215, and 15, which would take us a bit longer distance-wise but would probably be just as fast as the back roads.

The last stop on our adventure was in a teeny town on the outskirts of Death Valley National Park called Baker, California. There’s not much to see in Baker aside from its 134-foot-tall thermometer — the largest in the world. The thermometer’s height is symbolic of the record 134-degree Fahrenheit temperature recorded in nearby Death Valley in 1913. The structure was built in 1991 and restored in 2014.

What makes the Baker thermometer even more special to me was that it was the first place I ever did a “photoshoot” of my 1994 Legend coupe on the day that I bought it: March 26, 2003.

Sunday morning’s Easter egg hunt with the kids was a hoot, and after that it was back to the road for my return leg to Phoenix.

Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend as much as I did!

Climbing out of one of the homestead houses in Wonder Valley

Morning in Joshua Tree, California

Arrival at the birthday party

Nephew Rex doing some Easter egg hunting

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Road Trip to Dallas Part 1: Ten Roadside Attractions

Posted in ILX, New Mexico, Road Trip on March 31, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 532,825

Odometer (ILX): 119,076

Trip Distance: 2,205 Miles

Howdy. First of all, let’s cut to the chase and get acquainted with the native language of Texas before we go there. “Y’all” is used when addressing 2-3 people. “ALL y’all” is in reference to a larger group. The tricky part is when y’all becomes possessive. Example: “Is that y’all’s car?” See, I don’t even know if I’m comfortable using that many apostrophes in one phrase.

For a couple of months now, some friends and I had been planning on a Texas trip. From the beginning, I had always told them, “I’m driving. I’ll see you guys there.” I resisted multiple pushes to book a flight. It’s not that I have any problem with getting on a plane, but for me, the journey is as much of a vacation as a destination. Thirty hours in a car sounds like a pretty good time to me. And you’re reading this because you probably agree.

The last time I was in Dallas was September 2013 for some diesel truck races with my dad & brothers. However, I cheated that time and took a flight to/from on Southwest Airlines. Aside from that, I’ve been through the DFW area a number of times on my cross-country adventures, and it’s a fun place to make a stop.

(that picture pulled from my State Lines post)

I departed last Wednesday after work and headed as far as Las Cruces, New Mexico. Jason of Driven for Drives welcomed me and my ILX with red-carpet treatment for our overnight stay at his place off Interstate 25. The next morning, it was off to the races. I had places to go and people to see. Motivation for the drive was provided by a limited-edition Starbucks “Birthday Cake” frappaccino (thanks to my friend Jim for the travel tip!) which I picked up at the location on George Dieter Road in El Paso.

Over the next 10 or so hours, I watched West Texas fly by in all its grandeur. My life became a country song: I was surrounded by boots, spurs, pickup trucks, and blue jeans. When I rolled into the Pecos, Texas “Stripes” gas station on Interstate 20 (only part of which had actual concrete pavement) around mid-morning, I took a look around me and felt a little out of my element. Everyone in line at the Subway inside had on flannel except for a woman with 1980’s hair and polka dot leggings. Culture shock.

I zoomed back onto the interstate via the “feeder” (frontage road) and re-set the cruise control at 83 miles per hour. Most of that area has an 80 mph limit which helps the miles go a little more quickly. The problem with maintaining that speed in an Acura ILX is that the engine is whirring at nearly 4,000 RPM even in 6th gear. Luckily I had 15,605 amazing songs on my iPod to drown out the motor noise.

By dusk I had entered into the western end of the 7-million-resident Dallas – Fort Worth “Metroplex” and its maze of under-construction freeways. My friends welcomed me with a collective roll of the eyes. Was it really worth all that time in the car? They asked me. To keep things easy and share some of my trip highlights, I’ll itemize my list here and you can judge for yourself whether you blame me for driving.

After 2,205 miles, I can confidently say it’s a trip I’d make again and again. Hope you enjoy taking a passenger seat to some of these neat attractions, and thanks as always for coming along.

1) Odessa: World’s Largest Jackrabbit

In 1932, the teeny Texas town of Odessa became home to the world’s first jackrabbit roping competition. During the town’s annual rodeo, Grace Hendricks roped a rabbit from horseback in 5 seconds and won. The jackrabbit roping competition was met by outcries from animal lovers and was discontinued until 1977 when a second competition was held. After that, the Humane Society put a stop to things with a court order. Today, an 8-foot-tall rabbit stands at the Chamber of Commerce on 8th Street.

2) Odessa: Replica Stonehenge

Just a few miles away from the rabbit statue, I entered the campus to the University of Texas, Permian Basin. We’re all probably familiar with the “original” landmark Stonehenge in the United Kingdom, but this one was erected only 11 years ago. Most of the slabs on display here are 19 feet tall and weigh up to 20 tons each. The layout of the stones is accurate to the real Stonehenge, but the sizes are a little bit smaller. Pictured in the far background is a Home Depot. This is definitely not England.

3) Colorado City: Radio Station Microphone Sign

There’s a radio station called KVMC that’s been broadcasting since the 1940s. A couple of decades later, someone took a picket fence and made a piece of artwork out of it, creating a giant replica of the original microphone. It still stands today in front of the radio station along the frontage road to Interstate 20.

4) Abilene: World’s Largest Paper Airplane

On 1st Street in Abilene at the Sparhawk Art Gallery / Bed & Breakfast, there’s a 30-foot-long version of a paper F15 aircraft. This one, however, actually appears to be made of wood. When I pulled into the narrow Sparhawk parking lot, I immediately spotted the aircraft toward the back and rolled there for a few photographs.

When my work there was through, I started to drive away and a woman came running out of the small building with something in her hand – a “regular sized” paper airplane. I rolled down my passenger window, thinking perhaps I was getting in trouble for taking pictures on private property. “Here!” she said. “You have to take this with you!” and she handed me the paper airplane. Soon, a man named Donovan came out too. I got out of the car to talk to both of them, and Donovan handed me a second airplane. He had folded both of them. “They don’t fly well, but I only used one sheet of paper each, and a tiny drop of glue.”

5) Abilene: Dino Bob & the Slug Bug

This work of art dates back to the late 1980s when artist Bob Wade perched a Volkswagen Beetle on top of a garage, with a dinosaur nibbling on it. The dinosaur and VW were moved in 2007 to their current location where they oversee a facility for children’s literature.

6) Abilene: World’s Largest Buffalo Skull

Here’s another fun landmark not far from Dino Bob. Sculpted in 2012 by artist Joe Barrington, this buffalo skull measures 26 feet across and weighs 2 tons. The eye sockets are big enough to crawl through. I resisted the temptation to try that out. This is located at a visitor center called “Frontier Texas.”

7) Fort Worth: U.S. Bureau of Engraving & Printing

This is one of only two places in the country where paper money gets printed (the other is in Washington, DC). Photos here are scarce – in fact, I got yelled at by someone in the lobby of the Security building for even taking this picture of the sign from the road. Before we were allowed inside, all cell phones had to be left inside our car. But the inner workings of this building are fascinating! We took a 45-minute self-guided tour on an elevated catwalk that actually overlooks the factory floor, its machines, and the production staff. I paid $22.50 for an uncut sheet of four $2 bills at the gift shop. How about a few fun facts?

The estimated life span of a $1 bill is 5.9 years
The estimated life span of a $100 bill is 15 years
There have been no bills printed in denominations greater than $100 since 1969
Each production day, the facility I visited prints $17 million in currency per hour
“Paper” money is actually mostly cotton and part linen

Now you know!

8) Fort Worth: Fort Worth Stock Yards

Here, a 206-acre area that used to house a huge livestock market is now a historic district that retains its Wild West heritage with saloons, rodeo grounds, and souvenir shops. Originally inhabited in the 1860s, Fort Worth Stock Yards officially opened up in 1890 and became a historic district in 1976. My friends and I enjoyed wandering around and exploring the pedestrian-friendly blocks. We had delicious lunch including bottled IBC Root Beer at a restaurant called Star Cafe.

9) Fort Worth: Water Gardens

The Water Gardens are located right in downtown and have been there since 1974. Within the 4-acre park, there are several different water features including an “aerating” pool and a “meditation” pool. My favorite feature was the Active Pool which is a terraced waterfall that steps down 38 feet below ground level. Visitors can step down into the base of the waterfall next to a pool at the bottom. The roaring sound from within the center is amazing. I took a short video to show the experience. I panned around from inside the waterfall, then recorded going up the steps to exit, then did a pan of the overall facility. This particular pool was redesigned from 2005-2007 after 4 people died there. It is now 7 feet more shallow than it used to be.

10) Irving: Dr. Pepper Bottling Plant

This is the home of the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group in Irving. Perfectly visible from Highway 482, we pulled off the road quickly here to get a picture of these massive tanks designed to resemble soda cans.

Texas and its people were most welcoming, and I can’t wait to go back again. The drive would be worth it even if just for the food: Tillman’s Roadhouse in the Bishop Arts District on 7th Street gets high ranks from me. First of all, the mac & cheese with bacon is amazing, and secondly: YOU CAN COOK S’MORES AT YOUR TABLE! They bring miniature stoves out along with a variety of marshmallows, some chocolate squares, and poker sticks. What a way to do dessert!

Please enjoy the rest of the pics if you’d like.

I-10 eastbound, passing Picacho Peak in Arizona

Overnight stay with Jason and a look at our recent March-April 2015 feature in Arizona Driver

Drive Friendly – The Texas Way

Interstate 10 through El Paso, Texas

“Happy Birthday” Frappaccino at Starbucks in El Paso (yes, it has pink whipped cream)

Old school maps. That’s how I roll.

Those mountains are in Mexico.

This is how close I was to the international border (blue dot).

I-10 / I-20 split. From here, I headed toward Dallas.

Stonehenge in Odessa

Lots of water towers! This one, in Big Spring.

Crumbling building in Colorado City, Texas – and a dually pickup truck that is a perfect representation of the “typical” west Texas automobile of choice.

Paper airplane from Donovan at the Sparhawk Art Gallery in Abilene.

Getting closer!

Hotel for the first two nights: Omni.

View of central Dallas from the 22nd floor of the Omni hotel.

Brunch with friends in Oakcliff area.

$22.50 worth of money! I think the Bureau of Engraving & Printing ripped me off.

Roadside scene in Fort Worth, Texas near the Stock Yards.

Check out those bar stools! Scott, Tyson, Kyle, showing some skin & booty.

Lunch spot.

Entering the Active Pool at the Fort Worth Water Gardens.

Hanging out near the pool.

“Only in Texas” will you see a banner like this at the entrance to your hotel.

Dinner at Tillman’s Roadhouse

Hotel for night 3: Aloft in Las Colinas area of Irving, Texas

93 octane! Didn’t feel too bad paying $2.64 for the rich stuff.

Definition of an easy drive: Next turn in 633 miles!

Sunrise in my rearview mirror departing the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex on Sunday morning.

Homeward trek to the I-10 / I-20 split again.

Fuel & stretch stop in Van Horn, Texas. Home of the Sands Motel. My favorite part of the sign was the spray-painted “American Owned” comment along the bottom.

Entering the Land of Enchantment: New Mexico.

12 Comments »

Utah Weekend Trip & NALM 2015 Announcement

Posted in ILX, NALM, Road Trip, Utah on March 9, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 532,664

Odometer (ILX): 115,833

Trip Distance: 847 Miles

Most people wouldn’t consider it worthwhile to drive nearly 900 miles for a < 24-hour stay at a destination. But, I guess I’m not “most people.” I took off on Saturday morning and headed for my hometown in southwest Utah to spend a little bit of quality time with my family there. I’ll spare a lengthy road trip recap because I’ve blogged about the route dozens of times in the past, but I did manage to get a few pictures that might be worth sharing.

Here’s the Virgin River Gorge section of Interstate 15. For about 10 miles, it winds along the base of a canyon next to the Virgin River. Here’s what makes this very short stretch of road unique, though. It’s located in Arizona, yet it connects a town in Nevada (Mesquite) with a town in Utah (St. George).

St. George is home to about 77,000 people – at least as of a recent 2013 census.

My brother Bentley and his wife Kyann were very welcoming at their home.

One of the highlights of the trip for me was driving my brother’s fully restored 1968 Chevy II Nova SS. It’s powered by an LS3 V8 motor and it has a T56 6-speed manual transmission. The car was dyno-tested a couple of months ago at 416 horsepower at the wheels (so, a little more than double what I’m used to driving daily). I fell in love with this car by the time I had driven it to the end of his street. The burbling sound of a V8 and the endless torque made me want to get a little naughty and light up the tires. I managed to behave myself.

With my nephew Beckam

Interior of the Nova. The gauges, steering wheel, and radio you see here are all aftermarket. There’s not much on this car – aside from the body itself – that’s original to the car’s 1968 model year specifications.

Made a couple special visits, including a shopping trip with my 3-year-old niece.

Also did a little route planning with grandpa. He gave me some tips for a drive to Idaho that I’ll be taking with my dad later this year. Stay tuned for more on that in the coming months!

Sunday morning’s return drive to Arizona via Highway 89A through Fredonia, Arizona. The Ship Rock Motel looks to have been abandoned many years ago. At one point I believe some of the rooms had been converted into apartments but as of today it appears the entire facility is pretty much condemned.

As the road crested to 7,900 feet in elevation at Jacob Lake, there was snow on the sides of the highway.

It was a perfect chance to crack open that moonroof and watch the pine trees fly by.

Arriving Jacob Lake. This is the junction with Highway 67 which serves as the gateway to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I’ll be visiting that area again in late May for a rim-to-rim Grand Canyon hike.

Don’t even think about using a phone on some of the roads in that area. “No Service” is the only way to roll.

And that reminds me why that piece of road made me so happy.

No outside worries
Light traffic
Nice road conditions
Great curves
Perfect weather
Drink in the cupholder
Driving barefoot and rowing a manual gearbox
“Designer Skyline” by Owl City playing on the iPod

Just the open road, some good music, and a chance to clear the head. My next stop was in Marble Canyon along the Vermillion Cliffs. I happened to spy a 1991-92 Legend L sedan there.

A few pictures along the road in that area.

Endless hiking opportunities.

Waiting for a gust of wind to topple this fist-shaped rock onto my car.

Hope you enjoyed the pics. One more announcement while I’m posting this today: For its 11th Annual Event, NALM is going back to where it all started way back in 2005: The Lone Star State.

The Houston-based ground team has won the bid and has been selected to host this year’s National Acura Legend Meet.

So, it looks like I’ll be going to Houston from September 24th through 27th to attend this special event. The planners have a great itinerary planned including a track day at MSR Houston, a dealership open house at John Eagle Acura, and a car show at Mayday Garage. Here’s a look at where the event has been held in prior years.

2005: Dallas, TX
2006: Tulsa, OK
2007: Las Vegas, NV
2008: Chattanooga, TN
2009: Branson, MO
2010: Salt Lake City, UT
2011: Morristown, NJ
2012: Milwaukee, WI
2013: Asheville, NC
2014: Southern California
2015: Houston, TX

Over and out!

10 Comments »

Saturday Drive: Thermal, California for “NSXPO” Recon

Posted in California, ILX, Road Trip on March 1, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 532,645

Odometer (ILX): 114,580

Trip Distance: 570 Miles

Panic attack. It’s alarming to see flashing red & blue lights in your rearview mirror, especially when they seemingly come out of nowhere. It was a normal Interstate 10 commute across the desert on Saturday evening until three or four black & white Ford Explorer highway patrol vehicles blasted up from behind and passed me like I was sitting still. I’d guess they were doing at least a buck-twenty on the speedometer. I exhaled in relief that they weren’t coming for me, but I thought to myself, “I’m going to see them again.” Sure enough, I’d just crossed over the California/Arizona line into my home state and traffic came to a halt. There were enough red & blues in the distance up ahead to light up a Vegas nightclub, so I knew things didn’t look good.

For 45 minutes while I sat in the ILX at mile marker 2, I entertained myself with Instagram and some classic 1990’s CDs I’d brought along (who doesn’t love a little K-Ci & JoJo, Creed, or Everclear?). A few vehicles started turning around in the median to head back to Blythe but I decided to try and wait it out — whatever “it” was. I got out of the car and grabbed my sweatshirt out of the backseat, then wandered over to the driver’s side of a semi truck that was idling next to me. Its driver was on his cell phone examining a spot on the fender of his truck. Except, it wasn’t just a spot. “Bullet hole,” he pointed and said when he saw me walking up. What I thought was just an accident was in fact the result of a high-speed chase and shots fired!

So that’s why every police cruiser in eastern California was blocking the road ahead. The truck driver said he’d seen a black SUV fly past and he’d heard a noise but at the time didn’t realize a stray bullet had come his way. I started chatting it up with a few of the drivers in the I-10 parking lot around me. There’s something about being stranded together in a traffic jam that makes people band together – it’s like we all shared this common bond and we wanted to swap conversation about what we thought was going on up ahead. I spoke for some time with a man and his sister who were en route from Oxnard, CA to Tucson, AZ with a Penske moving truck.

On the bright side, the traffic delay was a nice pause on my drive and a chance to see the desert sunset. After another thirty minutes or so, we finally were allowed to creep past the carnage of a rolled “getaway vehicle” black Chevy Tahoe and continue on our way. So, that was probably the peak of excitement from my 9 hours in the car on Saturday.

Why the drive? This was a “business” trip, in a sense. Each year, the Acura NSX Club of America (NSXCA) Board of Directors votes on submitted bids for an annual NSX gathering called NSXPO. It just so happens that the 2015 event will be held in Palm Springs, California. Three colleagues and I are putting the puzzle pieces together to organize the itinerary for our event which will be held in October and is anticipated to draw over 200 vehicles. Some of you may recall when I took my drive to Idyllwild last fall to scope it out as our proposed drive route for NSXPO.

This time, the recon mission was to check out our racetrack facility. The Thermal Club, located in Thermal, CA is a members-only facility that has 4.5 miles of freshly-paved, beautiful track. Administrators have graciously agreed to host our group during NSXPO so Chris, Les, JC, and I met up to get an exclusive tour. From the Cottonwood Springs exit off Interstate 10, I drove through Box Canyon toward the town of Mecca about 20 miles away – this was all “new” road to me, and the scenery did not disappoint!

Thermal lies just a few miles north of Mecca and there’s really not a heck of a lot there – except this glorious track.

Thermal Club is a high-class place for high-speed cars. What was once just a remote piece of land next to the airport has been developed into an oasis for car nuts. The first thing I noticed after the security guard granted me access from the gate on 62nd Avenue was that BMW had a Performance Center on-site. At couple dozen “M” cars were parked and awaiting test drives as part of a training program. I was surrounded by cars worth more money than I’ll make in my lifetime. During our tour, we walked through a garage that had three Bugatti Veyrons in it. That’s $3.9 million worth of cars!

The highlight of our visit was getting to ride as passenger in an Ariel Atom while Thermal member Rahul drove each of us around on the track. What a riot that car is! Powered by a 2.0 liter Honda 4-cylinder motor, the Atom is so light and nimble that it seriously felt like a go-kart. Well, a go-kart on steroids, caffeine, and with rockets attached to it. I don’t think I’ve experienced that many G-forces in a very long time. Thanks, Rahul, for the test ride!

The last stop on my SoCal adventure for the day was to pick up a box full of goodies from my friends Scott & Sandy. Acura brochures! Scott worked for over a decade with Acura’s ad agency and managed to collect a bunch of materials (43 pieces, in fact) that he decided to share with me, knowing how much I geek out over auto literature. Check out all these beauties.

Thanks for joining on the drive. Here are the rest of my pictures.

Headed westbound on Interstate 10 and rocking out to my CDs

Exit 168 would take me to Box Canyon

Road headed to Box Canyon

A few shots from within the canyon itself

You know it’s a light traffic day when you can be comfortable stopping in the middle of the road for a picture

Just before exiting the canyon

Arrival at Thermal and seeing a lineup of BMW performance cars

Thermal racetrack, looking toward the west

Interior of one of the Thermal Club buildings

Thermal Club map showing the 4.5 miles of track, and the homesites surrounding it

Beautiful day in Palm Springs

Visiting my friends Sandy & Scott in Palm Springs

Stuck in traffic later that evening on I-10 eastbound

Finally getting past the incident after a long wait

Does anyone else agree that I must own this sweater from the a 1988 Acura magazine?

14 Comments »

Saturday Drive: Lynx & Watson Lakes in Central Arizona

Posted in Arizona, ILX, Road Trip on February 15, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 532,587

Odometer (ILX): 113,171

Trip Distance: 226 Miles

I recently saw one of those “You know you’re from such-and-such place when…” lists. It talked about the joys of living in sunny Arizona — a place where the best parking spot is determined by shade, not by distance. One of the items on the list was “You no longer associate bridges or rivers with water.” That is pretty true! We have dozens of bridges that cross over dry riverbeds. Many times, the only times those rivers get wet is during our rainy “monsoon” season in late summer.

For some reason, it’s tough for people to believe that we do have our fair share of water here in the Grand Canyon state. Central Arizona has a couple of beautiful reservoirs that I’d been wanting to check out for some time now, and I thank my friends Peter and Jack for cluing me in on them.

The Prescott National Forest covers 1.25 million acres of land in north-central Arizona and is an easy getaway (< 2-hour drive) from the Phoenix area. The key draw is the climate, since temperatures can be up to 20 degrees cooler in the summertime than they are in Phoenix. I took off on a Saturday morning and headed north on I-17 to do a little exploration of my own. Traffic was on the heavy side until I broke away on Highway 69 toward the Prescott Valley area.

A few minutes from downtown Prescott, Lynx Lake is a hot spot for fishermen since it’s stocked regularly with rainbow trout by the Arizona Fish & Game Department. It covers 55 acres and was formed in 1952 when a dam was built on Lynx Creek downstream. I took a little one-lane road to a parking area along the south end of the lake. I didn’t linger longer than a few minutes for pictures. Oddly enough, when I sent a picture of my car to Peter, he responded within minutes by sending me a picture of his car parked in the exact same spot. Great minds think alike.

Just 7 miles away from Lynx lies an even larger body of water called Watson Lake that dates back to the early 1900s and covers 70 acres of area. I paid my $2 day-use entry fee using the automated machine at the entrance to Watson Lake Park, then cruised around to see what this place was all about. A group of 25 or more motorcyclists had overtaken one of the parking lots, so I continued driving around and found the entrance to a boat ramp. I figured – what the heck – and drove down the ramp. Unfortunately, parking was not allowed so I had to loop back to the visitor lot to leave the car there. That was fine since it was a perfect 70-degree day and I wanted get out of the car and hike around anyway.

Watson is surrounded by a variety of sandstone rock formations. Water conditions were calm and I watched a few people launch kayaks from the ramp. For being a Saturday, things were pretty calm and quiet, tourist-wise. I plopped down on a rock and just soaked in the scenery (and sunshine) for about 20 minutes. When the time came to exit the park, there was a lineup of a half-dozen cars waiting to pay at the gate and enter. I rolled down my window down and held out my parking pass. A woman in a black Honda Civic graciously took it from me when I offered it to her. Saved her $2!

I had just one more place to visit before my trip was complete. I’d recently learned of Jack Ass Acres in New River off I-17 just north of Phoenix, so I pulled off the interstate long enough to get this picture. Jack Ass was once a gas station, convenience store, and souvenir shop but it appears to have been abandoned for decades. The building’s roof is crudely lined in barbed wire and the paint it peeling from every panel. Still, it makes a fun pit stop!

It was a fun day experiencing some of Arizona’s beautiful scenery and I hope you’ll enjoy the rest of the pictures here.

Heading toward Prescott Valley on Highway 69

Quick stop in the historic town of Dewey-Humboldt

Lynx Lake entrance

Approaching the parking area at Lynx Lake

Access to Lynx is via this one-lane, pine tree-lined, loop

Photo-op at Lynx

The ILX parked momentarily on the boat ramp at Watson Lake

Driving back up the boat ramp at Watson to the parking lot

Unfortunately, no swimming allowed!

A kayaker sets sail

Back to the parking lot

Another area of the lake with a dock

Heading back home, northbound on Highway 89

That’s not confusing at all. Two highways named “89A”?

Jack Ass Acres as seen from New River Road

Jack Ass sign

Starting this Wednesday, I’ll be in a 2015 Acura TLX for a week to drive & review it. Where will I go? Wait & see!

17 Comments »

Quick Eats: MacAlpine Restaurant in Phoenix

Posted in Arizona, ILX on February 11, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 532,536

Odometer (ILX): 112,778

Let’s shift gears today (literally and figuratively) but keep our road trip right here in town. Sometimes we are so busy looking for out-of-town travel opportunities that we forget to look for those hidden gems in our own backyards.

Back in 1929, a small pharmacy opened up on 7th Street in Phoenix, Arizona. Technically, though, in those days even 7th Street (which today is about as “Central Phoenix” as it gets) was outside city limits. Some 86 years later, that same location lives in a sort of time warp as a soda fountain that pays tribute to the olden days.

My friend Kevin and I are always on the hunt for unique dining opportunities, so when we were planning a catch-up meal (or ketchup meal?) we decided to check out a place that I’d passed by dozens of times but never visited: MacAlpine’s. It took me about 35 minutes in rush hour traffic to get from my place in Scottsdale to the small brick building at the northeast corner of 7th & Oak Streets. I found suitable ILX parking (read: door-ding-friendly) along the south side and had about 20 minutes to kill until Kevin arrived.

That worked out perfectly, since MacAlpine is joined with an antique store and there is a lot of “stuff” to browse. I played around with a vintage TV set and record player, then thumbed through a 1958 issue of Arizona Highways magazine. There were at least a dozen sets of antique patio furniture sitting on the sidewalk outside, so I also spent a few minutes out front watching the sun go down and the cars whiz by at 50 miles per hour on the busy 5-lane road. Surely if I had been on that same front porch in 1929, the scene would have been quite different.

Kevin arrived and we seated ourselves in a booth and got comfortable. The stools and bar date back to 1938 when the original pharmacy was first turned into a soda fountain by Fred MacAlpine. Bonus points if you can find me in the reflection in this picture!

A jukebox nearby sang songs from the 40’s and 50’s while we took a minute to make our menu selections. The menu itself was a little daunting – hundreds of flavors to choose from in creating a “custom” soda. I ordered a lime, lemon, raspberry concoction of some sort on ice. It was straight sugar but totally delicious. For the main course, the meatloaf called my name. It didn’t take very long until it came out of the kitchen piping hot with a side of mashed potatoes and steamed carrots. I give it an A+ rating – highly recommended. Dinner is served starting at 5 p.m. and the restaurant closes at 7, so the window is short but the rewards are worth it.

My favorite item on the menu – and one that I’m determined to go back and consume – is called “The Legend.” It’s a 10-pound ice cream sundae that sells for about $100. Can you imagine? It should be free to anyone who can finish it in one sitting. For anyone visiting the Phoenix area, take the time to swing by and try out the patio furniture and the sodas. You won’t regret it. Here are a few pictures from our short trip back in time.

Arrival heading northbound on 7th Street

Vintage sign remains

Building as seen from across 7th Street

Some of the bric-a-brac for sale. I love that word because it’s fun to say.

Ice cream flavors of the day. Sadly – I did not have the appetite after that soda & meatloaf!

Dining area. It looks like a lot of clutter, because it is.

Candyyyyy. I almost picked up a box of candy cigarettes for a friend of mine.

Is this the Brady Bunch set? Nope, just furniture for sale at the antique store next to MacAlpine’s.

Classic AZ Highways!

Check out that meatloaf!

MacAlpine Restaurant:

2303 North 7th Street

Phoenix, AZ 85006

(602) 262 – 5545

Last note: For those who were following it, the newly-redesigned 2016 ILX went on sale yesterday. Here’s a great write-up by my buddy Steve Siler from Road & Track. Will I be upgrading mine? Nah, unless the stick-shift transmission option comes back. But still – looks like a sweet ride.

4 Comments »

Northern Arizona Part 2: Horseshoe Bend, Colorado River

Posted in Arizona, Hikes, ILX, Road Trip on February 4, 2015 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 532,455

Odometer (ILX): 112,326

The story of our weekend’s canyon crusade left off when we had finished visiting the Utah/Arizona state line after our hike through Antelope Canyon. But the fun wasn’t over quite yet. Turns out, the timing was perfect to make a sunset-time visit to nearby “Horseshoe Bend.” That name refers to a section of the Colorado River where it makes a 180-degree turn just south of Page, Arizona. We were not prepared for the grandeur of this site!

Just a 3/4-mile hike from the trailhead, we stood at the edge of a 1,000-foot dropoff that rivals the nearby Grand Canyon. We had to hike along the rim of the canyon with care, as the sand on the rocks made for a slippery surface. None of us felt particularly like taking a freefall to the Colorado, though Peter stood on a pretty precarious looking ledge as if he entertained the idea:

Here I dangled my legs out a little.

Sunset lighting and some fresh rainwater puddles in the trailhead parking lot made for the perfect photo-op on our way back to Page. Can you believe these pics we got of the ILX?!

Our night finished out with an enjoyable Italian meal at Strombolli’s. Best of all? We banned all electronic devices. Here’s how that played out: At one point, someone realized that all eight of us were iPhone users. Naturally, we had to stack all the iPhones up in the center of the table for a picture. This triggered an idea. “Hey,” I said. “Let’s challenge ourselves to leave these phones here for the entire meal and not touch them.” I saw some fear struck into the eyes of a few, but we all agreed. And what a great hour it was! Talking — without feeling the need for constant text-messaging and Facebooking. Just like in the olden days. Stephen missed out on 24 text notifications but the rest of us only had a few.

iPhone Jenga

We all crashed out after an exhausting day and a dip in the Comfort Inn hot tub. Sunday morning, I peeked out of our second-story hotel window and saw that the sky was completely clear and there was a thick layer of frost on every vehicle in the parking lot. Sure enough, my weather app confirmed that was was a mere 30 degrees outside.

We fueled up on hot breakfast in the lobby and headed out on our return to Phoenix by about 9:30 a.m. In Flagstaff, we had a driver change and Peter took the wheel while I lounged in the back seat. Peter commented that he felt that the ILX was faster than his Acura TSX which has a similar horsepower rating. He had a great collection of tunes to entertain us with for the 2-hours remaining in our drive: hits like Billy Joel’s “For the Longest Time,” and Aerosmith’s “Dude Looks Like a Lady.” Nice selections, P!

Phoenix was crawling with Super Bowl festivities so my friend Scott and I couldn’t resist the temptation to drive over to the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale later that afternoon to see some of the chaos. Sure enough, road closures, coned-off lanes, parking attendants, and plenty of police presence kept us from getting very close to the venue. I did still manage to get a picture of the ILX in front of Super XLIX! It was taken sometime during the second quarter of the game.

Please enjoy the rest of these pictures and a short video from Horseshoe!

A few photographers waiting for perfect sunset lighting

Pretty amazing all around

Silhouettes of our group

Back at the trailhead, some pics of the cars in the puddles

Talking on 8 iPhones at once at dinner

Chilly Sunday morning

Highway 89 southbound with the San Francisco peaks in the distance, approaching Flagstaff

Peter at the wheel of the ILX, and Chris in shotgun

Driving past the Super Bowl while it was going on!

Super Bowl pic with my buddy Scott from Massachusetts (obvious Pats fan)

Hey, did everyone see the side-by-side of the 2013-2015 ILX next to a 2016 model? Thanks to Acura Connected for the image. What are your thoughts on the changes?

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