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NALM 2016 Days 1 and 2: Las Cruces, New Mexico & Shreveport, Louisiana

Posted in Legend, NALM, Road Trip on September 14, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer: 545,934

Trip Distance (Leg): 1,277

Trip Distance (Overall): 1,277

Welcome aboard!

It’s that blessed time of year once again when a few dozen crazed Legend fans rendezvous for a multi-day event. This year, the event’s 12th, will be hosted in Oakwood, Georgia – just a bit north of Atlanta. My one-way drive will end up being about 1,900 miles, making this quite a bit further than I had to go last year when the event was in Houston. Here’s to hoping things move toward the west coast for 2017. Maybe I should host NALM in Phoenix?

The last couple of days I’ve been pounding the pavement of I-10 and I-20 through Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Let me rephrase that last one. Teeeeeexxxxxxaaaaaaaasssssss. The state is just gigantic. Today I drove from sun-up to sundown and never left the state. In fact, I drove another 2 hours eastbound in the dark until I finally reached the Louisiana state line after having spent some 800 miles working my way from one end of the Lone Star State to the other. I’m exhausted. And maybe my tried & true Legend steed is as well.

Jason of Driven for Drives was kind enough to roll out some red carpet for me during my stay in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The drive to his place from central Phoenix ended up taking me about 6 hours. I was able to pry my way out of the office (not an easy task when you’ve only had the job a week!) about a half hour early and hit the highway. After a night’s rest, I continued on through El Paso (fought about 1/2 hour worth of rush-hour there) and then it was the open road ahead. “Wide Open Spaces,” as the Dixie Chicks would call it.

I reach a point in my long-distance drives where I fall into a meditative state and time flies by. I’m skipping through a few dozen songs on the iPod, perusing my road atlas, and the next thing I know I’ve gone 100 miles. Luckily most of the speed limits out in rural Texas are 80 miles per hour, but that doesn’t help in cases (like today’s) where I frequently hit construction zones and sudden rain downpours and had to clamp down on the brakes.

This was my dialogue with the service station attendant at Cowpoke’s Convenience Store in Cisco, Texas:

Guy: What kind of car is that?
Me: It’s just an old Acura, a Legend.
Guy: Oh, I saw when you pulled up, the front end looked like an old Skyline.
Me: Haha, nah. Nothing fancy. Just cruising across the country to Atlanta.
Guy: Atlanta? But you’ve only made it to Cisco, Texas.
Me (walking out the door with my newly purchased beef jerky): Well, at least I’m halfway!

And with that, I was off. Cisco was a pretty neat little down, actually. It’s known for being a historical spot in the story of Hilton hotels. Hilton’s founder, Conrad Hilton, bought a building there in 1919 and it became his first hotel. Back in those days, they would rent out the rooms in 8-hour time intervals! Today, that original building houses the Cisco Chamber of Commerce. I stopped by for a few photos in the rain and checked it out.

In Dallas – the Metroplex – I met up with my friend Scott for a short visit. He clued me in a pretty cool truck stop just a ways up the road on I-20 called Buc-Ees. Sure enough, it was worth checking out. Have you ever been to a gas station that had 38 pumps? Thirty-eight. I think that’s what heaven must look like. No waiting, anywhere. Just pumps for days. I didn’t take the time to check out Buc-Ees in much detail, but I liked what I saw.

So that brings us to Louisiana, and just a few states to go until my arrival tomorrow night at the meeting point. Here’s to a good night’s rest, and thanks for coming along on the journey!

Took this before leaving. These are some leaks from the Legend. I checked oil 4 times so far on the trip and haven’t had to add any. I know there is some power steering fluid leakage and I did add some of that.

Departing the “Land of Enchantment”

And arriving Texas there you have to “drive friendly.”

This is the worst breakfast. But it was also the best. Cinnabon + choc milk.

Lots of 5-4 going on here.

Seeing signs for Shreveport

Meeting up w/ Scott

A visit to Buc-Ees off I-20

And finally, arriving Shreveport!

13 Comments »

First Week of Work; Another Honda Purchase

Posted in House, Legend, Road Trip on September 11, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 544,647

Odometer (ILX): 181,139

Owning a 544,000 mile car is not without its share of drama! I just got the Legend back on Friday from receiving a replacement starter under warranty from Hon-Man in Tempe, Arizona. The old one was an aftermarket unit installed in December 2015 that had intermittent issues. A couple of weeks ago, I had to push-start the car (alone!) in a Great Clips parking lot in Fountain Hills after getting a haircut. That was embarrassing. Luckily, Hon-Man took great care of me. I also had the car’s oil changed yesterday.

We are good to go! On Tuesday evening, we (as in me + you, my readers) will depart on a 3,800 mile round-trip drive to Georgia and back.

The car received a backyard bath yesterday evening, though I know it’ll get plenty dirty on its cross-country journey across 6 states in the coming days. I’ll depart Tuesday after work and do my best to post nightly updates like the ones I gave when Jason and I took our Alaska trip earlier this year.

I still have the training wheels on, but I made it through my first week (well, first 4 days) of work at my new job with Banner Health. Luckily for me, I have a sidekick (Amanda) who started the same day as I did so I don’t have to feel like the only new kid on the block. Tuesday was filled with a half-day or orientation followed by an introduction to our teammembers. The Banner “Corporate Center” at Phoenix Plaza is comprised by two 21-story identical towers at the northeast corner of Central Avenue and Thomas Avenue. My team sits on the 4th floor of the south tower.

As with any large organization, we had our share of hoops to go through this week to get up to speed. Still, I have no work-issued laptop computer and I’m using a “loaner.” And it took us until day 3 to get ahold of our parking passes and elevator badges. In all, I’m toting around 6 different badges on my lanyard. I’d better not lose it!

Access granted:

The team has been most welcoming and I’m starting to wrap my head around the new language and tasks. My role operates in the Medicare & Medicaid realm which means I need to get acquainted with all the laws, regulations, and rules that govern those programs. It’s been a crash course in learning acronyms! EHR, CPOE, MIPS, MACRA, CQM, CAH… these all mean something and sooner than later, I’m going to need to be familiar with the dialect!

One interesting thing about commuting to my new office: If I want to, I can use the “Suicide Lanes.” These are on 7th Avenue and 7th Street in central Phoenix, which run north-south. It’s basically a turning lane that becomes a through-travel lane during certain hours of the day to ease traffic congestion at rush hour. It changes direction based on time of day: From 6-9 a.m. on weekdays, the the suicide lanes run southbound. From 4-6 p.m., they run northbound. And at any other time of the day – and all throughout the weekend – they’re used as turning lanes.

The VW Jetta in this picture was using a suicide lane during my morning commute the other day. Notice how the double-yellow lines are “broken” (not solid). The suicide name – as you can imagine – comes from the fact that it’s possible to meet a clueless motorist head-on who doesn’t understand how the lanes’ directions are managed.

The last bit of this week’s fun comes from another Honda purchase (as if I needed another!). This one is rear-wheel-drive, with a twin-blade design. It’s a self-propelled, variable-speed, 21-inch Honda lawnmower that I snagged from The Home Depot yesterday afternoon. I didn’t get a key-handoff photo (if there had been a key, I would have ) but it was love at first sight when I saw the box being brought out. The slogan on the box read “Very Smart.” Go Honda.

Assembly was a piece of cake – extend the handle, add oil, adjust cutting height, and fire it up. The owner’s manual said that the mower had been started from the factory so I assumed there might be a little gas in the tank. There wasn’t. Luckily I had some fuel in the garage so I filled it up and let her rip. Cutting time was about an hour to cover both the front and back yards. I even got fancy and striped the front lawn diagonally.

Kyle and Dan stopped by to give their approval of my latest purchase.

Video of the first start-up.

Hope everyone else had a great week! Here are the rest of my pics.

I was greeted with a welcoming gift and this sign in my cube: The cow comes from “MU,” or “Meaningful Use,” which is the department in which I’m working.

Doing some heavy-duty training on Day 2 at work.

The new lawnmower had my name on it. Literally.

“Legendary” performance. This thing is perfect for me!

Finished product. I love the backyard. My swing is still broken, as shown here.

Lastly: My friends Scott and Sandy were featured this week on Petrolicious! Check out the video segment on their story, including awesome visuals of their 1959 Mercury Park Lane and their 1992 Acura NSX.

24 Comments »

Legend Spy Shot Roundup #8

Posted in Legend, Spy Shots on August 9, 2016 by tysonhugie

Greetings!

I guess I might as well kick this draft post out the door. I’ve added a few photos tonight that tallied it up to an even 80 Legend sightings. My last Roundup was posted on April 20th. So in fewer than four months, I’ve received 120 total cars. That comes out to a little more than one car per day hitting my cell phone or email. Here today, courtesy of you my readers and friends, I bring you:

80 Legends
11 NSXs
11 Vigors
3 TLs
3 ILXs
7 Preludes
1 CL
1 RSX
1 Integra
1 EL
1 European Accord

A few winners to feature as we kick things off:

My favorite picture in the lineup is brought to you by Rob, who had traveled to Hawaii for work and who made a special visit to the local Acura dealership in Maui to pick me up a license plate. Thanks, Rob!

Second place goes to James, who even during his vacation in Paris this summer, managed to find a pretty nice looking second-generation coupe. I wonder if this car is still there. As of July 1st (just a little after James’ trip), all cars older than 1997 were banned in Paris as a smog-control measure. Yikes.

And I can’t remember who sent me this one (pipe up!), but it somehow captured both a Legend and a 2016+ ILX in the same frame. Nice snag!

Here are the remainder of the Legends, in random order.

Here we go with the NSXs

And the Vigors

A few TLs

Some ILXs

A handful of Preludes

And everything else!

Whew! Thanks for playing!

23 Comments »

Tribute to Million Mile Joe, Home Improvements, & Car Updates

Posted in Arizona, Blog, ILX, Integra, Legend, Milestones on August 6, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 544,118

Odometer (Vigor): 105,807

Only in Arizona could a church use this as an advertising ploy! I’m tempted to convert.

First, a tribute to a man who inspired many. “Million Mile” Joe LoCicero of Maine became a hero of mine when he and his 1990 Accord reached a million miles back in the fall of 2011. Coincidentally, that was right around the same timeframe when my Legend reached half that distance. Unfortunately, Joe recently passed away but he will be missed. As Jason of Driven for Drives put it, “That was a good run.” Joe, we salute you!

I was able to track down the VIN to Joe’s Accord, and (nerd that I am) I couldn’t resist running a Carfax report just to see what it looks like when a car’s 6-digit odometer effectively resets itself to zero.

As expected, the title history shows ‘branded’ since the odometer mechanically can’t even show a 7th digit. (Reminds me of my 1986 Celebrity which only had FIVE digits on the odo).

The Accord was in for service in April 2011 at Berlin Honda in Portland, Maine at 970,333 miles. The next time we saw an odometer reading, it was almost two years later, at Auburn Motor Sales when the readout was 2,707 miles. Mileage Inconsistency, says Carfax. Well, duh!

The most recent Carfax entry on Joe’s old Accord was in December of last year, at 3,341 miles, when the car was purchased by someone in Jefferson, South Carolina. I’m not sure where the car is today nor who’s driving it, but I hope it’s still getting some time on the open road and not mothballed to a museum where it will dry up and deteriorate.

On the subject of Carfax, I was glad to see that my recent Integra’s emissions pass now shows up, so it’s no longer tarnished by that failure when I brought the car to Arizona earlier this year.

My apologies for sporadic blog posts in recent weeks as I’m still underwater with home and career activities. It seems the road tripping has taken a back burner. My home in Scottsdale, Arizona is on the market and I’ve taught myself how to do some basic repairs.

I was quite proud of some drywall repair results, and I spent an entire evening doing a repaint on my guest bedroom which turned out pretty flawlessly. Here a friend captured me attempting some bathroom updates whilst multi-tasking with my work laptop.

I ended up with more paint on my hands and shorts than on the wall, I’m pretty sure.

It’s yet TBD if I’ll be getting the “dream house” I have my sights set on, but I’m crossing fingers and hoping so. It would be great news from a car-parking perspective as it has lots of garage space.

I had an electrician at my home correcting a few small things on Friday afternoon. I was in the kitchen and he was in the other room working on a light switch. “All those cars outside yours?” he asked. “Yeah, I have six cars.” He responded, “What’s that, you fix cars?” “Uhh, yeah, that’s right,” I said. Sometimes I’d just rather not explain the car-collecting craziness.

This week I visited my friend Mirel at his new shop where he’s started a used car dealership. On site were 3 Legend coupes and a 1992 Dodge Stealth (I’ve always liked those).

Cool plate!

All these Legends are 6-speed manuals. Mirel has the right idea!

My friend Chris in Maryland has a “twin” car to my Legend sedan. Awhile back we both decided to go out for a special treat in our own way. Though separated by 2,009 miles, I enjoyed my iced caramel macchiato and Chris enjoyed his strawberry shake. My photo on top, his on the bottom. It’s interesting how the lighting conditions can change the color so much. In person, they’re identical “Desert Mist Metallic” paint codes.

I extend THANKS to a couple of my friends and readers! Jason recently had this awesome canvas print made up from my photo at the Arctic Circle back in May.

And Tim mailed me these sweet posters from a Honda museum in Ohio capturing the race team. Looks like I have plenty of art to adorn my garage now!

The Legend is getting ready for its trip to Atlanta this September. I’ll be gone for a full week.

And the ILX is in the hands of a couple of friends this weekend in Boise, Idaho.

Green with envy. These ones want a road trip, too.

The NSX is still in southern Utah and my brother had his friend Grant from Renu Auto do a full detail on it. The paint is finished off with an “Optimum Gloss Coat” paint coating. Results speak for themselves!

Looking forward to bringing this one back to AZ later this fall.

Lastly, you all know I have my “Spy Shot Roundup” posts on a regular basis. In all my years of collecting spy shots from people, I’ve had the same car submitted by multiple people before. Like twice. But in recent weeks, FOUR DIFFERENT SPIES have sent me this 1992 Legend L sedan wearing Wisconsin plates! The owner has to be wondering by now why she’s being followed by such a skilled group of paparazzi!

From Beau, July 16th, 2016

From Jack, July 20th, 2016

From Matt, July 21st, 2016

From Kyle, August 1, 2016

Unreal! I’m bound to run into this one eventually!

Check out our wacky late-summer “monsoon” weather. This 17-second video shows a courtyard at my office on Friday. First, getting torrential rains, and later – within a couple of hours – with blue skies and sunshine. Make up your mind, Mother Nature!

15 Comments »

New Domain Name, Some Integra Maintenance, & A Visitor from Oregon

Posted in Integra, Legend, Maintenance on July 26, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend Coupe): 544,040

Odometer (Legend Sedan): 150,439

Odometer (ILX): 176,539

I’m all grown up now. After over 5 years on a free WordPress account, I’d reached about 85% of my allowed media capacity and kept getting warnings about going over. I’ve shared 14,541 photos on the blog and they take up 2.6 gigabytes worth of space. So, it was time to upgrade, and along with a paid registration came the opportunity to become an official “dot-commer.” You can now find this page by typing in simply “drivetofive.com.” Celebrate good times (c’mon!).

Today’s updates fall into the “hodge podge” category. Surprise: I didn’t go anywhere this past weekend. I’ve had too many other things going on house wise, career wise, and otherwise. But I did get to enjoy spending time with a visiting friend from Oregon, beat the heat at a Sunday matinee, and attend a planning call with the NSX Club of America (NSXCA) about current events and activities.

The NSXCA, by the way, is sporting a new website of its own. Check it out. I can assure you the internal member page is pretty slick – including downloadable copies of the Club’s quarterly magazine, NSX Driver. Worth the $40 membership annually if you’re an owner or even just an enthusiast.

We even occasionally get “insider” deals on stuff like, say, the new NSX. Berlina Black, anyone?

Also in the cool car category is this stellar-looking 1982 DMC DeLorean. Believe it or not, my boss drives this car and she’s the original owner! She was proud to show it off last Friday at the office and the next time we get the chance, we’re taking it for a spin. Maybe I can even get some time behind the wheel. Unfortunately Shea Blvd doesn’t have anywhere we could safely get up to 88 miles per hour, so maybe another time we could try that.

My friend Kyle and I did an overnight car swap which was a nice change of pace. He borrowed the ILX and I got the keys to his 400-hp 2005 Pontiac GTO 6-speed. It has just a little over 101,000 miles on the odometer but looks showroom fresh inside & out thanks to Kyle’s attention to detail. I was a little paranoid to even drive the thing, but I greatly enjoyed my commute home on Friday afternoon. The GTO is a car that demands brute force to drive. The clutch is heavy, the gear shift takes effort, and the doors close with a resounding thud. There is nothing delicate or dainty about this car. Not to mention the fact that the exhaust note will awaken anyone within earshot – a mile away.

The Integra came back into service after a couple-week hiatus. Tait Johnson, better known as “Hon-Man” of Tempe, Arizona, went through the old 1992 GS-R and gave it a real thorough once-over.

The main service item he addressed was a timing belt & water pump change. This is a routine maintenance item in most 1990s Honda cars, due every eight (?) years or 90,000 miles. In the Legend, I routinely hit the mileage limit before the time limit over the years. Additionally, I had Tait address a couple of suspension/braking concerns and install a new catalytic converter. Some of you may recall that this car failed emissions last month when I tried getting it registered for the first time here in Arizona. Now she’s passed with flying colors.

List of completed maintenance items

Emissions report – success!

And Arizona’s newest resident! “Action Auto Title,” by the way – shown in the background – is a third-party DMV agent that I’m trying out for the first time. Do you hate going to the DMV as much as I do? This place was a breeze! I was assisted immediately. The plate was cozy and smelled of a scented candle. And the rates are only a fraction more expensive than the DMV. $55 for two year tags – you just can’t beat that.

I whizzed out to Tonopah on Saturday in the Legend to get its fluids up and moving. This car won’t be seeing much action until the National Acura Legend Meet (NALM) in Atlanta this coming September.

I polished tips on both the sedan & the Integra.

Later that evening, I stopped by the weekly “Pavilions” car show in Scottsdale. My friend Michael was attending in his black 2006 Acura TL that he wanted me to check out. It’s in great shape for being 10 years old!

My friend Justin made his arrival from Roseburg, Oregon on Sunday afternoon. He’s a fellow car nut who I’ve followed on Instagram for some time now. And for whatever reason, he decided to leave his beautiful, green state and subject himself to summer’s wrath here in Phoenix during the hottest time of the year.

His 2010 Audi A3 TDI wagon got him around in style, though.

Speaking of Oregonians, congratulations are going out to my buddy Ira in Portland who took delivery of a 2016 TLX in Crystal Black Pearl on Monday. His new ride is outfitted with the complete Sport Underbody Kit and the accessory wheels. Instead of a key handoff, his drive-away was accompanied by a (very) “high five.”

And lastly, I don’t know how my buddy Alex does it, but he has a way with capturing odometer readings. Check this one out. Rolling over 95,000 miles, with a 95-degree external temperature, driving 59 miles per hour.

Thanks for sharing, Alex! I can’t compete with that!

14 Comments »

4th of July Weekend 2016: Florence, Arizona Road Trip

Posted in Arizona, Legend, Road Trip on July 6, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 543,770

Odometer (ILX): 174,186

Trip Distance: 135 Miles

On one end of the spectrum, you have Florence, Italy: the home of the Renaissance and the capital of Italy’s Tuscany Region. It’s a place filled with art, culture, and class. It would take about a 15-hour flight to get there. At the complete other end of the spectrum, there’s another Florence I’d like to introduce you to: Florence, Arizona. It’s the capital of Pinal County, home to one of the state’s largest prison facilities, and a now-defunct railroad stop. But, you can get there in about an hour from Phoenix and it offers a “culture” all its own.

I took my Legend coupe out for a half-day of exploration on Sunday morning to give Florence a whirl. Along the way, I stopped at a noteworthy waypoint suggested by Roadside America: The Pork Shop in San Tan Valley. This place is known for its meat. They have seven types of smoked bacon, as well as sausages and burritos. At 9:45 in the morning I wasn’t hungry for any of those items, and I think it may have been closed for the day anyway, but that didn’t stop be from taking a few pictures out front next to the giant tank that’s been decked out like a pink pig.

I zig-zagged my way across the desert southeast of Phoenix as I made my way toward Florence on two-lane roads, often times with telephone poles alongside me. There was really no one else on the roads so it was a chance to turn up the volume on my Jock Jams or whatever else was playing on the iPod at the time. I do recall having “Every Day Is a Winding Road,” by Sheryl Crow coming on and thinking that was an appropriate soundtrack for my drive.

Hooking up with Highway 79 at the T in the road, I headed south and Florence was just 4 more miles down the highway. It took just a few minutes of winding through the historic downtown district to get a feel for the lay of the land. Main Street was dead – a total ghost town if it weren’t for the random C6 Corvette parked southbound on the west side of the street in front of some shops.

I snagged a few photos and started thinking about lunch. Unfortunately my first choice was a place that wasn’t open. Painted in bold blue letters were the words DONUTS and SALAD BAR. That struck me as an odd combination of food offerings. They must be trying to cater to a wide variety of clientele. Maybe I could a glazed donut with a splash of ranch dressing?

I ended up continuing westward on Highway 287 to Coolidge for lunch instead of eating in Florence — it was still early anyway. So early, in fact, that when I arrived at my destination – “Gallopin’ Goose” – it was still 20 minutes before they opened. For some reason, even though the sign says “Breakfast All Day,” the place doesn’t open until 11:00 a.m. Go figure. I guess everyone in Coolidge eats breakfast really late.

As it turns out, it was worth the wait. I had the place to myself and also the attention of the entire wait staff. I sat myself at the bar and was immediately helped by “Chrissy” who was laying on the flirts pretty thick. Before I’d even been handed a menu, she’d rattled off about 5 or 6 drink specials. “Just a lemonade please,” I told her. It was quiet in there – just the sound of country music on the jukebox!

Appetizers were buy-one, get-one-half-off so I went with the buffalo chicken “bites,” and the chips & salsa. I probably only ate half what was given to me, so Chrissy got me two styrofoam boxes and a styrofoam cup (for the salsa) to take my leftovers. The Legend doesn’t have a cup holder. I think this was the first time I’ve ever had to hold a cup full of salsa between my legs as I drove away. Right down the street from Gallopin’ you’ll find the Casa Grande Ruins.

I had one more visit to pay before looping back to the Phoenix area, and that was to say hello to my friends Mark and Rosalinda Bandoni. I’ve known them for the better part of a decade and they’re good people. In fact, they invited me to their wedding 7 years ago. Today, they live in a two-story home there in Coolidge and have a kitty named Abra and three vehicles. Mark has developed his hobby of model car building in recent years and he showed me his growing collection of completed projects. I never had the patience to work on stuff like that.

The return drive was mostly on Interstate 10, since I decided to take an easy path by hitting the freeway at the McCartney Road interchange. It was a nice little Sunday loop and I hope you enjoyed taking it with me!

Cruising through San Tan Valley, Arizona. It’s pretty desolate out there.

Vintage looking signage on Main Street in Florence.

Building in Florence

Lunch at Gallopin’ Goose.

Mark’s review of G.G. wasn’t all that praiseworthy!

What’s wrong with this picture? Ugh.

I thought this sign inside Mark’s garage was kind of funny.

The Integra got tint yesterday!

My receipt at Texas Roadhouse the other night said it right!

Have a great rest of your week, all!

21 Comments »

Back to the Routine: Car Washes, a Magazine Feature, and Racing NSXs

Posted in ILX, Legend, Vigor on June 12, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend Coupe): 543,280

Odometer (Legend Sedan): 150,380

There’s nothing like an inbox of 1,300 unread emails to come back to after being out of the office for 9 business days! I spent Monday digging out from underneath all that nonsense that accumulated during my Alaska trip.

It’s always such an ordeal around here to get to a coin-op car wash. I don’t have access to a pressure washer at home and I sure as heck wasn’t going to attempt the muddy ILX detail with my measly little garden hose in the driveway. Luckily I had about $20 worth of tokens for the local car wash at Miller Rd & McDowell Rd in Scottsdale, so I cruised over there. Here’s how that ended up going.

Dang, the car wash is now closed and has construction fence around it. So much for that wasted $20 in tokens.
I guess I’ll google “car wash” and find others.
Drove to 2 more locations about a mile away. Neither was self-serve. Scratch that.
I know there’s one in Tempe at McClintock & Apache; I’ll just go down there.
Looks like it’s $1.75. I’ll just blow the few quarters I have and see how far I get.
(Time ran out). Definitely need more. I’ll have to go get more change, but I don’t have cash.
I’ll google “Wells Fargo ATM.”
Went a mile away to the Wells Fargo branch, inside a Safeway store, at Rural & Broadway.
Well, now I have to break this $20. There’s a Pei Wei in the parking lot and I’m kind of hungry.
(After eating and getting change) Alright, back to the car wash.
And finally, finished the job. Then drove home.
And washed the car again in the driveway anyway.

Nothing irks me like wasted time and effort, but I did finally get the job done – an initial swing at it, anyway. The whole back end of the car feels a bit like sandpaper because of the contaminants on the paint, and I may have given my new Hoover vac a workout with all the pebbles in the driver’s footwell. I do not usually condone the use of a foam brush! But in this case, heavy duty was absolutely required for the bugs on the front end!

I even took the high pressure spray to the door jambs with the doors OPEN! Dirt was caked in there.

Finished result, not too shabby!

Today, as a matter of fact, marks the 4-year-anniversary of the day I got the ILX with 16 miles on its odometer. It has a little more than 172,000 miles on it. I don’t have an exact number because my friend Jack has the car in Las Vegas until tomorrow. But that comes out to around 43,000 miles per year.

It was good to get the other cars awakened after a 2.5-week slumber. The Legend coupe was reluctant to start – initially I got only a “click” but no “crank,” so I ended up rolling backwards down the driveway and doing a clutch start in reverse. Now it runs fine after cruising around a little. I’m still trying to figure out if it’s a battery issue or a starter issue. The starter (aftermarket, Denso) was barely installed 3,000 miles ago, back in December by Hon-Man locally in Tempe.

I drove it to work on Friday.

My brother is up to his eyeballs in projects for my NSX which is at his place in southern Utah. The passenger side window regulator went out on him, so he sent me this picture while tearing in to replace it.

Night shot, cruising around in the 1994 Vigor

And a night drive in the 1993 Legend sedan (Christmas tree of dash lights here!)

This one will be up for grabs (cheapo) soon. I’m waiting to hear back from a couple of potentially interested parties.

On Saturday I buzzed over to Glendale and pulled the 1994 Legend GS out of storage for a bath. The dust was bad!

At home with the 93.

I went and viewed a house in Central Phoenix I’ve been eyeballing. It has a 5-car garage 🙂

Back to storage.

Later in the evening, stopped by the Scottsdale Pavilions weekly car show. It seemed to be domestic car overload. Camaros and Mustangs for days. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!

The sunset was stunning last night. Arizona always does them right.

I was pretty thrilled to get a few copies of the May-June issue of Arizona Driver magazine in the mail this week. I’d recently submitted an article about a group drive some friends and I took to Chiricahua National Monument.

Sweet!

And finally: Check out this hot ride:

This NSX will be tearing up the Colorado mountains in a couple of weeks at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. From Acura’s press release that was distributed on Thursday:

Acura will field a pair of 2017 Acura NSX supercars in the 100th Anniversary of the running of the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 26, marking the North American racing debut of Acura’s next-generation NSX: the pinnacle expression of Acura Precision Crafted Performance and the only supercar made in America.

Pikes Peak has been on my must-see list for some time now. I would have driven it a couple of summers ago when I was in the area, but it was closed for a bicycle race and my friends and I drove Mount Evans instead. It’s good to see the NSX making its way into the professional racing circuit and I’m anxious to see how it performs!

Hope everyone has had a great weekend!

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Alaska Road Trip 2016 Begins in 4 Days

Posted in ILX, Legend, Maintenance, Road Trip on May 16, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend Coupe): 543,199

Odometer (Legend Sedan): 150,241

Odometer (ILX): 163,382

It was Saturday, May 6, 2006 when my dad and I departed from Salt Lake City to begin a very long journey. For months, I had researched and planned a nearly 8,000-mile road trip across North America and ending in Fairbanks, Alaska. It took us only 4 days to get there.

A decade has passed, and I’m ready to go back. The Legend, which had 220,000 miles back then and has 543,000 miles now, will sit this one out. I’m taking my 2013 ILX. The pre-work began long ago: I have a recent copy of the “Milepost” trip planner in hand. Milepost is known for being the Bible of the Alcan, with detailed turn-by-turn directions. We relied heavily on the book in ’06 as we were unaided by any sort of GPS or smart phones at that time. This year, we’ll have some help from technology but I still want to keep the navigation somewhat “old school.”

The fun begins this coming Friday, May 20th. Joining me for this adventure will be Jason from Las Cruces who is preparing to take his 2004 Mazda 6. It’s tough (impossible) to know exactly where we’ll be stopping each night because there are so many variables in play. Just a couple of weeks ago a piece of the Alaska Highway was shut down due to wildfires, and one such fire in Alberta necessitated the evacuation of an entire town of 80,000 people. Beyond that hazard, there are the inevitable delays due to road construction this time of year, potential weather uncertainty, and general concern of our health and safety. We don’t want to push our limits on daily distance (even though longer daylight hours up north may tempt us to) so that we can stay alert throughout the trip.

For some time now, I’ve been compiling a to-take list. Here’s an excerpt:

3 spare tires. I have a full size 17″ wheel that matches the existing wheels, plus the donut the car came with, plus an extra tire that I saved the last time I had my new set installed.
4 walkie talkies. Battery life under constant use is about 1/2 day. So if Jason and I each carry two and charge them at night, we will have constant communication which is critical especially in areas where cell signal is nonexistent.
1 GoPro camera, 1 Canon Rebel digital SLR camera, and my iPhone for documentation of the trip.
2 iPods (one with about 1,300 songs, and one with over 15,000) plus 3 huge CD cases carrying 64 discs each.
Milepost Guide Book editions from 2006 and from 2015 with step-by-step, detailed travel helps.
2 laptop computers: My personal laptop as well as my work one, so I can check email occasionally as time and Wifi permit. In the 9 business days I’ll be gone, I anticipate almost 2,000 emails coming in.
My “I drove the Alaska Highway. Both Ways, Dammit!” bumper sticker.

Oh, and a valid passport! When was the last time you took a ROAD TRIP that required one?

This afternoon, the ILX got an oil change at Acura of Tempe with 0W20 oil which should be good to last me for the entire length of the trip without having to have it serviced whilst en route. The last oil change prior to this was in February, about 7,500 miles ago. Maintenance minder and trip meter are now reset at 0.00 miles.

It might not be this clean when I get back.

In an untimely fashion, my credit card was compromised over the weekend so I’m waiting for a new one to arrive (quickly) so I can take it on the trip. I’ve already alerted the credit card company that I’ll be traveling through 7 states and 4 provinces in case my charging activity looks suspicious (because it will). Here’s my most “determined” look to pull this trip off without a hitch.

Couple other news bits:

Anybody already read the article about Victor Sheppard who drove his 2007 Toyota Tundra to a million miles?

Link Here

Toyota is going to dissect his truck! A shame, I say. Keep it rolling.

Here’s a photo from Saturday morning in Phoenix while I had the Legend sedan out for a spin. “Mr. Lucky’s” has been a landmark along Grand Avenue since 1966 when it was built to be Phoenix’s first casino. That plan didn’t go through, but the place ended up being a nightclub for 40 years. Today it houses a furniture store but that crazy (creepy?) sign out front still catches everyone’s eye on a daily basis.

The twins were put back away for the next few weeks.

I got a kick out of this gas station the other day. “Super Plus 2000: New Gas for the New Millenium.” And “millennium” isn’t even spelled correctly. I wonder if I should tell them that Y2K was 16 years ago.

Spare tires for days!

My friend Michael who flew out to buy his new Vigor recently has been really enjoying it.

That shine though!

And a friend sent me this photo of a neighborhood in Paradise Valley, Arizona where I need to look at real estate.

Until next time! Not sure when or where that’ll be, but I’ll post whenever I can.

EDIT: WordPress just told me this was my 555th post since I started Drive to Five. Gives a whole new meaning to the name, doesn’t it? Drive on.

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Legend Spy Shot Roundup #7

Posted in Legend, NSX, Spy Shots, Vigor on April 20, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 543,106

Odometer (ILX): 160,842

Happy hump day. The garden hose came out and the ILX got a much-needed bath on Sunday morning.

Later in the day I took the Legend to a neighborhood in Chandler, Arizona that has a street named Tyson.

It’s that time again for some spy shots! Here are the previous roundups for your viewing pleasure. These are all thanks to you, my loyal Legend hunters, who continue sending them to me on a daily basis.

Tim gets the grand prize of all Legend spotters for finding Ayrton Senna driving a 1991 “Twilight Blue Pearl” LS sedan for just a few seconds during a 51-minute video. Tim, you’re a winner! Look at 27:49 in this YouTube video.

We’ll kick this one off with a non-Legend photo. My good friend Conor in New York spotted this fully A-Spec’d out TL!

And here we go with the Legends:

Vigors

NSXs

SLXs

Preludes

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Weekly Updates & “Serial Number One” – 1967 Honda N600 Restoration Project

Posted in ILX, Legend, NSX, Vigor on April 3, 2016 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend coupe): 543,021

Odometer (Legend sedan): 150,233

Odometer (Vigor): 105,477

Odometer (ILX): 159,320

It was 39 years ago when Honda made its entrance into selling passenger cars in the United States. The company’s first model, a simple (and teeny) “N600,” was cute and efficient. Little did the world know that it marked the beginning of an automotive power-player that would sell over 123,000 units in the month of March 2016 alone. Honda is big.

One special car – the first – is currently in the hands of “Merciless” Tim Mings, a southern California-based mechanic who is heralded as THE subject matter expert on Honda’s early cars like the N600, Z600, and S600 models which were the precursors to today’s Honda lineup. Some of you may recall the special little Z600 that I test-drove last year from my friend Scott’s collection in Palm Springs.

I’ll be following this restoration project very closely and hope you’ll do the same!

I have an assortment of updates from the last week or so to share today. It should come as no surprise that I’ve been playing with cars as much as time allows, so I’ll let the photos tell the story and keep this week’s blog entry short and sweet.

My friend Armando and his pup Sable visited from California. We took the NSX to breakfast.

Armando is the proud owner of two Subaru SVXs, a Mazda, RX-8 and a Mazda RX-4

My family members from Utah visited and soaked up the sun for a few days.

My friend Jeremy visited from Utah as well for a few days and picked up a ‘new’ BMW X5 diesel here.

I made an attempt at installing some spare “A-Spec” wheels on the ILX but found out they were the incorrect bolt pattern (5 x 120 instead of 5 x 114.3), which means they came off an Acura RL instead of a TL. Shucks, no new wheels for me!

Night drive in the NSX

“Cars & Coffee” in Scottsdale, yesterday. This huge event draws hundreds of high-end cars, every first Saturday of the month.

Quick pic with automotive spy photographer Brenda Briddy who was there

After C&C I took the ILX to explore a remote area called Rio Verde, northeast of town.

Most of Rio Verde’s population lives in the 55-and-older golf community.

I made a quick stop at McDowell Mountain Regional Park. It has over 80 miles of hiking trails so I’ll need to plan another visit back soon.

Stopped by “Legends” automotive repair shop. (Notice the sign)

Fun fact: This location at 2412 N Scottsdale Rd was once the Valley’s first Acura dealership, 30 years ago.

I have to wonder if the people who currently own & operate the business even know that history.

Mom’s G35 is still awaiting its new owner. She’s flying down a week from Wednesday to pick it up.

I went and grabbed the Vigor. This car will probably go in for a timing belt change in the next few weeks.

At the grocery store, I happened to park next to a 1992-93 Honda Accord in my same paint color, code BG-30P “Arcadia Green.”

Twinners!

That’s it for now. Have a great week everyone.

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