There must be something special about vehicles made in 1994. My friend Ryan shared a link with me to a fellow high-miler’s success story that I wanted to share. Brian Greenslade from the U.K. recently achieved 500,000 miles in his 1994 Audi and there’s a great article here. I congratulate Brian on his accomplishment and welcome him to the 500k club! 🙂
Speaking of high mileage in the global realm, through my WordPress blog’s “dashboard” utility I can readily view the sites that are linking to my site, and I noticed this week that Drive to Five is even getting some international exposure now. An Acura Club forum in Russia appears to have been discussing it. Here is the link to the site.
And on the opposite end of the mileage spectrum, last weekend I visited my good friend Chuck who’s had his pristine 1993 Acura Legend LS coupe since 2004. It’s only got 29,000 miles on it and the leather looks absolutely brand new underneath the sheepskin seat covers. You can also see Chuck’s 1981 Civic CVCC wagon in the background – pretty incredible condition for a 30 year classic car.
This weekend, the Legend stayed tucked safely into its warm bed while I hopped on a flight to San Francisco to see a concert for one of my favorite bands, Metallica. I got my ears blasted by some of the loudest music I’ve heard in a long time — an impressive performance by a band that’s been together for as long as I’ve been alive, since 1981. Prior to leaving Phoenix, a last farewell to the sleeping beauties.
View of San Fran from my hotel in Japantown.
At the SFO airport, I couldn’t help but capture the following picture at a restaurant right next to our gate. Legends! The Bay Area was also the first home for my Legend and where it lived for the first 9 years of its life under the care of its original owner.
I received a very special gift from my mom. She found online a place that specializes in converting blogs to books. A package arrived this week containing my blog, from its inception in March of this year, through my 500k achievement on 11/4/2011, printed in hard copy book that’s 272 pages long! Pretty awesome.
This afternoon I pulled the old hot rod out of the garage for a quick Sunday drive. It’s days like today that remind me why I choose to live in this beautiful area: 67 degrees, full-sunshine, weather perfection. I rolled out of the neighborhood with the windows down in shorts, a T-shirt, and flip flops. Not your typical mid-December attire in many other parts of the country or world.
Here’s one of the entrance signs to the city in which I live.
I rolled over to the Phoenix Zoo area which is near Papago Park, home to many of the desert’s most famous plants, the saguaro cacti, as well as some interesting sandstone rock formations estimated to date back millions of years. Papago has a nice little one-lane loop that makes for a nice scenic drive.
Next oil change is coming up sometime after the 505k mark, so not too far away. Until then, This Old Acura (my favorite show growing up was Bob Vila’s “This Old House”) just keeps going and going and going and going…
Lots of seat-time for the Legend driver and its passengers this weekend as we made the trek as far north as Ogden, Utah, some 757 miles away from my home in Scottsdale. The drive, though, was totally worth it. I got to see my new niece & nephew and have a great holiday with my family.
Wednesday afternoon – heading northbound from Phoenix after a short & sweet day at the office. Quick stop for road treats in Wickenburg, Arizona.
Friday morning, St. George, Utah at my brother’s place. Legend gets dwarfed by my brother’s 2011 Ford pickup with 40″ tires
Northbound Interstate 15 in central Utah. Yes, I yielded the driver’s seat to my friend Jeremy for a 2.5 hour stretch of the drive to Salt Lake City!
Central Utah scenery.
Saturday morning, Salt Lake City, Utah. A very chilly & frosty 25 degrees Fahrenheit and the Legend cranked right up – well, on the second try at least. It’s a tired old motor!
My friends and I again went to see the steam locomotive, Union Pacific 844, which is nearing the end of its journey of the southwest United States and returning home to Cheyenne, Wyoming soon. This picture taken at the train station in Ogden, Utah. A legend meets a Legend (again).
Heading back to St. George, Utah on Saturday evening. This is my favorite time of day to drive. Interstate 15 southbound, taken near Nephi, Utah.
Earlier this week I redeemed my first “complimentary” oil change on the Legend, thanks to the folks at Acura Parts & Service in Torrance, CA at the company’s headquarters. My receipt from Acura North Scottsdale from 502,050 miles states “Extended Warranty.” That’s one great extension! I definitely intend on getting the car’s upper front control arms checked out as well as taking a look at the EGR system. We got a code 12 check engine light a couple of times on this trip – probably just something that needs to be cleaned out & reset.
All in all another successful voyage for the now-seasoned Legend.
It’s “500k Eve” – as I settle in for the night in Hollywood on the verge of a very big mileage accomplishment for my old Acura. The car sailed along Interstate 10 westbound from Phoenix just as smoothly as it has probably 50 times before. This stretch of road is a familiar one for the old Legend. We did sit through about 45 minutes of construction delays near Palm Springs.
I’ll do my best to bring you some of the day’s festivities via photograph and video after the big occasion.
What better way to enjoy a crystal clear new windshield than with a sunset like this tonight! Absolutely incredible.
Of all the road trips I’ve taken over the years, the one that stands out as most memorable would have to be an excursion that my dad, Craig, and I took to Fairbanks, Alaska. I’d dreamed about doing this for years and finally made it happen in May 2006. I’ll dedicate this post to the trip that out-distanced every other adventure in my Legend by a long shot.
Armed with the MILEPOST Alaska Travel Guide, I started researching dates, routes, stops, and destinations to see along the famous Alaska Highway. The Milepost was so incredibly detailed that it left little to wonder about. I remember a page in particular instructing us to look for moose to our right – and sure enough, right on cue, we spotted the wildlife. I was an MBA student at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at the time, and had an upcoming couple of weeks off between trimesters so I figured the opportunity was right. The red line here is our outbound trip; the green is our return. In all I put about 7,600 miles on my Legend in a matter of about 10 days. There’s a gigantic write-up here on the Acura Legend forums, but I’ll share a few pictures on the blog.
Our northbound route shows here in red, with the return leg in green.
I’ll let the pictures do the talking (and driving) of this post. They are in completely random order here.
The Alcan Motor Inn, where we stayed one of the nights.
Tons of wildlife sightings!
This sign means hold on for dear life because the frost heaves in the road are going to get bad. I put my Acura’s suspension to the test.
The actual start of the Alaska Highway (it was SNOWING!): Dawson Creek, British Columbia
This is in Grande Prairie, where we first started seeing signs with Alaska as a destination! How exciting.
Haines Junction, Yukon Territory – almost there!
Highway 1 in British Columbia. It went through a series of 6 tunnels.
Sunrise
Muncho Lake, British Columbia (about mile 497 on the Alaska Highway)
Views to die for.
Sheep Mountain, Kluane National Park, Yukon Territory.
I got pretty good at reading the tiny little KPH digits on my speedometer while we rolled through Canada!
Stone Mountain Park
Notice how the road winds along near the cliffside. Just doesn’t get any better than this!
Sheep on the highway in Stone Mountain Provincial Park!
Late sunset on the Alaska Highway (around 11 p.m.)
Bridge in Teslin, Yukon Territory
Cassiar Highway in British Columbia. There were waterfalls right off the road.
Another pic from the Cassiar Hwy 37 drive – British Columbia, Canada.
Gassing up at Petro Canada in Watson Lake, Yukon.
Also in Watson Lake, the famed “signpost forest.” I should have taken one to add.
Yukon license plate on a van.
Arrival at the border and getting out of the car to stretch. At last!
Finally – Delta Junction, Alaska. We had reached our destination – the end of the Alaska Highway – having traveled on it for the entire 1,422 miles.
The aftermath of my tire after arriving back in Salt Lake City, Utah. This picture was after we’d rotated it from front left to right rear.
And a very buggy Legend front end, begging for a wash.
This was one of many milestones achieved throughout the trip.
And I couldn’t resist buying a souvenir bumper sticker. No, I didn’t permanently attach it to my back bumper, but I temporarily put it there for a picture. It reads: “I drove the Alaska Highway. Both ways, dammit!” Not many vehicles with > 200,000 miles can claim such an accomplishment.
Hope you enjoyed the drive as much as I did.
Now, just about 500 miles remain until the big celebration. Many have attempted to predict where and when the occasion will happen. Here’s the answer: Acura has graciously invited me to the company’s North American headquarters in Torrance, California to complete my Drive to Five there this coming Friday, November 4, 2011!
I will depart on Thursday from Phoenix and have “conserved” ample miles to make the voyage to Los Angeles without going past the 500,000 mark too soon. It will be a challenge to orchestrate the mileage to align at the perfect time and place, but with as many odometer pictures as I’ve taken over the years, I’m up to it!
Many thanks to the great folks at Honda/Acura for following the blog and offering encouragement along the way! T minus 3 days and counting.
For kicks one time, I “borrowed” a Pizza Hut sign to install on top of my car. I don’t think I’d ever subject my Acura to pizza-delivery status, but the thought of getting paid to put miles on my car was definitely appealing, as was the thought of smelling pepperoni while driving down the road.
Today I took a quick but refreshing Sunday morning drive to enjoy some views along Arizona Hwy 87 toward the town of Payson. These pictures were taken at the turnoff to Sycamore Creek Campground.
Then the car got a much needed bath and detail. I’m a believer in Meguiar’s products and I treated the car to the “step 3” carnauba liquid wax by hand after a thorough wash. For (most of) the paint being 18 years old, it still cleans up pretty nicely. My car was manufactured in October 1993 so I guess that means it’s finally an adult this month. Celebrate!
The reflection here is of my friend Matt’s Maxima in the garage where he was working on an oil change. Pretty shiny paint for being original to this old Acura.
On the interior, I turned to Griot’s Garage for my preferred leather conditioner called Leather Care. It looks good, smells good, and works great. The seats on my car were recovered in 2003 with a kit from Katzkin. The original leather covers in the car were actually at the time still in decent enough condition to sell. I’ve been really happy with this aftermarket two-tone setup and it’s held up amazingly.
One thing that I love about Arizona is its landscape diversity. In some parts of the state, the terrain looks like what I’ve posted above from today’s drive, but just a few hours away you can find yourself in an environment that looks totally out of this world. If I were to pick my absolute favorite landscape scenery in the entire country, it would be found this place. At 337,000 miles, in July 2008 I took a road trip there.
These particular views are only accessible via a 17-mile dirt road. The cost was $5 to enter the Navajo National tribal park (it’s all on Indian land). Most visitors opt to pay to have the Indians take them on a guided tour (the road is not recommended for cars on a lot of websites I checked) but of course I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to do a little 4×4 action in the coupe.
I even had my brother’s marketing guy throw together a 24×36 poster of the Legend recently, and the main picture was one that I captured in Monument Valley. This is a 10MB image that should be suitable for download if any of you would like to do the same!
Also noteworthy: Monument Valley is not far from four corners, which is the only place in the country where you can stand in 4 different states at once. I did that in a June, 2005 “Utah Tour” trip with about 176,000 miles on the Legend.
Also stopped to see Hole In the Rock, a complete 5,000-square-foot home that was carved out of a sandstone mountain. I took a tour for $5 — well worth it if you’re ever in the area!
And finally I buzzed over past Mancos, Colorado at a gift shop near Mesa Verde National Park where telephone poles have been driven into the ground sideways and painted like giant arrows.
Closing in on my goal – and enjoying every mile in the meantime! Thanks for coming along for the ride.
Posted in Legend, Road Trip on October 28, 2011 by tysonhugie
Odometer: 499,065
Happy Friday morning! If you’re ready for a run-down on some of the many places my Acura has taken me over the last few hundred thousand miles, head on over to AcuraConnected.com for a feature story today highlighting my favorite destinations. Many thanks to site owner Chris for the post!
Still trucking! 499,000 awaits tomorrow! Here’s a story of how I took my old high-miler into a competitive racing event a couple of years ago.
Bonneville Salt Flats, western Utah
Not many people would dream of taking a 330,000 mile vehicle to participate in a very competitive open-road racing event at over 100 miles per hour. Probably few people would also enter an old luxury coupe into an event where most drivers brought new Corvettes or Porsches. Well, I did.
It had always been a dream of mine to drive my own Acura Legend, flat out, on a public highway as fast as I wanted to. I had that opportunity for two consecutive events at the Bonneville 100 Open-Road Race, put together by an organization called MKM Racing. The premise of the B100 is to fly down a (closed) public highway for 100 miles (50 miles down, then 50 miles return) and arrive at the finish line at exactly your target average speed. The race is held about where the “A” on this map is located — in the barren reaches of the Nevada/Utah desert near the Bonneville Salt Flats.
In 2007, with the assistance of “navigator” and friend Branson from Salt Lake, I competed in the 100 mph class. In 2008, I competed in the 105 mph class. In both cases, very strict parameters were in place regarding the minimum and maximum speeds allowed. Had I gone slower than 80 or faster than 124 at any point during the race, I would have been disqualified. The cars were released from the start line about 1 minute apart from each other. It’s a surreal experience to be driving at triple-digit speeds and know that the only law enforcement officers you’re going to see will in fact be egging you on!
The 2007 event is discussed in greater detail with tons of pictures here on the Acura Legend forums in my post.
One of the biggest grins I’ve ever had behind the wheel was from my (required) “qualifying” class when, in order to validate that both I and my car were ready to race at speed, I had to take a professional race instructor with me and demonstrate my abilities on a 9-mile stretch of empty road, one day prior to the race. My instructor was Richard Hille, who competes in the 170 mph class in black 1996 Camaro. I learned that Richard used to have a 1991 Legend. He told me, just prior to the qualifying run, that he’d taken his Legend to 140 mph. “These are great cars,” he said. Here is a picture with the two of us gearing up for our run.
During the qualifying run, we went to grid and as we inched toward the start, I reached to turn off the A/C. Richard said, “You can leave that on, you’re not even going to be working this car hard.” With the adrenaline running through my system and Richard in the passenger seat, I turned into a total beast! The green flag came, and I blasted through the gears like I never have in my life. I also found out what my car sounds like at high RPM. I remember thinking, “Man, how come I’ve never driven like this before?!” The Type II V6 motor was singing right up until I hit 100 mph and then I leveled out the speed. After a mile or two, Richard said, “Let’s take it to 110.” I followed instructions, still in 5th gear at the time. Not long after, he said, “Go ahead and push it to 120.” I happily obliged, and passed the test with flying colors.
On race day, Branson and I got 2nd place of two cars in our 100 mph class. But the amazing thing was this: We were only 2.3 secondsoff a PERFECT time. Not too shabby for a first time racer. Here’s a video of our first leg when I was first getting up to speed and taking it to 115 mph or so.
In 2008, I came back for more grins and upped to the 105 mph class instead of 100 mph.
The day before race morning, my copilot Branson and I went over to the nearby Bonneville Salt Flats in deserted western Utah. This landmark is known for its seemingly infinite flat land which is the perfect location for vehicles to pursue land speed records.
I’ll paraphrase my experience from a post that I shared on the Acura Legend forums recapping the entire event here.
Due to the nature of the sport, open road racers take safety very seriously. In order to compete in the race, my Legend had to pass a technical inspection including wear & age of the tires among other things. I also had to install a fire extinguisher in the car. The only place I could think of that would not create unsightly drill-holes was underneath the back seat, so that’s where we put it.
Here’s my Tech Inspection certificate that was fastened to my windshield after getting the car checked out.
Quick driver’s meeting before heading out to the course.
This is the pre-game assembly at the Visitor’s Center in Wendover, Nevada. We had to line up in our respective classes and in the proper grid order.
A couple of shots at the pre-race grid with the Legend awaiting its performance.
This is the caravan to the start line on Highway 93 where the race is held. Mike, a competitor from Las Vegas in the 105 mph class and now a good friend of mine, was ahead of me in his black 2007 C6 Corvette 6-speed.
Once underway, the adrenaline pumps at full speed. Here is a picture taken by Branson while I blasted down the road at about 115 mph.
A scare emerged just shortly after getting up to speed. Antelope on the road! Pay close attention at the end of this video. Everything happened so quickly that it hardly registered in my mind. I could easily have made roadkill of this animal. At that speed, there is lethal potential!
After that near-death experience, I pulled the speed up to 120 and brought our average up to 105. Then, the next scare… we were closing in quickly on the guy in front of us. In the prior year, we’d never had to pass anybody. It looked like we might have to. This guy in a yellow Corvette was clearly not going fast enough. We tailed him at 85-90 mph through the curves when he should have been doing 100+. I thought about passing him on the straight, but somehow we were able to maintain the 105 average even while staying behind this guy – he picked up his speed in the straights.
Here you can get an idea of the somewhat primitive GPS system that Branson and I relied on during the race. Top left number is current speed. Bottom left number is average speed. This picture was taken on a 7-mile straightaway that was called the Speed Trap. The yellow blob you see up ahead is a competitor in my 105 mph class in a C6 Corvette. We were gaining on him.
We rolled into finish of the first leg and I got out of the car sweating. I was glad to be alive! I talked to the guy in the yellow Vette and told him I thought we were right on track. He was running off stop watches and was very confident that he was right and we weren’t.
It was another long hour+ of downtime until we rolled back out to run the second leg. I was worried about having to pass the yellow Vette guy, but determined to do so if I had to. We got the green flag for the second half. This one wasn’t nearly as eventful. Again we sailed to 120 until the average came up, then settled at 105 for the duration of the course. We ended up getting close to the guy in the yellow Vette yet again. I couldn’t figure out how come our GPS was reading RIGHT ON 105 mph average yet we kept catching this guy! But we followed him in to the finish.
Before starting the second (return) leg of the race. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Nevada!
Clearly my timing needs some work. We found out later that we had come in a full 51 seconds too early. Our GPS must have been reading wrong and we didn’t end up placing, but we sure had a great time! Here are the results:
Target Speed 105 Class
1. 0.011-mph (0:00.365+t) 402 Michael Keegan 29:32.296@104.915 28:31.498@105.066 Corvette
2. 0.026+mph (0:00.875-t) 299 William Rice 29:30.577@105.017 28:31.977@105.036 Corvette
3. 0.049-mph (0:01.639+t) 104 Stan Jennings 29:17.897@105.774 28:47.171@104.112 Dodge Van
4. 0.630-mph (0:21.017+t) 351 Mark Rice 29:30.644@105.013 28:53.802@103.714 Charger
5. 1.577+mph (0:51.531-t) 194 Tyson Hugie 29:04.671@106.576 28:07.227@106.577 Acura Legend
The numbers are:
– How far off we were from our target average mph overall
– (How many seconds off)
– Car number
– Driver’s name
– Time for first leg @ average mph
– Time for second leg @ average mph
What this means is that we were 1 THOUSANDTH of a second different between the times of our first leg and second leg. Leg 1 averaged 106.576, Leg 2 averaged 106.577. Mike Borders, who runs the event, said he had never seen that kind of precision before. Now if only we could have had the timing right! The old Acura represented itself well and demonstrated that even an old luxo coupe can hold its own in a high-speed race.
When most people think of visits to theme parks in Florida, they immediately think of Disneyworld, but I found a place that far surpasses Disney in its appeal to me — I’ll call it ‘Legendland’! About 75 miles west of Orlando in a one-stoplight teeny town called Floral City, my Acura enthusiast friend Alan and his wife Nancy have a beautiful piece of property and four (yes, four!) Acura Legends. It was a slice of Acura heaven that I got to experience this afternoon before flying back to Phoenix from Tampa.
First off we got a VIP tour of the property including Alan’s spare car parts inventory which would rival any Acura dealership for its completeness and organization.
Alan has a sirius white pearl 1994 Legend GS 6-speed, cashmere silver metallic 1993 LS coupe 6-speed, granada black pearl 1994 GS sedan automatic, and milano red 1994 Legend LS coupe automatic. This guy is a true collector! He hosted us for a lake-side BBQ this afternoon after my friend Matt and I took his pedal-powered boat out for a quick spin on the lake. Alan also let me drive his 1979 MG convertible: a peppy little 4-speed manual that turned more heads in the 3 miles it than my Legend coupe has in the 400k miles I’ve driven it.
Here’s the group shot. In addition to Alan’s four Legends, two others showed up to make this into a full blown enthusiast meet: Moses in his 1994 granada black pearl GS sedan 6-speed (gorgeous!) and Alex in his 5-speed manual converted sherwood green 1994 LS coupe. Alex allowed me to test drive his car, “Annie.” She’s a mean beast with plenty of aftermarket goodies including a K-Sport suspension, full exhaust, and a short-throw shifter that makes rowing the gears effortless and fun.
All six Legends made it into this picture if you look closely. Left to right: Tyson, Alex, Alan, Moses.
I made Alan dig out the straw hat for this one. That hat has become a staple at Legend meets across the country. Anyone who’s seen Alan at one of the National Acura Legend Meets knows what I’m talking about!
Florida’s one of the few states I haven’t driven my Legend coupe in yet. Over the years I’ve taken this old Legend to vast and varied places in the United States, but some of my most memorable travels have taken place outside the border. The 2006 drive to Fairbanks, Alaska, and back was especially adventurous because it was the first chance I had to really exercise my kilometers-per-hour reading ability on my speedometer. My dad and I traversed several Canadian provinces on our way to the far north. It also was interesting to buy fuel by the liter instead of the gallon.
Then there was the time in October, 2006 when I road-tripped south of the border to “Puerto Peñasco” (Rocky Point), Mexico in order to visit my friend Pam and her family who were RV’ing there for the weekend at the beach. Rocky Point was about 70 miles south of the US/Mexico border. I purchased Mexican auto insurance (print-at-home) for the 48 hour trip and set out for Mexico.
This was actually the second time I had driven the Legend into Mexico. The first was in February, 2005, when I went into Algodones, Sonora, Mexico just west of Yuma, Arizona. Border crossing!
Doing a little shopping.
Crazy drivers, every which way, backing up in a thru-lane. And I didn’t have Mexican insurance at the time. Things could have been bad!
The line to get back into the U.S. was about 1/2 hour wait.
How about a place that’s pretty much not only international but intergalactic: The teeny town of Rachel, Nevada just outside Area 51 in the rural desert of southern Nevada. I took this picture in 2005 while cruising along the “Extraterrestrial Highway” (State Route 375) just before also snagging a picture at the “Little A’Le Inn.” Unfortunately, no sightings of life from outer space during my day trip adventure.
Population: Humans, 98. Aliens, ?
Self parking for UFO’s!
And yes, I parked the Legend there!
Not a bad looking spaceship if I do say so.
Or finally how about the time I drove right to Santa Claus’ house in North Pole, Alaska, in 2006? My dad and I even took the opportunity to buy a plot of land (one square inch, to be exact) to give to my mom for Mother’s Day. Yes, we got a deed to it!
No trip to the North Pole would be complete without a quick pit-stop at Santa’s house, right?
My dad and I are sitting in the sleigh while the Legend looks on.
This post has turned into a novel but I also need to mention that I’m not the only one in the high mileage game – in fact, lots of people have met or exceeded the 500k mark. One in particular is Joe LoCicero from Maine – also known as “Million Mile Joe.” His 1990 Honda Accord today hit 1,000,000 miles. Honda has recognized him on the company’s Facebook page. Check it out! Huge congrats, Joe!
So, I’m back at home after a fun weekend away and happy to be back behind the wheel to finish out the drive to five. Let’s get a move on.
Posted in Legend, Road Trip on October 23, 2011 by tysonhugie
The Legend was driven ZERO miles today!
This is the first time that’s happened in a very long time (and this rental 2012 Mustang V6 I’m cruising around it just can’t compare). As I enjoyed the fine scenery along Florida’s gulf coast today, I reflected on the fact that my Acura hasn’t always been pampered by weather as sublime as what I’m experiencing this weekend. I live in what’s been called the hottest city in the United States. The Phoenix area enjoys over 300 days of sunshine per year and in turn also endures well over 100 days of 100+ degrees per year.
Any vehicle’s cooling system in Arizona is durability tested day in and day out. For this reason, I’ve had my radiator changed for no reason at all and I’ve always used Honda/Acura fluids exclusively, including Honda brand “Type 2” coolant, which is unique in its blue color.
I had a Koyo aftermarket radiator installed in 2005 at 169,155 miles. The old one wasn’t leaking at the time.
In 2006 at 237,592 miles, I had all 22 (yes, 22!) hoses in the cooling system changed out with new ones – “just because.” At 12 years old, rubber can start to crack and wear, and the risk of a hose failure was enough reason for me to have Acura of Tempe install new ones.
Then in 2008 at 328,092 miles, I had that Koyo radiator changed out for a Honda OEM part. Again, “just because.” A well maintained cooling system is the biggest key to success in operating an old Legend, as so many of these cars have fallen victim to head gasket failure due to overheating.
Add to that a number of cooling system fluid flushes over the years. I’ve always been a firm believer in preventative maintenance.
This Legend has seen the highs and lows of Mother Nature. For two years, I attended undergraduate school at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. The Legend endured temps into the well-below-negative range frequently. I remember a day in particular at (-8) degrees Fahrenheit when the old car (then in 2004/2005 at around 180,000 miles) started up without fail.
Here are a few pictures I found of some of the various weather environments I’ve traveled in my trusty old Acura.
This was taken one winter up Blacksmith Fork Canyon. Surefooted with the Traction Control System!
A little fun in the church parking lot, post-snowstorm. E-braking has never been so much fun!
And then this – the ultimate winter beater. I had to spend about 30 minutes digging the car out of a snow bank behind my house. It was far from roadworthy when this picture was taken. Logan, Utah had been hit with a huge blizzard the night before. Even so, the Legend didn’t hesitate when I turned the key and cranked the motor the following morning.
Here’s a rainstorm on Interstate 8 in southern California in February 2005 with only 159,000 miles on the odometer.
Nothing finer than the fall colors in Logan Canyon in northern Utah.
And of course the seasons wouldn’t be rounded out without some extreme highs – such as what I experienced in this 2005 drive to Monument Valley in northeastern Arizona.
Or perhaps this picture taken at the Imperial Sand Dunes off Interstate 8 west of Yuma, Arizona just inside the California state line.
As crazy as it may sounds, driving an Acura isn’t my day job. You’d think so, given the fact that I’ve put about 45,000 miles per year on my Legend since I bought it in 2003. Some curious friends did the math once, in fact, and determined that I’ve spent the better part of a year *living* in my driver’s seat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And that’s if I was consistently driving moderate highway speed the entire time!
Since I do get asked quite a bit: My career is in the pharmaceutical biz. I work as an analyst for a pharmacy benefit management company called CVS Caremark based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The most important tool at my disposal in my cubicle at the office is a U.S. map because I zone out frequently while daydreaming of road trip opportunities. My colleague Michelle snagged this picture today. I happened to be proudly wearing an Acura Polo shirt, too.
Over the next couple of weeks, I want to share some of the many adventures I’ve had in my Legend in its half million miles of travel.
If you had $299k to burn, you could have purchased a ghost town in June, 2005. I was thumbing through the classifieds of the local newspaper at the time, The Spectrum, in St. George Utah and came across a unique classified ad:
GHOST TOWN. Owner financing. Motivated seller. Four homes, C-store, gas station, miscellaneous buildings. 32 city building lots, 2.5 acres highway commercial, five acres well and water, fixer-upper. 80 acres. All for $299,000. Modena, Utah. Call (719) 684-9044.
My curiosity got the best of me and I set out on an adventure to find out just what exactly this ghost town was all about. It’s a tiny little town on the railroad tracks about 9 miles from the Nevada state line in southern Utah. Modena was a center for commerce when the steam railroads would roll through town. When the diesel locomotive came around, the trains wouldn’t need to stop and Modena became obsolete. Slowly people moved out.
Here are some of the pictures I captured that day back in 2005. The Legend had around 175,000 miles on it and was wearing 17″ Acura RSX Type-S wheels at the time.
The eery feeling of being in a desolate town was thrilling. A boarded up gas station, old pickups for sale, not a soul around. A couple of the run-down homes were visibly still occupied but most had “For Sale” signs in the windows.
Despite the “No Trespassing” warnings, I climbed into the largest of the abandoned buildings — the Lund Hotel. Inside was quite creepy (especially considering that I was alone). I went upstairs and there were still box spring sets for the hotel mattresses. Shelves were still there in what used to be the general store on the main level. Surprisingly, there was very little or no graffiti and all the fixtures were still intact. I went up the staircase to the upper level – a bit unnerving since the hand railing was wobbly and I could see that the upper level floor had sunk in places and could potentially collapse at any time. My cell phone wasn’t getting service at the time so I was also completely unreachable if something had happened. All part of the experience!
This gas pump had long since dried up, but it still made for a nice photo-op.
Bummer – looked like the saloon had sealed its doors too.
On another occasion, in May 2005, I ventured to a different small southern Utah ghost town called Paria, off Highway 89A near Kanab. This particular site was known for having been the backdrop for a number of “old west” movies from the 1940’s through 1960’s. The area was first settled around 1865. I had to do a little off-roading to get to my destination – probably 10 or so miles each way on a pretty decent condition dirt road. There is just no landscape that can compare to the beauty of the southern Utah sandstone.
Lastly, I’ll share a picture of one more (now completely demolished) ghost town – appropriately named, “Nothing,” Arizona. In February, 2007, I stopped for these pictures in northern Arizona off Hwy 93 between Wickenburg and Wikieup. Population: 4. Milepost 148 1/2.
The building in this picture has since been bulldozed. The Legend was at 275,000 miles and sitting on TL Type-S wheels. Looking pretty snazzy in the Arizona sunset.
Those are some of my Acura-assisted travels to the run-down buildings of yesteryear.
Sadly, as I’ve learned, time can take its toll on an automobile too. Did anyone else notice the “mechanic special” 1994 Acura Legend coupe on Ebay right now? It’s a near twin to mine in Desert Mist Metallic paint except in L model trim and with an automatic transmission. This particular Legend, with VIN ending in production number 239, rolled off the assembly line in Japan just 593 vehicles before mine did, back in the end of 1993. Now 18 years later, it has only 134,000 miles (26% of what mine has) but it looks like it’s been driven through a war zone. Those were rough miles.
What a life this car has endured. It’s classic reinforcement of my belief that high miles don’t necessarily mean much in the used car realm. I’d rather have my 500,000 mile Legend any day of the week than this relic with 134,000. People — take care of your cars and they’ll take care of you!
I’m off to Tampa, Florida tomorrow for the weekend (flying, though!). The high-miler will sit in covered parking at Sky Harbor airport so don’t expect any huge trip report on Sunday. I will, however, continue to post more frequent stories from my past Acura travels as I creep closer to the big milestone ahead.
drivetofive 