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ILX Drive: Colossal Cave in Vail, Arizona

Posted in Arizona, ILX, Road Trip on September 9, 2013 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 526,888

Odometer (ILX): 53,722

Trip Distance: 287 Miles

Let’s go underground! This tagline from Roadside America best describes my Acura ILX destination this past weekend:

Shelter for Indians, possible site of lost bank robbery gold, and a name that perhaps raises expectations too high.

That’s about the gist of this offbeat landmark cave about 22 miles from Tucson, Arizona near the teeny town of Vail. On a rainy Sunday morning, a few friends showed up with this wide assortment of luxury vehicles.

Jack’s 2002 Lexus IS300
Michael’s 1997 BMW 740iL
Ryan’s 2006 Acura TL
David’s 2000 Volkswagen Jetta (not pictured)

The rain didn’t keep us from undertaking a freeway drive to Tucson on Interstate 10 eastbound from the Phoenix area. I was glad to have my new Michelin Pilots installed on the ILX. Traction was good and I had plenty of control. Ryan rode with me, Jack and David took the IS300, and Michael and Alex took the 740.

About halfway to Tucson, the rain finally let up a little and we made a fuel stop at Picacho Peak. Michael’s 7-series is in phenomenal shape for being 16 years old and having over 1/4 million miles on it. He takes a lot of pride in his BMW and it shows.

The ILX only took about 10 gallons of fuel to fill it up, and we were on our way yet again.

Soon, we knew we were getting close when we saw signs announcing our arrival near Exit 279.

We made it!

The attendant at the ‘ranger station’ collected $5 per vehicle for our entry into Colossal Cave Mountain Park.

We were welcomed with a fun, twisty one-lane road as we made our way toward the parking area.

The park offered a lot of amenities that we didn’t explore, including a museum, picnic areas, horseback trail rides, and a butterfly garden. Ryan admired the ILX design and said that his favorite features were the steering wheel design & the seat comfort.

Nice looking lineup here. The BMW and Lexus are chrome-free, while the front end of the ILX has plenty of “bling,” especially thanks to those new grille inserts I added to the front bumper with a chrome strip on them.

We walked directly to the gift shop to pick up our tour tickets for $13 per person. This was the view that surrounded us in the parking lot: Beautiful desert landscape dotted with saguaro cacti. It made me wonder what it would’ve been like to be the first person to discover a cave in this area. That’s what happened in 1879 to a man named Solomon Lick. He was searching for stray cattle and discovered the opening to the cave.

We used this map to orientate ourselves with the various attractions.

As it turns out, there are various tours that can be taken of Colossal Cave. The blue line was our ‘basic’ tour which lasted about 45 minutes. There are other tours offered that are much more involved, including one that requires scaling a ladder and wearing a hard hat. We didn’t feel quite that ambitious.

Michael and Alex looked exceptionally excited to be there. The opening to the cave was once much smaller than it is today; it required crawling on hands and knees when it was originally discovered.

We climbed up and down various sets of steep stairs while we were inside the cave. During the early 1930’s, the Civilian Conservation Corps created a pathway through the key areas of the cave and installed a handrail wherever necessary. Lights have been placed in various places to illuminate the way.

Colossal is a “dry/dead” cave, which means that it’s no longer growing new stalactites (growing from the ceiling) or stalagmites (growing from the floor). We weren’t allowed to touch the formations with our hands. Those formations had took thousands of years to form, and the oils from human skin can cause permanent damage.

This formation was called the “silent waterfall.” It’s easy to tell that this used to flow heavily with water that deposited calcium which over time created permanent rock icicles.

The cave was used between 900 and 1450 AD by the native Indian tribes of the area. They left many remnants of their existence, including tools, weaponry, and other artifacts. Parts of the ceiling show smoke stains, so we also know that they built fires inside.

Our total hike was about a mile and it was pretty easy to navigate with the help of our guide. We had to duck our heads and watch our step several times. The cave temperature averages 70 degrees year-round so it was comfortable, albeit humid. Jack looked happy to be there. “Go Detroit Lions!” he says.

The below landmark within the cave is called the “witch.” The long, pointed rock resembles a nose, while the head clearly shows an eye socket and open mouth. It is said that early cave adventurers used this formation to identify their location.

This device was measuring various conditions within the cave including temperature & humidity.

Within the cave also lies a mine shaft. This was used to extract bat guano during the late 1800’s and also later used by the CCC to haul in the flagstone rocks that were assembled to make the floor that we walked on.

Here, I was standing in the “balcony.” There was a 40-50 foot drop off behind me. Early spelunkers had to lower themselves down into that area using ropes, but later a more developed trail was created that goes to those deeper levels of the cave. The lowest point of our tour was about 70 feet below ground level.

When we exited the cave, our eyes were blinded by the sunlight. They were blinded even further when my friend Will pulled up in his absolutely stunning pearl white 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe. I had to get my sunglasses out of the ILX before I could even open my eyes fully to look at it.

Will’s recent acquisition replaces his former “Red Jewel” Camaro SS. The CTS-V is powered by a monster 6.2 liter Eaton-supercharged V8 engine delivering 556 horsepower. Yes, you read that right. This Cadillac has over double as many horses as my Acura ILX does. Can you say “giddy up”? I won’t challenge him to a car tug-of-war anytime soon.

Starting at $65k, the pricetag on one of these is also high enough to buy two Acura ILXs.

Pictured here are the car’s glossy obsidian black center console and “glide up” touch-screen navigation system. In here, Will has access to a 10 GB hard drive for music storage, iPod connectivity, pause-and-play live radio, integrated rear vision camera and Bose surround sound system. Entertainment galore.

This car even has a G-meter to measure and remember lateral acceleration!

Without even planning it, we had lined up the cars in descending order by horsepower.

Cadillac CTS-V: 6.2L V8 – 556 horsepower
BMW 740iL: 4.4L V8 – 282 horsepower
Lexus IS300: 3.0L I6 – 215 horsepower
Acura ILX: 2.4L I4 – 201 horsepower

We’d worked up an appetite after our underground adventure. Lunch was at a place on Oracle Road in Tucson called Guero Canelo. It’s famous for hot dogs, but the “caramelo” (basically a quesadilla w/ meat in it) was absolutely delicious.

Headed back to the Phoenix area, Ryan and I had a Legend sedan sighting at Tangerine Road. This is a 1991 Golden Glow Pearl LS. It’s a rare one-year-only color.

Michael’s BMW turned over 280,000 miles just east of Tucson on Interstate 10.

By the time we got back to Scottsdale, the blue skies were back. Ryan’s 2006 Acura TL was looking fantastic and he takes great pride in keeping it that way.

Thanks to all who joined for the road trip, either in person or via the blog!

6 Comments »

Junkyardin’

Posted in Legend on September 8, 2013 by tysonhugie

Odometer (ILX): 53,722

I love dumpster diving. For car parts, that is. For some reason, the idea of scavenging through hundreds of junked cars is fun to me. Maybe it’s because I see it as a sort of treasure hunt. You never know what you’re going to find hidden in a glove box, a trunk, or an engine bay.

I hit up a local junkyard with some friends yesterday and spotted over 40 Acura Legends at “Ecology” in Phoenix, located near 35th Avenue & Broadway Road. It costs $2 for entry, and you have to provide your own tools. Talk about a Legend gold mine! Joe was looking for some parts for his Cashmere Silver Metallic 1995 Legend LS coupe, so Paul and I picked him up in the ILX and headed that way.

En route to find some goods!

I could’ve wandered around Ecology for hours. We found some really neat color combinations of Legends. One of them was this rare (1995-only) Garnet Red Metallic. In person, it looks more purple than anything else.

Check out the racing stripes on this 1st generation Legend coupe!

And this Legend sedan in custom blue would be pretty tough to miss!

My favorite part was the blue flame seat cover. That adds a few horsepower, right?

The highest mileage Legend in the yard had 307,000 miles.

That odometer belonged to this 1992 L Sedan automatic:

Every Legend we saw, in fact, was an automatic. Joe did end up finding the parts he was looking for. He pulled a fender off this Phoenix Red 1991 L coupe. I loved how the door panel was holding up the hood.

Then, he pulled a passenger side headlight out of this Milano Red 1993 L coupe. A 10 mm socket is just about all you need to really have a heyday pulling parts off a Legend, we learned.

Success! As Joe holds up his prizes for the day.

I posted pictures of the rest of the Legends we saw that day in the Legends in Junkyards thread.

This weekend I checked on the rooftop durability test fleet, my set of 6 diecast 1:18 scale model cars that have been sitting near my chimney at home for a couple of years.

The Maserati 3200GT, as it looked 2.5 years ago in April 2011.

Maserati 3200GT now.

The ’57 Nomad has seen better days, too. Here is the car 2.5 years ago.

And today.

That Phoenix sun really is brutal on auto finishes!

Tomorrow’s feature will include a fun weekend drive in the ILX to a place near Tucson, Arizona called “Colossal Cave.” The name invokes high expectations, but did the attraction deliver? Find out next time.

Until then, check out this gorgeous “A-Spec” ILX rendering by Dillon. The wheels, exhaust system, and taillights are stunning. If only Acura would build such an option package!

5 Comments »

Guest Article: Canyon de Chelly National Monument

Posted in Arizona on September 5, 2013 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 526,847

Odometer (ILX): 53,191

A colleague author, Eve Pearce, reached out to me about submitting some content for Drive to Five. Eve did a great job capturing the highlights of one of Arizona’s top travel destinations in a write-up that she put together.

Canyon de Chelly (pronounced “de-SHAY”) National Monument is located 300 miles northeast of the Phoenix area in rural Arizona. I haven’t yet made it out to Canyon de Chelly, but I did get pretty close on my trip home from Durango in the ILX in May.

Enjoy Eve’s write-up and stay tuned because now I’m itching to make it out to this place soon! Photos are courtesy of Google Images.

Road Tripping to Canyon de Chelly National Monument

Of all of the beautiful places to road trip and travel to around Arizona, one of the most scenic is Canyon de Chelly. Within these canyons, the Navajo have lived here for almost 5,000 years surrounded by four distinct sacred mountains. The unique part about this area is that it is made up of Navajo Tribal Trust Land. However, the US National Park Service works closely with the Navajo Nation in order to keep Canyon de Chelly sustainable for both the established community and visitors.

The Scenic Landscape

Canyon de Chelly National Monument is made up of nearly 84,000 acres and consists of three distinct canyons total. Monument Canyon and Canyon Del Muerto come together with Canyon de Chelly. Along with temperatures reaching well over 100 degrees during the summertime, the floors of the canyons remain flat with walls towering a massive 1,000 feet.

With the sharp changes in elevation, both weather and temperatures can change rapidly while visiting. For instance, during the winter time, temperatures within the canyon can range between 40 and 60 degrees with the possibility of snow showing up in the wintertime and sudden rainstorms in the summer. Because of this, it’s always important to be prepared for any type of weather when visiting.

The Gorgeous Drives

Road trip to Canyon de Chelly for is an exciting adventure that is unlike anything else you may have experience before. You can do so by traveling off of US Route 191. It is located slightly over an hour north of the town of Chambers and is a 5 hour drive Northeast of Flagstaff. There are both a North and South Rim Drive, which offer majestic views of Puebloan ruins and jaw-dropping canyons. Driving on South Rim Drive leads to views of Spider Rock, two 750 foot spires that are very important to the Navajo people. According to Navajo legend, the taller of the two spires are said to be home to the Spider Woman.

The Dine’ Tah Scenic Road is also available to drive along and is just over 100 miles long. This road will take around 3 hours to drive one way. The phrase “Dine’ Tah” means “Among the People.” This road gives visitors a much better idea of what life was like in this area many centuries ago. Along with views of art and former dwellings, visitors can check out St. Michael’s Mission, which was one of the first schools in the area for the Navajo. As it stands now, it has a museum with ancient artifacts on display for viewing.

White House Trail

While visitors do not have to pay to visit the park, most areas are restricted for exploring unless accompanied by a Navajo guide and permit. However, the overlooking views along the rim and White House Trail are free to explore unsupervised. Along this trail, visitors can see amazing ruins that date back to 1200 A.D. Known as the White House Ruins, these are some of the oldest throughout the entire park.

While White House Trail is only a 2 and a half miles long, it is somewhat steep and typically takes visitors between 30 and 60 minutes to make their way down. Despite this difficulty, there is no doubt that the scenery is quite beautiful on the way to the ruins. You will pass an orchard, a farm, cross a stream, and see plenty of cacti and lizards as you descend to the canyon floor.

Camping at Canyon de Chelly

For visitors looking to extend their stay and camp overnight, there are two options available: Cottonwood Campground and Spider Rock Campground. Although there are two chain hotels located within Chinle, there is nothing quite like going to sleep with the sounds of nature and waking up to the gorgeous sunrise while overlooking the canyon floor down below.

Keep in mind that both campsites vary in terms of what is and is not allowed. For instance, while Cottonwood only features a group area for campfires, Spider Rock has open fire pits at each campsite. The next time you’re looking to road trip around Arizona, it is highly recommended that you travel northeast and visit Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Not only are the views spectacular, but there is plenty of history to be learned and it is a great area to meet and talk to the Navajo people.

– By Eve Pearce

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Labor Day Weekend Fun: Chuck’s Ragtop

Posted in Legend, Reader's Ride on September 3, 2013 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 526,845

Odometer (ILX): 53,066

Hey, here’s something you don’t see every day: Legend convertible!

This 1988 L coupe was converted when new (at a cost of around $10,000) to a convertible. The car today has about 111,000 miles on it but runs amazingly for being 25 years old. Chuck, Paul, and I took it for a Sunday drive around the Phoenix East Valley area. Wind buffeting was pretty extreme in the backseat but the car rode as smooth as could be.

I commented to Chuck, “This thing sure gets a lot of looks.” He responded, “They’re not looking at the car; they’re looking at those 3 crazy guys who are insane for driving with the top down when it’s 105 degrees.”

Hot or not, we had our fun tooling around in this unique ride.

It was an action-packed weekend playing with cars. On Friday night, we welcomed road tripper Ben who I featured recently on a Reader’s Ride. Last weekend, Ben was at the National Acura Legend Meet in North Carolina and he’s been working his way back to the west coast via some exciting destinations (Jacksonville, New Orleans, Austin, and El Paso).

Left: Chuck’s 1993 Sirius White Pearl Legend LS coupe 6-speed with 31,000 miles
Right: Ben’s 1992 Frost White Legend LS coupe automatic with 190,000 miles

Chuck (same owner of the convertible pictured above) was gracious enough to bring the low-mileage coupe out for the occasion, even though it was raining. He told me this was only the second time it’s ever been driven in the rain.

We receive over 300 days of sunshine in Phoenix per year, but this wasn’t one of them.

We tried out a restaurant that’s been featured on the Travel Channel in Chandler, Arizona called “Chino Bandido.” I must say I was impressed – especially with the sugar cookies they gave out for dessert!

Later, Ben came over to my place to visit.

My Legend coupe got a much-needed bath after the long journey to North Carolina. I also took the time to polish the chrome exhaust tips with some Mother’s Mag & Aluminum polish. The results are pretty striking!

On Saturday morning, the Legend went in for a 5W30 oil & filter change at Acura of Tempe. I was able to get this service for free since I use a punch card and had accumulated enough punches for a freebie. It had been exactly 4,300 miles since the last oil change (performed on June 26). I believe that might have been the longest I’ve ever driven the car between changes, but I’ll have to check the maintenance spreadsheet to be sure.

My friend Paul who drives a TL SH-AWD stopped by to visit, too. The lounge amenities at the dealership make it a great place to hang out. Cookies, chips, and drinks – not to mention WiFi and leather chairs. It’s better than home!

The technician’s inspection notes about the Legend’s mechanical needs were as follows:

Driver’s P/S Rack Boot Leaking
Differential Leaking
Transmission Leaking
P/S Fluid Low

I had asked for “no wash” and they complied, which was great since I had just detailed the car by hand this week.

Ever wondered what the private party resale value is on a car with over 500,000 miles? A friend of mine ran some numbers on the value of my Legend, just for kicks. Unfortunately, the Edmunds website didn’t even want to give him a $ figure! A dialog box popped up saying, “Total Mileage Cannot Exceed 400,000 Miles.” Oh, is that so?

Next, he went to Kelley Blue Book. These numbers are pretty promising. $2,472 as a private party value in “Excellent” condition, even with the mileage factored in. Not too shabby!

In ILX news, I noticed that my front left marker light has now burned out. I’ve actually been anticipating this for quite some time. Ever since I first started driving the car in June 2012, I’ve driven with headlights + foglights on for safety almost 100% of the time. So it’s no surprise that after thousands of hours of illumination, a bulb has finally given up.

I stopped by Autozone to see if they had such a bulb in stock, but was told that it’s a dealership-only thing. Bummer. I will fix it and roll onward! I’m having a great time with the car as the summer heat slowly starts saying goodbye. I can’t wait until it’s windows-down weather in Phoenix again.

Thanks Ben, Paul, and Chuck for some fun weekend times!

4 Comments »

ILX Drive: Carefree and Black Canyon City, Arizona

Posted in Arizona, ILX, Road Trip on September 1, 2013 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 526,843

Odometer (ILX): 52,922

Trip Distance: 120 Miles

Let’s hit the road in the 2013 Acura ILX for a little sightseeing around the Phoenix area. Buckled in? Okay, good. Anybody who’s followed Drive to Five long enough knows I’m a sucker for anything that’s “world’s largest.” I’ve seen a giant firecracker, massive chili pepper, and plenty of muffler men. But how in the world did I never know that this 39-foot-tall monstrosity was nearly in my own backyard?

My friend Chris and I set out on a mission this morning to find some offbeat destinations, and we succeeded with ease. Northeast of the Phoenix metro area is the small town of Carefree, an upscale residential community bordering Scottsdale. Its motto is “Home of cowboys and caviar; where the old west meets the new.”

Other notable street names in this community, fitting for the name of Carefree, are Easy Street, Tranquil Trail, and Ho-and-Hum Roads. But my destination this morning was Kachina Road, because it’s home to this masterpiece.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t all that exciting but if you’re into kachina dolls, this must be something quite special! I rowed my 6-speed gearbox just a few miles to the southeast and entered the center of Carefree.

What in the world could that sculpture in the background be?

You’re looking at America’s largest sundial. This copper structure stretches 62 feet and points toward the North Star.

A smaller sundial is mounted on a rock at the base of the larger one. A plaque contains some instructions on how visitors can use the sundial to tell time.

Here’s the inscription from the sundial:

Solar engineer John Yellot and architect Joe Wong designed the sundial for K.T. Palmer in 1959. It stretches 62 feet and points to the North Star. Solar local time is 27.7 minutes behind Mountain Standard Time and the hour markers are adjusted to compensate. The town of Carefree added copper cladding in 1990.

There was also a sign asking people to please not climb the sundial. Anybody else see those sneaker skid marks? Looks like someone’s succeeded in getting at least halfway up it.

Nearby, an overhead water feature drizzled just enough water to cool us off in the 100-degree heat.

No road trip is complete without some quality grub. For that, Chris and I headed north on Interstate 17 (which was swarming with highway patrol for the holiday weekend). Thanks to my friend Kyle, I’d learned of a great restaurant just 45 miles north of Phoenix in Black Canyon City.

Its name is Rock Springs Cafe, and it’s been around since 1918.

Settlement started here as early as 1860. The first commercial development started around 1918 by a man named Ben Warner. A completed restaurant, general store, and hotel was opened in 1924 and for many years this place served as the only telephone and post office for many many miles.

Chris and I enjoyed the history lesson, but we cared more about something else: the food.

There’s no shortage of advertising for Rock Springs Cafe’s most famous menu items, which are its pies.

In all, 19 flavors were available to us.

After a hearty turkey sandwich lunch, I opted for the chocolate cream pie. It was so smooth.

Smiling faces because the pie was every bit as tasty as advertised.

A refill on premium and the ILX brought us home in no time flat.

Hope the holiday weekend is treating everyone well! There’s a lot more going on around here but I’m saving that for another post in the next couple of days. Thanks for coming along on this morning’s drive.

8 Comments »

Carfidant Paint Depth Gauge – User Review

Posted in Detailing on August 29, 2013 by tysonhugie

Odometer (ILX): 52,634

We’re taking a break from my long-distance late summer travels for a product review today.

“What’s under that shiny paint?”

That’s the tagline for a new product that promises to potential car buyers that it will help them determine if a vehicle they’re looking at has ever been involved in an accident. I was given the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to perform a review of the Carfidant paint depth tool, so I used my 1994 Legend and my 2013 ILX as subject vehicles.

The idea here is that an all-original car should have pretty consistent readings around the entire vehicle. A car that’s been hit & repainted, however, can vary widely from panel to panel. The reason for this is that extra layers of paint & Bondo cause the meter to give higher readings. Those high readings are red flags and could be an indication that body work has been performed, even though the vehicle may look 100% mint condition to the naked eye.

See the results for yourself here:

7 Comments »

NALM Day 6: Home Sweet Home, Arizona

Posted in Legend, NALM, Road Trip on August 26, 2013 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 526,807

Day Distance: 1,090 Miles

North Carolina to Arizona in two days. Seems almost impossible, even to me! But, I am living proof that it’s possible. Boy does it ever feel good to be back at home! As much as I love life on the road, after this adventure I’m completely exhausted. The 4,073 miles of memories were totally worth it, though.

My day started in Dallas, Texas at 5:30 in the morning with a wake-up call that made me want to throw my iPhone out the window. Between traversing multiple time zones, my sleep patterns are all out of whack and I was far from rested. I told my Garmin Nuvi GPS unit that I wanted to “Go Home.” A few minutes of calculation later, and it said I would arrive in 15 hours, 10 minutes. Sigh.

But what was unique about those hours? They were all on the same. exact. freeway. Check it out (below picture, top left corner). Once I got underway on I-20, my next turn was in a whopping 1,048 miles. This is where I basically activated autopilot mode for the duration of the drive. As long as I kept the car between the white lines, I’d be at my home by later in the evening.

Sunup to sundown. That’s how I roll.

One nice thing about west Texas (and perhaps, the only nice thing?) is that the speed limits are high.

I spent several hundred miles staring at this: cruise control activated around 87-89 mph. I had a tough time feeling “okay” about driving at such a rate of speed without fear of police intervention, but I was grateful to make the drive pass by quickly.

This is about as interesting as the scenery gets out there.

I rolled through the small towns of Abilene, Midland, Odessa. The primary industry out there is oil & gas. Along the vast landscape you can see dozens of oil pumps bobbing up and down. Midland, by the way, was home to former U.S. President George Bush as well as his wife Laura. I learned that from a road sign at city limits.

Picking up some lost time! I crossed two time zone boundaries (Mountain & Pacific).

Fuel in Willcox, Arizona after finally entering my home state again.

And back on the interstate to continue the westward journey.

Those nice looking blue skies soon transformed into something a bit more gloomy. As I neared Tucson city limits, things looked pretty ominous.

It warmed my heart to see “Phoenix” on a sign at last. I was getting so close.

Until…. I entered a total parking lot on the interstate! Extreme weather had contributed to a 6-car pileup. Imagine having driven 1,000 miles and being only 50 miles from home, then coming to standstill. I was discouraged.

Those remaining 50 miles were tedious and scary. A torrential “monsoon” rainstorm had torn down trees, overturned an 18-wheeler, and stripped some of the road signs right out of the ground. Rain was still coming down very heavily as I made my way into the Phoenix valley. But I made it!

It is so good to get home. I extend a huge thanks to everyone who checked in on me throughout the journey!

Here are a few fun facts about my trip:

Total Distance: 4,073 Miles in 6 Days
Average Daily Distance: 678 Miles
If I drove 678 miles per day, every day for a year, that would be 247,000 miles in a year
11 States Visited: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana
Crappiest Roads: Toss-up between Jackson, Mississippi, and Shreveport, Louisiana. Roller coaster ride, broken pavement, and potholes the size of the Grand Canyon
Most Road Construction: The entire Interstate 40 corridor in northern New Mexico
Best Food: Zaxby’s fried chicken in Asheville, North Carolina. WE NEED a Zaxby’s in Arizona!
Worst Food: Chobani yogurt from the Love’s Travel Center #475 in Sweetwater, Texas. It looked like soup. Also, the chocolate milk that I got there expired on May 31st, nearly a full 3 months ago. Gross.
Best Scenery: Interstate 40 from Knoxville, Tennessee to Asheville, North Carolina. 2 tunnels and some of the most amazing curves I’ve ever driven.
Worst Scenery: Everything from Abilene to El Paso, Texas. That 453-mile stretch is forgettable.
National Acura Legend Meets That My Legend Has Been To (Starting 2005): Dallas, Tulsa, Las Vegas, Chattanooga, Branson, Morristown, Salt Lake City, and now Asheville
Other Car Sightings: Legend (1) ILX (0)
Favorite Pit Stop: Conoco classic service station in Shamrock, Texas along old Route 66
Clever Place Names: “Chair Crusher” restaurant and “Sherlock Homes” mobile home retailer in Henryetta, Oklahoma. “Mom & Pop’s Pyro Shop” fireworks dealer in Lordsburg, New Mexico. “Belly Acres” real estate in Abilene, Texas.
My Car Issues: Check engine light on day 1. Low power steering fluid on day 2. Worn out driver’s side wiper blade. Otherwise, NADA. I have not even had to add any engine oil to keep the level full.
Best Song That Came on my iPod Today: “Chariots of Fire” I loved cranking this to max volume and picturing a slow-motion race to the finish line as I neared home in the Legend.

🙂

Once again, thanks to the NALM Ground Team for putting on a phenomenal event. It was worth every mile of the drive. And thanks to all of my great readers for the support and encouragement along the way.

Final Video:

16 Comments »

NALM Day 5: Dallas, Texas

Posted in Legend, NALM, Road Trip on August 25, 2013 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 525,717

Day Distance: 976 Miles

The return trek from NALM is fully underway! I’ve already knocked out about half of my return trip to Phoenix from western North Carolina.

These are a few pictures from yesterday evening as the NALM festivities continued. I met a ‘twin’ license plate car. The GS 6-speed parked next to my coupe is registered in North Carolina but with exactly the same letter / number combination as I have on my Arizona plate.

I spent some time wandering around the area behind Creekside Lodge. It was so relaxing to sit and listen to the river flowing.

Temperatures were pretty much perfect, too.

We feasted on a delicious BBQ meal catered by Fat Buddies Ribs & BBQ. It was finger-lickin’ good.

Lee, Mike, Alex, and Eric were enjoying it for sure.

Alan took center stage for a few announcements related to the itinerary for the following day’s events.

The highlight for me was when Kevin announced that he had a special award to present to me. Wearing his “500,000 Mile” T-shirt, he called me up to present me with a certificate and a custom clock.

Check out these goods! Apparently I had the highest mileage Legend at NALM with 524,741 miles on the odometer at the time of the ceremony.

Kevin has gone to great lengths to prepare a number of awards for many folks who traveled to NALM. It really makes the trip worthwhile to be appreciated in such a way. Thanks, Kevin!

In anticipation of the long couple of driving days ahead of me, I didn’t sleep all that well last night so I was up & out the door by around 5:30 in the morning. The first few hours of my drive were along some backroads between Maggie Valley and Atlanta. I ran into a lot of fog but otherwise it was an easy stretch. I grabbed a quick parting shot of my car next to Alex’s Milano Red coupe before rolling out.

It was really 5:25, but I glanced at the clock in my car which is still set to Arizona time. TOO EARLY!

Visited a friend’s place in the Alpharetta, Georgia area. Nice homes out there!

Then it was on in to Smyrna off the 285 & 75 freeways.

I grabbed a tank of 93 octane. Kevin had presented me with a bottle of Chevron Techron fuel system treatment last night. I feel like my car runs smoother after having run that through!

Two friends came by to meet up with me at a local Starbucks. Paul drives a 1998 Acura 3.2 TL and Matt drives a 2008 Honda Accord coupe. Both of them work for Honda/Acura and both found me via this blog. It’s always great to meet fellow enthusiasts!

You’ll notice that Paul’s super clean TL is equipped with 17″ wheels from an Acura TSX. Paul was featured as a Drive to Five Reader’s Ride not long ago.

Matt’s Accord is one of the nicest I’ve ever seen. I even noticed that he’d paid special attention to cleaning up his chrome exhaust tips.

The Accord is just about to roll 80,000 miles.

Check out that immaculate interior.

Paul’s TL is just under 240,000 miles, but you’d never know it from looking at the condition.

Again, attention to detail here! Looks amazing for being 15 years old and nearly 1/4 million miles.

After my meet-up with Matt & Paul, I continued my westbound trek on Interstate 20 in the Legend.

I didn’t linger very long in “Alabama the Beautiful” but I did use one of the rest areas right off the interstate.

Got this roll-over on a video, coming soon on YouTube.

And, spell this one out loud with me. M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I. Love that.

Subway sandwich for me, a tank full of octane for the coupe, and we were off yet again!

“Chunky,” Mississippi. Love the name of that town at Exit 121!

Here’s when I crossed the Mississippi River. It’s the chief river of the largest drainage system in North America. It flows 2,530 miles from Minnesota all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. The bridge took awhile to cross!

At the other end of the bridge, I entered Louisiana. About the only notable thing that happened in Louisiana was in Shreveport when I saw a broken down Canterbury Green Legend sedan on the side of I-20. This, for the record, has been the only Legend I’ve seen this entire trip – excluding those that were involved with NALM, of course.

As nightfall descended, I was already nearing my nightly destination of Dallas, Texas.

There, I met up with my friend Brad who drives a 2012 Acura RDX. Thanks Brad for swinging by!

I’m staying at the home of my friend Jeff. He is a fellow Legend fanatic who drives a near-twin to my car, except with a lot more upgrades! Notice his car at the left below. It has JDM one-piece headlights but that’s just the tip of the iceberg of all the things he’s done to it.

Desert Mist Metallics in the driveway.

Jeff has “plasti-dipped” his emblems to give them a black finish. It looks great with his blacked-out trim and wheels, too.

This 6-speed is a riot to drive. I took it around the block and I can only describe it as an “evil” version of my own car. Lower, more aggressive sounding, and better handling.

Thanks, Jeff, for letting me stay at your place!

Check out that custom engine bay work. Attention to detail is the name of the game here.

Tomorrow: The final stretch home, at last! We’re almost there!

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9th Annual National Acura Legend Meet Pictures

Posted in Legend, NALM, Road Trip on August 24, 2013 by tysonhugie

Welcome to Maggie Valley, North Carolina. This small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains has been overtaken by a swarm of Acura Legends for a multi-day event. It’s heaven on earth for a Legend fanatic like me!

I just had to share our awesome ‘backyard’ from here at the Creekside Lodge. We’ve got a great little river out there and we’re about to dine on BBQ dinner in just a few minutes.

Alex installed my NALM 2013 sticker.

I’ll proudly sport that!

Kevin calls his car the Old War Horse. It’s an L model but with some tasteful GS trim level upgrades.

We dined at Legends Sports Grill.

Table #1: Kevin, Gerry, Chaka, Joe, Will, Waseem, Tyson, Eric

Table #2

Gerry ordered the “Joker” burger which has peanut butter on it!

Chris, Tyson, Ben. Chris drove from Maryland in his 1991 Prelude Si 4WS. Ben drove from San Francisco in his 1992 Legend LS coupe. Both have been friends of mine for many years.

I gave Chris the chance behind the wheel of my Legend for a couple of miles after dinner.

Gerry had to take off. He is the original owner of his 1992 Vineyard Gray Metallic Legend LS sedan. It has 253,000 miles on it now and still runs great.

Here is our group outside the lodge drawing straws. Alan, event co-chair, used this as a way to tell who would be going first during the following morning’s dyno runs.

Finally, Alex took my coupe for a spin. He knows how to build a fast Legend. It was an honor to have him behind the wheel.

Today was an action-packed day of activities. This was the scene in the parking lot when dawn arrived.

First order of business was a very scenic 30-minute drive into Asheville.

Alex’s 1994 Legend coupe went on the dyno at Redline Performance. Videos to come!

Ben also subjected his 1992 coupe to the same treatment.

Meanwhile, I had the chance to also wander around and check out the insides & outsides of some of the other Legends in attendance. Many of the cars were ultra clean!

This GS 6-speed was particularly nice. It has the exact same license plate as my Legend does, just from another state! (North Carolina)

Chaka’s highly modified Legend went up for a test, too.

Here’s the man behind that build. He was proudly wearing a “Congratulations, Tyson – 500,000 Miles” T-shirt. Thanks for your support, Chaka!

Ryan and I are representing the Desert Mist Metallics out here. Showing some love for paint code YR-506M.

Mike from Georgia came out in his amazing Canterbury Green sedan with custom red/clear/red taillights.

This is Jon. I drove his Legend this morning and it’s a monster. Dual exhaust, fully modified, and it rides like it’s on rails. An awesome car that represents many hours of time & effort invested.

Ryan’s car only has 91,000 miles on it. I drove it this afternoon and it handled like a new car.

A few of the guys in the parking lot talking cars.

We had lunch at Zaxby’s for some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten! They have a warning sign in there “WARNING: ZAXBY’S CAN BECOME ADDICTIVE.” They weren’t kidding!

This Legend came all the way from Connecticut. It started out as a stock 1991 LS but now has a 3.5 motor from an Acura RL and a 6-speed manual transmission.

Alan’s straw hat comes out to every NALM.

Here are this afternoon’s “formal” group pictures. We were missing a lot of the cars, but the photos still turned out awesome!

Signing out from Maggie Valley for my last night here. Tomorrow: Back on the road to the Wild West!

It’s been an amazing reunion with great friends here. Thanks for coming along.

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NALM Day 3: Maggie Valley, North Carolina

Posted in Legend, NALM, Road Trip on August 23, 2013 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 524,675

Day Distance: 407 Miles

I made it! Today was a light day in comparison to yesterday’s marathon: Just 5 hours, 45 minutes and only 400 miles to my final destination in Maggie Valley for the 9th Annual National Acura Legend Meet.

The Legend was rip-raring to go as I departed from Jackson, Tennessee this morning.

Fuel at Sunoco somewhere in Tennessee. Like I told my friend Chris, “I don’t even wait for the receipt to print. I hop back in the driver seat and head out!”

It felt great to finally see that blue marker closing in on its destination.

Asheville! The finish line is now in sight.

Lots of bridges today – a rare sight for an Arizonan like me. “River” to me frequently just means the bridge is crossing a dry river bed.

Torrential rain came down between Knoxville and the North Carolina state line. Traffic slowed to a crawl and even with the wipers on the highest setting, they couldn’t keep up. Once the clouds parted it was a beautiful canyon.

Two tunnels on I-40 eastbound.

If I had an aftermarket exhaust system, this is where I’d let it roar.

It felt weird using a green-handled nozzle at the gas station and I had to remind myself, “THIS IS NOT DIESEL.” I double-checked the button before I selected the 93 octane, anyway.

Quick oil level check – all systems good! I’m running Valvoline 5W30 oil.

And finally, I arrived at the Maggie Valley Creekside Lodge and received a warm welcome from all those who had already arrived.

These guys gave me a little grief for my aftermarket audio system and some missing hardware under the hood (thanks to those deer collision incidents in 2007) but overall they were impressed with how things looked!

One lonely Prelude in the background – my friend Chris drove down from Maryland in his 1991 Si 4WS 5-speed. It’s a beauty with around 220,000 on the odometer. The Legend in the foreground belongs to Alex.