Hampton Roads Club Mini

Scott left this morning on his big adventure. Got a call from him about an hour or so ago. He made to almost Memphis and decided to call it a night. He'll continue on to the DFW area tomorrow to visit with family for a day or so.

Either he or I will keep you update on his progress.

So far the most interesting thing is the game of Tetris we played Sunday night trying to load Dutch (his Mini) with everything he thought he would be needing for the next few weeks, months etc. BTW - I rock when it comes to that game!!!! WOOT

Peace,
R.

Well, I stayed "pretty much" within 10MPH of the limits.  I hit the road about 0730 and only made a few stops, so I made pretty good time.

The radar detector is working well.  I had it plugged in and powered up within about a 1/4-mile of leaving Virginia.  So far, it's picked up every radar source I've seen, and a few that I haven't.  The automated signs that display your speed are neat to watch on the detector - they initially show up as weak signals to the front, then you can watch/hear the signal strength build until it's a constant tone, then the directional arrows change to show that it's next to you, then behind you, and then the signal strength gradually fades out.

Not too much else exciting happening, except that I got an e-mail from Mike at Aesthetic Creations, and it looks like my graphics will be done by Friday morning.  So, I'll be going from Texas to California via Phoenix Arizona, where I'll have Mike put the graphics on.  Going through Phoenix will only add about an hour to my drive time, plus however long it actually takes him to apply the vinyl.  It even works out that Phoenix will be a good place to stop for the night between D/FW and Monterey, so I'll spend the night there Thursday night, get the vinyl put on Friday morning, and then arrive in Monterey Friday afternoon/evening.

I'll keep everyone updated, and start posting pictures once I'm unpacked.

Longer drives have become much easier since I started listening to audiobooks on the road - they keep me much more wake and alert than listening to music.  It's even better on this trip since I put some audiobooks on the iPod, so I'm not having to switch CDs while I'm driving

"Hotel Porn"?!?!   This is the internet age, Ben!

Just before I left, I got a pair of Valentine 1's for my car and Riqui's car. The Bel STi and Passport 8500 would have been good choices too.  I went with the Valentine largely because of it's history, reputation, and the wide range of accessories.  For instance, the V1 comes with a visor mount, windshield suction-cup mount, coiled power cord, long-ass straight power cord, and extra suction cups in various sizes, right out of the box.  

I also ordered the V1 carrying case that holds both mounts, both cords, the cigarette adapter and the detector, so I won't be tempted to leave everything in the car while it's parked.  Valentine also has a "remote" option that relocates all of the visual alerts to a small remote module that you can put low on the dash to hide it from other cars, while leaving the main detector body high on the windshield, running in "dark mode" (all lights off).

The other nice thing about the V1 is that Valentine has no problems shipping to Virginia.  Some other manufacturers/dealers won't.

A Valentine 1 might have saved Fuzzy from his one speeding ticket.