Saturday Aug 7 After packing the car I was sitting around doing nothing so I decided to leave early and break the 950 mile drive to Indy in to two bits. Left the house a little after 3 with Joplin MO as the planned overnight. Went a little further as Joplin hotels we filled for a Vietnamese festival. This establishment could be better but the price is low and the web access is OK. Did a little under 400 miles today. Car runs great, didn't miss a beat. No CEL's..woot. Weather was hot with a few gullywashers that made even me slow down. I'm gonna need some new tires when I get back. Took some pics too.
Drive safely, Nathan (and all). Good to hear that you are on the way and that Gnat is behaving itself.
Best watch yo bootie if you are in GA... They have the new Super Speeder law here: 85mph + on a highway gets you an additional $200 speeding 'tax' and 75mph + on secondary roads gets you the same.
Well they do say to keep RPMs below 4500:rolleyes5: during break in, but he may have just shifted up for that photo:lol: Guess he didn't need a pee stop in STL as no call so far Mark
Or Nathan might be using that "Special" piece of equipment formally employed by that Crazy astronut lady.
I missed most of St Louis. Was zipping right along and the next thing I noticed was the arch. Now in Greenville taking a little break. Not much interesting seen on the road today. Been rather uneventful so far.
You don't see much from 44, but the new blacktop from our place to the river is nice. Glad you survived that silly Poplar street bridge crossing the river. Uneventful can be good sometimes. Had lunch in Greenville at Golden arches a couple of weeks coming home from around Effingham. Mark
Yikes! That was some real weather you were heading into in the first pic, glad you got thru OK! We'll be leaving town Wed before noon, so we'll miss all the local going's on......but if you think you all will be hitting town Tues eve let me know, I'd be happy to meet up for dinner or even a quick hello! I'll PM my cell #, then if nothing else I'll see you all in Colorado.
I'm not going to complain that the drive has been uneventful again...it came back to bite me. Some highlights.... 1st night hotel, horrid, there were literally bugs crawling on the walls. 2nd night hotel, no internet access, it was down. There was a moment that some might think would require a change of shorts afterward when on a straight flat, dry stretch of I-70 East I spun and got to stare down a semi. Totally my own fault. After 750 or so miles of trouble free motoring a CEL was tossed. I figured I'd reset the light by restarting the car. Yeah, that didn't go well when the steering locked and the car drifted to the shoulder at 70+ mph. Both feet in locked the rears, a little gravel on the shoulder and dropping a front tire onto the grass put the MINI in a spin, back across I-70. That was not fun... Won't pull that trick again! Had dinner with MINI Fireman and family last night. Great to see them all, normally only see them at MOTD. I forget how crazy the family dynamic is as I'm not often exposed to it these days. On the way back to the hotel the tire pressure light came on. Stopped and put some air in the left front only for it to come back down in the 1/2 mile to the hotel. I have a flat. Waiting on the pit crew now, the same people that fed me last night are coming to lend me a wheel/tire and then I'm off to the local Discount Tire. to put something on to get me around. Have yet to decide if will just do the one or get a set, I need some new rubber soon anyway. Depends on what I can get quick here in Indy. May even detour 3.5 hours north to Tire Rack and get a full set there. Today has MTTS in Indy with a lap around the track and then a BBQ at the dealer. I have a tire fix and oil change planned for this morning then off to the track. More later...
Crazy Texas drivers! I'll bet the CB radios were crackling over what the semi driver witnessed. Your 15 minutes of fame. Glad you're OK
The pit crew (Mini fireman's son Luke ) came by and we tossed this wheel/ tire on. Checked out the flat at Discount Tire, the tire is dead, cut in the inner sidewall. All the have in stock is an inexpensive 215/45 so that's going on the back. I do like the wheel on there as a spare. Might have to see what sort of horse trading I can do.
Whoa, you know there are safer ways to raise your heart rate. Anyway, glad you survived relatively unscathed. BTW, was the sidewall slice a result of this highway shenanigans? How can you damage a tire in that way? Those wheels do look nice, but maybe a little hard to clean for me as I am lazy, and they look like they are 8" wide too. Safe travels for the rest of the journey, and hope you like your new tires.