Road Trip!

 "The time is at hand when you will have forgotten everything; and the time is at hand when all will have forgotten you.  Always reflect that soon you will be no one, and nowhere." - Marcus Aurelius

For a couple of years, I've had an itch to own an old-school gas-guzzling powerful sports sedan - as an occasional driver and retirement car.  There was a specific car that I'd had my eye on since this summer.  The original asking price had been 12.5K, then 10K, and finally it had come down to 8k.  These things originally sold for north of 100k.  (EDIT:  Looked it up and the base model MSRP was $124,750)  At that price, I told the guy that I would buy it, and then it was mostly a matter of when I could get there to pick it up.   That day was Yesterday.  

I took a one-way flight to Boise, Idaho and bought a car I'd never seen before, and had never driven before - and immediately took this untested and used high-mileage vehicle on a 450 mile long road trip.  Nobody can say I don't have a sense of adventure ;)

The aircraft I took from Spokane to Boise was an Alaska Air Embraer 175.  It was the smallest jet that I've ever flown on - It only holds 52 passengers.  It's a really cool and beautiful airplane.  It's almost as pretty as those private jets that fly the rich and awful people to COP 27 or the World Economic Forum, so that they can return home and subvert the laws of their respective countries.  No "T" tail on this aircraft, though :(

The flight got moderately bumpy as we neared Boise.  We flew into a minor snow storm, and the air became choppy as a result.  As the weather turned, the guy next to me became a bit fearful.  He said that he flew this route several times a year - whilst I haven't flown in about 10 years.  If one of us had a case of nerves, it should have been me, haha.  I did my best to allay his concerns, but could tell that wasn't having much effect on his psychological condition.

In any event, the plane landed gently and safely in Boise, in grim weather.  My mother was there to meet me at the airport.  I wasn't even off the airplane when she called and said "Your airplane landed and I don't see you, where are you?" LOL.  I bought us brunch, and afterwards we drove around for a bit, and reminisced about how the city has changed.  It was nice to take a trip down memory lane - see the old downtown area, see the capitol building and the old post office - and the historic train depot.

Then it was time to do the deal, in the cold and the wind and the sleet.  I took it for a test drive with the seller, and believe that it was indeed worth 8k - at least it was to me.

I then topped off the tank, said goodbye to my mother - until Christmas - and drove this used car almost 500 miles (800 kilometers) home in a 7 hour trip.  I was pretty wiped out when I finally arrived home at 8:00 PM, having gotten up at 4:30 AM to get over to Spokane to catch the flight. 

 There is an alternative route, up through the western side of Idaho.  It's a bit shorter distance, but the road is single lane in either direction, so it's common to be held up by traffic.  You also have to slow down to pass through a number of small towns, and worry about wildlife and other surprises like fallen rocks as you come around bends.  If you enjoy a scenic drive, it's far more satisfying, but if you just want to get there without any drama, you take the western (desert) route.

It was a good road trip.  I drove out from under the storm system pretty quickly.  By the time I crossed the Snake River into Oregon, it was no longer snowing/raining.  There is a stretch between Ontario and Baker City in Oregon with a couple of passes, where snow had recently fallen hard, but there was so much traffic that there was nothing on the road.

Below:  Leaving Ontario, with the sky beginning to clear.

Below:  The freeway winding up in the distance over a pass in the Coyote Hills in Oregon.

Below:  Dropping down into Baker City, Oregon.  The Elkhorn Mountains make a nice backdrop to this pretty town.

Below:  The Wallowa mountain range, near Baker City

Below: Mt. Emily, a prominent mountain in La Grande, Oregon.

The biggest concern about the entire trip was the pass over the Blue Mountains between La Grande and Pendleton, Oregon - elevation ~4100 ft - and notorious for bad winter driving.  However, the weather was fine, and the roads were perfectly dry and clear.  The area to the right is a tire chain-up area for when the pass has deep snow on it.

What could have been a nightmare and a show-stopper was nothing more than a pleasant trip over the mountains, interrupted occasionally by slow trucks passing even slower trucks on the upgrades.

Once I dropped off the mountains into Pendleton, the terrain flattened out into wind-swept desert and sage brush.  About then, an alert came up on the dash that said "Add a liter of oil next service station".  And I thought to myself "Oh great - I just bought an engine that burns oil".  Maybe I did; time will tell.  So I pulled into Hermiston, Oregon - where I used to work - for fuel and a quart of oil.    

I had texted the guy to find out what kind of oil the engine needed, because it's my understanding that you should never mix synthetic and natural mineral oils.  He texted me back "5W-30, full synthetic - I'm sorry that I didn't check the oil level!"  Also "It's OK to run low for a bit, it holds 9 quarts".  

So I filled up the tank and checked the fuel economy.  20.4 MPG (that's 8.67 km/liter for readers who use a rational measuring system).  I was OK with that - I'd driven with a very light foot, but had also climbed over some significant terrain.  No; what was concerning was that a quart of "Full Synthetic" costs $14 and the engine holds nine quarts - so an oil change is going to be $126 - just for the oil part of it.  Hopefully I can find a cheaper source than a roadside scoundrel in Hermiston.

It was a bit weird going through Hermiston again.  I was getting a bit fuzzy headed by this point, and I haven't been there in almost 11 years, so it just seemed a little disorienting.  Familiar - and yet not.  It doesn't look like much, but it really does have its charms.

Shortly after leaving Hermiston, I was driving along the Columbia River, and passing through the Wallula Gap.  Those lights below are a big rig, and above that, the paper pulp mill on the bank of the river.  I turned on the headlights, hoping that they worked - happily they did work.  I'd forgotten to check them out :)  And that was the end of the photos for the daylight section of the trip!  The camera was already losing the ability to focus due to lack of ambient light.

I drove the last three hours in the dark.  That was just as well, as I was passing through the desolation of the Channeled Scablands.  I passed back through Spokane, where I'd started the trip, and back into northern Idaho.  I spent a few minutes visiting with the family - and the Husky dog with separation anxiety, and dropped!

More pics and impressions of the new/old car will be forthcoming (UPDATE:  Initial impressions). Below is when I let the dogs out this morning.  I just parked it in front of the shop so that nobody would back up into it today.  That personalized vanity license plate will be the first thing to go.