[V8] a long drive in the V8

[Karl Middlebrooks]

First, thanks to the couple of folks, who have offered me a replacement set of rings for the trunk of my '93. I've been off the air for a while, and will follow up on those emails shortly.

I'm finally back in West Texas after driving the '93 down from Oregon over the last 3 days. I was pretty well-behaved and didn't show flagrant disregard for speed limits too frequently, though I'd forgotten that in highway driving, I really have to watch my speed while driving the V8 or I'll wind up doing 90 without really realizing it. The drive was really enjoyable, and I was pleasantly surprised at the gas mileage I got on the highway; uphill in mountainous regions wasn't great, but I didn't slow to a crawl while climbing mountains like most folks, so I was happy. 

I was thankful for clear weather; my current set of Yokohama tires is not made for snow and ice, and I'm happy to have the V8 around here. I have clients in a few surrounding towns and look forward to being able to do some serious highway driving with it. I hadn't made the drive from Oregon to Texas in a V8 before, and it was an extremely comfortable ride. A few oddball thoughts from the trip:

1) Arizona apparently has a statewide exhibition of their pothole collection going on right now. It's pretty fantastic.
2) Screw you, Nevada, for stepping down speed limits from 70 directly to 45 when approaching towns that barely merit being on a map.
3) I don't even want to know if the Clown Motel in Tonopah, NV has clown-themed rooms. I'm not ever, ever, ever staying there.
4) A brothel based out of a maroon-colored double-wide mobile home doesn't do anything for me.
5) I actually saw a place called S-Mart. I did not stop to ask if anyone named Ash worked there, or if they sell boomsticks.
6) Dunno what was going on, but I will never speed on I-10 between Phoenix and Tuscon. I lost count of cop cars after around 20 or so.
7) El Paso is eventually going to devour all of West Texas and some of Eastern New Mexico.
8) If you're moving faster than me, I'll gladly move out of your way as soon as I can. However, tailgating me will neither encourage me to go faster nor move out of your way immediately. It might encourage me to drive right next to a semi for a long while until you decide to drop back at least far enough that you can read my license plate again. 
9) Yes, it's an Audi. No, I don't mean that it's an A8; I know damn good and well the model name of my own car. And yes, of course, it has a V8 engine in it.