Pre-Fest Road Trip: 5000 Miles...

TDIgrl

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2011 TDI Jetta Sportwagen
Great pics! Thanks for sharing the road trip!
I'm going on one myself at the end of Sept. Norcal to Wyoming & back to visit my 86 year old dad! This has motivated me to take some photos of my own! :D
 

Tarbe

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Great thread Scott. Thanks for sharing.

After all these years....still my all-time favorite TDI.

If you find yourself in the Houston area needing anything, be sure to yell.


Tim
 

Stealth TDI

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Day 6

This is a large update. Diana and I visited Carlsbad Caverns today. We arrived right as the park opened. As a result, we practically had the Big Room to ourselves. We saw hardly anyone… perfect for taking my time to get good photos. I took over 300 in the caves alone. Here are the best ones:


Fire swept through the area in June...


















Continued in next post...
 

Stealth TDI

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Outside again...







Tuckered out...


We were there for about three hours… a bit of a surprise. We hit the road just before noon and headed toward Central Texas. The roads between Carlsbad and Interstate 10 redefined boredom. We got a few pictures here and there. There were some I wish I had taken such as the northern end of Pecos, TX. It was like a ghost town in some areas. You might have noticed a “ruins theme” in my photographs from this trip. There’s plenty of that in Pecos! There were lots of oil derricks and pumpjacks along Hwy 285. I wish I would’ve stopped to photograph one up close while I was still in an area with easy access to them. They were fenced in and/or harder to access by the time I thought about photography. :( Perhaps I’ll get lucky and find one before I leave Texas. But I did manage to snap some of the scenery:

Northern end of Pecos...


Temps across Texas were over 100 degrees for 63 days straight... no rain, either. The top two temps are back home in VA...




Woo-hoo... speedin' time!



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Stealth TDI

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I used to drive past this formation every month when I was stationed in El Paso. To this day, I can think of only one thing every time I see it. My wife gave me a big :rolleyes::p each time we drove past it...




I think it's cool the way road builders blasted through mountains to keep the roads somewhat level...




Still no MKIIIs. Here's another Bug...


An old gas station with a diesel pump...


Some sort of game preserve...




A new problem with the car surfaced. We stopped at a rest stop and let the car idle. I stayed in the car while Diana went to the restroom and vice versa. As I came out, I noticed the car was idling strangely and the AC compressor clutch was cycling on and off. The car was beginning to overheat. I immediately turned off the AC and started driving the car to get air flowing again. Later, I noticed the car does this any time it’s stopped and the AC is on. A quick inspection revealed that the fans are not turning. I suspect another fan control module has failed. Ironically, I have two at home. That, combined with the fact that any replacement would have to be special ordered means I’m going to tolerate this issue until I get home. I’ll hope for no traffic jams, but will suffer in heat if I find one. The AC works so long as the car is moving

I made to my parents’ place around 8:30pm. Time to relax. My updates over the next few days will depend on how busy I am until Diana and I leave for the next leg of the journey.

Take Care,

Scott
 

Stealth TDI

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Days 7-10

I spent the first day off the road doing almost nothing at all. I had about 1500 photographs to wade through. So I spent the entire day eliminating duplicates and setting aside the best shots to share online. The photos here are only the more interesting ones (if you can call them all interesting). I spent the next day cleaning out the car and researching the availability of parts noted above. Sure enough, everything I need is a special order item with the exception of the headlight bulb. I’ll see if I can pass inspection without a high-beam indicator lamp. If I can’t, I’ll find another bulb in the dash which may be overlooked during an inspection and swap it out. Hee-hee!

I also got to the bottom of my inverter and position encoder issue. It turned out I had a break in a ground wire. But that didn’t cause an immediate failure. The equipment was still working because it was relying on the ground supplied by a speaker wire. That eventually failed, too. It was a tough fault to find since I had buried my wiring so well. But I have it working again. I’ll look into tidying up my wiring soon. It’s hot outside again! I vacuumed the sand out of the car took cover inside with the AC. :)

I spent the weekend in Houston with a long-time friend and attended my 25-year first high school reunion… my first. I’ll spare you the photos of a bunch of “old people” and share just one. The rest are photos of my trip to and from Houston: ;)

I finally found an accessible pumpjack on my way to Houston...


I also visited the Birthplace of Texas since it was presented as an authentic ghost town. It's a great landmark, but not the place to see a ghost town...


I thought I was going to see a drive-in theater. But a drive to the address listed on a drive-in website took me to this...


I guess that website is out of date! ;) My 25-year reunion was on Saturday. I had never been to one. It was kind of cool to see some old friends. It was even good to see some folks I didn't run with. This is one of only two classmates with whom I've had regular contact over the years...


I finally saw a MKIII during a brief stop at a grocery store...


I snapped this photo of downtown Houston on my way back to the Hill Country...


And I saw another MKIII...


Continued in next post...
 

Stealth TDI

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I did manage to spot an old drive-in theater near Brenham, closed since 1985...


Click on this panoramic for a view of the other side of the screen...


I tripped over the Blue Bell ice cream factory and stopped for a photos... (click)


The Blue Bell ice cream logo...


Not really a ghost town, but it had the right look. I think it was a strip mall long ago...


A dry river bed. The water crossing is two feet above the bottom. Sometimes this road is underwater. Not today...


As I approached my destination, I took a look at the local temp (bottom) and compared to those at home and work. :eek:


I think it's been 65 straight days with no rain and temps over 100 degrees! Returning to home will feel like spring! :)

Take Care,

Scott
 

aja8888

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Texas..RETIRED 12/31/17
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Scott: we waited all weekend for you to bring rain from NM and all we got was 108 - 109 F and 29% humidity:(.

Nice trip and thanks for the photos, many of which are recognizable to me, but not to others here.

Tony
 

Stealth TDI

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Tony,

Unfortunately, my route took me through OK and then to NM first. Since it did rain briefly in NM during my visit, I guess I took the rain there and then brought the desert heat with me. ;)

Scott
 

Stealth TDI

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Days 10-13

Diana and I visited Longhorn Caverns and drove around in the Hill Country during this time. The Longhorn Caverns are much different from Carlsbad. Although Longhorn has some “drip-formed” formations, more of the cave features smoother formations from water flow. I took plenty of photos. But there wasn’t as much to see here as in Carlsbad. It was interesting to learn the cavern often hosts concerts, dances, or other engagements where the cave’s superior acoustic properties make the night more lively:








Before heading down...




Crystal formations...


More crystals...


Believe it or not, this "watch dog" was formed naturally by flowing water...




Continued in next post...
 

Stealth TDI

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A large room where concerts are held (click)...


This is one of a few natural entrances. Funny story about this opening is that the park built stone "cabins" over top of these entrances to conceal them and to protect animals from falling in. Years ago, a couple of teens were trespassing on the property and thought they'd break into a "cabin" to see what they could steal or vandalize. They kicked in the door and fell into the cave, breaking several bones a piece. They weren't discovered until the next day when the park opened up and was checking the caves prior to tours. DUMBASSES!




These next few sections were formed by flowing water...








More crystals, but with colored lights...




A lone bat. This is a solitary species...


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Stealth TDI

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The temps at home versus where we were at the caves...


Upon leaving, we snapped photos on the property and then drove by Falkenstein Castle. The castle is a private residence and is not open to the public except for weddings or other special events. But we still managed to get a few good photos.

A watch tower used for water storage and observation...




A panoramic (click) with Falkenstein Castle in the distance...


Zoomed in on the castle...


Officer's Quarters...


The castle again...






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Stealth TDI

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We drove on a few other roads in the area. But, for the most part, we stayed at the house with the exception of catching a movie (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”). I also managed to pass my vehicle inspection, renew my long-expired driver’s license, and register both cars for another year. The headlight issue turned out to be corrosion on the adapter for the E-code headlights. So I cut them out and hardwired the headlights. They should last a while. This also fixed the blue high-beam dash indicator. The AC problem has gotten worse. I goofed up and left the AC on in the city. Odds are the system got too hot and purged off excess pressure. As a result, the AC no longer blows ice-cold. It’s cool enough to make a hot day tolerable. But we won’t need to adjust the heat to compensate for the AC being “too cold.” I’m a tad concerned about driving through major cities in case of traffic. But I’m definitely going to drive with the AC off under 35-mph and just sweat it out. I’ll install a new FCM and get the system recharged when I return to Hampton Roads.

Here are the remainder of the photos from Days 10-13:



Panoramic (click)...


Lots of brown with the drought... but the cacti look good! ;)


An overlook of a waterhole I used to swim in as a teen...




The castle from another angle...


An abandoned tavern which likely closed when the new four-lane bridge opened and redirected the highway to bypass this strip...


Buchanan Dam in the background. The drought has brought Lake Buchanan to 39 feet below normal! :eek:


That's all for now...

Scott
 
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Stealth TDI

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Day 14

I’ve been running these posts a few days behind actual travel dates. It takes a lot of time to wade through the photos, select my favorites, crop, then share. So I'll post Day 14 now and Day 15 in the morning to catch my posts up closer to actual travel dates. We got on the road before sunrise and started heading Northeast. We had a 600 mile drive on the agenda. So there wasn’t a lot of time for stopping to smell the roses. We did manage to see a few things, though:

This was right before our stop for donuts...


We went deeper into Dallas than expected since I found a VW dealer with the fan control module in stock...


It did NOT fix my problem with the fans. The part is not returnable! :mad: I'll troubleshoot further when I get home. It's possibly the fan motor itself. VW's selling them cheap these days.

Moving on, I spotted another traveling VW. I was beginning to think no one drives VWs on road trips any more...


On last look at the Blue Bell ice cream logo before leaving Texas...


I passed the 370,000 mile mark today... :cool:


I found a drive-in theater. This one had a parking lot for car viewers and a grassy area in front of the wall for walkers. It wasn't a bad venue at all. We just couldn't stay for a movie...


Continued in next post...
 

Stealth TDI

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2017 GTI APR Stage 3 (395 hp/376 lb-ft)
We stopped at the world's largest McDonalds. We didn't eat anything since we were saving room for a meal on Route 66...




The stop straddles the highway...


Later, we returned to Route 66 for another attraction...


Driving "66 on 66."


This guy's building a monster truck at home...


Our primary goal was to visit Miami, OK on this return to Route 66...


So we could eat at this famous restaurant...


It still has an old-school vibe to it...


Betty in yellow?


Continued in next post...
 

Stealth TDI

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Cool poster...


An old ice cream joint along our departure from the town...


An old gas station across the street...


Had to get a photo with the "Route 66" sign... :rolleyes:


Route 66 in Kansas...


I wish I could take credit for this. But I have to give credit to the dairy farms we were passing through in the night... :D


We stopped for the evening near Springfield. I'll post more in the morning. I'm tired and will catch up soon.

Scott
 

Stealth TDI

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Day 15

We got up bright and early and hit the road so we could make it to the main attraction of this tour… TDIFest in Lexington, KY. My first order of business was to find fuel. I've pumped a bit of fuel on this trip and normally don't mention it. But there was something different about this stop:

I like using dedicated diesel islands. The guy who was there before this photo looked at me like I'm from Mars...


Uh, yeah! I think I would've chosen a name which doesn't make my business look like it rents by the hour... :screwy:


I had planned to visit St Louis and photograph the Gateway Arch. But somehow I actually listened to the navigator and veered “off course.” My path was not as planned, but it was still a good route between Springfield and Lexington. Instead of the Arch, we saw what are perhaps more interesting locations… more interesting than what would’ve been a superficial stop in St Louis, I mean. Instead of sticking to I-44, we spent a lot of time on US-60. We saw a sign for Jellystone Park and decided to take a small detour.

I was going to just take a photo of Diana with this Yogi Bear fixture and leave...


But then Yogi came out of the store... MUCH better!


The park manager invited us to visit the river...


Perhaps the least expected point of interest was Cairo, IL. You may recall me jesting with Diana about our “exotic” stops in Paris and London. It was getting close to lunch and I saw a sign for Cairo. I thought for sure we’d find a Subway, Sonic, or equally uninteresting place to eat so we could say we "dined in Cairo.” I was pretty surprised by how much NOTHING was there. The town was fairly run down. I initially stopped to snap just one photo at an old fire station. But, in keeping with my “ruins photo” theme, I got sucked into snapping more photos in what’s left of downtown:

Cairo is the only city in IL that's completely surrounded by a levee...


You can see the old levee to the far right of the photo. The higher wall was built when flood levels approached the 59-ft mark somewhat recently...


Here's a panoramic (click) of the river just outside the levee...


This is the only photo I was going to take before leaving town to find a place where I'd actually buy food...


Continued in next post...
 
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Stealth TDI

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Then I thought I'd snap this shot right around the corner...


Then I backed down the street a bit to get the theater and shot this...


And this...


Before I knew it, I was drawn to shoot in what's left of the town square...



All of the buildings in "historic downtown" were dilapidated and falling to pieces. The backsides of some of the buildings had already crumbled and were falling down. Some of these areas were starting to give me the creeps… and I’m not the kind of person who’s bothered by much. But I could hear things in the abandoned buildings and didn’t want to stick around long enough to find out who or what was in there. I guess it could have been a cat or a homeless person. But I just didn’t care! ;)

After leaving, I had Diana look up Cairo on Wikipedia and learned some interesting things. WOW! There’s a history with that town without a doubt. But it suffered economic and population collapse for a good reason. Political and historic opinions aside, I think it would be a lot cheaper for the gov't to stop dumping money into this place and let it die. To me, it would be more interesting as a ghost town than as a restored town with a museum. But that’s just my opinion.

I snapped these photos on my way out of town. This old BBQ joint is actually what I saw first as I entered town. I was in the mood for BBQ... just not from here... ;)


Continued in next post...
 
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Stealth TDI

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The churches were kind of cool...





There were about three Dollar General stores in town. I now see the store offers "special services" inside...


There were a couple of other places there I possibly should have visited. But we were hot from the stop-n-go of shooting photos (remember... the AC only works when the car is moving). So we left town to cool off.

Not sure if this sign works or it charges would stick. But it makes you think...


Right outside of Cairo??? I don't think so...


Crossing the bridge out of town...


Like I said, it was perhaps the most interesting "accidental visit" of the trip. I wouldn't ever go back. But it was an interesting find. We pressed on to Lexington. I didn’t snap a lot of photos. Well, I did… but they all look like this:

I missed the shot of the walls with pine trees growing sideways and even upside-down...


We finally made it to our hotel just before sunset...


The parking lot was already packed with VWs, 99% of which were TDIs. I’ll post photos as I wade through them.

Scott
 

Stealth TDI

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Newport News, VA
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Days 16-17

The long-awaited TDIFest is finally here. For the sake of those reading on my website or in VWVortex, the TDIFest takes place over Labor Day weekend each year. The thing which makes TDIFest different each year is that the location changes. As a result, different organizers bring different activities into the mix and enable each Fest to be a little different. This year featured a dyno session, distillery tours, a timed scenic drive, and a pig roast in addition to the familiar raffle table, swap meet, vendor market, show-n-shine, and tech sessions. I chose to forego the dyno session and timed scenic tour due to my cooling system issue. Besides, I’ve done enough driving lately and wanted to just relax! ;) Diana and I slept in Saturday and then got the car cleaned up for the show-n-shine. Once I was satisfied with the car (I really did do just a “good enough” job), I took Diana to the salt water swimming pool and worked on some photographs while she burned off some energy. I took about 150 photos at the show. Instead of sharing all the photos here, I’ll just share a few and then provide a link to the album with the rest of the photos:

A panoramic (click) from the 5th floor...


Another panoramic (click)...


And another... okay... click that one, too! :D


CLICK HERE to see the rest of the photos. This album features photos of both the show cars as well as other TDIs parked around the hotel. Anyone who's even a little observant should have been able to recognize there are A LOT of VWs here. :p The show-n-shine format was a tad different this year. Since there was often just two or three MK3s in attendance each year, I was usually a shoe-in for an award. It was nice, but not as satisfying as actually competing for a prize with a real chance of leaving without recognition. This year’s show featured a bit of class combining. I may or may not win an award. I’m leaning toward NOT since there are a lot of newer, nicer cars here (mine's starting to look beat). But I’m a contender for the “Longevity Award.” My car’s not as old as the B4 Passats in attendance. But the 370,800 miles on my car may give it some bonus points and enable me to snare an award. We’ll see. The closing banquet and awards presentation is tonight. I’ll post results tomorrow.

After the show, we attended a pig roast hosted by Don Jacobs VW. The food was good and they had the 2012 Passat TDI on scene for test drives. Diana was pretty tickled to be in this panoramic shot THREE TIMES...

Click...


This morning was a group breakfast with proceeds to benefit TDIClub.com...


BTW, one of the functions of TDIFest is to raise funds to support the site. I takes a lot of resources to keep a large discussion forum afloat. TDIClub.com does it only through donations and TDIFest. There are NO "banner advertizers" there. :thumbup:

Continued in next post...
 

Stealth TDI

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After breakfast came the tech sessions. This year's sessions included, "Understanding the CAN system on your VW," "CSI: PD camshafts," "General TDI Maintenance/Repair Q&A," a demonstation of how to insert rods/pistons into an ALH block, and general Q&A about the ALH...



Here are the raffle tables...


Diana bought a bunch of tickets and won a "Volkswagen Only Parking" sign. :D

Here's a MKIII post for the day. It's a GLX with a TDI swap...


Later, Diana and I returned to the pool for another swim...


The banquet is soon. I'm not sure how many photos I'll take. Probably just a few. I'll post them along with the results and photos from the trip home tomorrow. :)

Scott
 

TDIMeister

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Canada
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Thanks for the reports from the Fest, Scott. It's as close as actually being there as possible.
 

GraniteRooster

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Dec 15, 2010
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Upper Valley NH
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'12 JSW 6MT
Thanks for taking us with you

Those are great photos of both your roadtrip and TDIFest. I've been recouping from shoulder surgery at home and in the last weeks your photos brought me all over the US to places I may never see myself, AND to TDIFest 2011 - Thanks for sharing!! :)

Your car is a testament to taking proper care of your equipment and enthusiastic TDI ownership, it looks great. I look forward to taking similar roadtrips with our daughter, now 18 months old.
 

Dodoma

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Mar 30, 2004
TDI
2002 Jetta White
I have been making long distance trips in my 2002 tdi now and then. The last one happend on 8/18/11 thru 8/30/11 from Huntington Beach, CA to Chicago, IL and return back. The car traveled a total distance of 5,500 miles with fuel cost of $511 and an average mpg of about 40. The return distance from Chicago, about 2,200 miles was done non-stop in 24 hours. Chicago is a great place to visit and took time to visit the Willis tower's glass balcony (before known as Sears tower. The fee to go there is $17 and there is a great fudge store when you come out of the tower) I stopped at the McDonald's in Vinita, OK for meal and hot tea.

Before this, I drove from HB on Hempstead, Long Island, NY, a one way distance of about 2,800 miles. Before that, I drove to Atlanta, GA. The car was bought in Rochester, NY and driven to LA. I have also made numerous round trips to Berkeley, CA and Las Vegas, NV. I am thinking of driving to Florida.

With 125,000 miles, my main worry remains that of automatic trans failure and sticking of turbo. In my trips, I do not take photos because I will always be visiting the same place again because I am a retired person with time at my disposal. The main cost is that of staying at the motels.
 
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Growler

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Nov 24, 2003
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Millersport, Ohio
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Yay, my car got its picture taken during retune :) Loved reading the thread!

Your mk3 is beautiful, and is a great example of longevity.

 

Stealth TDI

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Newport News, VA
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2017 GTI APR Stage 3 (395 hp/376 lb-ft)
Day 18

Last night’s closing banquet and awards ceremony went well. TDIClub.com’s founder and TDIFest’s lead organizer presented certificates and recognition to our supporting vendors and club members who were instrumental in making TDIFest a huge success. As expected, I did not place in the Show-n-Shine. The competition was stiff and the awards went to the best of the best. The Longevity Award went to the owner of a 2000 Jetta with over 407,000 miles. Many of us stayed afterward to socialize. Diana and I finally returned to our room around 11:00 pm. I took only a couple of photos:

The banquet room...


The organizers...


I was surprised to sleep in until 7:45. Diana and I got up, packed the car, and were on the road by 9:00. It had rained yesterday evening, let up, and then resumed raining sometime during the night. It rained throughout all but the last 90 miles of the 580 mile trip home:


My Nuvi directed me off I-64 in West Virginia and had us traveling on US-60 once again. The route was certainly shorter and looked more efficient. However this was not the case due to the rain and fog. The detour paid off with some interesting scenery. I didn’t expect to take any photos in the rain. But I could not resist stopping for the following shots:







A panoramic (click)...




Continued in next post...
 

Stealth TDI

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2017 GTI APR Stage 3 (395 hp/376 lb-ft)
We reconnected with I-64 and drove straight home in rain and moderate traffic. We arrived at home around 9:00pm and practically went straight to bed. I am certain 5:00am will be no fun. Here are the remaining photos from today and some statistics from the entire tour:

I finally saw a MKIII actually driving on the road! ;)


Glad to be home...



Here are a few stats:

The fuel cost below is only an estimate. But it's fairly close to the actual cost of $447.66...



From my FUELLY PAGE...


Total miles driven was between 5435 (GPS) and 5376 (odometer). Total fuel used was 119 gallons for an average economy of 45-mpg. That's not bad when considering the 85-mph speeds in Texas. It has been fun and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. I will recreate this story for my website, upload complete photo albums, and share the link here when it is ready.

Sincerely

Scott

(PS: Diana typed today’s report as I dictated on the road...)
 
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IndigoBlueWagon

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Aug 16, 2004
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South of Boston
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'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
What a great trip, Scott. Makes me regret I didn't do something similar with my daughter when she was that age (25 now). You'll remember this fondly for many years to come.
 
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