Devil’s Bridge Hike: ILX Trip to Jerome, Arizona

Odometer (Legend):  522,172

Odometer (ILX):  38,027

Trip Distance:  330 Miles

From the narrow, twisty roadways of an 1876 mining town in the Black Hills, to the red rock sandstone landscape of Sedona, to the tree-lined and steep grades of Oak Creek Canyon, I experienced some of Arizona’s finest roads and skies yesterday.

Many thanks to Jason from Las Cruces, New Mexico for making the 400-mile trip to the Phoenix area to join me for this weekend’s trip.  This was the third time I’ve partnered with Jason for a Drive to Five feature.  We met previously for a trip to Bisbee, Arizona in January and then for a trip to White Sands National Monument in New Mexico in March.

First order of of business when Jason arrived was to check on those model cars on my rooftop.  He was impressed at how well they’ve held up considering they’ve endured 3 years of Phoenix inferno.

Dinner at Phoenix’s “Central Bistro” on Friday night with my friend Matt.  Jason and I both recommend the Bolognese pasta!

This was an extra nice gift:  Jason presented me with a hand-made ceramic tile featuring a 3D “A” emblem.  This is now proudly displayed in my home.  I wish I had those kind of craft skills!

Saturday morning, bright and early, we revved up our Honda engines and set sail for the alluring cooler temperatures of northern Arizona.  But first, I treated myself to a blueberry muffin from Starbucks.  My friend Chris took the shotgun seat of the ILX for the duration of the drive and Jason followed us in his silver 2004 Honda Accord coupe 6-speed.

Coming from an Acura Legend with zero cupholders, I was pleased to note that all FOUR of the cupholders in the ILX were used that at morning.  Our Starbucks beverages took the center console and we each had a water bottle in our door pocket.  This car can transport almost as many beverages as a minivan!

Our cars filled up on some 91 octane fuel at the Circle K on Phoenix’s 7th Avenue & Loop 101 before we headed out from the Phoenix Valley.

Fewer than 50 miles up Interstate 17, we veered west on Highway 69, northbound toward Prescott, Arizona.

Here, we awaited the third member of this caravan.

Austin arrived shortly in his 1987 Acura Legend.  It has over 280,000 miles on the body itself, but the engine and transmission are not original to the car.  Lovingly referred to as “FrankenLegend” by its owner, the car’s engine is upgraded to a 2.7 liter (as opposed to a 2.5), and the transmission was swapped to a 5-speed from an automatic.  The original 1986-1990 Legend sedan has a classic bodystyle and Austin’s is in nice shape!

The next 19 miles of two-lane highway up Highway 89A would lead us through some very technical and fun curves leading to our lunch destination in Jerome, Arizona.

Chris zoned out for a bit from the passenger seat and when he started waking up, he commented, “I didn’t even realize you were driving a manual transmission, those shifts were so smooth.”  That’s what I pride myself in!  Perfection in rev-matching.  While an automatic transmission may offer faster paddle-activated control, there is no substitute for a traditional three-pedal manual transmission for an engaging driving experience.

We climbed to over 5,000 feet in elevation and the temperatures dropped as we did so.  Jerome’s high temperature for the day was in the high 70′s Fahrenheit — absolutely perfect weather for a moonroof-open cruise.

Jerome, like many of the other towns where I’ve taken my readers in recent months, got its start as a copper mining town in the 1800′s.  Once having a population as high as 10,000 people, it’s now home to fewer than 500 people.  The town is built precariously on the side of “Cleopatra Hill.”  Roads are narrow (some are one-way) and steep.

Here’s a view of Jerome that I took from the Jerome Historical Society Museum.  This town was named “Wickedest Town in the West” in 1903 by the New York Sun.

We were greeted by heavy traffic as there were special events taking place in town.  Jerome is a very popular Saturday destination for bicyclists, motorcyclists, and car clubs.

We parked our trio of Hondas at a lot a few blocks from town and walked over to find a lunch destination.

Brandon, pictured at right in the black shirt, and his girlfriend Alishaba met up with us as well. More about Brandon’s Acura shortly.

We walked past the Hotel Connor, built in 1898.  It has 20 rooms on the second level that were first rented for $1 per night.  From the hotel’s website:

After it reopened  [after a fire] in August of 1899, it enjoyed a heyday of being one of the finest lodging establishments in the booming mining towns of the West.  The hotel had its own bus for delivering guests to the train depot, and was full to capacity much of the time.  It was one of the earliest buildings in Jerome to be fully wired for electricity, and each room had a call bell for service.

Just down the street, we were lured in by the smell of sweet barbeque sauce so we stepped inside Bobby D’s BBQ for a bite to eat.

The pulled pork definitely hit the spot!  Bobby D’s is built on the site of an 1899 restaurant called the English Kitchen which was demolished after the last mine closed in 1953.  The building has been rebuilt and boasts amazing food.

Left to right:  Brandon, Alishaba, Austin, Tyson, Jason, Chris

Jerome’s curves mean business.  This hairpin at the end of Main Street is one example.

Now we got to check out Brandon’s car.  Brandon is as Legend-crazy as I am, and this 1995 Sherwood Green LS Coupe 6-speed is his 8th.  It’s nicely equipped with the OEM cell phone, gold emblem package, and 16″ chrome GS wheels.  Brandon has upgraded the engine to a 3.5 liter from the 1996+ Acura 3.5 RL, but the car retains its original 6-speed manual transmission.

The car looks great for having over 220,000 miles on it.

Time to say farewell to our Legend friends and continue the drive!

Just down the street, off Douglas Road, we weaved up to the Jerome Historical Museum’s “Audrey Headframe Park.”

Named for the adopted daughter of the mine’s superintendent, this is the oldest piece of mining equipment in Arizona.  Admission is free and the park is open daily from 8 to 5.  The main attraction?  This special glass floor.

In that picture, I am standing over a mine shaft that is 1,900 feet deep.  To put that into perspective, look at how the depth of the shaft absolutely dwarfs the height of the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building!

Looking straight down.  The shaft was built in 1918 and over $125 million worth of ore was harvested here.  Though tough to tell from this picture, there are lights and mirrors going all the way down the shaft to help capture the sheer depth of it.  It was a bit unnerving to stand there!

Though mining efforts in Jerome closed in 1953, over the 77 years that it was in operation, Jerome’s mining industry produced over 33 million tons of copper, gold, silver, lead, and zinc ore.

Time to head toward Sedona!

We wanted to stretch our legs a bit and enjoy the perfect weather, so we went to a trailhead of the Devil’s Bridge Hike off Dry Creek Road, just west of Sedona on Highway 89A.  An even closer trailhead is accessible via 1.3 mile dirt road, but it’s only suitable for high-clearance vehicles.  My ILX would have easily bottomed out if I’d attempted to drive it there.  Here I’m giving a thumbs down to the fact that I can’t take my car on this dirt road.

After hiking those 1.3 miles down the road, Jason and Chris and I arrived at the “official” start to the trail.

From here, we were only about a mile from the bridge.

Jason led the way as we headed toward our destination.  Few other people were out hiking; it was a special experience being out in the wilderness in such a beautiful landscape.

We climbed 400 feet in elevation on natural red sandstone rocks until finally laying our eyes on the prize.

Devil’s Bridge is the largest natural sandstone arch in the Sedona area.  It’s 50 feet above ground.  For this shot, we had another hiker take our picture after we carefully crept out to the narrowest section of the bridge.  I enjoyed sitting for a few minutes to admire nature’s beauty before we started heading back out.

Time for the descent.

And relieved to get back to the driver’s seat after my shoes became full of red sand.  It had taken us roughly 2.5 hours to complete the journey.

The first place I thought of for some much-needed refreshment was the Red Planet Diner, where I had eaten in January with other friends who joined for a Sedona day trip.  I had to poke fun at Chris for a bit.  Red Planet is famous for its burgers, yet he ordered a teriyaki bowl.  Notice the employee in the background has a black T-shirt which reads, “Welcome Earthlings.”

I went for something a little more simple:  grilled cheese and a root beer float.

This time, I let Jason take the lead and he took us up a road toward the Sedona airport.  Picturesque views surrounded us there.

The last thing on our to-do list for this trip was to drive Highway 89A the remaining 30 or so miles to Flagstaff, Arizona.  This stretch of road climbs in elevation to a heavily wooded forest called Oak Creek Canyon.

This is the type of road where Jason’s Accord and my ILX felt right at home.  Both of our cars are equipped with manual transmissions for maximum control and have suspensions that are designed for handling the curves with balance.  We were lucky that traffic was minimal, so when the hills begged for a little speed, we responded.

Chris did his best at video recording the above twisty section.  Thanks to Enrique Iglesias for the soundtrack!  I’ve got to invest in a GoPro camera for better stability one of these days.

At the end of the line, Highway 89A meets up with Interstate 17 which is where we parted ways with Jason and he headed to Flagstaff, while Chris and I returned to Phoenix.

Thanks for coming along!

Throwback Thursday: Legend Trip to Zion National Park

Odometer (Legend):  522,135

Odometer (ILX):  37,640

Red sandstone at dawn is one of my most favorite things ever.  This April 2007 picture of my Legend at Snow Canyon State Park in southwest Utah captures some of the beauty that can be observed during that peaceful time of day.

Capitol Reef National Park, September 2006:

Utah Highway 12, approaching Bryce Canyon National Park on Highway 12.  I had chrome 16″ OEM wheels on the Legend at the time.

Just a 45 minute drive from my hometown in St. George, Utah lies the mouth of the stunning Zion National Park, established in 1909.

Massive sandstone cliff walls border a narrow canyon with the Virgin River at the base.  This has always been one of my favorite road trip destinations.  The first time I remember taking my Legend there was on June 13, 2004. This was back when it had 18″ Mille Miglia chrome wheels on it.

Following is a picture I took at the time, when my car had just 140,000 miles on it:

At the time it was completed in 1930, the Zion – Mt. Carmel Tunnel was the longest non-urban tunnel in the United States.  It’s a 1.1 mile tunnel with 5 “window” openings that were carved at various intervals through the sandstone rock.  This picture from a 1930 issue of Popular Mechanics shows the route taken by the tunnel, which took 3 years to complete.

Stopped at one of the windows / “galleries.”  When the tunnel was originally built, cars were allowed to pull out at these openings and enjoy the view.

On June 27, 2005, I took a 1,000-mile “Utah Tour” trip when I rolled through the tunnel at about 3:45 in the morning.  About halfway through the tunnel, I stopped the car, shut it off, and turned off my lights.  I have never felt such complete and utter darkness and silence as I did at that moment in time.  That memory has stuck with me as one of my fondest road trip memories.

Angel’s Landing is not the best hike selection for those afraid of heights.  At only 5 miles in distance round-trip, it’s not the distance that’s daunting – it’s the elevation gain of 1,500 feet and treacherous terrain.

During ascent, a series of 21 tight switchbacks are soon followed by a trail that requires chain hand-holds to maintain balance and direction.  Huge, sheer drop-offs on either side can give a sense of dizziness.  Reaching the final peak at 5,785 feet in elevation requires a great deal of bravery.

View from the top, June 2004.  Look at that mop of hair I had (at left in the picture):

I’ve hiked Angel’s Landing three times and it’s felt like a different experience each time.  These are pictures from one time I hiked it in October 2010.

The little red ribbon at left in the below picture is the two-lane road at the valley floor, thousands of feet below.

Here’s the last ascent before reaching the summit.  No turning back now!

For any looking for an unbelievable national park experience, I highly recommend a trip to Zion!

This week I drove past Amy’s Baking Company in Scottsdale.  This place was home to a bit of a social media disaster this week.  If you recognize the name, you’ll know what I’m talking about!

And I also saw the Frank Lloyd Wright spire.  This was originally designed to be on the grounds at the Arizona state capitol, but it instead ended up being placed in a shopping center.  The spire was designed by Wright in 1957 but wasn’t constructed until 2004.  It’s made up of 1,700 individual pieces of steel and it weighs 75 tons!

The spire lights up blue at night so I’ll have to stop back by for another picture sometime soon.

Best part of my commute:

ILX Updates

The 2014 ILX is now on sale as of two days ago.  The new model now comes with 8 additional standard features for the base model including the 17″ alloy wheels and an active noise cancellation system.  Further refinements to the interior include upgraded leather seating surfaces, door panel trim, and other features.  It’s hard to believe it’s already been almost a year since I got my ILX.  I’m still loving it!

Some of you have already found me on Instagram.  If not, look me up under @tysonhugie.

If I had $200 burning a hole in my pocket, I’d buy this 1:18 scale ILX Hybrid die-cast model car on Ebay.

A guy can never have too many toys, right? 

Acura ILX Trip: Roadside Randomness in Tucson, Arizona

Odometer (Legend):  522,081

Odometer (ILX):  37,519

I’ve come a long way since this picture was taken in 1982.  Many thanks to my great mom for always riding along on my Drive to Five travels, whether online or in person.  Happy Mother’s Day!

Today I’m going to take you to 5 different destinations in the Tucson, Arizona area that I visited yesterday in my 2013 Acura ILX 2.4 6-speed.  I headed out on Interstate 10 eastbound to make the ~120 mile drive from the Phoenix area with a few hot spots in mind.  Here they are, in the order I saw them.

1.  Sentinel Peak / “A” Mountain

The University of Arizona was the first university in the state.  It was founded in 1885 and currently there are about 40,000 students participating in its programs.  In March, 1916, a huge “A” was constructed on the side of Sentinel Peak just west of town.  It’s a basalt rock formation that measures 160 feet tall by 70 feet wide.  After the September 11, 2011 terrorist attacks, it was painted red, white, and blue (also the school’s colors) but it’s since been whitewashed.

This is the View of the “A” as seen from Interstate 10 just before exiting the freeway at Congress Road (slightly hidden behind that tree).

Nearing Sentinel Peak Road, I saw a sign that indicated I was getting close to the A.  This marker could easily be mis-read as “a mountain,” instead of “A” Mountain.  Either way, I continued my ascent up the 2,900-foot elevation gain to the summit.

Much like at Gates Pass where I traveled a few weeks ago, there were several forewarnings about the grade and width of the road as I approached the section with greatest elevation gain.

The road becomes one-lane and one-way as the top of the peak approaches.  This was a fun little stretch of road in the 6-speed-equipped ILX as I downshifted to get maximum torque while looping around the top of the mountain.

Strangely, though, this road has no guardrails.  It can get a little dicey trying to wind up the hill when bicyclists are trying to share the narrow roadway.

Finally at the top of the peak, I took a picture of my car with downtown Tucson in the background.  Tucson is the headquarters of Pima County and is home to over 500,000 people.  Since air conditions were favorable, I was able to clearly see downtown Tucson in the distance.

Facing south, the outskirts of town were visible.

2.  Longhorn Grill:  Amado, Arizona

In my endless search for the most offbeat destinations I can find, I stumbled across this restaurant in southern Arizona shaped like a longhorn skull in Amado.  My trip to the Longhorn Grill required a 33-mile southbound drive on Interstate 19 which I talked about in my post on Saguaro National Park.  I-19 is unique in that it’s perhaps the only interstate in the country that’s signed with metric distances.  Amado is a tiny teeny 295-person town, so the few businesses in operation there were easy to spot.

Before I checked out Longhorn, I first pit stopped across the street from it at Cow Palace.

Cocktails, steaks, sandwiches, and package liquor are found here.  This is definitely a one-stop shop.  Cow Palace has hosted movie stars and other notable personalities since the 1930′s.  There’s a picture of John Wayne hanging in the entrance.

The restaurant is open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.  I didn’t dine there, but I did take a look at the menu and there are some great sounding selections, including:

• Bacon Wrapped Filet:  Tender and lean 6 oz filet with roasted garlic butter.  Served with baked potato, smashed red potatoes, palace beans, fries, or Spanish rice.  Includes vegetables, fresh baked bread and your choice of soup or salad.  $24.99

And for dessert:

• Giant Sticky Bun:  House made cinnamon roll baked in brown sugar, butter, and cream glaze.  $4.99

This is a storage container sitting near the main lobby of the restaurant where meats are shown.  Customers may purchase special cuts of steak that are aged for 7, 14, or 21 days.

At noon on a Saturday, this place was dead.  I caught a few glances with the bartender who probably wondered why in the world I was taking pictures of his restaurant.  It looked like it’d make a great place to host a party, though!

Next door to Cow Palace lies the “Mini Market Amado Market Market.”  I wonder if they’ve sufficiently communicated the fact that this is a market?

My gaze quickly shifted to those 30-foot-tall horns mounted on the building looming behind me:  the long-awaited Longhorn.  This building was built in the 1970′s and has been home to a variety of different companies — most recently, a steakhouse.  The restaurant has been closed since mid-2012, so I can’t help but wonder if perhaps the Cow Palace put this place out of business.  Competition is fierce in this one-horse (one-cow?) town!

The temptation was just too great to overcome when I saw a small one-lane road leading off into the middle of nowhere, so I switched the ILX into 4×4 mode (not really, but there were unpaved stretches that did require higher clearance) and began exploring a little.

As it turns out, there wasn’t much at all to see out there, but as always, the drive afforded plenty of scenic photo-ops including this railroad crossing.

3.  25-ton Tiki Head

Exactly one week after pit-stopping to see Giganticus Headicus on Route 66 in the northern part of the state, I decided to find its sibling.  I made my way back to Tucson via I-19 (again, notice the metric signage in the picture below).  Speed limits are still posted in miles per hour instead of km/h.

I exited at 22nd Street on the same exit that goes to Silverlake Rd & Star Pass Blvd.  Talk about a confusing interchange!

On my way to get lunch with my friend Josh, I drove past Chapman Acura, the Tucson area dealership, and saw that they had a nice Silver Moon ILX 2.0 automatic on the lot with aftermarket wheels.

Josh is a long-time Acura fan and currently owns two Integras.  I featured his white Integra turbo in a blog post a few months ago, and his daily driver Integra is the red one shown here.

Here that tiki head.  The story on this one starts around 1969 when entrepreneur Lee Koplin built a miniature golf course east of Interstate 10 on Speedway Boulevard.  The golf course, called Magic Carpet Golf, survived until 2007 when it went out of business.  The fate of the tiki head, along with many other stucco sculptures, was quite uncertain at the time.

Thankfully, the head found its new home at 305 North 4th Street, seven miles away from where the miniature golf course was located.  It now sits atop a bar called The Hut.  It reportedly cost $20,000 for the bar to procure and transport the head by sawing it off its base.

Interestingly enough, nobody wanted the sphinx statue from Magic Carpet which weighed in at several tons.  It ended up getting bulldozed in 2011.

4.  30-foot-tall Neon Cactus

Just a little up the road from The Hut stands a huge tribute to neon signs of old.  This illuminated cactus was constructed in 2010 on a road that was the first divided highway in the state of Arizona.

The south side of the cactus reads “Miracle Mile.”  The name is in reference to a title given by Arizona Highways magazine after the road’s completion in 1937.  Since the road had a median, it was considered the “miracle mile of safety.”

I found a picture of what the cactus looks like at night.  I’ll have to go back and check it out soon.

5.  Muffler Man

We don’t know much about this fiberglass statue on Stone Avenue except that he’s an artist’s rendition of Paul Bunyan and watches over an intersection while holding an ax.  The first muffer man on record was constructed in 1963 and since then many more have followed.  Most often, these statues are 18-25 feet tall and carry mufflers, tires, or other automotive parts in their hands.  This guy looks like he’s got a fresh coat of paint.

During the holidays, his ax is exchanged for a candy cane.

Hope you enjoyed getting acquainted with a few of Tucson’s offbeat attractions!  Driving around to find them in my Acura ILX felt a bit like a scavenger hunt.  It sounds nerdy, but each time I found one I got a little more excited than I probably should have.

My last stop on Saturday night was the Scottsdale Pavilions car show.  This is a parking lot near my place that fills up every single Saturday, year-round, with all sorts of vehicles.  I happened to park next to a souped up Subaru.

Hope the weekend has treated everyone well!

50,000 & 250,000 Mile Legends: Alaeldeen & Brett

Odometer (Legend):  522,074

Odometer (ILX):  37,000

Now that it’s been over 18 years since the last Legend rolled off the production line, many have made their way to junkyards and many others aren’t far from that destination.  Relatively few are still on the road and in good condition mechanically and cosmetically.  Even fewer still are what one would consider “low” mileage.  Here’s one that is.

Back in June 2004, I saw an ad posted for a 6-speed LS Legend coupe with only 6,500 miles on the odometer.  Even back then, at 10 years old, the car had only averaged 650 miles per year.  Though I already had my Legend, I made arrangements with my friend Louie who worked in Sales at the Las Vegas dealership where the car was located so that I could take a look at it.  Louie pulled the car out so that I could get some pictures with this beauty.

Nose to nose:  6,533 miles meets 140,000 miles

This is a thread from the Legend forums where I talked about the experience.  The car was listed for sale at the time for $28,990.

Here are a few pictures from when it sat in the showroom, courtesy of my friend Jeff who’s local to the Las Vegas area and is a long-time Acura enthusiast.  At the time, Jeff drove a 1993 Legend LS coupe 6-speed in Canterbury Green.

This pristine Legend was auctioned on Ebay and went first to California for a couple of years, then ended up in Indiana.  The last I heard of it was when it was sold around October 2010 by my friend Mitch who’d sold it.

A couple of months ago, however, I received a private message on the Acura Legend forums asking me if I still had pictures of this car.  As it turns out, this was the new owner, named Alaeldeen, contacting me!  This Legend is now in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  Ten years later, it now has 49,444 miles on it.  I’m glad to hear that it’s in good hands; Alaeldeen has been an Acura enthusiast since he owned his first car, a black 1988 Legend LS sedan.  He’s since gone on to own 4 Legends.

Look at the pictures he sent me of his Taffeta White beauty as it currently sits.

The plastic on the floor mats has been in place since 2008.

Alaeldeen says that there are only about 4 months of good weather per year in Edmonton, so he’s hoping to take advantage of as many good days as he can to enjoy the car before putting it back into hibernation for the winter.

The car is completely stock.

Type II powerplant looks new to me.

Notice anything special about that license plate?

He’s sporting my same letter / number combination!  Hopefully someday the Alberta & Arizona “6 SPD” Legend coupes will get together for a photoshoot.

Best of luck with your new ride, Alaeldeen!  Thanks for reaching out.

Other low-mileage examples I’ve featured previously on the blog:  Chuck’s 1993 LS with around 30,000 miles; Marc’s 1995 LS with 35,000 miles.

Brett’s 1995 Acura Legend LS Hits 250,000 Miles

At the other end of the mileage spectrum, we have cars like this next one.  It’s just as much fun for me to watch others achieve high mileage with their Acura vehicles as it is to hit milestones in mine.  This week, my friend Brett from Huntington Beach crossed the 1/4 million mile mark on his immaculately clean Canterbury Green Metallic Legend L sedan.  I posted about Brett in May 2012 when I visited him in southern California.

The long awaited milestone happened May 4, 2013 at 10:10 p.m. in Newport Beach, California at Pomona Avenue and 16th Street.  We are all about attention to detail around here!

Here’s a video Brett sent me of the rollover.  If you’re overly anxious like me, the grand finale happens just a few seconds before the end of the clip, so skip there!  Though, his soundtrack by The Cure is nice to listen to.

These are a few more pictures Brett sent.  He’s as much of a neat freak as I am, and thus his Legend looks good even with that many miles on it.

The painted grille and 16″ wheels make the car look like a “GS” trim level, but Brett’s car is in fact an “L”.

It’s fun to read write-ups about Acura’s flagship Legend.  Following are some pictures from Consumer Guide that my friend Jason shared with me this week.  This first one is from an issue of Consumer Guide discussing the new (at the time) 1995 cars.  It states, “Legend handles and rides like a sports car.”  Not sure if mine still handles like a sports car at 522,000 miles!  The suspension is worn and floaty.

This second one is from a 2003 “Used Cars” version.  It knocked the Legend’s fuel economy but gave it strong wins for acceleration and handling.

Here’s my one-day-a-week commuter, today on the drive home through the Salt River Indian Community.

My Legend got to help my roommate when I got home.  He’d left the headlights on in his 1997 Nissan Maxima and the battery was drained, so we jumped him and he was on his way.  The old Maxima is a 5-speed manual with about 210,000 miles on it.

2014 Acura RLX CNET Review

One of my favorite automotive review channels on YouTube is that of CNET, hosted by Brian Cooley.  In the latest CNET review, Brian spends 8 minutes talking about Acura’s most technologically-advanced car ever:  the 2014 RLX.  I just saw the first “customer-owned” RLX on the road on Monday night near my home.  The taillights were super sexy at night, not to mention the jewel eye headlights.  Check out Brian’s comments on the car that can pretty much drive itself!

Acura ILX Long-Term Updates

My ILX is getting great fuel economy.  When I took this picture earlier in the week, I’d been averaging exactly 33 mpg in the 1,777 miles since my last oil change when it was reset.  It pays to drive conservatively!

Finally – happy travels to my friend Ryan who you may remember from our January trip to Sedona.  Now that school’s out, he’s headed home to South Dakota for the summer (about a 1,400 mile drive).  He sent this today when he met the Nebraska state line in his 2006 Acura TL.

I’m jealous that he got to spend the day on the open road and I sat inside an office!

Acura ILX Route 66 Tour: Kingman to Seligman, Arizona

Odometer (Legend):  522,026

Odometer (ILX):  36,879

Trip Distance:  480 miles

For this weekend’s ILXcapades, we find ourselves venturing back to the heyday of automobile travel as we know it.  Route 66 – the “Mother Road” – has long been known as the most talked-about corridor in popular culture.  Its entire length ran about 2,400 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles, but the road was decommissioned 28 years ago in the mid-1980s.  This is a map of the original route.

Since then, it’s been bypassed, bulldozed, or otherwise forgotten except for in a few special sections where Route 66 heritage is embraced. I’ve driven a couple of those areas (Oatman in the Legend in 2007 and Flagstaff in the ILX last September).  My friend Jack and I took my 2013 Acura ILX on a 9-hour adventure to explore some yet-unseen roads in northwestern Arizona.  Our first stop was the Wikieup Trading Post off Highway 93.

Wikieup is known as the “rattler capital of the world” due to the number of rattlesnakes in the area.

And they aren’t kidding!  This is one snake skin on display hanging on the wall above the door to the restrooms.

On the road again and playing one of my all-time favorite driving playlists: the Top Gun soundtrack.  The ILX Premium Audio System definitely did the song “Danger Zone” justice when blasted at max volume of level 40.

Once we approached Kingman, it was clear we’d entered Route 66 territory.

We went to the historic part of town where a yearly classic car “fun run” was taking place.  Streets were closed off and there were vendors, entertainers, and classic cars all over the place.

By now, we’d worked up an appetite and the sign for “Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner” was calling our names.  Mr. D’z was once a small cafe & gas station in the 1950′s and 1960′s.  It’s now the hub of several annual car shows.

I went with the “Route 66 Bacon Cheeseburger” and a frosty mug of homemade root beer.  I do recommend it!

Out front, we saw a few eye catching rides, including this tow truck inspired by Tow Mater from the 2006 Disney / Pixar movie “Cars.”  More about Cars later.

Let’s get this Route 66 party started!

Here I’m posing like Vanna White next to a destination marker showing where Jack and I would be headed in the ILX shortly.

Our friend Mike was in town as a judge for the classic car show so we met up with him briefly.

Then, Jack and I were on our way.

The 83-mile section of Route 66 between Kingman and Seligman is a well-preserved stretch of old 66 that’s stuck in a time warp, and that’s why I wanted to drive there so badly.  Traveling the same point-to-point via the parallel Interstate 40 would shave off over 20 miles and probably 1/2 hour of drive time, but this drive wasn’t about speed, it was about taking time to experience the sights along the way.

The road heads northwest from the Kingman area and quickly slims down to 2 lanes from 4.  Not far up Route 66, we saw the (now abandoned) Kozy Corner Trailer Park.  There are a couple special things about this particular trailer park.

First of all, the trash can warns everyone nearby that it’s full of baby rattlesnakes.  I didn’t peek inside to confirm that.

And secondly, you might have noticed that giant green head sitting out front.  That is called “Giganticus Headicus.”  It’s 14 feet tall and was created in 2003 by someone named G. Arnold.

Continuing on, our next pit stop was the general store in Hackberry, Arizona.  Here we found all sorts of collector “stuff.”

Antique collectors:  plan to spend awhile here.

75 degrees and sunny for our drive – couldn’t have asked for better weather!  Speed limits varied from 35-65 and the ILX 6-speed made a great cruiser.

It only takes a blink to miss some of these small towns that we passed through.  Truxton is one example.  From the entrance of town limits to the exit took only a few seconds to drive.

But those few seconds were entertaining, nonetheless.  I enjoyed seeing these old motels and there seemed to be a lot of classic cars parked alongside the road for sale in places like this.

About halfway to our destination of Seligman, we passed through a town called Peach Springs.  Traffic through Peach Springs died down sharply after Interstate 40 was opened about 20 miles south in 1978. According to Wikipedia, Peach Springs “survived as the administrative base of the Hualapai Indian tribe but suffered irreparable economic damage.”

Just 55 miles northeast of Peach Springs, visitors will find the Hualapai Indian tribe town of Hualapai Hilltop.  This place serves as the trailhead for an 8-mile hike that drops into the Grand Canyon and now-famous 120-foot-tall Havasu Falls, a place which has been on my to-see list for several years now.

The town itself is pretty run-down with the exception of the Indian-run visitor center.

I did find this photo-op worthwhile, though.  This is an old service station dating back to the 1920′s.

A nearby informational sign reads as follows:

Historic John Osterman Gas Station:  This property was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on March 15, 2012. The John Osterman gas station was one of several privately owned and operated businesses in the town of Peach Springs during the 1920s through the 1950s.  The building, constructed by Osterman in 1923, was a vernacular design of poured concrete block and built in the tradition of the “House with Bays” form.  It featured an office resembling a small house and a series of attached garage bays.  The design, in addition to allowing the sale of gasoline and other automotive products, is indicative of the large amount of repair work the station undertook over the years.

It looks like the pumps out front still read $2.99 / gallon which means it wasn’t closed that long ago.

For the next 37 miles, we dodged tumbleweeds and cruised alongside the train tracks as we continued eastbound.  There were several “Burma Shave” roadside sign sequences that I enjoyed.  These types of signs were a huge part of roadside America from 1925 until the 1960′s.  They are small signs spaced at periodic distances alongside the road to advertise a brand of shaving cream. Here are a few of them that Jack and I took note of:

• IF YOU DON’T KNOW
• WHOSE SIGNS THESE ARE
• YOU HAVEN’T DRIVEN
• VERY FAR
• Burma Shave

• ANGELS WHO GUARD YOU
• WHEN YOU DRIVE
• USUALLY RETIRE
• AT SIXTY-FIVE
• Burma Shave

And finally, toward the end of the route:

• JUST THIS ONCE
• AND JUST FOR FUN
• WE’LL LET YOU FINISH
• WHAT WE’VE BEGUN
• ????

The last stop on this historic drive was in the small town of Seligman, home to fewer than 500 people.  It’s the birthplace of Route 66 (at least they’d like to think so).

When Disney/Pixar was putting together the 2006 film “Cars,” director John Lasseter met with the business owners in Seligman to talk about the town’s history as a stopping point on the Mother Road.  He ended up basing the fictional town of Radiator Springs loosely on Seligman.  To jog your memory, here’s the cast of the film, including star Lightning McQueen.

The grammar Nazi in me wanted to step into this gift shop and tell them they’d spelled “memorabilia” wrong, but I guess a misspelled word here and there is what keeps a place like this even more interesting.

I’d heard of Roadkill Cafe but never knew it actually existed.  Here Jack is standing with the ILX in front of such a place.  The slogan here is “You Kill It, We Grill It.”

Some of Roadkill’s entrees are:

• Splatter Platter
• Swirl of Squirrel
• Big Bagged Stag
• Highway Hash

Main Street looks a lot like one would expect.  It’s a tourist trap in every way, but I loved it.

For me, the most awaited point of interest had arrived:  Snow Cap Drive-In, seen in the background here:

Delgadillo’s Snow Cap Drive-In has greeted motorists for 60 years.  Its founder, Juan Delgadillo, died 9 years ago but the enterprise continues serving up great food AND a great cultural experience for those who make a stop there.  Delgadillo’s son and daughter run the business today.  A 1936 Chevrolet with a Christmas tree attached to the back of it is on permanent display out front (seen at left below).

Where else can you find menu selections like “dead chicken”….

And “cheeseburgers with cheese”?  Truly this place is worth checking out if you’re looking for something offbeat.

Don’t get too comfortable, though, because sleeping in the restroom out back is prohibited.

Inside the Snow Cap, the walls are lined ceiling-to-floor with pictures and business cards from guests who have visited since this place opened in 1953.  I added my business card to the mix.

The line was fairly long but I was determined to sample something off the menu.  Meanwhile, we became acquainted to some of the other visitors.  Most were from other countries!  Snow Cap had a lot of entertaining pictures and signs, including this one about the company’s credit manager, Helen Waite, that took me a few attempts to understand.  Say it out loud a time or two:

These ladies were hilarious.  They have a plastic mustard bottle that they “squirt” at customers and a piece of yellow string comes out the tip.  I thought for sure I’d have mustard all over my shirt when I looked down.  I asked if I could have a small ice cream cone and she brought me a miniature one. Then I asked for a lemonade and she said, “Would you like ice with that?”  I said, “Yes please,” and this is what she came out with:

The jokes kept rolling when she asked if I wanted a “straw” and she handed me a piece of hay instead.  When it was time to get my change back from a $20 bill, she started passing out my change to OTHER CUSTOMERS.  Ha!  We got all that cleared up and headed outside…  via the door with two different handles.  Did I say this place is offbeat?

Jack and I wandered around the backyard of Snow Cap while we enjoyed our vanilla ice cream cones.

That pretty much wrapped up our Route 66 adventures as we soon got on Interstate 40 and took it to Highway 89.  After heading south on Highway 89, we passed through the tiny communities of Paulden and Chino Hills in the 55 miles until we reached Prescott, then we headed over to Interstate 17 via Hwy 89A and then Hwy 69.  I enjoyed rowing the 6-speed ILX through its gears on these back roads.

Later in the evening, I met up with my friends Kevin and Kelvin.  Kevin is the proud new owner of Modern Steel Metallic 2013 Honda Accord EX.  After having driven a Toyota Corolla for 12 years, I nudged Kevin into the Honda dealership and he was really impressed with what the Accord had to offer.  He’s thrilled with his new ride!

We got a few pictures with Kelvin’s 1993 NSX, my 1994 Legend, and Kevin’s 2013 Accord at a parking garage in Scottsdale.

Congrats, Kevin, on joining the Honda family!

Until next time, enjoy!

Twinners: Silver Moon Acura ILX Duo

Odometer (Legend):  522,009

Odometer (ILX):  36,335

Hooray!  A twin encounter at last.  For the first time in the nearly 11 months since I got the key to my new 2013 Acura ILX, I was able to park next to a car that looked exactly like mine (well, minus a few accessories) on Tuesday afternoon.  At a strip mall in Scottsdale, Arizona, I pulled up next to this Silver Moon Metallic 2.0 automatic ILX.

I stepped inside a business nearby but kept an eye on the parking lot periodically to see who the lucky owner of that ILX might be.  Only a few minutes later, I saw a woman come out of a restaurant, take pictures of the two silver cars together, then return to the restaurant!

When I finished my errand, I went into that restaurant and attempted to find her.  She’d been looking for ME, too!  As it turns out, “Bon Bon” has only had her car for about a month.  She previously drove an SUV and says that she loves the fuel economy and handling that her ILX provides.  She asked about some of the add-ons that my car has.  It was great to interact with someone else who is passionate about their new Acura.  I gave her a business card and we’ll keep in touch.

It’s always a good day when I get to meet up with a fellow car enthusiast who takes a great deal of pride in his or her vehicle.  As much as I obsess over Acura and Honda automobiles, I love meeting other people who are just as passionate about other brands — especially those who aren’t afraid to drive their vehicles coast-to-coast!

On Monday afternoon, I had the privilege of making a new friend named Armando.  He was passing through Scottsdale, Arizona on a monstrous (even by my standards!) cross-country voyage.  He’d started in Reading, Pennsylvania and was heading home to Fullerton, California.  The drive is 2,700 miles each way — and that’s if it’s driven via the shortest distance route. Armando chose to tack on a few extra miles by venturing as far south as Houston, Texas.  Mark, who I’d helped pick up an SVX a couple of months ago in Tucson, introduced us.

Here’s Armando and his 1992 Subaru SVX in Ebony Pearl exterior with black leather interior.  This SVX is one of two SVXs that he owns; the other is pearl white.

Armando is well known in the Subaru SVX enthusiast community for having attended so many meets in various parts of the country.  He sounds like someone else we know!

Here’s the interior of the black beauty.  Those automatic seatbelts are a pretty rare find.  Armando told me that those only made it to certain model years and his happened to be one of them.

The best part?  Just 70 miles before our meet-up, Armando’s SVX turned over 1/4 million miles.

The Legend + SVX in this picture have a total of over 771,000 miles on them.

Back view of the SVX and the Legend.

Thanks, Armando for meeting up!

My ILX got a much-needed detail after last weekend’s trip to Utah.  I also decided to strip the 3M clear bra off the hood.  I’d noticed that the bra had a very distinct line on the upper edge, plus the hood is angled such that it rarely gets bugs or rock chips anyhow.  Thanks to 100+ degree ambient temperatures, this plastic peeled right off.

Looking fresh after a bath:

There’s exciting news in Canada:  The 2014 ILX is now available for “Build & Price” on Acura Canada’s website, and there are some exciting updates for the car’s second model year.  Canadian ILXs may now be equipped with a navigation system as well as the 6-speed drivetrain. These two features had previously been mutually exclusive.

It’s fun to see how some ILX owners have begun modifying their vehicles.  Here’s one from member “Zonian22″ on the Acurazine forums who has installed an exhaust tip on his car (it’s usually hidden behind the rear bumper).

I stumbled across some random old Photoshop renderings of my Legend from many years ago that friends have put together.  The idea of a “coupe” limousine Legend is cool until you realize there’s no way to get to the back seat except climbing through the front door!

In March 2006, my friend Steve took things a little extreme and chopped the roof off for a targa look.

Looks like a fun Grand Canyon cruiser.  We’re just around the corner from Friday – hope everyone has a great weekend in store!  I’ve got a road trip up my sleeve (of course), but you’ll have to tune in next time for more on that.

Acura ILX Trip to Utah: Silver Reef Mining Town

Odometer (Legend):  521,890

Odometer (ILX):  36,193

Here in Arizona, we’ve sprung past spring and already entered triple-digit-temperature range.  These are the days when I’m glad I didn’t opt for that Crystal Black Pearl paint color on the ILX that I often lust after.  Silver Moon exterior + tinted windows = a nice, cool interior.

I made my way to my hometown in southern Utah this weekend to spend some time with my family there.  My first stop on this 6.5 hour one-way trip is Kingman, Arizona in the northwest corner of the state.  Kingman’s claim to fame is that it’s a surviving city from the original Route 66.

There not a heck of a lot to see or do here, but the Budget Inn Motel’s rates are reasonable ($19.95) and they’ve even got color TV!  I opted to not stay there but rather continue on the rest of my journey.  Maybe some other time.

I reached cruising speed of 70 mph on Highway 93 leading up to Hoover Dam.  The ILX revs quite a bit higher than my Legend did at this speed in 6th gear, but the fuel economy doesn’t suffer.  I still pulled an average 32.6 miles per gallon this trip.

It was a moonroof-open afternoon — partially because someone had spilled gas at the Mobil station in Kingman and I had some on my shoes.  I didn’t want to get high off fumes in the cabin of the ILX.

Arizona is chock full of mining history.  One particular mining establishment that’s no longer in existence is called Cerbat.  As the historical marker states, Cerbat thrived in the 1860′s but all the buildings are now gone.

Denim must be the thing to wear when you’re on a motorcycle ride these days!

Just a little farther north, the Uranus Gas Station came into view like an oasis in the desert.  This place is nearly impossible to miss, in fact.  The building itself was just recently repainted in crazy colors and they’ve got a fuel tank out front advertising the fact that you can shoot a machine gun here.  I didn’t have time to do so, but thought it would make a fun photo-op.

I wasn’t kidding.  These people actually named their gas station Uranus Gas.  At least they’ve got a sense of humor.  And both times I passed the station this weekend, it had several customers.  Hey, the name got ME to stop, didn’t it?

Finally I arrived at my first destination:  Las Vegas Motor Speedway off Interstate 15 just north of Las Vegas, Nevada.  Here, I was going to be meeting up with my brothers Bentley and Payton of H&S Performance who had trailed their Dodge Ram race truck for some Friday night 1/4 mile dragstrip time trials.

The LVMS track first opened in 1971 but underwent a $72 million upgrade in 1996.  Today it’s one of the finest racing facilities in the southwest.  The H&S Performance race team was already at work when I arrived to greet everyone.

I’m pictured at left in the below picture.  Payton (center), and Bentley (right) are my younger brothers.  Payton drives the race truck.  He said that unfortunately it makes all other vehicles else seem painfully slow, but he did borrow my ILX for a bit this weekend and enjoyed running an errand in it.

The cockpit retains few of its original appointments.  This Cummins truck has been gutted, rollcaged, and built to be a screaming machine.  When race time comes, it’s wearing 4 “slick” tires since he races in 4×4 mode.  It launches hard!

As fate would have it, though, the night’s festivities were cut short when a transmission failure sidelined the truck fewer than a hundred yards after launching from the start line.  H&S will go back to the drawing board this week and implement a fix.

Loading back up as the sun starts to set in the Nevada desert.

As nighttime descended, we rolled onward to St. George, Utah — another 100 miles up Interstate 15.

On Saturday morning, I had the great opportunity to chauffeur two special guests around in my Acura ILX.  My grandpa and grandma have been among my most loyal blog followers over the years, so I thought it appropriate to invite them along on a short Drive to Five adventure.  We departed St. George and made our way 15 miles north of town to the old mining establishment (and now ghost town) of Silver Reef, Utah.

Our total trip distance was fewer than 50 miles but gave us front-row seats to some of the most spectacular scenery in this part of the country.

We exited I-15 at Exit 22 (22 miles north of the Arizona state line).

We made our way through Leeds, Utah and headed west just one mile to get to the townsite of Silver Reef.  New, large homes surround the site where a bustling town of silver miners thrived over 134 years ago.  The red rock scenery of this area brings thousands of tourists per year to southern Utah for hiking opportunities.  Grandma gave us a wave and we continued our tour.

Along the very narrow, winding road through Silver Reef, we saw a couple examples of old mining equipment.

Next, we took the opportunity to wander the site on foot and learn a little more about its history.

Silver Reef’s story mirrors that of many other boom towns of the same era.  A rush of miners caused the area’s population to soar as high as 2,000 people, but only 15 years later, people had begun moving on.  The first silver strike in Silver Reef happened in 1866 when a prospector from Nevada, John Kemple, discovered a vein of silver in the sandstone there.  A total of 21 claims were staked over the next few years as prospectors came from Salt Lake City and beyond.

In its heyday, Silver Reef’s Main Street was a mile in length and was lined by many businesses (credit:  Wikipedia):

By 1878, the town’s business district consisted of a hotel, boarding houses, nine stores, six saloons, five restaurants, a bank, two dance halls, a newspaper called The Silver Echo (which later became the Silver Reef Miner),and eight dry goods stores.

One of the few buildings still standing today is this Wells Fargo Express.  In 1985, an organization was formed for the purpose of preserving the remaining structures as well as setting up a museum in the Wells Fargo building.  The museum is still in operation today.

Silver Reef sits a bit higher in elevation than the surrounding landscape, so gorgeous views can be seen in virtually every direction.

Silver Reef, as a wooden sign (below) on the premises announces, is the only place in the U.S. where silver has been discovered in sandstone.

Next to the Wells Fargo museum, there are mining artifacts and other period items of interest.

This was a place definitely worthy of the name “wild” west.   I learned that there are written records of at least 3 gunfights in this area and one murder.  Gambling is a recurring theme in the accounts of these incidents.

Unlike most of the communities in southern Utah, this settlement never had a Mormon chapel.  It did, however have a Catholic church and we learned a little bit about that on the informative placard where my grandpa is standing in the below picture.

Behind us here lies a wooden table.

Upon closer inspection, we found a metal plate at the end of it which read:

• “DUNHAM” Economy Table
• 853 Mission Street
• So. Pasadena Calif U.S.A.
• RPM Instructions
• Coarse Feed – Long Stroke – 245 RPM
• Fine Feed – Short Stroke – 285 RPM
• Slime Feed – Short Stroke – 325 RPM

Google has surprisingly revealed very little about this type of equipment and how it operates.  I suspect that the wooden slats are designed to filter through the extracted ore but I’m not clear how it works.  Anyone with information, fill us in!

A few of Silver Reef’s other buildings are now just freestanding walls.

This was a great step back in time.  I wish I could have seen what Silver Reef looked like in its prime.

After exiting Silver Reef and making our way down Old Highway 91, we paused for a drive through some tunnels leading to the Red Cliffs Recreation Area.  I couldn’t help but notice the clearance height was 11 foot 9 inches.

That reminded me of a railroad trestle in Durham, North Carolina with clearance of 11 foot 8 inches.  That bridge catches the rooftops of so many trucks and motorhomes that a nearby resident set up 2 surveillance cameras.  It’s been crashed into 61 times on camera – usually by people in rented trucks who probably aren’t pay attention.  See for yourself!

Our last viewpoint was that of Quail Creek Reservoir (600 acres; established in 1985).  It’s a popular destination for recreation.

Thanks, grandma and grandpa, for coming along for the ride!

I spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with other members of my family, but since I come from a family of car-loving people, there was still plenty of time to enjoy our four-wheeled toys.  My brother recently picked up a hot new ride:  1968 Chevy Nova SS.

This fully restored muscle car is finished immaculately in a color from the 2006 Corvette called “Monterey Mist Metallic.”  The color is stunning in person.

Under the hood, the car’s original 350 cubic inch V8 was removed, balanced, bored, and stroked to 388 cubic inches.  It develops 450 horsepower (more than double the power of that 2.4 liter ILX sitting in front of it — though, remember, my ILX has half as many cylinders, too!).  Either way, we’re talking some serious power!

The reason why my brother sought after this car was because my dad’s first car was a Nova of the same year.  He owned it during his teens and built quite a racer out of it.  We dug up this picture of him dating back to the late 1970′s.

The “new” Nova has a T5 Borg Warner 5-speed manual transmission and a rebuilt 12-bold 3.73 Positraction rear end.  Unfortunately, due to a radiator leak, I wasn’t able to take the Nova for a spin but I’ll definitely be taking it out on my next trip to Utah.

I think those 17″ American Racing Torq Thrust wheels look awesome on it.  Best of all, the car came with all the build receipts and even the original 1968 “Chevy II” owner’s manual.  I can’t wait to take the SS for a spin!

Nephew “Rex” (age 1 month) and me checking out the Nova powerplant.

My classic car encounters continued just an hour later when my friend Cody showed up in this 1973 Chevrolet Chevelle.  Some of my readers may remember Cody (with a high degree of jealousy!) as the lucky guy who owns a 1993 Acura Legend 5-speed sedan with only 65,000 miles on the odometer.  Well, Cody’s other ride is equally drool-worthy.

We’re looking at a truly unmolested example of a car that has some of the most documented history I’ve ever seen.  Cody’s dad bought the car brand new in Salt Lake City, Utah and it’s been in the family ever since.  In fact, this was Cody’s first car.

Check out all that original paperwork!  The interior has been redone and is pretty much immaculate.  Cody’s built a website dedicated to the “forgotten” 3rd generation Chevelle here.

He even let me take the old Chevelle for a spin.  Here’s a video of my goofy self enjoying a drive in this 40-year-old classic.

As my trip neared a close, I said farewell to my niece and nephews.

And I headed out toward I-15 and Phoenix, by way of Las Vegas yet again.

Thanks for being a part of my travels this weekend!