Faith revolution: A long overdue "thank you"

As we packed up the M5 and prepared to strike out into the dark Tennessee night, my brother said something that has stuck with me. In saying our goodbyes to Curtis, Coop said "Thanks for making my little brother's dreams come true. And thanks for restoring my faith in humanity. I have to admit, I was a little wary when he first said he wanted to fly across the country and buy a car, but you have shown us how awesome people can be." I've been meaning to write a post about Curtis, the seller of what is now my car, for quite a while. But things pop up; first it was the journey itself, followed by the recent whirlwind of moving for the first time in 2 years, all while trying to get the M5 up to smogging standards. But more than enough time has passed, and I want to say "Thank You, Curtis."

The initial suggestion on MyE28.com to investigate the clean, reasonably-priced M5 in Tennessee seemed like any of my normal internet-based car searches: daydreams and wishes, wishes and daydreams. I was fresh off having an M5 so close I could taste it. It was local, it had 30k on a rebuilt engine, and I drove it. Hoowee, that sound, how could I say no to that? But it had plenty of blemishes, enough to make me pull myself from the tractor beam and into reality. If I was going to spend the money on my dream car, I knew damn well I had to do it right. But still, how the hell was I going to get a car that was over 2,000 miles away?

I toyed with the idea a little, mostly creating hypothetical possibilities with large amounts of skepticism. How does one ship a car? How do you know it is as it looks on the internet? How do you know that, despite the vouching of people who seem to have credible followings and trust on a most specific internet community, the guy isn't going to screw you over? How do you send money across the country safely? At the bottom of it all, how do you trust someone on the internet?

Well, Curtis was the man to put those worries to rest. I emailed him regarding his car. It was still for sale. He wanted to talk on the phone about it, so we connected. Over the course of several conversations about the cars, and several hours swimming in car-nerd talk, I got the distinct feeling that this guy loved this car. He loved it so much that he didn't really want to sell it, and he held such an interest in getting it to a good owner that he didn't care that he was getting far less than he had put into it. He could list the work put into it with such detail, often repeated casually in different discussions, that it became clear the car was real and his intentions were good. He offered to help take care of a few remaining issues he wanted fixed and split the cost with me, got a stereo installed for the trip back, and just generally held up more than his end of the bargain.

After documenting my journey, someone on MyE28 messaged me and asked about how to be sure of buying a car long-distance. It was hard to respond, because basically I wouldn't recommend doing what I did. Serendipitously, I found a seller who was a genuinely good person and held the rare quality of caring that I came out of the deal happy as well. I will forever be grateful to Curtis for his kindness and generosity. I don't think there are too many people out there like that, but then again, Curtis has affirmed that there are some people out there like that, and that's a good start.

Wee wee wee all the way home

After the long road west, a restful Thanksgiving week in LA was much-needed. Plenty of stories to come on this including failed smog tests, backwards tires, swimming in the ocean in November and charging up Big Sur. With work and moving to a new home looming tomorrow, those stories will have to wait. For now, hopefully some pictures will do.

Made it!

Landed in Manhattan Beach, CA. Stoked.

33 hours of driving, 2100 miles, and lots of memories. More later.

Californiaaaaaaaa

We have reached California! Woke up a little before 6 in Show Low. Turns out to be a card reference, as the 100,000 acre ranch it was in the 19th century was won in a bet to "show low," and one guy pulled the 2 of clubs, hence the main streets cumbersome name of "Deuce of Clubs." Grabbed some hotel breakfast and hit the road. Our hopes of fun twisties off the bat were thwarted by rain and eventually, and unexpectedly, a little snow on the road. Got past it though, and the descent from the plateau was truly gorgeous, highlighted by one of the best rainbows I've ever seen, at points it was even the mythical (or is that meme-able?) DOUBLE RAINBOW. All the way. The great scenery continued with great mountains and lots of cacti. Then a good chunk of desert once was were out of Phoenix, and we are still cruising on the long, straight desert roads of I-10, just now in California. Feels good to be back.

One funny anomaly in the trip was the realization today that the odometer isn't working quite right, and is ticking miles about 25% slower than actual miles covered. This was at first distressing as I wondered how long that's been going on and how that could affect the cars showed lifetime mileage. After informing Curtis though, it sounds like it may be from a recent sensor replacement when the brakes were replaced and it should be sortable once I get home. On the plus side, it means we actually covered more like 1600 miles yesterday in 24 hours, and accordingly our gas mileage is significantly better than we thought While it's no hybrid, the mileage is now within the range of quite acceptable, as opposed to "ehhh... Sorry earth."

Anyways, onwards to LA, and we can't believe we're going to make it there early this afternoon. The car is still a true joy to drive. Having this road trip to get to know it has been fantastic. We're still getting acquainted, but are much closer now than if I just picked it up and started driving it in my normal life. That said, I think having it day-to-day is going to feel really special, and I look forward to having it and Truck-E meet and hang out.

24 Hours, 1600 miles.

Holy cow. We made it. Well, we made it to a stopping point at least. We're crashing in Show Low, Arizona. Despite the weird name, it offered a good hotel just across the New Mexico border, and is just before a great mountain drive we're going to take in the morning.

We're exhausted. I wasn't able to sleep very well in the car, so I think I totalled about 3 hours of sleep. That said, it was a hell of a ride, and charging it is always fun. The Car performed beautifully, and as Coop said after filling it up before checking in at the hotel, "It's funny that after 24 hours, it's still really fun to sit in this car."

A brief rundown of the hell of a day we just had. After meeting Curtis at the airport, we went back to his place and went over the Car for a while. His attention to detail is mind-blowing and is a large part of why I was so confident in buying this car. More on that later. Anyways, he showed us around the Car and all of the spare parts he's amassed. He started up his E39 M5 for us as well, which is another great black beast. Once we couldn't really think of anything else to go over, Coop and I declined Curtis' gracious offer to stay and opted to get on the road and have some fun. Checking out a little after 8pm, we stopped at a gas station, filled up the tires, and headed onto the unknown roads of Tennessee. Tennessee quickly led to Arkansas.

We didn't see much of these first states with it being so dark, but we did see some serious lightning and rain through Arkansas. Oklahoma was similar, though we stopped at the Oklahoma City Memorial, a site that had left an impression on me earlier this fall. It was equally impressive early in the morning, and we were glad we stopped.

Oklahoma went by uneventfully after that, and then it was Texas. Oh, Texas. The coolest part about Texas was seeing some people on a bike ride across the country, and then getting out of Texas. 

After Texas comes New Mexico, which was fun in that we got off of I-40 on the recommendation of another MyE28 member and got on some great 2-lane highway backroads. It got a bit tedious still, and my inability to sleep caught up with me and made me start to feel pretty wonky. It all culminated with an incredible sunset at the Continental Divide, about 6,000 feet up. Truly mind blowing and the pictures don't do it justice. We were having a good time.

Coop made the final push through New Mexico and we landed a bit across the Arizona border in the aforementioned and oddly-named Show Low. Grabbed some food and a hotel room, hopped in the pool and then a shower to wash off a couple days of traveling, and now it's time to rest before we start it up again tomorrow. Our efforts today should pay off in making tomorrow nearly 1/3 of the driving time and landing in Manhattan Beach a day early. It was one hell of a push and I've never gone for 24 hours straight, but I'm so glad to be in Arizona tonight as opposed to Oklahoma, and every time I look at the car I can't believe I own it. 

Miscellaneous and out-of-order slideshow:

Devouring the road, all day, all night, wtf?

"I want to find a roadkill jackalope and keep it." - Cooper Rooks

It's 9am, and we've only stopped for gas, food, and driving switched since 8pm last night. Our initial aspirations of healthy roadtripping were eschewed in the face of limited breakfast options in Nowhereland, Oklahoma, and stopped for McDonalds. Plus sides: mcmuffins are delicious, and they had wifi through which we downloaded some interesting podcasts (This American Life, How Unimogs Work, etc.). Downsides: bathroom stops will probably increase. Back on the road though, charging through Oklahoma and nearing Texas, hoping to get through a good chunk of New Mexico today. Just checked the map, 38 miles left of OK, and less than 200 miles of Texass.

The Car is amazing. Pulls forever, drives easy but delightfully, is comfortable and constantly reminds me how funky and awesome it is. As warned, the gas gauge sinks solidly, a combination of small gas tank and a 3.5-liter inline-6 race engine. It doesn't get much worse gas mileage than the Toyota truck though, and the flip side is the miles click away deceptively fast.

New Mexico will bring a welcome departure from I-40 thanks to some recommendations from the same guy that got me in touch with Curtis on MyE28.com. Should be some curvy roads to explore the handling of the car, now that we've familiarized itself with its absolute domination of highway miles.

As of now, it looks like we may just keep ok charging. It's too much fun, too easy to gobble up miles, and having an extra day to spend with our aunt, uncle and cousin in LA sounds awesome. For now, I'm going to take a nap as I can feel the stress of an all-night drive weighing heavy on my body.

"This thing is so much fun to drive." -Cooper Rooks