Panamera's winter US 12,000km adventures. - Part 1

[RDMcG]

It’s all the dog’s fault.

In other circumstances a four hour direct flight from Toronto to Scottsdale would be just fine, but Great Danes fit poorly under the seats the move to the winter house requires a 3700km drive. Ten years, 40 trips or so as I usually drive back part way, so I blame dogs for about 150,000km. However, at this stage she is more fragile and rickety than she was being 10 years old. She has always hated the cold and snow of Canadian winter and much prefers the desert climate.



Thus,rather than use the Cayenne which is a higher stance and harder to jump into, the Panamera was pressed into service.




By way of background the Pana is five years old ,an ST Turbo which has had some adventures of its own. I specced this car for fast, long distance comfortable travel, with a good interior, Porsche’s excellent 18-way seats, leather, UV and noise suppression and high speed tires. Also fitted torque vectoring , matrix headlights and so on but very electronic driver aids. As usual I find Porsche’s interfaces needlessly complicated so use AppleTalk and Waze and my normal companions. OH does all of the navigation in the trickier regions.

It has given zero trouble in five years and and wth 550BHP and a top speed of 307km it will cover most requirements.

I shipped it to Europe a few years ago for a 5000km run, and driver through Northern Germany for a castle tour, into Berlin,up to Copenhagen and even some track days at Spa and the Nürburgring, ( though not a GT3 of course) as well as a previous Arizona trip and various long distance runs. This is not to everyone’ taste but it works for me.


A few previous shots here:





[url]|https://thumbsnap.com/7pVRTSf4[/url














It had just been serviced, though my service writer mentioned that I only had 20% front brake pads; we agreed that I would get this done if the warning light came on which is a very early indicator.


Due to some previous commitments this was a later trip than usual, so weather was a concern. I have driven into bad snowstorms, whiteouts, tornadoes, electric storms, floods and just about every other condition on this route.
Weather looked very good, so the plan as usual was to do a longer run day one ..Toronto to Detroit, then past Gary Indiana, Indianapolis, St. Louis and into Southern Missouri., a shorter run to Amarillo Tx second day and the possible straight run past Albuquerque NM and on to AZ, turn at Flagstaff and down to Scottsdale.

Most of the trip would be in cold weather so full snows were fitted despite the destination being warmer.


We will set off in before dawn to avoid traffic.:


Odo set to zero:

[RDMcG]

DAY 1:
4am and on the road to avoid city traffic and ran without stopping except for gas stops and drive-thrus arriving in Rolla Mo. to a Hampton Inn early evening. Zero problems or delays and 1400km done. Updated weather still good.

DAY 2,
Relaxed departure heading to Texas. Roads are good and the bighways are lightly patrolled with few Waze warnings. We stopped briefly in Oklahoma City to visit the memorial to the bombing of the Federal building where Tim McVeigh parked a truck full of fertilizer and destroyed the building , killing 168 people including kids in a daycare.

It is a beautifully executed memorial with a reflecting pool which has 168 bronze chairs beside it, including half sized chairs for the children who died. A very sad but serene place.








We continued on at a committed pace and reach Amarillo in time for dinner at a local place near the hotel. Overall, a trouble free day.

DAY 3
Weather still good, did a very quick side trip down Route 66 through Tucumcari which is not too far beyond the New Mexico border.I have often stayed there at the Blue Swallow motel which is a fully restored retro place; unfortunately they do not take dogs so only stay there on empty trips.


One thing that gives a sense of the climate it this old truck which has been sitting there forever. The first pics was taken 11 years ago and the second is current. Only deterioration appears to be that the wooden cap has rotted to blown off.






So far, so good. No weather.

We were heading for Moriarty NM when Waze began to show trouble ahead.


Suddenly Waze added two hours to the trip. Highway 40 is the big interstate all the way to L.A. I assumed accident ahead; as it turned out there were multiple truck accidents in a nasty snowstorm that had not been forecast. I continued on but noticed that that Eastbound highway was empty.

Waze showed more trouble ahead and added more time; a detour was proposed onto old 66 which parallels the highway and was not blocked. I could see the traffic in the distance so took the detour.

Once on 66 I realized that it had not been ploughed and there was no way back. The snow was high enough to scrape along the underside and there was ice on the base, so zero grip.Looking up to the highway I could see crashed trucks , so only way was to keep on. The Pana has a variable height air suspension but it is no 4x4 so I drove about ten miles at little more than walking pace; the slightest touch on the accelerator caused a slide and there were ditches on each side. There was no traffic on this rural stretch apart from a couple of big 4x4 trucks,

I got past the accidents and slowly made it back to highway 40. Once again I noticed the Eastbound was empty, and soon the Westbound ground to a halt. Hours passed and emergency heavy hauls slowly cleared the truck wreckage - continued though the slippery roads and headed into Arizona where it was as if nothing had happened.

I have seen these storms before and they can come out of nowhere










Brief video here from someone else who was in this mess:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyPM2OAb76w&t=...


As usual the weather came back to normal as we got towards the AZ border. Could have made it all the way but the delays meant that a relaxation break for an extra night made sense, so stopped in Winslow AZ.

Edited by RDMcG on Thursday 18th January 23:28

[unseen]

Great post - can't wait to read the next instalments. The memorial looks beautifully done and very moving

[RDMcG]

Winslow is a Route 66 town that owes its current fame to an Eagles song.- Take it Easy. A Jackson Brown song, it starts ~Standin’ on a corner in Winslow Arizona~,

Some enterprising individuals built the corner to reflect the song with lots of references including a flatbed Ford and a statue of Glen Frey. All day punters come for Instagram shots as they stand beside the statue, so the plan to attract tourists worked.



It is also home to my favourite hotel on the route.

La Posada.It is one of the original railroad hotels from the twenties when were were no interstate highways and car travel was primitive. You could get a train all the way to California from Chicago and overnight in one one of the railside hotels.
Today there are only two in operation.




La Posada sits right beside the main tracks - sitting at dinner you can see the Amtrak unload its passengers.




The hotel is beautifully restored with nice rooms and great public spaces, serves a very good Margarita and an excellent breakfast. Sadly the previously first class evening meal has badly deteriorated due to the departure of the chef and even a trip to the local McDonalds would be better.










On the other hand, if you are a train buff you can simply sit on the low wall trackside and watch the massive freight trains thunder by as they do 24 hours a day.








Next morning we leave at dawn in the frost and the the short trip down to Scottsdale. It is amazing how quickly things change…going west to Flagstaff and snow covered peaks you get to 7200ft of elevation, turn South for the two hour trip to Scottsdale and drop to 2000 ft and a completely different climate…the pine trees and aspens replaced by huge Saguaro cactus and a mild climate.

And drought. The Saguaros are notably thinner than usual and there has been quite a few lost.

[RDMcG]

As always, cars that have been stored for a long time tend to have some problems. The SL500 which was served in October nevertheless shows battery not charging and has to have both batteries replaced at Mercedes, while the Panamera will have to have the front brakes done. To be fair, this is the first item to be replaced since new.

The dealership complex is owned by Penske and is about a kilometre long. It includes dealerships for Mercedes, BMW, Porsche,Maserati, Ferrari, Bugatti, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Bentley and a few others I may have missed. I have never seen so many exotic cars in one place...dozens of Italian cars in endless variations.







Fancy a used 911R for only $499,999?.....

[RDMcG]

Finally, all cars are sorted. The odo on the Panamera shows 3800km since start. A few days to get the basic house stuff done ( there are always repairs, always) and then the next part of the adventure will begin in a few days,but there are always good places within minutes of the house:









Even looking out in the yard varies:

Edited by RDMcG on Thursday 18th January 23:58

[RDMcG]

Even at the early stage of this trip are endless car to be seen such as:

in a neighbours garage:



many Rivians here



New SL Mercedes. I am not a fan- it looked slab sided and prefer the appearance of my 20 year old SL shown below





Pickups everywhere

:




A rare E30 M3 seen on the street


and as always. things that are ripe for restoration:

[Guyr]

Great posts, it's a pleasure to read about Porsches being used for their designed purpose.

[RDMcG]

The dog has instantly settled down to her usual spots, Tried the Jeep but it is a tough jump for her. She will go to the dog care place for the next trip or two as thee is limited dog accommodation.







All sorted at the house and cars, the next trip will head for the AZ-Utah border, including Monument Valley which I know well.

As usual we head out in the dark:

[RDMcG]

We get up beyond Flagstaff at sunrise:

[M11rph]

What a great read!

Many thanks for taking the time to document that and take us all along for the ride.

Like the registration plate and Spa picture and echo the sentiment that it's great to see a Porsche being used properly... nothing sadder than a low mileage car.

Enjoy the 70 degree days in PHX, I'm not ...

[J6542]

Thanks for once again taking the time to put this thread together, I love reading them. Your travel adventures are one of the most enjoyable threads on PH.

[RDMcG]

Although the Jeep would have been the more capable vehicle for some of the destinations chosen, there are no extreme off-road destinations, though many dirt roads and steep climbs.
First of all, sunset crater and the Wupatki loop have magnificent scenery and are paved. Lots of volcanic geology including visible lava fields.













Some of the upcoming destinations would be a tad more challenging but time to keep moving.

Edited by RDMcG on Thursday 18th January 22:57

[RDMcG]

The plan was to use Monument Valley as a base and try some trails that had not been visited. I have always used Gouldings Resort in Monument Valley for hits area, and even have had the same house ( # 340 ,a three bedroom fully-equipped place suitable for a group.).

From the Flagstaff origin the approach is still impressive:



However the more famous view ( the so called Forrest Gump view) is from the other side:



However this vantage point is often clogged with Instagrammers who seem to want a shot of them jumping in the air forming and X pattern. The light is better in the early morning anyway.


The house has a great view of the valley:



There is a basic but good restaurant, with a view not fancy, but again a nice view. As this is a Navajo reservation there is no alcohol though you re welcome to bring your own to the house which has full cooking facilities .:

[birdcage]

Great posts!

[RDMcG]

The Valley drive is completely different from morning to evening while flat and uninteresting when the sun is high. When we came to the entrance to the drive, the Navajo woman who was checking admissions voiced some doubt as to whether the Panamera was capable of the drive, but I assured her it was no problem.

It is very difficult to scale Monument Valley as there are few reference points.

However if you look at the small building in the foreground here they are Navajo homes complete with cars outside:

[RDMcG]

There are infinite views and light changes

[RDMcG]

The next day was to go beyond Monument Valley into some much more obscure drives on dirt roads.

One thing I have learned for this kind of escapade is to be very weather aware. The nature of the desert soil is to turn to slick mud with the grip of black ice when formerly easy trails turn treacherous. I now take fewer chances than I did when I lost a Jeep Cherokee down a river in `1994, or even with the current Jeep. Last year I was off road on a virtually flat track when it rained and it took me an hour at less than walking pace to very carefully reverse down an remote trail just barely touching controls to avoid a long slide. The Panamera would be a very poor choice in such conditions.

One limitation on the Pana was that the variable height air suspension only works at very low speeds, so I had numerous occasions to have to travel more slowly than was needed. However, it was very handy on some rough roads to avoid bottoming the car.

[RDMcG]

First stop was the Valley of the Gods. This is a broad shallow basin surrounded by cliffs whic does to have the grandeur of monument and suffers from being too close. That being said, well worth a visit. It has quite a steep entrance on one sids which was probably the most challenging segment for the Panamera on this trip, but once down it is not too bad at all:

[RDMcG]

A bit more obscure but really worth doing is the Moki Dugway. This is a very steep dirt road built to the top of a mountain that was only constructed to service a uranium mine, so heavy trucks would use this trail.















There are a few small towns nestled in the rocks but this is not a place where you will find a restaurant:



On the way back stopped by Goosenecks, a geological wonder, but the light was wrong, and also past Mexican Hat though I have no idea why it was so named:

Edited by RDMcG on Thursday 18th January 23:07