MY 1st cross country trip, and yes I was crazy.
 

Well I thought I would break this down into a couple different parts. I have also repeated this on both forums I belong to.
http://www.987forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21083
First: The car
For those who didn’t read my first post, look above, I am from central Ohio and bought a 2001 Porsche Boxster S with 50k miles on eBay from a guy in California. Yep I decided to take a 2400 mile road trip in a car sight unseen. Well luckily the guy selling me the car was a service manager from the dealership he bought it from.
The car was better than advertised. Absolutely no oil leaks and only one scratch that was disclosed beforehand. It had 18” tires and the spare had never been used. I checked the oil after sitting in my garage overnight and still not a drop of oil!! Apparently the economy is really bad in Sacramento and people are literally selling all their possessions just to survive. So if you are looking, look to the west young man!!

The Flight:
Ok this might get long so I apologize ahead of time:Started off Tues when I flew into San Francisco. Oh I was shocked as hell they let me on the plane with my carryon bag. I had more electronic devices than inspector gadget. My passport 9500ix, touch phone, car adapter for touch, binoculars, camel back hydration back pack (just in case), electronic cigarette (trying to quit), digital camera, duct tape, and my guns and ammo magazine. If I was the guy at the x-ray security machine, id think this would reek of a terrorist. He looked at me kind of funny; I looked back, smiled and said you might as well open it up as it would be easier to explain. He laughed and checked me through. I am thinking cool, but then I thought I could have easily gotten my glock 45cal through (not good). Of course the girl threw out my 50 sun block as it was over their limit of ounces allowed even though I argued that it was only half full and that it indeed met their limits. Of course I didn’t want to argue the fact with Helga the German shot putter with rubber gloves, so I complied and threw it out(more on that later).

The trip:
Day 1:
After a grueling flight sitting next to a guy twice my size, Oh I am 6,2 245lbs, we finally landed in San Fran. I inspected the car, signed the check over and got the title and was on the road by 3pm. I drove to Reno NV as I wanted to get a feel for the car and see if it was road trip worthy. No doubt in my mind I literally stole this car. Oh by the way stay away from the buffet at the nugget hotel (more on that later). Hotel was awesome for $49 a night. I mean this should be rated 5 stars, with huge rooms, beautiful indoor pool, secure parking…
Day 2:
Woke up bright and early 5am Jumped in the car put the top down and I was ready to conquer NV and Utah. Oh crap the desert is frickin cold in the morning, up goes the top. A bout 4 hours later down went the top , Oh crap I forgot the idiot threw out my sun block, I Luckily found a small ink spot on the map called Winnemucca, and by luck it had Wallymart. I bought a family cooler, bag of ice, 2 gallons of water, fix flat, 1 quart mobile 1, trail mix and an 8 pack of Gatorade. Oh **************** I forgot the sun block so back in I go. For those with Boxster, the family cooler fits perfectly in the frunk (take out the tire iron and tools). So back on the road with top through NV and Utah. The drive through Nevada was simply amazing. I mean it was picturesque traveling through the mountains. The Porsche was definitely built for the mountain terrain. Hugged the curves and effortless breezed up the inclines like nothing I have ever driven. Even with the cruise on, I was surprised I never felt the engine lunge going up the hills.
Ok Now as I was going into Utah with the top down I started feeling a burning sensation. As luck would have it sun block needs to be reapplied every few hours. I also started feeling a gurgling sensation in my middle stomach region (remember the buffet? Well more later, much more). Helpful tip: Don’t drive with your top down in the first part of Nevada, as the all the salt flats really smell like dead fish. I mean it reeked!! So I stopped off in Park city to take care of that gurgling feeling and get something to eat. Stopped at loco lizards. Had a steak sandwich and made almost made it through Wyoming. I stopped in Laramie Wyoming. BY the way, Wyoming doesn’t have trees, but it does have prairie dogs and they would sit along the road and just stare at you. So being me I had to pull over and mess with them (being the dog lover I am). Timid little creatures as they were, I couldn’t get within 30 feet of them. That was probably a good thing as I didn’t want to get a tetanus shot that day. Found a Super 8(yeah I am cheap) as i just need a place to crash until the sun comes up. What a dump!! They had duct tape holding the batteries in the remote. The shower felt great though.
Day 3:
Well remember the buffet at the Nuggets? Well I can’t really find true words to describe what came out of me; I don’t even think Home depot could match that color green on their state of the art color matching computer. OK I know “too much Info”. Well apparently the Leg of lamb they had on their buffet had a hidden agenda. Not only did I have food poising I realized that hair doesn’t protect the scalp from sunburn. Frickin ouch!! So now I had food poising and sun poising. I appreciated the fact that I averaged 28 MPG (27 with ac), but my body needed a few more frequent stops at the stations. Now, it was just a mission to make it home. Nebraska went by quickly enough as I didn’t see one cop and traffic was light. So I tested out what cruise control at 100mph felt like. Actually it felt just like 55mph but things went by alittle quicker.  I was damned determined to make it through Iowa, but I really started getting sick, I mean dizzy and nauseated. Not a good condition to be alert and driving. So I limped into for the night. Found a “clean” super 8 and crashed at 6pm. I woke up around 1am and was lying in a pool of sweat. Actually that was a great sign as it showed my immune system was taking over. Chugged a bunch of water, downed an Advil and crashed till 8am.
Day 4:
I felt much better but still couldn’t find match on Home Depot's color chart (sorry). So the final day was only like a 6 hour drive. I enjoyed the scenery through Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. The ride was pretty much uneventful except for the few mustang owners who had to come up and try to challenge me. I just smiled nodded and pretty much ignored them. They would race off and then about 10 minutes later after the fear of driving over 80 set in, I blew right by them with my cruise set at 80 something. I did enjoy the smiles from the girls as I drove by, especially the ones with their hubby’s in the car with them. You could see them arguing in the rearview mirror (What were you looking at). At about 20 miles out of Indianapolis, I started feeling this warm fuzzy feeling (no it wasn’t the lamb from the buffet). The air smelled better, the people seemed nicer, OMG It was the Ohio boarder!! Home sweet Home!! That last Hour seemed like Heaven on Earth!!

The Verdict:
It was a fantastic adventure, Yes I would have love to have skipped the Leg Of Lamb at the Nugget casino, but such is life. Oh, I said screw the worlds largest ball of twine, wasn't worth the 2 hour detour.

So here is an abbreviated break down of my trip:
Air fare to San Fran= $265

Gas/hotels/junk food=$600 :eek:

Leg of Lamb @ the Buffet=Just plain Stupid!! (but it was delicious) :ah:

9 states/ avg speed of 85 ish mph and no tickets=Just Pure Talent Baby :cool: (ok maybe a little luck)
4 day journey across our beautiful Country= Frickin Priceless :dance: :cheers:

Great trip and great story (save for the food poisoning). I flew from Columbus to Richmond, VA to pick mine up, 8 to 9 hour drive back through beautiful scenic country. Congrats on making it back safely.

Trip Report
 

Enjoyed your trip report. I share your enthusiasm of being a new Boxter owner. About 5 weeks ago I picked up a 2004 Boxster and have since put 6000km on it.....and enjoyed every one. Should have got one years ago.
Dave

'Grats and cool story. I really enjoyed reading it. People actually do that. On the plane out here you must have been thinking wow, this is crazy! Ofcourse any number of things could have gone wrong, but that just adds to the adventure. I was tempted to try that. But, sensible me, I bought my ebay '01S locally so as to be covered by AAA+ 100 mile free tow. Big adventure. Ho hum. Love the car though.

its wierd, 1 day later I feel fine. No symptoms or nothing. I almost said "what the heck" and drove to the east coast to say I went coast to coast, but I didn't want to tempt fate.

If I would have know the "S" model had 3 radiators and almost no chance of overheating, I would have went the southern route 40. I think I would have enjouyed it more through arizona,new mex,texas, okla, arkansas, and then I could have had my bbQ in Memphis.

I would like to thank everyone for their support. I don't think I would have done it without all the support and examples of others. it was truly an amazing adventure(except for about one day, but that was mostly through half of nebraska and Iowa, so no big loss.

that sounds like fun! just from reading your post, I could sense how much you like hte car and how great that trip was.

the only thing you left out where the hotties at the hotel pool that wanted to go for a ride in your porsche, then back to your room for "drinks".... other than that your trip was PERFECT! ahhahahaahaha

glad to hear you and the box made it home safely.... that must have been an awesome trip.... i did that once but on a smaller scale... san fran down to san diego and back.... loved it... show us some pictures... and if you dont mind... what did the s run you?

NO I didn't really leave it out cause it didn't happen. :eek: I was so damn tired the first day at the nugget that had an awesome pool, that I never made it to the pool after the buffet. Oops!! None of the other motels had a pool(yes I wuz cheap). Plus all the motels where in bumb f##ked egypt and the gilrs where bigger than me( I am 6'2" 245lbs). :eek:

I know live and learn. Plus my car looked like a huge 120mph fly swatter. On the plus size(besides the women), I didn't get one stone chip on my car. I spent damn near $10 in quarters pressure washing 9 states worth of bugs off my car.

Hey that reminds me of an old joke: What is the last thing that goes through a bugs mind when he hits the windshield of my boxster going 120MPH ??? His ASS!! :D

As for pics, I have to download them if they even came out. I didnt take any after the first two days as I was sick.

OMG!!! Freakin great deal... lucky you didn't get pulled over cause the cop might have arrested you for "stealing" a boxster S.... you must do the proverbial thing... "drive it like you stole it".... cause at that price you sure did...lol :cheers:

Yeah, I kept asking myself, what is wrong with it? First I did a walk around, then I moved it and checked for oil leaks. Everything checked out. Unfortunately the guy lost his job and lives south of sacramento ca. They got hit hard by the housing bubble and unemployment. As I said earlier, if anybody is looking for a steal, check craigslist and ebay in the cali area. These cars where as common as f150's are here in ohio. Luckily he had title in hand so I knew there where no liens.

If I hadn't gotten mine I would have probably gotten this one (see link) out of florida. its not an "s" but at the time I didnt know anybetter)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300324785887QQssPageNa meZMERC_VIC_RCRX_Pr2_PcY_BIN_IT&refitem=3003218002 00&itemcount=2&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&usedr ule1=CrossSell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_w idget&_trksid=p284.m183&_trkparms=algo%3DCRX%26its %3DS%252BI%26itu%3DUCI%252BSI%26otn%3D2

To me, this one(see link below) was the bet buy. Hard top and maticulously(sp) cared for. I just didn't care for the color. I love silver, both my audi A6, A4, were silver and for us lazy people there is nothing like silver. :D

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&it em=180365162154

HEY!!!

Glad you made it back without ralphing in the Box. :barf:

excellent. glad to hear it went well and you should have come on over to the east coast! the mountains from w. va to md are a lot of fun.

so, now that it's home, how many times have you looked out the window to see it again? :D

Oops, sorry. but you all gotta do something about the damn road construction :eek: . The eastern half of nebraska was cool. I liked seeing the roads named after tom osborne. Being a buckeye I still have much respect for the cornhuskers!! :cool: :cool:

I travel a lot for work, and learned the following 3 important rules:

1) Never eat in the same place you sleep

2) Never eat from a buffet

3) Wash your hands a lot

Sounds like you had a great trip. It was fun reading your report. Enjoy the car!

CONGRATS! I just picked up my boxster this past Saturday...

I already put 125 miles the first day (thats ALOT for NYC). My fiancee and I are planning our first road trip to the finger lakes. Awesome story!

Happy Motoring, Dan :cheers:

Thanks, Oh, avoid buffets!!! I wish I had did a little more home work on things to see and places to eat. There are always the hidden little places you just drive right by and then see them on the food network the next week as the best place to eat in the world. Happened to me. I saw a place on tv in Oklahoma, that supposedly had the best beef brisket in the world and found out it was only a stones throw away from were I had been. I didn't want to plan my trip down to the tee, but I should have had more options.

Have fun on your trip!! and remeber a family "red" cooler from Wallyworld fits perfectly in the frunk!! That was probably the best advice I could give!! As it saved me a small fortune from those gouging interstate gas stations.

We are definitely looking into the cooler! I noticed things in the frunk and trunk normally gets so hot. I'm worried if the ice will melt away every few minutes or so.

Great point about the research. We're definitely planning every stop. I'm glad you had fun! Post up pictures soon!

I had to only change my ice once a day. The cooler definately did its job. I did have to move the jack and the tools in the trunk

all of that should fit in the styrofoam insert stuck in the backside of the spare...

http://www.911pcar.com/Porsche_Parts/996_spare_tire.jpg