How I Spent My Winter Vacation

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
PARTY LIKE IT'S 1999!

Did you ever have to write a report in elementary school at the start of the new year about your summer vacation? Do you remember anything about hearing any other classmate ever read theirs? Are there any top selling books based on a great summer vacation? Well, Jaws probably counts!

We loaded up the mighty Camry, fresh on a new set of brake pads, filled up the tank, loaded up the presents for relatives, and headed out to PA, OH, MI, IN, and back thru OH, PA, NJ, and NY to complete the circuit. I didn't count the miles, but it was more than 50 and bigger than a breadbox. Along the way we enjoyed scenic vistas on I-80, had a great Christmas, and had a great time. I really enjoyed the driving, with lots of cruise control interstate time to observe the driving habits of Americans in their natural state too, and if I was Santa, I'd be passing out a lot of Driver's Education Textbooks!

It's an easy concept to drive on the highway but let me just offer a few top tips to round out 2018, tips that should make every day driving safer for all of us.

1. If it's dark, raining, and/or foggy, turn your lights on! Yes, I'm talking to the dozens of folks I saw driving in rain or dusk who might have even had their daytime running lights on, but NO BRAKE LIGHTS, so it's hard to see you in reduced visibility. Hey, didja know that many states have a law that says to turn on your lights (all of them) when your windshield wipers are on? FACT!

2. If you need to exit the interstate, and we'll assume here that your exit is on the RIGHT like probably 95% of them are, then why don't you consider (I'm being polite here) moving into that right-hand exit lane well before the actual exit? I'm talking mostly to the Jeep driver somewhere in Ohio that passed me on the left and then immediately cut back in front of me to cross over to the right-hand exit. No, I wasn't impressed with your idiotic double-lane-shift at the least second, so I'm happy that I was able to get out of your way. Oh, and thanks for the nonverbal communication you sent my way after driving like an idiot!

3. Some general winter driving tips: SLOW DOWN when it's icy, clear ALL the snow off your car (not just your front window), and make sure your windshield wipers are working. Along the way on our trip we noticed our wipers were kind of doing a C- "blah" job, so we visited the AutoZone store in Clarion PA. After buying some new wipers, our friendly AutoZone guy Tyler offered to put them on the car for us. He had those blades on so fast, I'm sure he's done hundreds of them before, and we just wanted to thank him and point out what great service we got! And, the new wipers work great, and made the rest of the trip much more visible!

THANKS TYLER AT AUTOZONE, CLARION PA!

4. On this trip we managed to focus on visiting the family, but as you might imagine, there were some automotive highlights and trivial tidbits of driving fun too. While we didn't see a ton of billion dollar cars on the road, we spotted this truck that might have been hauling millions of dollars worth of cars!

SANTA STILL MAKES DELIVERIES!

On I-70 outside of Dayton Ohio we passed the exit for Brookville, which would be fun to visit again some day and check out the folks at Brookville Roadsters. If you need any parts for your Ford Model A, or in fact an entire A body, they can take care of you!

BROOKVILLE OHIO

On the opposite (East) side of Ohio on I-80, we've always noticed the big Lordstown Ohio GM factory right along the road, and you've likely read about this and other plants in the news lately since GM is planning to halt production at several locations like Lordstown (home of the Cruze). In a way our trip around the Midwest could have focused on a lot of the USA's auto industry, since the factories and parts suppliers are all over the place. You might have  heard of a place called "Detroit" too.

LORDSTOWN OHIO, CHEVY CRUZE.

Back in PA, we passed the exit for Pocono Raceway, and while we didn't get to hit the track this time, we filled up on gas at this exit and helped the local economy a little bit at least.

POCONO RACEWAY OFF OF I-80. 

Just north of Indianapolis and the famous Motor Speedway, we had some awesome pizza with my brother and his family, and just as a reminder of the Indy 500 found this framed race car in the men's room. I didn't check the ladies room, but I'll guess there was a race car in there too. People in Indy love their race at the Brickyard.

INDY 500 ANYONE?

On the journey home, we spotted an exit for Tallmadge Ohio, and you might recognize that name as the home of Summit Racing. If there is something that makes your car go faster, the fine folks at Summit probably have it in stock! They are also located right on the interstate in Eastern  Ohio, and while we didn't visit the retail store, we managed a quick photo.

SUMMIT RACING

On the final leg of our trip we were just a few miles from  home, had just survived the George Washington Bridge, and then we spotted this car. I think it's a sign that I need to buy a Porsche! Happy New Year everyone! See you in 2019!

PORSCHE: SPOILER ALERT!

Update From the George Washington Bridge

Earlier this fall I had a little "incident" of speeding through a toll gate at the George Washington Bridge, and believe it or not, the GWB was in the news again recently! This time it wasn't me, but it seems that someone famous was spotted there not speeding, but for driving thru a booth without a license plate in his McLaren!  

Yeah, me and Ice-T have a LOT in common with this George Washington Bridge thing! We both have McLaren cars, (except me), and of course we are both famous musician/movie stars (again, except me). Ice-T was stopped and cited for not paying the toll, but also for not having a license plate on his car. You may or may not know that the GWB toll booths don't have any people in them, and they just take pictures of your car's license plate and bill you that way. If you have the EZ-Pass, then the electronic gizmos read the EZ-Pass on your car and collect money that way. 

Another bit of trivia about the EZ-Pass is that for the tolls in New York, an EZ-Pass FROM NY pays a cheaper rate than ones from other states. We discovered this after moving to NY with our Virginia EZ-Pass, and noticing the different prices. Man, I'm putting this on my list of things to do when I'm EMPEROR OF THE WORLD, and making all tolls cost the same for everyone! Then the next day I'll just do away with all the tolls!

Here's the Jalopnik article on Ice-T: JALOPNIK ARTICLE

ICYMI: Formula E Just Started a New Season!

Just today in Saudi Arabia the Formula E season for 18-19 started, and In Case You Missed It, you can watch the race on the Fox Sports app. I keep trying to kind of follow Formula E, so I watched the race this morning, and here's some random thoughts. FORMULA E

This is about the 5th year of these all electric cars racing, and they've now updated the cars and electric power systems so that the cars can run the entire 45 minute race on one charge. This might not sound like much, but you have to realize that up to now they've had a unique pit stop halfway through the race where the drivers parked in their garage, hopped out of the car and jumped into a 2nd car, because the batteries didn't have enough power for the full race. OK, so I guess they continue to improve on battery technology.

The carbon fiber cars look pretty cool, with unique "wings" over the rear wheels instead of a big spoiler in the back. Along with this they now have the world's largest diffusers in the rear too, so if nothing else you won't confuse these cars with Formula 1, Indy Car, or anything else.

The series continues to attract big names in the industry, with Audi, Nissan, BMW, Jaguar, Indian car maker Mahindra, and French auto brand DS. With 11 teams and 22 drivers, it looks like other racing you might have seen, but I'll admit it sounds different! There is a kind of high screeching electrical sound from the cars, but you will not mistake it for any gasoline powered car you've ever heard. With the backing of international governing body the FIA, and the continued interest in electric vehicles, I'd guess that Formula E will be around for a while whether we watch it or not.

Racing wise, there are some unique things to look out for too. First off, they have a "Fanboost" feature, where fans like us can vote online for our favorite drivers, and the drivers with the most votes get an increase of power for 5 seconds at the time of their choosing during the race. Hey, at least that's a way to get involved with the sport in an effort to make it interactive. FANBOOST

Similar to the Fanboost is another way that drivers can get an increase in electrical power during the race. With a specified activation zone on the track, the driver can go off the racing line and activate his boost  during the race, and boost his power a few minutes. From what I saw in the first race, boosting for that long seems to be worth a few places on track, and of course the tactics of when to use it is up to the driver. ATTACK MODE

Other than the teams and the cool technology, you might get interested in the drivers. With former F1 competitors like Felipe Massa, Stoffel Vandoorne, and others, it's nice to know a few familiar names anyway!

Another way that Formula E is trying to attract fans is to power pack the entire race, practice, and qualifying into just one day. Compared to NASCAR, INDY, or other races where you could spend a 3 day weekend to watch the average race, this schedule might appeal to fans that can't get away for more than a day. While that's good for the fans, I imagine the drivers and mechanics would like a bit more time to practice and set up their cars, but I guess you can't have everything. When the series wraps up this season in July 2019 in New York (Brooklyn), they'll go out in style with two races in two days. If  I'm still interested in Formula E by then maybe I'll ride the train and journey the 23 miles or so and see it live.