10 days, 14 states, 2550 miles, 51:55 hrs of seat time

[KfabR8]

I see an occasional post on this board wondering how well the R8 works for a long haul traveling car. All I can say is WONDERFULLY!!!!

I got my 2011 on July 7th and 10 weeks later I've rolled 7,100 miles on the odometer. 2,550 of that in the past 10 days.

My girlfriend and I (and we're still together after 10 days of travel!) left here on Tuesday the 6th and proceeded to head East.

We drove through Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.

I now just need to hit South Carolina, North Dakota and Alaska and I've been in them all!

I'd never been to D.C., New York, Philly, Boston, any of the Cape nor up in Maine. What a great time! Boston's beautiful! NYC was a trip - very cool place indeed. Our first day, in D.C., was wet (hurricane fallout) and the following day back in the Allentown area was too, but after that the weather was killer.

Anyhow, my R8 did a stellar job of getting us from point to point to point and the comments and stares and such were a hoot.

I've now pretty much been from coast to coast and north to south in an R8 and it's one of the best, most comfortable travel vehicles I've had the pleasure of traveling in.

.... Getting your girl friend to pack "lightly" can be a challenge, though! - I used two back packs, she, on the other hand, had more than that and on occasion (especially after shopping in NYC) getting things stuffed into the trunk made for some comical hood closings.

Man I like this car!

[NVRL8R8]

I noticed you were "missing" here on the forum, and found out why from your text reply. I didn't text back in consideration of the fact you were out of office, so-to-speak. Thanks for your reply though.
Sounds like you had a blast on this road trip however. I don't know anyone that enjoys this car more than you. Welcome back!

[Europrice]

That's a pretty epic trip, not to mention in an R8. Would love to do something similar some day.

[the_buch]

Great story - I look forward to such an adventure. The packing for that duration would be all the challenge you note! And, I really like your idea of getting to every state as I've already been to every Canadian province.

[RS4Cab]

Glad you enjoyed Boston, is a great time of the year here. After this summers 5 day 2,400 mile Cabot Trail rally I did I think the R8 can be considered a touring car. Was extremely comfortable and performed like a champ. Already looking forward to next summer rally, Will be leaving From Boston and heading to Tail of the Dragon in NC. Would love to get some more R8's on trip. Guy that runs this does an incredible job and gets great hotels

[technomania]

sounds like a fun trip!!

[KfabR8]

Oh - and to top it off, I got 18.7 mpg average! Cruised along most the time between 75 and 82, but we did hit 114 once making a pass on a "few" cars on a two lane highway. - poor people had no clue what went by them either, I'm sure....

95% of this trip was new territory for me. My girlfriend, Tracy, had done about 80% of it with the exception of last the two last parts, which ironically I had done.

D.C. was pretty cool, but wet as mentioned. We wandered about the main tourist trap areas checking the sights and stopped in one of the Smithsonian Museums (Natural History). It quit raining about the time we decided to head out, of course.

Philadelphia was next on the list. I'd always wanted to see the Liberty Bell. Lots of history there. Went to the mint and saw where they make coins (but didn't get to see them being made up close - drats), saw Ben Franklin's resting place, toured Independence Hall and topped the day off with a genuine Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich. Off to the Allentown, PA area to spend the night with Tracy's cousin.

New York was probably the most interesting aspect of the trip. We drove through the Lincoln Tunnel and as soon as we got out of it, I was told to pull over and was inspected. We got there on the Friday before the big 9-11 10th anniversary so security was intense. The cop asked for driver's license, registration and they ran my plates. The guy was very nice, courteous, handed me back my stuff and told me to enjoy the weekend.

Three things that I had to do while in NYC were eat a street vendor hotdog (good but didn't settle well), ride in a cab and take the subway. Man, the Tube in London is SO much cleaner!!!

We walked all over the place - Times Square, Central Park, Rockefeller Plaza, St. Patrick's Cathedral (amazing!), Grand Central. Basically played Tourist on a Sight Seeing. But man was it fun!

Friday night we took in a Broadway show; Jersey Boys - excellent!, ate in Little Italy and headed back to the hotel.

Saturday we hit Greenwich Village and China Town. Lunch in a Vietnamese joint; we ate a jelly fish salad and some sort of shrimp wrap and enjoyed that immensely. Yea, jelly fish... funky texture, but darn good.

Stopped in Hyannis on the way to Boston and spent the night. Went to the end of the Cape and had a nice lunch and sat on the pier for a while. The place looks like something off of a post card. Saw a black convertible Lambo on the way back towards Hyannis.

Boston was just beautiful. We did some goofy "ghost tour" the night we got there. Fairly theatrical history tour. Was a decent way to waste a couple of hours riding around on a trolley and walking through grave yards and such.

The following day we wandered about and took one of the green Trolleys to various spots about town. Stopped to see the USS Constitution - wanted to see that since I was a kid and built a model of it, then hopped back on the trolley and let it take us all over the place. We'd get off, wander about looking at the sights and then hop back on and go to another spot.

The streets and the architecture and the age of things there is just wonderful. Beautiful narrow cobble stone roads with these old (in US standards, not European) brown stones everywhere. Some covered in ivy or shrouded by trees.

Had dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse - nice fillet!

Headed on up to Portland, Maine from there. Had dinner at this neat little place on the coast. You order your lobster, they throw it in the pot and then call your number. Sat outside at a pic-nick table and enjoyed a really nice sunset and a full moon rising. The following day we did a whale watching tour - saw finbacks, the second largest beast on the planet.

Getting pretty tired by now, so we headed off back towards home and made it to Albany, New York. Spent the night, got up, hit Niagara Falls (one of the two places I'd been that Tracy had not) - walked to the overlook, checked it out, went back to the car and drove to Cleveland.

Hit the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame the following day (the other place I'd been) and then headed home. Got back about 7:00 local on Friday, worn out and happy as could be. It really was a fun trip.

We made it a point to stop in any state that neither of us had been in and either get fuel or some sort of snack, just to make it official that we'd been in the state. You're not allowed to just drive through and not put your feet on the ground and consider having been there - that's cheating.

I call the GPS system "Jenny" - my goofy mind heard Forrest Gump saying "Jenny tells me where to go" the first time she talked to me, so it stuck. Let me say that while she's nice to have on a trip, Jenny SUCKS!

The routing and guidance she gives is silly at times! I've done so much traveling w/o a nav system over the years that I'm pretty adept at getting around, so when she'd send us off on some wild goose chase of a route I'd just go my own way and let her catch up, but man, I finally understand why everyone complains about the system in our beautiful machines.

RS4 - keep me posted on the summer trip. Everyone says I need to go to the Tail - lots of people from this area do. Maybe I'll be able to join in part of that trip.

Sorry for the long post - been a while since I've sat at a computer and excercised my fingers and mind.

[RS4Cab]

RS4 - keep me posted on the summer trip. Everyone says I need to go to the Tail - lots of people from this area do. Maybe I'll be able to join in part of that trip.

Can find info on it here http://forums.yuppieracing.net/conte...-at-Deal-s-Gap
The organizers for rally do a great job, Cabot Trail one was a blast. Hope you and any other R8'ers can try and make

[Baer]

Great trip and great write up Kfab! Thanks, sounds like it was a lot of fun!

[SebringSilver]

I can't believe you had the fillet and not the Cowboy Steak at Ruth's Chris.