Cayman Road Trip – Leg 3 – LA to Raleigh

Ok, my last post about Leg 2 was a long one. There was a lot to talk about. This one will be brief.

So, you leave northern LA and head up I-15 towards Las Vegas. Up this road a ways, you meet I-40, which in NC passes within 20 miles of my house. I got a kick out of this sign. I have passed by its mirror image while leaving Wilmington, NC. It seems I have many miles to travel!

So it was on. 12 hour days! As I recall, I made it to Gallup, NM the first night. 738 miles. My mileage on the next day took a hit, as I stopped for a couple of hours to visit an old friend near Amarillo, TX. I made it to El Reno, OK, near Oklahoma City that day. 652 miles. I did pass this cool bridge 🙂

My next day was very respectable. El Reno, OK to Cookville, TN. 783 miles. At some point during that segment, the Cayman broke the 100K mileage mark! Note in the picture that the trip meter is only showing 1265. I don’t know when or how I managed to reset it. Right before I reset it, it was over 6000 miles.

I was pushing hard to get to middle Tennesee because I was going to have a little fun the next day. A fellow Etype owner, Scot, lives in Franklin, NC. The best route from middle TN to Franklin, NC, at least when you are driving a Porsche, is via the Tail of the Dragon. I have lived in NC since 1984 but have never driven that famous road. That next morning I did. I must say, after all the technical stuff I did in CA, it was a little bit of a letdown but not by much. I kept catching up with some guys on those 3 wheeled motorcycles, which apparantly cannot be driven quickly on those curvy roads. There was no way I was going to pass them so I would pull off at a turnout for a minute to build up a gap and then proceed at a speed that I liked! It was all great fun.

I inspected Scot’s 63 Etype FHC project and then we went out for lunch. All very pleasant. Late in the afternoon I proceeded to my sister’s summer place in Balsam, NC. We killed a couple of bottles of wine over a nice salmon dinner. She has a great view of the Blue Ridge from her back porch.

The next morning, the last day of my trip, it was an easy 4 hour drive back to my home near Raleigh. And that was it. My road trip was over. I had a great time. Here are a few stats.

Total distance traveled – 8100 miles

Days on the road – 27

Average gas mileage – 25.6 mpg

Oil consumption – 2/3’s of a quart

Fuel cost – Don’t ask!

Trip value – Priceless!