Seattle Trip #1 and a Toyota Avalon

This week, I am a yo-yo. In an effort to balance work and fun, I'm driving like a mad man. My first trip to Seattle was on Thursday, when I drove from Portland to Seattle with my mom in her Toyota Avalon. An interesting trip- take my mom to a baseball game Thursday night, work Friday morning, drive home Friday afternoon. Now...driving with my mom is not the easiest thing. I love her to death...but she is the worst passenger in the entire world. Every time someone slowed/turned/stepped off a curb/changed lanes in front of me, she grabbed on for dear life and made a noise that could only resemble a squeeky chew toy stuck in a blender. I was pretty much done after I got the angry mom voice for making a U-turn...which I had to remind her was legal in the state of Washington. Her reponse was classic- "Well, they shouldn't be"

The nicest part of the drive was actually the vehicle...and later model Toyota Avalon. A very comfortable car, feels very solid. And honestly a very good value at around $27k. Only a few gripes with this one:

- It's a total old person car (Have you ever seen anyone under the age of 50 driving one?)
- The cruise control is NOT smooth (need to go to the chiropractor after hitting 'resume')
- Fabric seats are not finished well (wrinkly) and feel very cheap
- No 12V Power supply in a convienient location (my GPS cord was stretched out and looped around the steering wheel)

All and all, it was a very comfortable drive when I was driving. And a great trip, all things considered. I got some mom time in, watched a baseball game on a perfect summer evening (the Mariners could win one sometime), and had papaya pancakes for breakfast before driving back on Friday.

Seattle Trip #2 began on Saturday...and will follow soon!

Orange County, CA and the Dodge Charger

So...here I sit in Orange County making my first blog post ever. It's been a long day- up at 4am for a 7am flight down here, so pardon me if I begin rambling.

Now normally I rent from Hertz, but for some reason Avis got the nod today. The nice man at the counter said they had a Chevy Cobalt for me, but for the low low price of $5 a day, he would get me into a "Premium" vehicle. Oh well, why not.

So I hop into a Dodge Charger. First impressions- this car has some style...for an American car at least. The wheel gap is absurd, but what stock car doesn't these days. The car is surprisingly larger than you'd expect, and provides plenty of room for 4 full sized adults. For a supposed "modern muscle car", the interior is a little more refined rather than sporty...especially the seats. More support would be nice, which is offered in the upgraded trim packages, but of course you can't rent one of those. My biggest gripe with the car is the drive by wire system. It seriously takes a full second before your inputs are registered. This is very annoying in parking lots, where the car will all of sudden lurch forward and cause for heavy braking...it's like learning how to drive all over again! This trait is also a pain in the ass on the LA freeways...when I push the pedal I need to go now, lest get run over.



Orange County is not my favorite spot to visit for work- too many tourists coming down to get their Disney on means lots of bratty kids and brain dead adults. It's probably just because I'm bitter...I'm here to work, not to have fun. I would love to head to Disney or Knott's for an evening of rollercoasters and rides. So why don't I? Simple- a 31 year old single male heads to an amusement park on his own and people are going to make assumptions. And I really don't need Dateline NBC thinking bad things about me...so I just look on and dream. One of these days I'll bring my girlfriend down so we can go have some fun :)

Dodge Charger Overview

Pros


-Decent styling


-Refined interior


-Plenty of room for multiple adults





Cons


-Drive by wire lag


-Wants to be a sports car and a luxury car at the same time


-Considered a "Premium" vehicle...so it'll probably be expensive