The flight continues

Anyway, back to the trip. As we were landing in Chicago, I could see all the snow on the ground; less than what we got back home, but I’ll have to be driving through this on summer tires. Quattro or no quattro, I know that’s not going to be fun.

 3/5/2003 9:58 AM: Of course. It’s 8:58 local. I’m going to gain (or lose, depending on your perspective) another couple of hours before I get to Denver. Tentatively, if everything works out, I’ll be driving home. My (ambitious) goal is to reach Kansas City Wednesday night. I think that’s about 750 miles. After getting up at 4:00 I’ll be pretty tired. Susan says the adrenaline of driving a new car will keep me awake. I think the fear of wrecking a $40,000 car will put me in a hotel early.

My right ear is bothering me this flight. I kind of expected it, thought. Yesterday I blew my nose, and it seemed like all the pressure went into that ear. I lost my sense of balance for a while, and had a headache for the rest of the day.

Gee, thanks to that Pepsi, I have to use an airplane lavatory for the first time in my life. Thank goodness it’s just a #1. OK, I’m back. It wasn’t bad. Small, but it had everything, including a changing table!!! I didn’t unfold it to see how it would work, but I’ve changed babies in confined spaces before. I wish I could take pictures to go along with the story, but with increased security, I’d rather not get in trouble.

3/5/2003 10:34 AM OK, I’m starving now. Of course, this is a non-food flight. I did get a granola bar. Hopefully this will tide me over until I land in Denver. It will only be 10:00 AM there, two hours until lunch. Michaela is going to pick me up, in a white Range Rover, no less, so I won’t be able to eat before I start doing the paperwork. (Maybe I could ask her.) I wasn’t hungry in Chicago. I didn’t have much time to eat between flights, anyway. They did announce over the PA that you could bring food on board. I wonder if Domino’s delivers up here?

While coming in for a landing I noticed that Denver is pretty brown. Didn’t find out till later that they’ve been under a drought. Got off the plane and realized I left Michaela’s cell phone number back at my office. Oh, well, I have her office number, which is a good thing, because I had to use it to find her. Duh, she said she’d be in a white Range Rover. Why am I looking for her inside the airport? I walk outside and there she is, driving up. We greet and shake hands. She told me she’d be easy to spot because she’s 6-feet tall and black. (I should have said “Me too!”). She’s also attractive and younger that I expected. I guess I must be getting old, because I expect every professional I meet to be my age. Now most of them are younger.

 Time to meet the S4

She drives me the 30 min or so back to the dealer. We talk about this and that; I find out she is originally from Minneapolis, but moved out here for the scenery, especially the Rocky Mountains, which look so beautiful as we are driving towards them. We talk about cars, career choices, etc. She is quite a pleasant and knowledgeable. I ask why someone would trade in a car with just 20,000 miles on it. She says “People who buy high-end cars often only keep them one year, maybe two. Cars are more of a fashion statement for them.” I find out later that the Audi was owned by a woman in CO, and was traded in at a Mercedes/Audi dealer. Prestige bought the car from them. I also discovered that Audi will only certify a used car if it’s service history is complete. I get a copy of mine. That’s reassuring.

So – we get to the dealership, and there it is, prettier than the pictures. She gives me a spot to place my bags and gets the keys. She pulls it out of the service bay and stops in the parking lot, gets out, looks at me and says “Drive.” I get in, adjust the mirrors a little. Since we are the same height, I don’t have to adjust much. She guides me onto the highway. I’m not terribly smooth, as the clutch takeup and throttle response are different than in my Corrado. I find out quickly that the brakes are much different; they are very grabby. I nearly put us through the windshield several times. I also discover that I can’t heel-and-toe this car like I can my VW. The price we pay for progress. As we’re traveling west on I-70 it sounds like were following a dump truck that’s losing its load. I also notice how dirty all the cars are. I guess they use a sand mix to treat the roads in the winter. It feels like the paint is getting sandblasted off the car.

She directs me to this road that winds up the side of a mountain – my kind of salesperson! It has a lot of nice switchbacks; I wish I had taken a picture. It would be a great eSportbike route, except it was covered in loose sand and gravel. Thank goodness for Quattro! It was fun, but too slippery to test the limits (we won’t mention the shoulder drop-off.)

All too soon were back at the dealer; time for the paperwork. Once again, the professionalism of the staff of this dealership was apparent as no-one tried to sell me any junk. The price was what we agreed to over the phone, and soon I had signed the next three years of my life away.

They took the car back for a final wash and gas-up. Michaela noticed that the driver-side floor mat was missing, so she went to get one. I took this time to go over the car. (A little late, huh?) I noticed that the rubber boot covering the wires in the rear passenger door was loose. I also noticed that the previous owner bought the cargo area slop tray (I’m sure that’s not what Audi calls it) and left it in the car. Michaela sends the car back to the service department and they fix the boot. I stage a photo, pack up, and say goodbye. Now the car is really mine. Still, it doesn’t feel real.

Now it's really mine

 My cousin Andrea lives on Denver, so I figured after the sale was completed I’d go visit her. She e-mailed me her address and phone number. I asked Michaela how to get there, and she rattled off directions as if I was somebody who could remember them. Not her fault, it’s just one of my shortcomings. Anyway, by this time I was also very hungry. I was directed to the Café at the end of the street. I drove down (it was only a few blocks from the dealership) and had a Chimichanga. I didn’t expect much, but it was pretty good – real pulled beef. By now I had completely forgotten Michaela’s directions, so I walked across the street to a gas station and bought a map. Seems Andrea lives on the east side of Denver – the direction I was going anyway. It’s 1:10 PM and the car has 21,994 miles on it.

The drive over was uneventful. I didn’t stall the motor or anything. I found the apartment complex, but none of the unit numbers seemed right. A quick call confirmed that she wasn’t in. I hung around for 20 minutes or so, called back and left a message that I was leaving. I had ¾ of the country to drive across, and it was getting late. It’s now 3:18 PM and the car has 21,008 miles. I stopped at a Wendy’s to get a soda (Hint: measure the size of your cup holder first.) Optimistically, I figure I’ll get to Kansas City, Kansas my first night.

The First Leg

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