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North American Westfield Registry

I flew into San Jose on Easter Sunday and jumped in the car the next morning at 6:00am for the trip back to Seattle.  Although my initial plan was to take the slow, twisty route up the coast via Highway 1, rain was in the forecast and the SPa wears track tires (Yokohama A-032Rs).  Therefore I opted for the faster, but significantly straighter route up I-5 in hopes that I would beat most of the rain.  I also decided to put the top in place to keep things a little saner and me a little drier once the heavens opened up.  If you have ever seen a Lotus Seven-based car (henceforth referred to by the more popular se7ens nomenclature) in the flesh with the top up, then you know that there isn't a whole lotta of room for a normal sized human to enter the car.  Given that I am a normal sized human, I was worried that I might inadvertently contort a part of my body in a way that prevents a full recovery and ensures that I will have no progeny to carry on Throttle Steer.  However, after some practice, I found that it really isn't that hard to twist your body through that little portal, and that I may yet father a tax deduction.  Which is also a good thing (getting in the car, not the tax deduction), because this car only gets 22-25 mpg and it sports a tiny 7 gallon gas tank.  Can you say frequent stops?

The car actually did surprisingly well on this trip.  Once I put in my earplugs, the ride was actually fine and I didn't have any serious problems.  In fact the only issues were with the headlights and the top.  The latter refused to stay firmly attached to the car and so the sides were constantly flapping around.  This obviously kept things pretty drafty inside -- in fact I actually got a little wind burn on my face -- but it also meant that I never lamented the lack of a proper ventilation system.  Fortunately the rain threatened, but never materialized so I stayed perfectly dry the whole way home.

I wish the headlight problem was as minor as the top inconvenience.  Those little buggers had gone on a work slowdown and were only kicking out about 1 candlepower each (that is no exaggeration).  I assumed that it was a ground-related problem, but I was unable to fix it roadside, so my hopes of getting home that night were dashed.  After 13 hours of driving, I packed it up just 90 short miles from home and checked into a hotel for the night.   The next morning I got in the car at 6:30am and played automotive dodge ball during the infamous Puget Sound morning rush hour.  Although people did there best to hit me, they always seemed to just miss out.