SVT2888
Member
Registered: 16th Nov 09
User status: Offline
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Monterey Car Week is THE place to be if you’re a car enthusiast. It is the week where everybody who’s anybody in the collector car world invades the sleepy towns of Monterey, Carmel, and Pebble Beach all in Northern California. It’s like an automotive Disneyland with all kinds of attractions for you to visit. It is where boyhood dreams can come true!
Yet, every year I have found myself sitting by my laptop waiting to see what was there as all the automotive websites start uploading their pics from the various events around the area. As August draws closer and closer every year I find that everyone starts asking me “Leo are you going to Monterey? Leo are you going to Monterey? LEO ARE YOU GOING TO MONTEREY?!” and every year I have to say “No I can’t because of school, because of work, because I’m too broke…and any number of other reasons.” This year was like every other year and I started making the same legitimate excuses as Car Week drew nearer and nearer. Except that this year I was done with school already and I still had plenty of discretionary days left. This year I had also made a whole lot more friends in the car world. So the number of people asking grew exponentially.
The loudest voices were my friends Erik, Dilan, Frank, Sean and Aimee. So, on Monday I decided “what the heck?! I’m doing this!” I told Dilan I was up for driving up with him and told Erik about my “plan” to drive up. Except it wasn’t really a plan. We just planned to rent a car large enough to sleep in and that’s about it. We had no idea how we were going to even get into all the events. But we had a bunch of friends up there. We were sure we’d find a way. On Wednesday night I went into work and told my boss “Hey I need tomorrow and Friday off. I’m not going to come in no matter what”. Then I explained to him what I where I was going and why. He agreed amazingly and I walked out of work happier than I had ever had.
I got home that morning and couldn’t sleep at all. I slept all of 2 hours because of my excitement before going and getting the rental car. I have a friend who works at the rental car place so I got a nice discount and got to pick out what I wanted. I chose a 2013 Ford Escape 1.6 Ecoboost as it had a ton of room inside and was rated at 31mpg hwy. It seemed like the perfect choice for what we needed. They had two to choose from one with nearly 5k miles and one with a bit over 900 miles. I wanted the higher mileage one as it was more broken in, but the manager insisted I get the newest one. So I drove off and loved everything about the the Escape. Power was adequate, and my 6’4″ frame fit very nicely in it. I even found a very comfortable seating position and it was whisper quiet inside while providing a car like ride.
Now the plan was to stop by my mother’s house to eat, since I hadn’t eaten, then go home and pack before heading off to pick up my friend Dilan. But, this was a “Leo adventure” things don’t always go as planned and always, ALWAYS, get interesting. I get to my mothers and she is surprised by me pulling up in a new vehicle. I tell her I rented it for a trip since I don’t trust my 270k mile ’97 T-bird. My sister is also there and checks it out since she currently has a 2005 Mercury Mariner Hybrid. I eat, hop in the truck and…nothing! I get nothing! Ruh! Roh! What is going on?! Why won’t it start?! I take the shifter out of Park and then re-engage Park. Try again, NADA! Hmmmm…ok…let me get out and lock it with the key and then unlock it with the key, STILL NOTHING. Crud! I try several other trick and nothing happens. I’m too embarrassed to call the rental company right away so I call Ford. They send a tow truck, the driver walks out all cocky thinking he’s going to get it running in no time, but same deal. It did nothing. So I call the rental company and they say they are sending a replacement. Two-hours later I get a call from the tow company and they tell me that they are at the Long Beach Airport looking for me. Doh! I have to explain to them that they are supposed to pick up my replacement and bring it over to me then take my broken vehicle and take it back. Two-hours after that I finally get my replacement. *Cue dramatic entry music* The replacement is a 2012 Ford Escape with 23k miles that probably hadn’t even been cleaned after the last rental. This one lacks a ton of the features the 2013 had and has an awkward seating position for me, but to make matters worse it has a V6 which has a much lower rating than the Ecoboost Escape. It was also a good bit smaller. But this was no time to complain. I had to start my trip already.
Full Story:
http://hooniverse.com/2012/09/18/monterey-car-week-recap-day-one/#more-107853
Full Gallery:
http://www.cncpics.com/2012/August"
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