I have never felt more welcome nor treated more handsomely than at the WCR 2022. Ditto for last year's Rt66. This is a fantastic group of people. I cannot praise you too much. Thanks Eddy and Munda, and thanks everyone else. Here is day 1 of my return
I headed north on 101 and decided to stop just below the border at Warrenton OR. Sadly, the only hotel was full, so I ended up in Ilwaco WA for the night. The drive was quite pleasant. However, another driver had more trouble. This is his (bogus, fictitious) story. He might have been taking his new Escalade to challenge the rough terrain often found in the parking lots of the best ocean-side spas. Or, he may have decided to give up his intensely urban life and let nature directly touch his every sense as he explored it courageously in his motorhome on a Class A chassis. If things worked well with this exposure to the elements he was tempted to turn in his learner’s permit in exchange for one of those driver’s licenses everyone seemed to have. This is his or possibly her story, but I think it was his.
Hwy 101 has a speed limit of 55 mph. Leaving a turn marked “45 mph” at approximately 35 mph, he encountered yet another turn marked with “50 mph”. This called for instant action since it is obvious that 50 is bigger than 45 and thus requires an even larger reduction in speed. As he hit the brakes he looked in a side view mirror to see whether that little red car behind had survived the crisis. It had, but only because of the quick reflexes of the leading driver. That little car had been close right behind him for half an hour; perhaps seeking protection.
It occurred to our hero that he might be holding back the progress of that red car, but another look showed that this was unlikely. That red car was moving so slowly that at least a dozen cars were backed up behind it. Still, he couldn’t be sure. As the curves subsided, he saw opening up ahead an extra passing lane. Slower cars keep to the right. Even better, the road ran very straight and downhill. The driver had a generous heart. If he had been holding up traffic, this was a chance to make up for that. Nosing into the right lane he pushed the gas pedal to the floor and beyond, calling forth his V8 or Cummins. He would reward those behind him by going faster for awhile, taking advantage of the lapse in dangerous sharp 50 mph turns. The red car seemed ungrateful though. Rather than letting the behemoth pull ahead, that red car seemed to be keeping up in the left lane! Worse, the sign indicated that the right lane was soon to end. That red car would be losing a lane very soon. There was nothing else to be done. Our driver put on one last burst of speed and wrenched the wheel to the left, safely regaining the main road. Oddly there was a sound like screeching tires and possibly maybe yelling?!
Returning to concentrate on curves ahead, our hero pondered the complexities of the road.

Never happened except in my impatience. Drive safely home.
Warren

Dude , you had me on the edge of my seat!

Happens to me all the time.
Safe travels Warren

I think I saw the same guy down here in OC yesterday in his weekend car… A nicely preserved 70s 911 cab protecting a little black NARP from eminent death in the Trabuco Canyon twisties.

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the Douglas Adams reference, also!

Love it!

I know that WCR 2022 is in the rear view mirror, but Donna and I didn’t get home till Monday afternoon. I slept all through Tuesday.
We have family near Seattle and ran north to see them. Then while we were there a family member died. That made everyone more aware of how much we will be missed and how special we all are.
Perhaps the most interesting thing is that the delay in returning home produced a window of time in which I could do maintenance that would improve safety for the return trip. I decided to use the services of a very well known company. What ensued has been a really bizarre set of screw ups by said company that made coming home a lot harder than it should have been. As far as I can tell, the company was using a computer platform to make important decisions; that platform was given more authority than the humans; that platform is less intelligent than a jellyfish. Any jellyfish.
The company is used by many of us, but isn’t Porsche focused. I really am undecided about telling the story. Perhaps it was just one of those things, but sadly I can’t go back to them even though it might be just fine next time around.
Eddy and Munda both deserve medals for putting on the show. Nonetheless, it is grand to be home. My big regret was in not seeing Eddy surf or play distorted electric guitar.

Worn,
I’m glad you finally made it home safe.
I had so much fun with you. I have a new best friend. You are a truly sweet soul….
Next time I’ll break out the electric hopefully you’ll make your way back.
If I knew how to post a video I would jam for you .
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Yeh, been there, been done to me too...one has to wonder what they are thinking...

Ditto-

Had an absolute blast meeting you at WCR this year.
Love this photo of you. Hope we cross paths again soon.

Hit me up if you're ever in SoCal

Oscar

Thanks for the picture Eddy, and everything else. That is exactly what it looks like there. It is so nice.
A few notes about the return home.
Port Orford on the way home
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Home away from home in a motel in North Bend WA. My wife grew up in North Bend and my sister ended up teaching at the high school there.
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My sister likes to fly fish and took me to the river.
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And of course the PNW is home to very big fish
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I got to eat more Dungeness crabs.
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Off to Montanan after a tearful goodbye to mother in law and sister. Temps had been in the mid 90s while in the Seattle area but started to cool as we drove east.

My favorite truck stop is at St Regis MT. Tame trout and huckleberry milkshakes.
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Stayed overnight in Missoula and woke to a day of rain. I am very glad that I installed the VW Golf relay to make intermittent windshield wipers. You set the interval by turning on and off and then back on again when the time suits you. Here is western North Dakota
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Furgus Falls MN. Nice town. Dinner was next to the hotel. Once I stop I don't want to get in the car till the next morning.
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At 8 am I was at Northwest Tire in Fergus Falls. Very nice people and very fast service.
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I wasn't sure that I would tell this story, but then the company had the gall to send me a survey. I left a week before I had planned for WCR2022 because I discovered while on the phone to Eddy that I was a week behind in my planning. So, I didn't correct the severe camber in the rear wheels. At one time I thought it looked cool, but it ate up the inside of the soft summer performance tires. No tread left on the inside. I had trouble finding a shop near North Bend that would get me in with tires that fit before we left for home.

I have bought a lot of tires at TR and when a death in the family meant a longer stay I decided to use the computer to look for a good match to the old tires, and also use their installer network to get an appointment. It doesn't sound like that great a deal for the installer, but they are out there and TR has a section on the website when you order tires to sign up for an installation appointment. I did. Sweet.

So, on Thursday, the day before we were planning to leave I was headed for the installer in Issaquah when I got an email from TR saying that the installer had rejected the order. Odd. So, I turned around and went back to the motel and called the sales rep. Sales rep said he was going to get right on it. A couple hours later I was on the phone to said sales rep. He said that unbeknownst to TR the installer had quit working with the company and that he had someone in customer service working on it. I was transferred to the service rep and was told that he would be "reaching out" to various people. He called back and suggested that I drive to the TR warehouse, pick up the tires and have them installed myself. In the teener loaded with luggage. He then told me he would be getting back to me. He never did. I failed to ask for his extension number (he should have offered it). Having no extension number it was impossible to get back to him on my end either. Calling the company led to a series of prompts and if you had no extension number you would be told that "we are experiencing an unusual volume...please hold" Terminal hold. I asked for my money back, but was told that I would only receive it after TR had scanned the tires back in at their warehouse. They never shipped me anything!

The heroes were the guys in Fergus Falls. Monday morning I drove up and within five minutes the car was on the rack and getting new tires. My nerve had failed driving at freeway speeds with the fabric belt showing.

The final horror was getting a message from TR on Monday saying congratulations, your tires have been delivered! I am not kidding. Although it did not say so in the email it turns out that this really meant that the tires had come back to the warehouse. Indeed I eventually got my money back.

My take on the story is that we will be seeing more of this. Sales and service are compartmentalized and may not even be in the same state. The people are all simply serving the needs of a computer system. Management thinks they have an AI system, but they don't. The intelligent ones are the workers so easily ignored and thrown under the bus. The AI system is intelligent in the way that an earthworm is intelligent, but not quite that smart. An example of this is that while I was liberal both verbally and in messages with my cell phone number I got home to find messages on the home number. I must have included that when I first signed up for Tire Rack. The people had the information, but using that information would probably cut down on overall productivity.

As I crossed the country I saw such wealth in minerals, crops and people. But I also saw shortages everywhere of workers. One big reason for this is that in many places (such as Seattle and Portland) entry level jobs worked overtime simply do not bring in enough money for the worker to survive. If Tire Rack employed more people I would have been able to get through on the phone, yet many companies are withdrawing phone numbers out of fear that someone might actually call them.

Well, I am just old and in the way, which was a pretty good album.

Tirade over and freshly shod we got to Wisconsin. Green all summer.
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And bedraggled we got home.
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Guess maybe I need to mow. Thanks so much everyone. Twenty three days living out of a 914 is trying and also fun. The folks on this board are awfully nice.
Warren

If I was there I would mow your lawn for you!

Thanks! We have a 1970 Simplicity lawn tractor you can fire up. Here you leave stuff at the curb and it gets hauled away. Either by the city or my kids. Fires up every time and I love the sound. But come anyway because you probably have the best avatar.