Candy and I took full advantage of the nice weather last weekend to get out and drive around. Some of the fall colors are starting, so we headed up north to see if they were better. In all honesty, we were probably a couple of weeks early, but with our crazy schedules you have to take the opportunity when you can. The area around Lake Norfork was very pretty, as was the part of the route that followed the river up toward Mountain Home. Our route was Batesville - Melbourne - Mountain Home - Bakersfield, MO - West Plains, MO, Cherokee Village - Batesville. Over the 250 or so miles, my Jetta got 38.7mpg - not bad for puttering around the hills...

Those of you who know me know that I am a hopeless petrolhead. I LOVE cars. I've written about the Mercedes of my past and the current Jetta, but I also have a 1966 Ford Galaxie Custom 500 that I've been tinkering with for the past couple of years. Before the jet age, everyone drove their car wherever they went. A road trip was an adventure. These days, it seems more like torture to most! I've never been on a true road trip, and I must resolve that one day. When the Galaxie is fully restored, I'm taking it on one. I think that I owe it that. We don't build machines like that any more, and they really are reminders of days gone by.

Just got through washing and waxing my 2009 VW Jetta TDI. The weather today was TOO nice to stay inside. As with the Mercedes E420 I used all Meguiar's products. This was my first time to use NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0. It went on and off rather easy, but I don't know if it was the black paint of the car or what, but it looked to leave a smeared look of sorts that requried more than a few extra passes to remove. I've always used Gold Class Liquid Wax, and can not say a single negative thing about it. I may have had the same effect but since the Benz was white, I may have not noticed. Candy's Nissan Altima is white, and when we waxed it this morning I didn't notice it.

Anyway, before the wax went on the Jetta I put down a nice coat of No. 7 Show Car Glaze. Needless to say, the thing now looks like a mirror. VERY pleased overall. And no, I won't clean yours...;o)

On my wish list -- Porter Cable 7424 Orbital Polisher. Buy me one and I'll think about washing your car...lol

As promised, here are some pics of my new VW Jetta TDI. It was pretty late in the day and the light was a little warm for a black car, but I'll get some better pics soon. Btw -- 36.4mpg over the first 600miles. Not bad eh?

Meant to write this earlier, but on 13 June I bought my first brand new car, a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI. It's black with beige interior, auto transmission, sunroof, and has a 2.0L turbocharged diesel engine. Driven 500 miles+ on 3/4 of a tank. Not bad, eh? Pics to follow....