Man, Machine, and his transcontinental trip
 

I will use this thread to update my journey. To see people who want to meet at various locations and what not.

Current plan is:
Philly (tomorrow)
Pittsburgh
Chicago
Denver (no idea what route to take Chicago to Denver)
Las Vegas
Los Angeles

July 31, 2007

I started my journey today. 1:40pm I boarded the ACELA Amtrak train from South Station Boston to Stamford, CT to pick up my car. The scenary was nice. Couple of places in Rhode Island seemed sketchy.

Near the Waterly (sp?), RI station, saw a yellow Elise with grey or black stripes. Only one today. Total time traveled was 3 hours. I stopped at the Stamford, CT station, and got off.

From there, I took the North train over to Greenwich (few miles away), where I was picked up by Robert, the sales Manager of Lotus of Greenwich. He picked me up in the BMW 5 series.

We went straight back to the dealership, where he had to go over some paperwork. It was a small showroom, but had gorgeous cars (pics coming tomorrow). There were couple of Elises and 1 Exige. There were also a Carrera GT, GT3, Ford GT, Lotus Espirit on the floor, along with a golf cart (he said, don't ask).

I sat in the Ford GT. Surprised to see how little head room there is in the car (and I am not that tall!). Loved the seats and gauges though. Also saw how LOW the Carrera GT front end really is!! People who complain about scratching the Lotus clam should see the GT!

I also sat in a 07 white Elise, loved it. Robert then proceeded to go over all the details of the Elise with me. It was nice, since the showroom was closed, so no foot traffic to bother us.

Then we went to dinner at a local diner. After talking for a while, we headed over to the second lotus showroom 2 miles away. Here lay the hidden gems, in a tiny non descript building. Rows and rows of Elises, Espirits, Elan, countless Ferrari 430s and 360s, Bentley GTC, and a hidden gem (Black 300ZX 2+2 with only 26K original miles!). There was also a Cayman S and a 700hp Ford Mustang GT.

Had a fabulous time talking cars. I then got dropped off at the hotel. I am supposed to sleep now, and he will pick me up in the morning, when we will take care of the $ for my Lotus Elise, and then I will be on my way at 12pm, and head to Philly, PA. More pics and details to follow tomorrow.....

http://www.mazda-speed.com/albums/RYAN/train.jpg

http://www.mazda-speed.com/albums/RYAN/pickup.jpg

Only thing I am regretting about my Lotus purchase is the wheels/interior.

My wheels are the silver finish. I saw a couple at the showroom with black, and they looked great.

Also, I have the biscuit interior. Robert says red/biscuit is a good combo (I know ferraris with this combo holds high resale value), but I really like the red/blacks they have.

HMMM...

Have a fun journey! I love philly

Be safe and have fun. :)

THanks guys!

Are you going all the way across US in an Elise? :yikes:

I love the journals, keep it up! It helps me live vicariously...

Subscribing...

I bet many of us would love to do what you are doing... Please keep the post going with updates and pics... It really gives me an inspiration to make plans, and to enjoy my outtings in my S. :cool:

Thanks for sharing your journey with us... oh... and congrats on the Elise.. That will definately be my next buy after the S. :thumbup:

Enjoy your trip, and dont get too many tickets brother...!

Yes I am. And I have friends who have take the whole USA trip over 10,000 miles in 1 month in an Elise.