I'm home but the trip ain't done! Made it back from Albuquerque today and I must say, I love this car. To finish the trip, I plan on taking a weekend jaunt to Hilton Head, Charleston, Savannah, or some other East Coast Village to make it a true coast to coast trip!

For those of you who are just joining this post, there is another thread in the "General Feedback" titled "40 hour work week". There are some great Pics of Mike Tangas with his beauty and my car if you wish to take a look.

OK, to get things up to date, I followed the route from Salt Lake City through Durango CO as the original previous (Schwob) had done years ago. The views were absolutely beautiful and the pine scent in the air fantastic. I did this leg by myself, which is probably best, since I know my wife would not have enjoyed the switch backs and drop offs. The car ran wonderful at 11,000 feet altitude. The food in Durango was good. I tried a brew pub called "Steamers" (after the steam locomotives that run out of there). There is an old style hotel that looked like a great place to stay, but did not want to blow $200 when I was just by myself, so this is on the list of places to bring my wife to. Durango was a very nice city for a tourist trap, and I mean this in the nicest sort of way. Lots of art, crafts and quality goods presented in a very nice way. Tee Shirts, two for $10 were no where to be found! The road from Farmington to ABQ was not nearly as interesting as the previous miles, but I did see one thing that caught my eye...an old truck parked in a field. Now that is not an unusual thing out west, but this was an early 1960's Chevy crew cab pickup, with 4 doors. I have never seen one before! I've been looking for a truck to haul my boat amd kids around, and I'm thinking this would be a stylish way to do it. My vision is to put many modern upgrades in it, not a restoration back to original. Of course the powerplant of choice would be a 6 cyl turbo diesel out of a MB 300!!!

After leaving the car with my Mother in ABQ, I found a few small problems. The passenger door would not latch shut when I closed it. This did not bother me, but I knew my wife would be pretty upset about it, since she would be sitting there a lot more than I was. Seems the cold weather had stiffened up the old grease. After removing the outside door handle I was able to spray some WD-40 in there and free every thing up. We also took the time to remove the rear door panel and free up a sticking door lock mechanism. My wife was a great assistant and we got the power lock fixed for the remainder of the trip. In the end, these two items and the brake line problem in Las Vegas were the only mechanical issues, not bad for a thirty year old car! When Schwob sold me the car he had told me he would not hesitate to hop in and drive it across the county. He has really done a fine job maintaining Suzanne and what a great person to do business with! I have sent him a few postcards along the way, one from Durango to let him know I was retracing his old route!

Most of the cooking in ABQ was done in family kitchens while there, but we did sneak out for some great Mexican food at a local joint called Garcia's Kitchen on 4th Ave near downtown. They have the best guacamole I have ever had, and I have had my fair share of it! I highly recommend this place to anyone passing through ABQ who values good food over ambiance.

I guess a lot of this is boring to read, but I can't tell you how much fun it has been. I'll post the ABQ - OK City - Birmingham - Georgia legs another night.

Ciao Baby!

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Deezel
87 300TD, 160,000 miles
72 280SEL 4.5, 250,000 miles

Deezel,
great to read that you and my trusty carriage for 22 years made it back to Atlanta without any real problems. Glad you could take the drive thru Ouray down to Durango. I love that part of the country. Good luck and many happy miles with 'Suzanne'.

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schwob
'72 280SEL 4.5 (sold to Deezel)
'96 BMW 328ic
'99 Explorer Sport

WOW, that's about all I can muster up in reply. I must admit I was starting to wonder how things were going though. Glad you had a great tour, and I'm very impressed with Suzanne's performance - basically trouble free. What a testament to a fine marque after 30 years of break-in period.

Now I guess you'll have to update the mileage in you signature .

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Mike Tangas
73 280 SEL 4.5

Wow, what can I say. I've got a 73 280 SEL 4.5 that I drive 3 times per week or so and I'd love to take it on a road trip. Man, what a car. Can't wait till this spring when I'll take it to New Mexico or maybe the Ozark mountains.

Sholin

Mustang, OK.