I received an invitation to an 80’s party in Tulsa, Oklahoma – Although I’m more of a 70’s era kind of guy…I’m always open to a party, and knowing the folks having this party – I knew it would be good, and the abundance of adult beverages typically present, made it even easier to say without hesitation…“This is a no-brainer - I’m going!

Now the challenge – the logistics, and justifying the trip…First – I need to present this to my wife…The conversation went something like this – “Dustin invited us to an 80’s party in Tulsa on the 18th, I thought I’d go, and visit a couple of old customers/friends while out there – You up for a get-away, It’ll be fun – please come with me…” She said – “I can’t get away right now – but you should go and have a good time – remember, we have that ‘thing’ on the 26th so make sure you’re back by then…”

I live in North Carolina, so there are some logistics to work out – I checked with American Airlines, and they actually have some attractive deals from Raleigh/Durham to Tulsa…$99 each way – not bad. I plugged the information into MapQuest – WOW…1077 miles to Tulsa…That settled it – ROAD TRIP! And what better way to attend an 80’s party – in an 85 300SD (Ms Jones) of course.

Now to keep the interest of you who are already wondering about the vehicle details --- the road trip was – 9 days, 3041 total miles – fuel mileage average was 25.78 mpg – worst mpg was 24.69 – best mpg was 28.26 – and yes I religiously use fuel conditioner…Diesel Aid+Cetane (http://ezoil.com/Products/Diesel_Aid_Cetane.html). Oil level was down about ½ qt on arrival in Tulsa, and another ½ qt upon arrival back home…and actually I believe the majority of that was lost due to oil cooler lines ready for replacement.

The trip was great and Ms. Jones performed wonderfully, without problem or issue…The cruise control worked flawlessly – I keep waiting for it to fail, but thank goodness it didn’t do so on this trip!

I drove basically straight thru on the way out – My first stop was 332.8 miles from home, and that was pushing the need for a bathroom…all other fuel stops were between 239 and 260 mile intervals…during one of which I slept a couple of hours.

A really sad moment during the drive out was (picture below) a 300D 2.5 Turbo in tow…The car appeared to have very minimal front end damage…there were 3 trucks like pictured, and based on the trucks temporary transport tag, I’m guessing they were headed South of the border – Mexico bound! When Ms. Jones and I saw this, she did seem to hesitate just a bit…but she gained her composure, spooled up her turbo and we moved on.

Learned some interesting things – Arkansas must lead the nation for the most pot holes, and roads in greatest need of repair…you’d think with cousin Bill in Washington for 8 years, he would have diverted some funds for highway repair.

And then – get this…Oklahoma has toll roads! Who would have ever guessed that? Seriously - That could be used in a trivia game or show like Cash Cab…question could be: “Name 5 states that you would NOT expect to have toll roads?” --- Answer: “Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and Oklahoma”…WRONG! The positive – speed limit on their toll roads is 75…gives you the opportunity to blow some soot --- I ran Ms. Jones up to 89 for a nice stretch of the Muskogee/Tulsa Turnpike…thought I’d get my money’s worth, and she enjoyed it. Also – there are a lot of cows in OK, MO and Kansas…lots of cows.

Party was good --- what I remember of it…………Sunday morning was a little questionable…

I took the opportunity to also go to Kansas City, St. Jo, MO., and Independence, KS. – It was all good – did I mention there were lots of cows…?

Trip home was good, but definitely didn’t do the drive straight thru thing --- stopped half way and enjoyed a good nights sleep at a comfortable hotel…NOTE A couple of pictures below: I’ve noticed some forum members, past references to Batman – I found the Bat Cave for you! And then on that beautiful, challenging stretch of I-40 thru W. NC and E. TN – my GPS shows the winding road, along with my speed v. posted speed limit – Again, the SD took the challenge in stride…………showed her ability and set the pace for others!

**2600 mile trip this past February – 3000 mile trip this month…………Where to next……?**

Attached Thumbnails

         

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71Inka02

62 W121 190DB - Original CA/AZ Car - Excellent Example
99 E300 Turbo Diesel - 362,000...Awesome Daily Driver
01 E320 Wagon - 297,xxx (wife's work car)
01 E320 Wagon - 131,000
02 Land Rover Disco SE- 110,000
87 BMW 325is (E30) Full Restore - Son's
06 Mini Cooper 'S' - Son's
87 Toyota FJ60 Land Cruiser - Showroom Condition - 152,000

84 300D - 142,xxx :cool - "Sold"
83 300D-"Sold" - 211,456
85 300SD-"Sold" - 213,789

Very, very cool! Love the '85 wheels on your '85 SD

Thanks for sharing!

Glad you had a good time.
Thanks for the pics.

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83 SD

84 CD

Looks to have been a great trip. The toll road to tulsa was the first toll road I had ever been on. first time I saw that, I said Iam not paying a toll. so we drove on the old road, took for ever, but you see some of the towns, or settlements along the way you don`t see on the toll road.

The return trip, I took the toll.

I love that shade of yellow on your SD.

I think Cousin Bill diverted his attenton to a different type of pot hole to fill .

thanks for sharing your adventures with us, that was great.

Charlie

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there were three HP ratings on the OM616...

1) Not much power
2) Even less power
3) Not nearly enough power!! 240D w/auto

Anyone that thinks a 240D is slow drives too fast.

80 240D Naturally Exasperated, 4-Spd 388k DD 150mph spedo 3:58 Diff

We are advised to NOT judge ALL Muslims by the actions of a few lunatics, but we are encouraged to judge ALL gun owners by the actions of a few lunatics. Funny how that works