[calbears]

Originally Posted by nordmanmg

I just noticed, one of them has CCB and other regular steel

Yes, I sprung for the CCBs. The difference in dust levels after a few days was quite noticeable. Mine were essentially like new, my friend's were very dirty.

[calbears]

Originally Posted by 4DRS55

Such an awesome experience! hey if you were near north Austin we can have another CS join you for lunch ����. Congratulations! car looks beautiful!

Spoiler: the journey is already over. I was going to try and do this on the road and update this nightly...but it was way too much work. So the Austin story I will try and update this evening.

[PfizerP]

Amazing story/journey! This was actually something I wanted to do as well; pickup a G80 M3 at the PC and drive it home to California, but alas, no more PCD is available . Calbears, do you know why the program was stopped? Will it be coming back?

[calbears]

Originally Posted by PfizerP

Amazing story/journey! This was actually something I wanted to do as well; pickup a G80 M3 at the PC and drive it home to California, but alas, no more PCD is available . Calbears, do you know why the program was stopped? Will it be coming back?

They've said it was a logistical nightmare and demand was high which made it more of a scheduling and throughput issue. Will it come back? Perhaps, but pressure has to be applied to BMW USA for that to happen.

[calbears]

Day 10: Austin

First photo is the general route. Shortest day drive that took about 2 1/2 hours, we made one pit stop at another Buc'ees for some fuel. Since we missed out on Franklin BBQ back in 2017, this was on the agenda for lunch. It opens at 11AM and we were banking on the line not being super long. We arrived around 1030AM, dropped the wife off to get in line while I parked nearby.

There was a line, but it wasn't terrible. We were just about where the parking lot begins at Franklin's. All told it was about a 2ish hour wait to get to the front door and another 30 minutes to actually order. While you're waiting, someone from the place goes through the line to estimate what you'll order. They don't take your order, but I'm guessing it's so they can gauge where they'll run out of a particular meat that day whle you're waiting in line. We decided we'd go for a pound of brisket, a link, and 1/2 pound of pulled pork.

Coincidentally, the guy in front of us was also from the Bay Area. He grew up in San Jose and now lives in Stockton, so small world indeed. The wait went by fairly quickly for 2 hours. Everyone was quite friendly.

Getting inside the establishment was great and filled you with anticipation as you waited to place your order. Finally to the counter, we placed our order and they gave us a sample of the brisket and it is well worth the wait and lives up to the hype.

If you have a chance to get brisket from Franklin, you've got to do it. It was so tender and juicy and it's hard to describe. Wish I was 20+ years younger so I could eat more of it. Sausage was also good as was the pork. But the start is the brisket.

I saw others just piling up the meats and wondering how they'd eat it all without taking some away. Would if we could, but limited by the trip.

Afterwards, we headed over to Circuit of the Americas to try and get a few shots of the car at COTA. The paddock area was closed for a private event, so we wandered around the outside for a few shots, including one with the gigantic US flag. My wife did see some advertisement for some winter experience at COTA, so we looked it up and found out you could drive the track at night! So we bought a ticket for that night. They don't let you loose of course! It's behind a pace car with other vehicles and the track isn't lit up and your top speed is about 30MPH, but still drove the CS at COTA at night.

We headed back to Austin to check into the hotel and relax before heading back to COTA for the event (time about 530PM). It also started to rain a bit.

So we headed back to the track, waited in line, and finally got onto the track a little after 6PM for the lap. Afterwards, they had a light display that you drive through for the holidays, which was also pretty good. We then went to the "carnival" area walked around and ended up getting some fried Oreos.

Then it was time for dinner at another BBQ placed recommended by a friend. Rudy's (a chainish place) that also has great brisket. He recommended getting the brisket and a small side of 'chopped' (which is essentially a carnitas style brisket) and eat some brisket with the chopped. Excellent! Is there such a thing as too much brisket? I'd say 2 pounds in a day would be it. We ended up eating about 1 1/2 pounds of it.

Next stop: Amarillo

['Cane]

The bark on that brisket 🤤

[geko29]

Lol I think I was at that exact Rudy's when I was in Austin. Is it on some bizarre cross street like 17th and 5/8ths?

[calbears]

Originally Posted by geko29

Lol I think I was at that exact Rudy's when I was in Austin. Is it on some bizarre cross street like 17th and 5/8ths?

this one is at 2451 S Capital of Texas Highway

[nordmanmg]

Originally Posted by calbears

this one is at 2451 S Capital of Texas Highway

Where is the second car?

[GoldfishTX]

Best way to do Franklin is to get some friends together and pre order a whole brisket. No line and endless delicious meat!

[Needsdecaf]

Originally Posted by 'Cane

The bark on that brisket 🤤

Meh. Rudy’s is ok. But going from Franklins to Rudy’s is like going from The Palm to Outback.

['Cane]

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

Meh. Rudy’s is ok. But going from Franklins to Rudy’s is like going from The Palm to Outback.

I was talking about the pic from Franklins.

[calbears]

Day 11: Amarillo

This was a really long day of travel though just a part of one state. Mostly US and Texas highways were used where a two lane "highway" had a speed limit of 75. The roads were mostly in very good condition. We ended up stopping three times: twice to fill up (Llano & Slaton) and another for lunch in a small town (Ballinger) for some Mexican (Gonzalez restaurant?).

After traveling most of the day, we finally reached Amarillo, checked in, and the goal was to return to a place I had been before--a Route 66 icon: The Big Texan Steak Ranch. It had since moved from Route 66 to its current location and is famous for its 72oz Steak challenge. If you can eat it in an hour, it's free. Not just the steak though, it's the entire meal! So it's shrimp cocktail, baked potato, salad, roll, and the steak.

And it looks like we just missed someone completing it earlier that day! The record for this is held by a 125-pound woman who did it 4 minutes and 18 seconds!

Needless to say, we did not attempt this and settled for some prime rib and a rib eye of much smaller portion. It was all delicious and that concluded the very long day on the road.

Next stop: Los Alamos & Albuquerque.

[calbears]

Originally Posted by nordmanmg

Where is the second car?

we parted ways in Memphis

[calbears]

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

Meh. Rudy’s is ok. But going from Franklins to Rudy’s is like going from The Palm to Outback.

Rudy's was good, but you're right. If we hadn't had Franklin, Rudy's would be good. Eating extra moist with the chopped in it was very good.

[Needsdecaf]

Originally Posted by 'Cane

I was talking about the pic from Franklins.

That pic was from Rudy's. As far as I can see there are no pics from Franklins. I
Can tell that's Rudy's because he said he got chopped and ate it with the moist there, which I what the picture shows. Can't say I've heard of that move before. But also, all the other pictures are clearly from Rudy's. Easy to spot if you go frequently.

Yeah, Rudy's isn't bad at all. For a place that aims to have food ready at all times (as was noted above places like Franklin's cook what they think they will serve and aim to run out before service ends. Hence the line. You can't be guaranteed that you will get what you want if you show up late. Rudy's has meats all the time because if they have left over, they just re-heat and serve the next day) they do a good job of it. Certainly the best of any chain BBQ I've had. But a place like Franklin....the lean brisket has more moisture than Rudy's moist (aka the point of the brisket). It's just rendered better. And there are more tricks they use.

[calbears]

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

That pic was from Rudy's. As far as I can see there are no pics from Franklins. I
Can tell that's Rudy's because he said he got chopped and ate it with the moist there, which I what the picture shows. Can't say I've heard of that move before. But also, all the other pictures are clearly from Rudy's. Easy to spot if you go frequently.

Yeah, Rudy's isn't bad at all. For a place that aims to have food ready at all times (as was noted above places like Franklin's cook what they think they will serve and aim to run out before service ends. Hence the line. You can't be guaranteed that you will get what you want if you show up late. Rudy's has meats all the time because if they have left over, they just re-heat and serve the next day) they do a good job of it. Certainly the best of any chain BBQ I've had. But a place like Franklin....the lean brisket has more moisture than Rudy's moist (aka the point of the brisket). It's just rendered better. And there are more tricks they use.

Franklin is the pic below Buc-ee's

['Cane]

Originally Posted by calbears

Franklin is the pic below Buc-ee's

Originally Posted by Needsdecaf

That pic was from Rudy's. As far as I can see there are no pics from Franklins. I
Can tell that's Rudy's because he said he got chopped and ate it with the moist there, which I what the picture shows. Can't say I've heard of that move before. But also, all the other pictures are clearly from Rudy's. Easy to spot if you go frequently.

Yeah, Rudy's isn't bad at all. For a place that aims to have food ready at all times (as was noted above places like Franklin's cook what they think they will serve and aim to run out before service ends. Hence the line. You can't be guaranteed that you will get what you want if you show up late. Rudy's has meats all the time because if they have left over, they just re-heat and serve the next day) they do a good job of it. Certainly the best of any chain BBQ I've had. But a place like Franklin....the lean brisket has more moisture than Rudy's moist (aka the point of the brisket). It's just rendered better. And there are more tricks they use.

Aha! Told ya. 😛

[Bimmerfun82]

Phenomenal experience. I like the picture of the rocket ships next to the rocket ships. Seriously, these cars must be insanely fast as my compx was already unreal quickness. And that signal green seems pretty close to verde mantis with less yellow. Enjoy!!

[calbears]

Day 12: Los Alamos & Albuquerque

First photo shows the general route.

Checking just a few days ahead, we knew that at least the national park/historic site would be open Sunday. After seeing Oppenheimer, figured this would be a nice historic site visit. The rainstorm in Austin ended up dumping some snow (maybe a few inches) on Los Alamos.

Hit the road early and made it to Los Alamos around 1130AM, there wasn't much choice for food in the small town, so we ended up just getting some fast food. Then we headed over to the visitor center that was open. It's a very small site, with some historic information including photos and small exhibits. There were a few rangers on site, and we found out that another ranger was going to be doing a walking tour.

This would take us around the Ashley Pond and explaining the acquisition of the site from the former Los Alamos Ranch School--all that really remains of this is the Fuller Lodge which was used in the film interior shots with the stomping of feet.

The Lodge was closed, but the ranger had the keys, so we got to explore that place as well before the 45 minute tour ended. We could then explore the few remaining 1940s era buildings--including Oppenheimer's home, but that wasn't open. You could take a look inside through the windows which still had some movie props/set decoration inside although it was hard to see.

We also stopped by the "main gate" which is now also a bathroom/rest stop area. Then it was time to head down to Albuquerque. I wanted to stop by a few Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul places, but had to limit what we'd see due to timing and it getting later (and thus darker) as the many sites were quite spread out through the area.

Our fist stop was Los Pollos Hermanos, which also had a guy selling shirts and other goodies out of Los Pollos Hermanos truck. Next to it was also Howard Hamlin's Jaguar XJ8 (not sure if it was the actual one).

Then it was off to the Dog House and then Walter White's House. I didn't bring a pizza and the people who actually live there probably don't want more of it. It's fenced off and they ask that you take photos from across the street. Finally, we found Saul Goodman's original office at the nail salon (since closed). By then, it was dark so off to the hotel and then dinner.

Next stop: Monument Valley & Flagstaff

[ChrisM4]

Awesome delivery experience and chronology of the trip, congrats on the new cars!

[calbears]

Day 13: Monument Valley & Flagstaff

First photo shows the general route.

We hit the road before 8AM and decided, after some research the night before, to stop for breakfast at the Route 66 Diner in Gallup, New Mexico. This place even had a drive thru window, but very 1950s ish decor. Food was decent and what you'd find at any diner for breakfast. Portions were large as well.

After that, it was onto the backroads through Navajo nation. The original planning had a stop at the 4 Corners, but that was abandoned when I found out you couldn't park your car in 4 states at once. So it transitioned to Monument Valley, which was always the plan. However, did not plan to do the drive on the dirt road through the valley, but rather get some photos from the highway. Weather was looking great, but as we descended into the valley, we got overcast skies. Wasn't too worried, but it got worse with fog and was worried we'd end up with no pictures.

We stopped at Kayenta, Arizona to top off and then continued up US 163. And suddenly, we got a break. The fog was gone, but still mostly cloudy with some sun peaking through. We stopped several times on the side of 163 when it permitted to get some photos of the amazing scenery. Continuing up 163, we stopped at the Utah border for more photos and decided to head into Monument Valley, Utah to at least the visitors center to see if we'd get lucky. We did not. It was completely fogged in! So we stopped at the visitor center to have a look around.

Then it was onto Flagstaff, Arizona for the next hotel and dinner. We ended up at Beaver Street Brewery, which was also pretty good and some good local beer.

Next stop: Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Vegas