Yesterday in Albuquerque, I met up with some Atom fans who wanted to come see the car. One even drove in from El Paso, TX (about 275 miles one-way). Now that’s dedication!

Fortunately, all of the car gawking was completed by the time the rains came – the whole Southwest has been experiencing bizarre weather (mostly lots – and lots – of rain). Here’s a time sequence of pictures from my hotel room window:

As you can see, the rain gave way to a beautiful sunset, reflecting off the clouds.

Today, I met a friend of mine from my High School days and we toured around Albuquerque, including the Unser Racing Museum:

My friend Amy has a positive review of the Atom:

After all the sightseeing, I left Albuquerque for Angel Fire and Mora. Unfortunately, it started raining quite heavily and the last 75 miles or so into Taos were really wet. There were mudslides and flooding on the road, and people were actually pulling off the road to get out of their cars and watch the rivers overflowing – that’s how unusual these rains have been.

People have asked me how the car manages in the rain. Handling is fine (a lot of this is dependent on tires, chassis setup, and driving style, of course). With my jacket and helmet on I didn’t get too wet. The bubble windscreen keeps my hands dry. My legs get a little wet from water coming in the openings in the front of the chassis, and I get some dribble onto my neck. Overall, not bad and I can definitely see possibilities for running races in the rain.

Assuming that the weather is somewhat better tomorrow, I’ll be picking up pretty much on schedule, visiting Angel Fire and Mora on my way to Westcliffe, CO.

Today’s odometer reading is 2958 miles – almost halfway through the trip.

I did a night run from Scottsdale to Springerville to avoid the last of the heat. By the time I got into the canyons in the Superstition Mountain range, it was downright chilly. But I’d rather be cold than hot. Running the canyons in the dark at speed was quite an adventure – I wish I had some video gear so you could see it.

This morning I did a daytime run from Springerville to Albuquerque, NM. The skies were overcast part of the time, but I only got a brief drizzle. However, I did encounter a flooded part of the highway (the Atom handled it quite well) and got the car wet / dirty. After arriving here in ABQ, I called a mobile detailer to the hotel to clean up the car, which went quite well.

I’m at the Doubletree downtown until Saturday morning – if you’re in the area, give me a call on the hotline to schedule a time / place to meet.

Once I leave here, expect the pictures to start appearing again.

I had the Atom serviced today at Scottsdale Lotus. They’re fine folks and have experience working on Atoms (though with my service today, their experience has doubled). They’re into cars – all kinds of cars (don’t let the “Lotus” in the name fool you).

I had the clutch bled (hopefully this time it stays bled – sometimes I feel I’m just herding bubbles into the clutch slave cylinder so they can be rounded up and extracted), the oil and filter changed, all the assorted nuts and bolts checked for proper torque, and the brakes and tires inspected.

I should be moving on to Springerville, AZ on my way to Albuquerque, NM tonight, unless I get a report of unfavorable weather.

I’m in Scottsdale now, at the Best Western Airpark. I’ll be having the oil changed in the car and the car generally looked-over. I now have 2234 miles on it – 1/3 of the way through my cross-country trip, and I just left California…

If you want to meet in Scottsdale, give me a call on the hotline number (551-580-0100).

I left Baker at sunset, when the temperature on the Bun Boy “World’s Largest Thermometer” had dropped to a balmy 102 degrees:

I had hoped to arrive in Blythe, but an unannounced road closure on 95 at Vidal Junction forced me east onto 62. I’m in Parker, AZ (north of Quartzsite) now. Due to the high temperatures, I will be moving only at night at least until I get to Scottsdale. From Scottsdale to Springer and on to Albuquerque, NM there seems to be a forecast of rain, so I’m not sure what I’ll do once I get to Scottsdale.

Due to the heat, I lost my Internet connection until things had a chance to cool down this morning.

I know a bunch of folks were wanting to meet up with me, either in Blythe or Scottsdale. I’ll do my best to get in touch with you to see where and when we can meet up. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it was due to things outside my control.

It is a little after 1 PM here and it is way too hot to drive. I’m at Baker, CA at the (believe it or not) “Bun Boy Motel”, which is the only thing open. It is 103 degrees in the shade here, and a lot hotter than that on the road. I’m going to stay here at least until the evening. I hope to leave when it cools down some and do a night drive to Blythe to pick up the schedule. I’ll post a few more pictures from Death Valley later on. I didn’t stop for many pictures as it was 116+ in the valley.

Badwater Basin – lowest point in the US:

As I mentioned earlier, I’m staying in Panamint Springs for another night. The folks here are really great, and I’ve been giving them rides up and down the Valley in the Atom. Here’s some pictures from around sunset today:

I am staying another day in Death Valley. To keep the schedule on track, I will be skipping Barstow and the run through Amboy, and will be heading toward Blythe from Death Valley. That’s a 400-plus mile trip, so I will probably stop in Needles Monday night and head toward Blythe and on to Scottsdale Tuesday morning, arriving in Scottsdale as scheduled Tuesday afternoon / evening.

This means that people who plan to meet me at or chase me from Blythe won’t have my exact starting time. I’ll update the hotline number with an ETA for Blythe once I leave Needles on Tuesday morning. 

I made the scene this morning at Crystal Cove, where the Atom drew a huge crowd. I met some folks from the forums and gave a few test drives. After that, I loaded up the car and headed for Death Valley. The Panamint Springs location is under new management, which is much better than the old management. It is now a family business and everyone is as friendly as can be. If you’re in DV, I strongly suggest a stop here – either for the restaurant, lodgings, or both.

The odometer now reads 1727 miles.

A TV reporter from Argentina sets up to interview me for his car program back home:

The crowd around the Atom just keeps getting bigger and bigger:

Ok, those of you who wanted to see me in the car, cover your eyes:

As I’m getting ready to pull out, amid cries of “he’s getting away – go interview him!” a local print reporter conducts an abbreviated interview:

Update 2009-11-29: I found a Crystal Cove / Cars & Coffee photoblog that also has some pictures of my Atom from this visit. You can view it here – the first picture is of my Atom, along with the 11th. The 5th picture isn’t my Atom – I think it is the Wrightspeed X1 electric conversion.

Nothing too exciting to report about today – I spent the morning having the clutch adjusted at a local Chevrolet dealer (the Atom generated some strange looks when I rolled in, but the only real problem was deciding how to write up the paperwork  – finally they decided to write it as a Cobalt with the Atom’s VIN). Very good service for a roll-in visit with a car they weren’t expecting.

I spent the afternoon in a coin-op laundry catching up with the dirty laundry – I really didn’t want to take a load of dirty clothes to Death Valley tomorrow! I also picked up some detailing supplies so I can try to clean the grime off the car tonight before Crystal Cove.

Saturday early morning I’ll be at Crystal Cove, probably across from the Starbucks as I hear that’s the good spot to get, then I’ll be coming back to the motel and loading up the car for the run to Death Valley. For some inexplicable reason, a gaggle of foreign tourists (their words) have booked the entire Stovepipe Wells concession in Death Valley. Why they’re there in the hot (117 degree) off season escapes me, but I got the last room at Panamint Springs, just at the entrance to Death Valley. 

Don’t expect any posts Saturday night as there is no cellular service in Death Valley. Hopefully I’ll have a mega-post Sunday night after I make it to Barstow, but it depends on how tired I am…