The Audi Mileage Marathon from Durango to Sedona
by Amy Mattinat
Day 2 of the Audi Mileage Marathon – Wave 3
This morning at breakfast, Kami, Bob and I all decided that since the Grand Canyon was only about an hour off our itinerary we would turn off the navigation system AKA: ‘Bossy’, and take a detour to see “The Big Hole”. Bob is quite the ‘adventure man’ and has climbed to the bottom of the GC numerous times and helped convince us that a detour was necessary. We wouldn’t have any extra time for hiking, but we did have time for some spectacular viewing. Much to our chagrin, at the morning meeting Audi suggested this very thing and we found a number of various Audi TDI clean diesel
models driving around the park.
It took about six hours to get to the Grand Canyon. There were a lot of loooooong straight-a-ways that went on forever. We would be zooming along just fine and then come up behind a large camper vehicle. Our little A4 Audi #10 makes it fun to pass. Don’t tell anyone but I had her up to 100 mph a number of times. The turbo is so quiet, sleek and powerful and those Michelin tires just hug the road. I tried to stay somewhat near the speed limit, but it was hard. We had to reminding ourselves that we were on an Indian Reservation and the speeding tickets were very painful.
While cruising through an Indian Reservation we came upon these red rocks on the side of the road. Reminded me of when I was a child at the beach and I would make sand sculptures by dripping wet sand in a pile.
The Grand Canyon kinda took me by surprise. The roads leading up the park are kind of boring. Mountains in the distance and a lot of scrubby fields between them and the roads. It was a very uneventful drive right up to the place we paid to get into the park. But once we parked the car, it was one of those mind boggling experiences. All I could say over and over was “WOW”.
We viewed the hole from as many angles as possible. From various lookout points and from up a tower.
Number 10 seemed to love the GC too!
Little Miss Sunshine film The Machinist dvdrip
It was about 5 pm when we left the park. We were happy to see our pit crew at the designated Shell station . Audi has staff there to take down data, fill the tank and check the car over. The fuel door is sealed and the tech signs off that we have not strayed from anything that would compromise the study.
After filling up the tank with diesel we still had about an hour to go. Heading into Sedona you drive down a very steep incline full of switchbacks. By this time it pitch black outside. We were very happy to discover that our Audi A4 was loaded with a headlight feature that would automatically turn on and dim the bright lights as needed. This was a fabulous thing! Kami was busy keeping her eyes on the road and the car made it as easy as possible to see as much as possible. I’m just loving this car more and more each day!
Flightplan ipod We were all so glad to pull up to our hotel. Audi is taking such great care of all of us. The hotel staff whisked away our luggage to our rooms and we were invited for food and drinks.
What a fabulous day! A My Name Is Bruce movies BIG THANKS to Jody Devere for sending me on this adventure for AskPatty.com
October 15th, 2008 at 7:52 am
What a fun adventure! I’m looking forward to the next post.