For a change, the weather today was great, other than a few drizzles before Independence Pass. I finally made it over Independence Pass (the last 2 times I tried it was closed, once for snow season and once for a rockslide). The Atom was a big hit with folks at the scenic overlooks:

And in return, they took a picture of me:

Here’s what it looks like over the edge of the above picture:

There is still snow on the peaks, even in mid-August:

Though much of it melts and creates these ponds:

I’m in Westcliffe now – soggy but in one piece (and so is the car). The weather alternated from beautiful to horrific, sometimes within a half-hour period. Look for an update later tonight.

Update: Ok, both the car and I are somewhat drier. I left Taos this morning, where the car got a lot of interest, even stopping traffic on some streets so people could have a conversation with me about the Atom. From Taos to Angel Fire, the roads were very good – nice and twisty, with a number of 15MPH (posted) switchbacks.

From Angel Fire to Mora, things got interesting – apparently I had moved the route selection slider on my map software from “highways” all the way to “not really a road”. The road doesn’t even seem to have a name, just being referred to as “Local road” on the map software. I probably should have given up and chosen an alternate route when the sign that said “Unpaved road next 12 miles – may be impassable” came up, but being your intrepid correspondent, I gave the Atom a workout on it. The car performed wonderfully, on a road far worse than any of you would ever want to take. Here’s a picture from near the summit, where the road is in reasonably good shape:

After getting through that, the rain increased to a deluge. Fortunately, by the time I got to I-25, the sun decided to peek out for a bit and I got dried off somewhat. This pattern of soak / dry repeated for the next 150 or so miles. When I arrived at Westcliffe, it was pouring again, so I landed at the first motel I could find. Of course, after I rushed to unload the car and get the car cover on it, the sun started to come out again:

Since the weather had improved, I gave a pair of prospective Atom owners rides to check out the car, and spent an hour or so talking about the Atom and cars in general.

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.