142,000 miles!

 The 911 turned 142,000 miles yesterday evening!

142,000!

Trust me, it's actually 142,000!

It was a beautiful, cool June evening, right around mile marker 68 on I-80 eastbound in Indiana.  Enzo was next to me, and despite it being almost 11 pm, he was awake!

What were we doing driving along at 11 pm?  Well, Allison, Madeline, Enzo, and I had just made the trip to Chicago to retrieve the Boxster and the 911, both of which had been in for service.  The Boxster got an oil change and PDK service, while the 911 got an oil change, a window switch replaced, the trip odometer rebuilt, and some minor rust taken care of.

Since the C4S made its unexpected trip to the shop, my original plan to drive the 911, come back in a loaner, drop the Boxster when the 911 was done, bring the 911 home, then take the loaner back and bring the Boxster home was scuppered.  So instead, we decided to make a little mini-adventure out of the retrieval process.

After finishing teaching at noon, I went home, grabbed a quick snooze, we all had a bite, piled in the Macan, and headed west:

The start of our trip...though it wasn't long before I was the only one awake!

We also took advantage of the opportunity to meet Faris for dinner at Tocco, which is actually like going to Italy for dinner.  The food is out of this world, the street next to the restaurant transforms from motorway to oasis of outdoor tables, a cellist plays beautifully, and did I mention the food is out of this world?  

What an evening, what company, what a meal!

On a cool June evening, there's really nothing better!  Those magical two hours are proof that you can turn any day into something incredible, indelible, and unforgettable!

Faris, Madeline, burrata, and amazing tomatoes!

Enjoying the cool breezes and warm sunshine

Savoring his Shirley Temple!

The meal was unforgettable for many reasons.  We had lots to talk about and look forward to, with Faris departing for Greece in a week and our pending trip to visit Olivia looming.  And ultimately, it's just really nice to be together.  I love these people, and it's a joy to spend time with them.

Another highlight of the trip was "getting the band back together."  The 911 went in for its restorative work towards the end of April, so I hadn't seen it for a while.  Last week, when the C4S was ready, Enzo and I took the Boxster, dropped it off, and...went to dinner with Uncle Faris at Tocco!  It was pretty hilarious, this time when Enzo went up to talk to the cellist, the cellist looked at him with surprise and said, "Don't you live in Indiana?"  Winnetka is a lot easier to get to than Italy!

It was great to see the little car again!

The 911 is a very small car

Much to my surprise, when I picked up the 911 before dinner, I saw that the original CD head unit had been replaced by a Porsche Classic Communication Module.  It's a fully modern head unit that connects via Bluetooth for phone and audio, and includes wired CarPlay!  Amazing!!!!!

What???  PCCM???

Clearly, my crazy generous, crazy loving, crazy brother had been up to some mischief here.  I couldn't figure out how to get CarPlay working, so Enzo and I streamed Bluetooth audio on the way home.

We made a quick pitstop to stretch right before the entry toll on the Indiana Toll Road:

Formation parking

The cool thing about the PCCM installation is that you can put the USB ports in the ashtray.  

Two USB-A ports, I put an A-->C adaptor in the one labeled "phone"

Brilliant!  I don't smoke, and what a perfect place to hide the ports while keeping the car looking stock.  Another cool thing about the PCCM is that the color of the illuminated buttons is adjustable.  The default is white, mimicking the button color in a modern Porsche.  However, at night, it looks slightly out of place in an older car.

Of course, the Germans thought of this!  You can configure the buttons to be amber (perfect for the 964), or if you have an even older car, green!  How cool is that?  Super cool.

At the stretch, I tried the USB-A to USB-C cable from the Boxster to see if that would do the trick.  While it provided power to the phone, it didn't get CarPlay going.  I pondered as we finished the drive, and thought that maybe the problem was the cable itself.  

When we got home, I swapped out the cable for an Apple cable, and voila:

CarPlay in a 33-year-old 911 with amber buttons!

What a wonderful adventure, what an amazing brother, what an incredible wife, what lovely children!  I feel deeply, happily lucky.

4 Porsches in a day?

 Enzo had an outlier day last Thursday.  He went to his swim lesson in the Macan:

The Macan is a great daily driver

Then, we jumped in the Boxster to go to Chicago:

The voyage begins!

At which point, he hopped into Faris' Spyder RS to go to dinner, followed by a drive home in the C4S:

Lurking in the parking lot near Tocco

How did this happen?  Well, due to perfect timing, I needed to take the Boxster in for service and bring the C4S home.  While I'd happily do this on my own, I decided to ask Enzo if he would be up for a little adventure.  He was, and I was so happy he was up for it!  I love traveling with that guy!  I have such fond memories of our Boxster trip to Minneapolis, he's just a wonderful companion.

Of course, it wasn't too far into the drive before the inevitable happened.

The key to sleeping in a Boxster is to trade legroom for the ability to recline

When we got to the Exchange, there was plenty of eye candy to examine.  There was a particularly beautiful Taycan Turbo GT in South Sea Blue Metallic, the same color as Faris' RS.  That color on that body looks stunning, it's a gorgeous shade!

After enjoying the dealership's hospitality, we bolted to Tocco for dinner.  It's a magical restaurant with incredibly authentic, homemade food that transports you to Italy.

Outdoor dining is the best!

Much to our delight, Enzo tried burrata for the first time, and I managed to capture his love at first bite:

There's no mistaking "burrata face"

Burrata, tomatoes, and prosciutto.  Heaven?

Pappardelle alla Norcina - divine!

Affogato before the drive home

Panna cotta that captured Enzo's palate and struck his funnybone

Lovely siblings, so different, so engaging, so fun!

Enzo and I both commented on the change in induction noise on the C4S.  Something definitely sounds different.  I'm not sure what it is, but at part throttle, there's a lot more induction noise!  It sounds like it's doing some seriously heavy breathing.

After dinner, we blasted down the expressway so we could pop in and visit the "Dumpster Boys."  As kittens do, they're working hard to turn into cats!

The boys are big!

Fond memories of when they were babies!

While we could have easily lingered and chatted into the night, it was eventually time to saddle up and head for home.  Enzo had a swim lesson in the morning, and I had to teach.  So, it was time to take our leave of the amazing Uncle Faris and the boys:

Three Nijim Men!

Naturally, the drive home looked a lot like the drive to Chicago!

Reclining is much easier in a 911!

The trip passed quickly, and the C4S returned pretty admirable mileage for a sports car!

I'll take ~26 mpg!

As we rumbled into the driveway, I roused Enzo from his slumber and got him all tucked in for the night:

What a day Enzo had!

As I lay in bed, reviewing the day in my mind, thinking of how you can turn any day into an adventure, I kept coming back to the license plate I chose for the C4S (note the super cool license plate frame Faris got for me, it looks fantastic on the car!!):

Joyful

The word is applicable in so many ways.  Being in the C4S makes me joyful.  Seeing the car makes me joyful.  Sharing it with others makes me joyful.  Using it as part of an adventure makes me joyful.  Seeing my brother makes me joyful.  Talking with my son and seeing his peaceful sleeping face makes me joyful.  Thinking about the rest of my family makes me joyful.  Reflecting on the positives of each day makes me joyful.  Experiencing the highs and lows of human existence makes me joyful.

I am a lucky man, and am accutely aware of how truly truly lucky I am.

237,000 miles!

 The grey van turned 237,000 miles on Father's Day!

237,000 on the dot!

A few moments later, stopped at a traffic light

Father's Day was really lovely.  We had a delightful brunch, hung out in the afternoon, and headed to Venturi for a treat dinner.  It's just such a consistently good, quality, delicious experience.  It's worth going for just their salads!  But we ended up splitting a bianca, truffle, capricciosa, and fig/walnut/prosciutto.  And a Nutella/mascarpone masterpiece for dessert.

It started raining around 2, and it rained the entire evening.  We left Venturi around 9:30, and it was pouring down.  I did a little mental math and determined we'd hit 237,000 on the way home.

We were northbound on Capital Ave, climbing the hill after Cleveland, when we rolled 237,000.  I was driving, Allison was next to me sewing patches on Enzo's Scouting uniform, Luca was behind me reading, Enzo was behind Allison knitting a Wooble llama, and Madeline was in the back doing a little studying.

Enzo and I will be rolling the van to Tesomas Scout Camp next week, so I feel like the moon is rapidly approaching!

236,000 miles

 The grey van rolled 236,000 miles last week!

236,000 + 806

You may be wondering why I'm late by 806 miles.  Well, it's because Luca used it to head up to Pictured Rocks and go camping with one of his friends to do some hiking.

Gorgeous cliffs on Lake Superior

Luca looking good with his backpacking stove

Ready to head out on the trail

His photos reminded me of our family camping trip up that way in 2023.  It really is so beautiful, you just have to make sure you protect yourself from the hawk-like mosquitos!

Luca in 2023 at the same overlook!

Just a beautiful part of the country!

Waterfall from the water

Cool erosion

It really is worth seeing from the lake

Check out the compression of the rear suspension!

The classic "long-arm selfie"

The grey van is getting closer to the moon!

40,000 miles

 The Boxster rolled 40,000 miles yesterday!

40,000 + 11

It was the last day of school, and I checked the mileage before taking Olivia to O'Hare for her Summer Egyptian Adventure:

Seeing this wonderful young lady off at the airport!

I imagine that Allison rolled 40,000 as she picked up Enzo from his last day of 5th grade en route to Ritter's for a traditional celebratory end-of-school-year custard:

On the way to 40K

Olivia and I had a really nice drive to the O'Hare.  We chatted and talked and it was just another example of how truly wonderful it is to spend time with her.  One thing we remarked on was how the fields were just starting to get green stubble as the growing season gets underway.

After dropping Olivia at the airport, I met Faris at Il Milanese for a magical dinner.  As usual, the meal was simply divine.  Carlo really knows what he's doing.

Tartufo burrata e prosciutto

Bucatini carbonara

Maialino "sassi" e risotto parmigiana

Croccantino

After the delicious meal, I made a quick pit stop to visit my feline nephews.  They were happy to get some treats:

Leaping for a treat!

Reaching for a treat!

Climbing for a treat!

After that, it was an easy drive home.  I have to say, I was impressed with the mileage and capacity of the Macan loaner.  Easily a 450+ mile car:

That's with 298 in the rearview

Final note, it looks like Olivia's apartment is right next to the Nile!  How cool!  I'm so excited for her!

What a locaiton!