We canyon carved our way through Central Washington with some fine people that invited us to join them on one of their drives. It was forecast to be a beautiful, dry Fall day. A text arrived from a friend asking if we wanted to join on a cruise. When given the coordinates for the route we didn’t think we would commit to joining them for the entire distance as it would be an all day affair, but we at least wanted to cruise with them a bit and take advantage of the nice weather and take one of the toys out for a spin. It was a foggy start when we pulled up to the meeting spot, the usual Pacific Northwest marine layer. We thought it might be just a few cars but it wound up being quite the assortment of 10-15 variations of sport, touring, and even cross-over/SUVs from familiar makes like Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Lotus, Porsche and VW. We brought out the 911 hoping to get some more seat time in it and to see how it would do along the planned route. That route left Issaquah heading East along I-90 beyond the Snoqualmie Mountain pass then South just before Ellensburg through the Yakima River Canyon, arguably one of Washington’s best driving roads. The route essentially circles the East and South side of Mt. Rainier along the edge of the Cascades. Canyons continuing to be carved by rivers offered up both scenery and challenges as we navigated twists and turns between the desert mountainside. With very little traffic the open roads were a blast to cruise through. We decided to stay the course and stick with everyone for the duration of the drive. Eventually our route wound up crossing us over the Southern border of the state into Oregon then we followed the Columbia River West to I-5, then drove North towards Seattle.
Mid-way through the cruise we stopped for a group picture and stretched our legs. Mt. Rainier was barely visible through the clouds and the Fall weather was cool and brisk, but not at all uncomfortable. A Panamera having some electrical problems was still behind a bit with volunteers electing to stay with so the break was a bit longer than scheduled. It gave us the chance to pull out and set up the zoom lens to see how well we might be able to pan and capture the left behind squad as they hauled up the canyons to catch back up with us after they sorted out the issue. Once reunited it was back on the road to grab a bite to eat, eventually ending at a brewery along the Colombian River waterfront. The weather held up just long enough for us to enjoy company outdoors before parting ways, then we drove home in a complete downpour heading North towards Seattle.
We certainly wound up with a lot more seat time in the 911 than we bargained for, and worked HARD to keep up with these newer, and more powerful cars. As mentioned in prior posts a suspension refresh will help the 911 carve corners a little better but it again held its own and did a great job maintaining its composure throughout the day. The power was there, too! Getting to hear that flat 6 rev up to through the higher rpm range is intoxicating. All these newer cars had quite a bit more torque and horsepower yet our quarter-of-a-century-old sports car kept up, for the most part anyway. With a lot of white knuckling it was evident we will need to do something about adding some girth and grip to the factory steering wheel. Had never felt hands so sore like they were the following day from gripping the wheel so hard and for so long the day before! Yet another item for the growing to-do list.
