just booked my flight......

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......for my trip back to ohio to drive the targa home to florida, the last phase of my relocation

back in october on our honeymoon michelle and i decided it was time to get the heck out of ohio, we didn't know how we were going to do it but we were set on it.
just after thanksgiving of 07 i started my "online" research.....


come may of 08' we took the last week and drove down to scope out some areas, work scene, etc in the orlando area, dropped my resume off at the one place i wanted to work, 20 minutes later (as we were driving to davenport to look at some houses) my cell rang and it was the owner of a store in ocala who really needed help in the bays, the next day we were heading up to meet and check it out, but not after the tranny in our 06 jetta took a dump in the middle of nowhere, the rest of that afternoon was spent getting the vw to dave maus vw who gave us an 08 jetta to drive during the repair.....anyway the work deal was sealed that friday from the pub in germany at epcot via cell phone, i said " i'll be here in 3 weeks".
went home, put in my 3 week notice at the old shop.....started packing....sold all my fish tanks....said bye to my fish (they went to monsterfishrescue.com which my friend setup).....panicked a bit and almost sold my 911......then worked it out and kept it.....2 days of moving sales.....more packing......stored the 911 in akron.........loaded the moving truck (thanks dougie and blake )......drove my ass to florida...moved into our townhouse in hoa hell.......michelle moved down on the 4th of july after a short stay at her moms........

so in the timeframe of 9 months, i got married, quit my job of 8 years, moved to florida, the wifey got a job today after quiting her job of 10 years.............. i'm flying to ohio to get my 911.
it'll be a nice bond during the drive as it's been quite a few months since i've gotten to really drive it, there's a few mantainance items i'll be doing the morning before i leave for florida but it's all in check
i'll be flying with no luggage to ease the pain, i'll be next day airing a package with typical road trip tools etc early in the week so it'll be waiting for me when i land.

2 weeks and counting........
pics to come

[Jims5543]

Congrats! I will have to come up for some more Martin events in the future.

Now put in for the weekend off in November. You will both have a blast!

Document your trip back and share it with us.

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2 days to go.......watch for updates if interested, i'll be mainly "documenting" the trip with my camera phone.
i shipped a box full of tools to ohio today, my thoughts are if i have them i won't need them, if i don't have them i'll definitely need them.......$60 to next day air a 12lb box....

more to come....

[Seahawk]

Do you have a route picked out...there are some very cool drives between Ohio and Fla.

I so enjoy journeys like this.

[Icemaster]

If anything happens on the way down 71 feel free to shout. I'll PM you my info.

[BeyGon]

Congratulations, too many people are afraid to do what you are doing. I like the adventure of it.

[bell]

Just landed in cleveland, smells just like i remembered LOL christian (a quiet boom) is on his way to pick me up, then its off to his shop to get reunited with my 911 and throw in the o2 sensor. should be on the road back to florida by noon

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So far so good, im somewhere in SC right now, taking a break

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well i made it, pretty uneventfull, 911 ran strong all the way cruising at 70-80, cht temps were consistant, oil temp raise a bit when i took the targa top off in NC (extra drag?).
my idle is a bit screwy right now, it's either the mixture is out of adjustment from the new o2 sensor or the idle control valve needs cleaned.....not sure which yet.
only 2 other glitches was i was playing with my power seat and it wouldn't go back down, so i did a rest stop dismantle/reassemble of the seat switch to get it back where i wanted it, and my driver side window fell out of it's track, popped the rs panel off and reset it in the track, so add these couple things to more things to do
best i could tell i was getting between 23-25mpg, which isn't bad for a 23 year old porsche with 127,000 miles on it
i've got some camera phone pics i need to load up.......more to come

[Jims5543]

Glad to hear you made it back safely. Looking forward to pics. Sounds like you drive straight through with a rest stop nap.

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Thanks jim, i made it strait through to georgia then took a 2.5 hour nap, i woke up to fog which in turn made my windscreen fog too so i stopped at the florida welcome center until the suns first light so i could see better, my 100 watt narva h4s didnt help with the glare LOL ill do a writeup when i post the pics later

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alrighty......now that i'm not a zombie i'll do my little writeup on the adventure
this was the last stage in my relocation to florida, see this thread for everything else it's crunch time......relocating

friday morning i got "dragged" to a disney wedding of one of michelles friends, it was a nice and simple event, apparently it's alot of girls' dream to get married at disney......after that michelle dropped me off at orlando airport for my 5:30 flight to cleveland, i got to the airport way early anticipating the normal hassle with security and such.....but no big deal 3 minutes after getting out of the car i was at my terminal waiting.....and waiting, no luggage to check in, just my carry on.
plane was on time, landed in cleveland 10 minutes ahead of schedule (continental 737, total was $129.50 one-way).
after landing i called christian (a quiet boom) as he was picking me up (he was also caring for my 911 for the couple months).

cleveland...


a short while later we were at his new "still under renovation" house where the 911 was, we picked it up and headed to his other house for some good stuffed pork chops
then off to his shop where i swapped the o2 sensor and left it there for the night.....

there's my baby



saturday morning i ran a few local errands and stopped by the old shop for a bit, was good to see the old crew, but was time to hit the road.....

the trip was pretty uneventfull, 23-25 mpg, had the top off as soon as i hit NC.....and it stayed off until i got home
some misc pics of the drive.....in order taken....

[bell]

i gave her a bath tonite......tomorrow i'll give it a good sweeping and start on some of the little things i need to do.
thanks for reading and for the offered help from some of you guys in case i ran into trouble, it's appreciated