esrosedotblog

Booker and I were due for a change of pace so we took the Volvo for its first lengthy spin this morning.

Down to Palm Desert and up the mountainside on 74 to Idyllwild which is tucked into the nearby mountains. Our sky high neighbor. 6000 feet. Higher during the ride.

Part of this is to take the new Volvo through its paces up the serpentine and around the curves going into the rural piney woods.

We went through the town and kept going to a rest stop beyond, then on down the other side of the mountain, Ca 243 to Banning where we joined the 10 and had a chance to open the Volvo up on the high speed road.

The other reason to go, was to see something different and to give Booker the exciting thrill he gets from being up there.

We think maybe he grew up in this kind of place. Pines, mountains. He was born and lived near Reno NV for awhile.

In any case, he gets quite animated and, where possible, I open up the windows so he can hang out and take it all in.

When we got out he would have gladly struck out down the steep hill and into the woods.

We satisfied ourselves with a pee and a walk around at the end of the leash.

Then back into the car and on home.

The locale is great for me too. It so different and so nearby. But this is California where there is some of everything. The mountain views on this road can be breathtaking and the woods are close in and so green! My eye is a desert eye and so the immediate change is fun to take in. I am never quite ready for it even though I have been in woods all my life.

We left at 6 AM just to see the sun rise as we went up the mountain and returned home just before 9AM. It is about a hundred miles all told.

The car is great. It is beefier than the one we had before. Even if it is the same model, it has a more powerful engine and handles very nicely especially on the tight turns at higher speed.

I need to be careful with Booker in the car as too tight and too fast spills him over. Not nice.He does pretty well with a crouch which lets him have the window and lowers his center of gravity. Smart dog. Adaptive.

I am aware of the improved gas milage of the 2104. We didn't move the needle all that much. Well, no needle. The dash controls are all digital now. Nice. A little harder to read because everything is in a different place than before.

Labels: Booker, driving, Volvo