Filicki

Today was our longest drive of the trip. It took us 12 hours with 2 gas stops and lunch to make it the 796 miles all the way home from Greensboro.  Safely home on our balcony in Miami Beach The drive was smooth with just a few slow spots but no real traffic jams going south. On the other side of the highway, there were massive jams as people were evacuating. Around the North and South Carolina border we started noticing utility trucks headed to Florida for hurricane support and then progressively more, until they outnumbered all the other cars. We were about mid-way through Florida when they started to exit. Sadly, while preparing for the next one (Milton), there was clear evidence of the last one (Helene) as we drove through North and South Carolina - we saw multiple destroyed road signs, billboards and fallen trees. We also saw the National Guard headed down (but there were outnumbered by the utility trucks) and Apple Maps sent us major hurricane alarms every time we crossed into...

Today's drive was a long one - 7 hours and 439 miles, so after a quick workout we hopped in the car. We made it to Greensboro around 4:30 with plans to meet Jeff and Jody for dinner. We had a great time  catching up with them. Dinner at Pangaea Bistro and Bar in Downtown Greensboro Although long, the drive down was nice with only a few traffic pockets

Stop 2 on the trek home was to see Ansel on parent's weekend at Penn State. We had a great time with him getting a tour of the town, his apartment and the campus.  Ansel's seat in one of his classes When we first arrived Ansel told us (in typical-Ansel fashion) how he had just taken a math exam and he was sure he aced it - which we had a good giggle about.  About an hour into our tour he got a notification saying his grade was available.  Maybe an anxious hour after that he looked at the grade. Ansel and Filip celebrating his 102 on his math exam After our tour, Ansel took us to a sushi restaurant for dinner just off campus.  337 miles to State College from Lenox  

Today we started our trek south towards Miami Beach with our first stop in Lenox, Massachusetts - about 110 miles. We wanted to see Nicole and she was very kind to drive 2.5 hours to meet us in Lenox. Our afternoon activity was the #1 hike in Lenox according to Alltrails, the "Woolsey, Lookout, Coakley, Weaver, Aspinwall Loop" in Kennedy Park which surprisingly turned out to be across the street from our hotel. The hike was along cross-crountry ski trails and while it was really well marked and not overgrown a bit, it did require using the GPS on Alltrails to not get off track. The weather continued to cooperate with us and we enjoyed some fall foliage. The biggest hurdle were the numerous acorns that kept falling from trees- only Filip was hit by one. In the lookout gazebo (facing- not on top of- Mt. Greylock) After the hike we went to the Chocolate Springs Cafe for some coffee.  We walked into the downtown area of Lenox for dinner at Cello - a really nice local restaurant ...

Today we drove the Ruby Star Neo 911 Turbo S Cabriolet - the car that Filip had been eyeing since before we started the trip. It was a cool morning so we kept the top up until after lunch. Lunch was at Waybury Inn and we had a brief stop at the Crown Point Historical site for a history lesson and some cider donuts before making the final trek back to the Sagamore for our evening. Lake Champlain Bridge to Crown Point Our final event was in the lower pavilion at the Sagamore, include drinks, dinner and our final good-byes. The entire trip was great, the group connected well, the weather was perfect and the fall colors impressive. Route map for the full trip - we drove 820 miles over 5 days   

Today's car was a yellow 911 Turbo S and both the morning and afternoon drives started and ended at the Woodstock Inn.   Outside the Woodstock Inn with our car for the day The morning drive was focused on finding covered bridges. Filip did that one solo and Micki took the morning off. The afternoon drive was more dynamic with lots of curves, high speeds and beautiful views.  One of the covered bridges on the tour Afternoon drive included some dirt  Dinner was at the Simon Pearce restaurant and included some time to explore the store ahead of cocktail hour - which took place on the deck outside the restaurant.  The excitement at cocktail hour was the random drawing for tomorrow's car. We took turns selecting slips of paper from a bowl listing all the cars in the fleet. If you liked the car you chose you wrote your name on the paper and it was yours to drive tomorrow, but you also had the option to negotiate/trade with others if you wanted. Sadly, the car Filip wanted ...

Today was the longest drive of the Porsche experience and we drove the ice grey 911 Turbo S Cabriolet. We started early in Lake Placid and drove to Essex to cross Lake Champlain on a ferry.  Once in Vermont we went up to Smuggler's Notch with a brief stop at the top of Stowe mountain for a gondola ride before heading to Woodstock where we stayed the night. The ferry from Essex to Charlotte was full of Porsches On the gondola to the top of Stowe Mountain - fall colors were more vibrant in VT this week At the top Ride down On the drive to Woodstock. Mo - the photographer has been hanging out of cars all week

Today's drive with Porsche was to Long Lake for lunch and then back to Mirror Lake for the evening. We took turns driving with Filip taking the more "dynamic" segment today. It was a ton of fun. View from our window of Mirror Lake in the Mirror Lake Inn We drove a red 911 Turbo S carrera Fleet of cars behind us   "Do the dance"

Today was the first day of driving with the Porsche Experience Tour. There are 11 couples in total driving with 3 Porsche lead drivers. Interestingly the Porsche lead drivers are also coaches at the Birmingham track and we remembered them. We are group 1 and today we were the front car.  We drove a dark blue 911 carrera GTS. We had an easy drive to Mirror Lake for lunch on the water and then a more challenging drive up to Whiteface Mountain. Once at Whiteface you had the option of short hike or an elevator ride up to the top. We chose the hike up and the elevator down.  In total the drive was about 120 miles. Trees were beautiful on our drive - most color we have seen so far Micki gripping the steering wheel as she tries to keep up with John (our leader) Micki keeping up with John View of Lake Placid from the top of Whiteface Mountain View of the valley from Whiteface Tunnel from the bottom to the elevator at the bottom of Whiteface Mountain. Fleet of cars in the Porsche Exper...