After checking into the hotel, I was lucky to learn that the local 1/4mi oval dirt track had racing that night. So I went down to check it out. It was fun to see - we used to go in San Jose at the fairgrounds when they still had a track. It was a bit funny - I think my X5 was the only European car in the parking lot (which of course was dirt!!), and was nearly the only foreign car.
The next morning I headed out early and went through Carson City - I found a few interesting things to look at including a nice little classic car show.
I decided to take the scenic route home, since I had plenty of time and only ~400 miles or so to cover. So I went down 395 and over 108 - Carson Pass. That road was just amazing. The summit was at 9600 feet and the road is very narrow and winding and only about 1.5 cars wide. Luckily I hit very little traffic and was able to enjoy the wonderful chassis of the X5 and the sweet 4.6L BMW powerplant too!! The tiptronic trans really came in handy here.
All told, it was a great introduction to the X for me. I really enjoyed the car. It will serve duty as my road trip car, so how fitting to test it out on a killer road trip. I drove about 1200 miles. The first day I averaged ~71mph, even with all my stops.
Second day was much much slower. I lost count of how many mountain passes I went over - well more than a dozen all told. The 4.6is performed flawlessly - even in triple digit heat at high elevation cruising at 90+. Total trip mpg was in the high 18's, which I felt was pretty good considering the speeds driven, the heat, the elevation and all of the mountains I climbed over.