road trip to pick up my "new" 4.6is

[c4racer]

A quick intro - I am new to this forum, but not to the BMW marque. I have been a car nut for a long while now and enjoyed well over a dozen nice cars over the years. Along the way I have been involved in classic muscle cars and drag racing, then moved into autox, track days and eventually road racing with NASA.

My first BMW was a E36 M3/4 5-speed, followed by E39 M5, 540iT and a E46 330i sedan w/ sport pkg, 5-spd. Sprinkled in-between I have also owned some nice American and Japanese performance cars like Corvettes, an Evo and a CTS-V (first gen) as well as a few first get Camaro's.

My current daily driver is a 2005 Audi S4 Avant with 4.2 V8 and 6-speed.

I was contemplating several different scenarios, but in the end decided to keep the Audi as my main daily use car and sell my Suburban to make room for a X5. The X5 will be used for road trips for work (I am in sales) and the family, and will also cover any utility needs that the S4 cannot handle. I may end up picking up a utility trailer of some sort to give me the sort of cargo space I was used to in the Suburban. I don't need it all the time, but there are times that I do. I have a dog, am an active cyclist, and work in several bands playing drums or keyboards, so I often have plenty of gear to haul to gigs. But since I am getting out of racing, it made more sense to rid myself of the Suburban that I hated driving and get more of a crossover SUV that will be nearly as good as a 7 series or S class for road trips, but far more useful for all the active things I do.

Anyway - making a long story longer - I ended up finding an Estoril Blue 2003 4.6is in KY. Of course, I live in CA... So a buddy volunteered to go pick it up for me and drive it half way to CO where he lives. I am flying out later this week to get it and drive the last leg from CO to CA. So I will be enjoying a nice road trip with my new X5 through CO, UT, NV and into CA this weekend. I can't wait. I am going to take the opportunity to drive down 395 in NV and into CA since I heard it is a really nice scenic area and I have never been through there. Total miles will be ~1200. Should be a fun trip. V1 will come with me...

I know this thread is useless w/o pics.... I will have to wait until I get back to add pics - I am guessing I will end up with a lot, so get ready!!