Roci and I – the Beginnings

Due to popular demand, I’m inserting here a list of all the chapters, as “some” people find it too hard to scroll to the end of a chapter to start the next (I’ve read something about instant gratification, but…).

Roci and I – starting the trip

Roci and I – Oh là là French Canada!

Roci and I – Oh, Canada!

Roci and I – Oh là là French France!

Roci and I – Back in Canada!

Roci and I – the long way home…

…and while not part of the travel blog, more on Roci’s upgrades and repairs here.

It was a dark and stormy night…

Lol. Who am I kidding? The weather is always perfect in San Diego!

Rocinante (Roci for friends) is my 2003 Audi S8, the protagonist car from the awesome Ronin (with Robert DeNiro and Natascha McElhone). Since I watched that movie the first time two decades ago, I wanted to have this car. And when recently I had a need for a bigger car than my sports cars, I said “why not the Ronin car?”

Said and done, bought Rocinante from a dealer in Palm Springs. It had 101k miles, in fairly good shape and very Ronin-like. I planned to keep it for a couple of months, play with it for a bit, and then sell it. Life happens, and for a great personal reason, I’ve decided to keep it. Alas, that reason is not valid anymore, but in the meantime a lot of dough changed hands, while bringing Roci into tip top shape. I had help as well in repairing and upgrading it (thanks KC and Owen). See the upgrades and repairs info here. Lol, I didn’t get the girl, but I’ve got the car…

And now, since I have a lot of time on my hands (my sincere thanks to my former employer for gracefully reminding me there’s life outside of work), I’ve decided to drive across the U.S. and Eastern Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and perhaps the French island of St. Pierre and Miquelon). L’aventure attend!

It is the beginning of September, and I plan to leave mid month. Ish…

And here is Roci with Point Loma in the background:

…and the original S8 from Ronin while chasing the baddies (or goodies??):

I’ve got a lot of feedback on my plans – from “that’s awesome,” to the “are you nuts?”

Most “are you nuts” was centered on taking an old car on such a long and arduous journey.

Andrei suggested that perhaps something like this car would be better:

Yeah, I agree, but that would be too easy!

Remember how our forefathers and foremothers (is that a word?) traveled across the continent?

In one of these:

… and now to the first leg of the trip. At the end of any blog chapter, there will be a sequential link to the next one…