You’re right, he does look like an Easter Islander!

If/when you make it back to Tucson, you should at least drive up. The views are well worth it.

Definitely worth a detour, if not a journey. I haven’t seen many climbs like that that give back so much for the effort you put in. It really helps that the grade stays so reasonable, and the road surface is in such good repair.

Thank you! We could have done a bit more, but the best views end about where we stopped anyway. After that you’re biking through the woods.

Nice one, Team Anderson! Chapeau.

Yup. 20 miles of it. You should come on down some winter.

Duct tape! We tried that too, without success on the glovebox; although it was quite effective at holding the apron of the front bumper from scraping the pavement. We tried superglue also, which was quite effective for a day or two. The tube solution was the only effective solution, and it held up quite nicely for years.

I wondered if the estimate might have been padded also, but not enough to question the obviously right (for us, anyway) decision.

I followed the story of the Jetta closely, not in the least because at exactly the same time our Golf threw a check engine warning - for the oxygen sensors before and after the catalytic converter - and $1000 later the mechanics were still dreaming up additional problems and charges. Also coincidentally, our Golf is the same age as your former Jetta and also has not a bicycle tube but a good quality duct tape holding that map compartment closed.

I was thinking that Miller Volkswagen was rather free with the repair estimate $$ and I was wondering if part could be 'fake news". So I submitted my case and your case to my friend Marius. Marius is German and has VW deeply in his culture, mainly because he, his friends, and family have owned so many of these models of this vintage. Marius declares that he believes Miller Volkswagen and thinks their estimates were reasonable. He thinks you made a good decision and purchase.

I just thought I'd share that, though you are already confident you did ok. As for our Golf, Marius did not seem much impressed by our threat to trade it for a 2021 Korean Chevrolet Spark. Hmmm.

That is a good day's work! Congratulations!

Very nice, again. Do do that voodoo that you do so well.

Love the pictures Scott! Especially the hoodoos. That one monolith looks like a head from Easter Island. Good on you guys for doing this climb, although I wouldn't call it delightful, at least it wouldn't be for us on the tandem. 5-6% isn't too bad a grade but it certainly would be a slow grind for a long ways.

In the zone of hoodoo, who do?
I do, or we do, or you do?
Beneath whimsical rock towers
Hiding with red dessert flowers
Are Piglet with Winnie the Pooh .. true!

Spectacular!

Gotta love the symmetry of that elevation profile. This has definitely been added to my bucket list of rides if I ever make it out west.

We’re suffering from no buyer’s remorse. We love it already.

Scott and Rachael.
I like decisions that seem to just fall in your lap and countless hours are not waisted exploring numerous options only to discover that the first one was the best. So if you are experiencing any post purchase dissonance, I would like to say to you that I think your car choice is an excellent one. Although my view may be considered slightly bias. Pat and I just purchased almost the same wagon - ours is a a 2018 VW Alltrack. The all wheel drive version is handy up here in the North. Happy motoring! I am sure that you will both enjoy the new car.