3^rd April 2010

      Oakville, Ontario:  I decided to take some pictures while I figured out exactly where the heck I was.  This day I learned that google maps is not infallible.

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A R32 in Canada

      Hamilton, Ontario:  These pictures were taken on 24 January 2009, a couple days after I finished the last of three 420+ mile trips between Gaithersburg, MD, and my new home in the Land of Tim Hortons.

      UPDATE (03FEB2009):  After 50,070 miles my R has officially become a Canadian citizen.  It survived the roughly 1,300 miles, most of it driven in snowy darkness, it took to complete my relocation to the Land of Tim Hortons.  The R hopped through the hoops set by the Registrar of Imported Vehicles, jumped the hurdles set by Ontario motor vehicles and as of the afternoon of 3 February 2009 my 2004 Volkswagen Golf R32 received its Ontario tags.  Actually, I’m debating whether to even to put them on as I’ve ordered personalized ones.  The R is white with salt and I’m seriously contemplating taking it to a “touchless” car wash, a concept previously verbotten in Maryland.

      My HIDs iced over while driving through the Pennsylvannia snowy darkness. 

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8^th November 2008

      Gaithersburg, MD:  After washing and waxing.

Wasn’t it supposed to rain, today?

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HATE

      24 October 2007:  That morning I woke up to discover my R had been vandalized.  :o(  The vandal(s) used a key or key-like implement to carve the word “HATE” on to the hood.  Wangos.  Forget a couple, heck, I’m going straight to quadruple wangos and beyond.  It’s kind of redundant, though.  I kind of got the point when they vandalized the R to begin with—no need to spell it out, unless as proof of literacy.

      The scratches, while deep, don’t look like they reached the primer.  I’m waiting a while before getting it fixed.

      UPDATE (09JAN2008):  I decided it was about time to get this repaired.  The shop I went to did an excellent job; they repainted the hood and blended the fenders.  I was very impressed.  The hood looked amazing without chips and dabs of touch-up paint.  :o)  Now I have to wait 30 days before I can wax her.

Wangos.

A Hate crime (?)

Hood repainted.

Colour matches perfectly. :o)

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7^th October 2007

      Gaithersburg, MD:  I decided to take some pics from a POV further away—to get the holistic effect rather than the “wet and mirror-like” close-up pictures I tried to take the previous day after waxing my R.

      More pictures.

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Morning light

      12 May 2007:  I washed the R and the morning after I went looking for a location where I hadn’t already taken pictures.  I ended up on the top of a multi-level parking lot in Gaithersburg, MD.

      More pictures.

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Gettysburg, PA

      20 April 2007:  I was in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania attending a conference the other day and used the opportunity to stop by the Gettysburg National Military Park.  I only had limited time before needing to get back to the conference, so this is one place I’d like to return to and spend more time—perhaps following one of the self-guided auto tours.

      More pictures.

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Germantown, MD

      25 March 2007:  I washed the R this morning, applied some of Einszett’s Lackfinish detailing spray, and then went to take some pictures.  More pictures from today can be found by following this link.

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Sunday Snow

      25 February 2007: A couple days ago we finally had some significant snow-fall that I could enjoy—nothing like the snow and sleet that left a layer of ice hidden beneath the snow earlier this month.  On this day the R32 was triumphant.  :o)  I took her out for a spin and some pics.

      Here are a couple pictures—more pictures can be found here.

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Stuck!?

      14 February 2007: Yesterday and today we’ve had winter storm warnings for my area, but I wasn’t too concerned since I’d had no problems with snow, before.  Unfortunately, it turns out my R doesn’t do very well when there’s a half to an inch of ice beneath the snow.  I wonder if, instead of my Pzero Nero M+S, I had winter tires it would make a significant difference.

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Skyline Drive

      Shenandoah National Park (11 November 2006):  Earlier this week I had the urge to go on a short road-trip.  I decided, weather permitting, to cruise down Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia.  On Friday I washed and waxed the R, and with a forecast of only a slight chance of rain the next morning off I went.  It was about a 280 mile round-trip with minimal (hurrah!) traffic.  Skyline Drive has a speed limit of 35 mph (watch out for deer!) and was a joy to drive.  Curvy, elevations reaching over 3000 feet, and beautiful scenery all made it a joy to drive.  I stopped about half-way down Shenandoah and turned around at the Harry Byrd Visitor Center (Big Meadows).  Unfortunately, I was too late for most of the fall colours—maybe next year.  :o)

      Here are selected pics from my drive, and for even more you can click here.

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Find R

      3 September 2006:  I’ve always been a proponent of space exploration so I used this weekend to finally visit the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the companion facility to the National Air and Space Museum located on the National Mall.  The prime attraction of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, for me, is that it has the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

      Anywhoo, this is not a space website, but a Volkswagen Golf R32 website.  So… can you find R?  :o)

This picture was taken from the Observation Tower.  Spot my R?

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Back to school

      30 July 2006:  After washing and waxing I went driving and found a spot I could rev the R to my heart’s content without having to worry about annoying anyone.  However, in the midst of my R-revving orgy someone pulled up in a learner’s car.  A few minutes later he was gone.  Oops.  Anywhoo, when I eventually left I saw him on the opposite side of the building… I assume teaching someone to drive.

      I really wanted to take pics under the bright sun, but drifting clouds thwarted the majority of my efforts.

I really like how the Aristos look—if only they weren’t so tedious to clean!

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Bethesda, MD (05JUN2006)

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Gaithersburg, MD (1 May 2006)

I put this pic through a filter in Photoshop.

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      Gaithersburg/Bethesda, MD (2 April 2006)

      I went on a mini picture spree today—I’d just clayed, polished, and put two coats of wax on my R—because tonight and tomorrow there’s a forecast for thunderstorms.  I wanted digital proof of all the work I did this weekend :o)

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      Gaithersburg, MD (25 March 2006)

      I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of traffic in Washington DC, especially as this weekend is the Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Festival—instead of going to the Mall I found some local cherry trees and went on a 120 mile cruise :o)

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      Gaithersburg, MD (12 February 2006)

      I had the most fun Saturday night—with 1-2 inches of snow and nary a plow in sight, I made the most of an empty parking lot :o)  By Sunday morning there must have been 6-7 inches on the ground.  I went out again to test the R, and it was great… but I let the snow plows do their work and avoided uncleared parking lots.  Here are some pics I took after my wintry adventure:

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      Bethesda, MD (17 September 2005)

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Rock Creek Regional Park

      Rockville, MD (18 June 2005):

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