North California Road Trip

Road trip in Northern California April 2016

What was originally planned as a motorcycle trip, turned out to be a fantastic road trip to the North of the state I have visited most frequently. California has it all: the golden with deserts and sunny locations along the Pacific coast, the fantastic forests of the North and the Sierra Nevada mountains to the East.
The objective of the trip to California this time around was an ISO meeting in Sacramento. As usual, I planned to have a couple of days off in front of the meetings in order to adjust to the nine hour time difference. As I had never visited Highway 1 North of San Francisco, I discussed this route with a colleague that frequently visits San Francisco. He definitively recommended the route up to Fort Bragg, but his preference was to ride by motorcycle. By looking at the map, I found some attractive routes East towards Redding. Finally, driving South again either on Interstate 5 or some of slower highways I could make it a round trip and be in Sacramento on time.
I was initially reluctant to do this trip on Motorcycle, mainly because I would need a suit for my meetings in Sacramento and the packing on the Motorcycle would be complicated by this. After taking to my colleague, I was convinced that HW1 would be best explored by motorcycle. As I have ridden a Harley-Davidson Road King before, I knew that I would not choose HD for the exploration of windy roads. I was set for riding BMW R1200 GS and looked for options to rent one near SFO airport. I quickly realized that this was going to be an expensive road-trip: the daily rent for the R1200 GS was around $185, not counting extra insurance, GPS and panniers. With the bike only being used for 3 days, parked in Sacramento for half the time, I started looking for alternatives. The HD’s were more than half the price, but I was still not tempted based on my previous experience. So I decided to do the trip by car.
As always when I am visiting the US, I started looking at American luxury cars. This time, I found that Budget would give me the best deal at around $400 for a week. They listed a Lincoln MKZ or similar as luxury alternatives.
Arriving at SFO at around 18:00 PST, I got to my Lincoln fairly quickly after rejecting offers for `upgrades´ to Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar. I was very pleased with the 2016 MKZ 3.7 in White Platinum Metallic Tri-coat. I was of course a bit disappointed that the car was not all-wheel drive as I am no fan of the front wheel drives.

I mounted my Garmin Nüvi 2699 on the windscreen and set a route North that would take me over Golden Gate. Just after 9/11 I rode across in a Ford Mustang Convertible but due to fog the only memory that comes to mind was the fact that it was a toll road. This time around the weather was excellent and I stopped at the Vista Point to get some photos of the bridge. It was close to the sunset, so the colors were beautiful. The Vista was full of people who wanted to take photos of the bridge, downtown SF and Alcatraz.

After logging a virtual geocache and having a look down onto The Presidio (I remembered the Sean Connery movie), I continued North in search of a motel for the night. Where HW’s 1 and 101 separated I still had not found accomodation. Luckily, I did not have to go further North than Corte Madera before I found a Best Western.

From my last visit to California, I had learned that this state is a haven for beer lovers. As I was checking in at the Best Western, I asked at the desk for a good place to eat and drink beer. I was recommended `Brick & Bottle´ a few blocks away. Arriving at the restaurant I scanned the beer menu and found several entries from the famous North Coast Brewing Company (Fort Bragg). I started off with a Belgian strong dark ale named `Brother Thelonius´ after the jazz musician. The beer was excellent (Untappd rated: 4.5) with the good atmosphere and friendly staff. When travelling solo, I find it sometimes hard to enjoy dinner alone: The atmosphere of the place is crucial to not emphasizing the fact that your only company is your Apple product. Eating at the bar often works well, and this worked at the Brick & Bottle too. With dinner I had an excellent `Cell Block Amber´ by Eel river Brewing Co (Scotia, Untappd: 4.0).

After a good night's sleep not bothered with jet lag I backtracked on the HW101 down to Manzanita and found the famous HW1. After driving through the rural areas the road became windy and the traffic slowed down. The Lincoln behaved fairly well, but comfort required a moderate driving speed. I observed that a lot of motorcycles were on the road and with their overtaking traffic and being able to ride at higher speed I started to regret my choice of transportation. The motorcycles were mostly sports bikes and motards: I believe a Harley would not be optimal here with lean-in angles around 30° only. My BMW F800GS would have worked out nicely, though. My first stop of the day was at the Muir Beach Lookout. The view along the coastline was gorgeous in both directions with only a slight fog left from the night. I took some photos, regretting that I had left my DSLR at home and started my ride due North.

Arriving at Stinson beach, I just rode through the quiet town. The view along the Bolinas Lagoon was very nice. Arriving at Point Reyes Station I could not resist a detour along the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard on the West side of the Tomales Bay. Preparing for this trip, I came across the name Inverness that I had selected for a stop. The town of Inverness was quiet and not very exiting. I had a walk down to the shore to look at a stranded boat that appeared photogenic.

Backtracking the Boulevard back to HW1, I then followed the bay up to HW1 and continued North. In Port Reyes Station there were a lot of activity: this appeared to be the turning point for a lot of the motorcycle riders and there were quite a few cyclists as well.Continuing North, the HW1 followed the Tomales Bay to Hamlet before leaving the coast over the Bodega Bay. The road reconnected with the ocean at the North end of the bay in a very scenic area with the city of Bodega Bay and its lagoon. From this point on, driving along HW1 was pretty eventless: the road was windy with little traffic to slow me down. The view was nice and drive enjoyable.
Around lunch time I decided stop at the Sea Ranch Lodge at the Black point. This turned out to be a very nice lodge with scenic view and good food. I had a walk out to the point to enjoy the view and to pick up a geocache.

After lunch I continued North on HW1. After a while I came to realize that I had become saturated with the view and the windy road. It was however no alternatives routes so I resolved to stick it out while streaming my favorite music from my iPhone.
Arriving at Fort Bragg I quickly looked up the North Coast Brewing Co. in order to visit their shop. I had a quick walk around town and a good coffee at a local shop. The stop was quick and pherhaps not too exciting. It was time to move on after spending less than one hour there.
Again continuing North I was really getting bored with HW1. When the road turned East it became more windy passing through a mountain range. I resolved to more aggressive driving and was surprised how well the Lincoln behaved in sport mode with pad shifting and with stiffer suspension.
Arriving at Leggett I was close to the reasons why I wanted to drive North: the Redwood forest. I cannot remember when I first saw a photo of a car driving through a large Redwood tree but now I was here. A $5 entry did not turn me away and once there I managed to fit the large Lincoln through the tree. Mission accomplished!

In Leggitt HW1 meets up with HW101 so the drive from this point on was much faster. The view was still very enjoyable, and after a refuelling in Gaberville I could not resist to detour on the `Avenue of the Giants´. This turned out to be a very nice, windy road amongst majestic Redwood trees on the East side of the South Fork Eel River.
I was arriving in Eureka late in the afternoon and I wanted to find lodging as quickly as possible. Entering the business area, I stopped at the Best Western Plus Bayshore Inn. They had several room options and at decent rates. At this time I was mighty hungry, so I was pleased to find the Shamus T Bones restaurant next door. At the restaurant I was happy to find beer on the menu from Eel River Brewing Company. The food section offered spare ribs, so I decided to go for the full slab as usual. After a couple of pints and half way through the ribs I recognized my native language spoken. It turned out that the couple on the next table were Norwegians on vacation just like me. While their motviation for visiting Eureka was interesting enough, it was not as absurd as mine: The movie `Eureka´ directed by Nicholas Roeg (no other connection than the name).
After a good night's sleep, I drove downtown and stopped in Old Town Eureka for a walk around this nice area and down to the riverewalk. I then drove on to the main attraction of Eureka: the Carson Mansion. This fabulous house is unfortunately not open to the public so the visit was brief.

The previous night I had been studying the map, looking for scenic routes eastwards. I decided to try the Trinity Scenic Byway (HW 299). The road to Willow Creek was really amazing: beautiful, windy roads. Again, my choice in transportation was contemplated. I stopped at a nice location by the river to eat the rest of my spare ribs and was joined by two bikers from Weaverville who was out enjoying the road. They could only confirm how nice these roads were for motorcycle riding (although we did not meet on the choice of wheels; I prefer lean-in angles greater than 32 degrees). The road all the way to Redding was really enjoyable, and I particularly remeber the Shasta State Historic Park and the Whiskeytown Lake at the end of the drive well.

Arriving in Redding I actually passed through town without knowing it. This is unusual when the GPS is set for a specific city. I stopped in the outskirts and had a look at the places to visit in Redding. I found the Sundial bridge on top of the list and decided to drive through the city center to the bridge. The bridge turned out to be a very interesting landmark and I spent some time walking around the nice area. Once I again I recognized my native language spoken: it was two girls from Norway going to bible school in Redding. I was in a good mood so I had a pleasant conversation with them about the meaning of life: ethics, values and so forth. When they starting talking about the healing of disabled people they had experienced it was time to move on.

Before driving on eastward, I checked the map for options. HW89 to Lassen Volcanic National Park so I decided to visit Lake Almanor insted. I found a good Best Western on Hotels.com and booked for the night. In order to avoid having to ride the I-5 South and then ride HW36 East, I decided to follow HW44 East and ride the backrouds South. The GPS complained about my choice for many miles but eventually it found a route to my destination. The GPS turned out to make a lot of bad choices and I ended up driving some serious dirt roads in a fantastic landscape. The view of a snow-capped Mt. Lassen was fantastic.

The drive on HW36 to Lake Almanor was scenic, but from the Trinity Scenic Byway ride earlier in the day I guess I was saturuated. It was however interesting to note that as the elevation reached 6000 ft, the tempeature had decreased from 90 to low forties! In the intersection with HW89 I got out of the car to walk in the snow. I arrived in Chester late in the evening, and after checking in I went to the closest diner to have quick food and local beer. Outside `The Locker Room´ a BMW R1200GS was parked with a dog on a carrier. I just had to talk to the owner about the best roads down to the owner about the roads down to Sacramento. His recommendatation was to drive HW32 down. Looking at the map I decided to follow HW89 along the lake and then drive HW70 down to Yuba City in the morning.

After a good night's sleep at the Best Western, I started out on my last leg of my journey towards Sacramento. The Lake was magnificent and I made a quick stop in the Indian town of Greenville. The 70 was really scenic and stopped at the Belden bridge for some photos of the river. From this point, the drive in the Sacramento River Basin was uneventful. I made a quick stop in Marysville to visit the old town. I arrived in Sacramento at check-in time at the Marriott Cal Expo.

After three days of ISO meetings it was time for my return to SFO. As I had an Early flight I decided to stay close to the airport in order to avoid traffic. I found a hotel in San Mateo that would take me to the airport in less than 30 minutes. From Sacramento I followed the I-80 and then took a detour to Napa. The place was pleasant but several people had told me that Sonoma was much nicer so after a quick walk around downtown I rode on to Sonoma. This place was very charming and I spent some time walking around the center, even picking up a few geocaches. I suddenly got the urge to visit the shooting location of Falcon Crest. A quick google suggested it was not worth the effort.

The drive from Sonoma to San Francisco dull: I dropped by the hotel in Corte Madera to pick up something I forgot and the view of San Quentin made me think of my very nice visit to Tiburon in late November 2015. The traffic over the Golden Gate was busy and it took me a while to reach the Best Western in San Mateo. After a quick check it, I drove downtown to find a restaurant. I had a very interesting kebab at a Lebanese restaurant where I was the only customer. Food and service was very good.
Next morning I got to the airport well in time to drop off the Lincoln. After a 1600 km drive I was ready to leave the front-wheel drive and return to my BMW 525 x-drive M sport. The three day road-trip had been perfect: duration and distance just the way I like it, very scenic and with solid American food and drink. I think California is starting to grow on my and I have already started to plan my trip here in early 2017.

Motorcycle touring in Italy

Motorcycle touring in Italy

For a project meeting in Verona in late October, I decided to replace the rental car with a rented motorcycle. I asked my girlfriend for a couple of days of travel extensions in order to be able to ride the motorcycle up North to visit the wine districts and the big lakes.

Normally, I'd travel to Verona by flying to Milan and then do the 200 or so kilometers by rental car. After I acquired a motorcycle license last year, I have wanted to do some travelling by motorcycle outside Norway. After exploring some of the options for motorcycle rental in the US, it became evident that this is a fairly expensive way of travelling; roughly estimated to be 2-3 times more expensive than renting a car.

Being an avid BMW fan, I nevertheless found it appropriate to drive something Italian when there. I've always wanted to drive a Ducati Hypermotard, but due to limited pannier options, I decided to go for a Multistrada. I found one company in Milan that had a 2015 red Multistrata for rent. Four days amounted to about € 300 add € 0.3 per km and including GPS, motorcycle lock, and panniers.

Travelling with motorcycle equipment has some aspects worth discussing. Even though the business traveler or the frequent flyer is allowed to bring another suitcase for the gear, you are pretty much stuck if the baggage is not showing up at the destination. I resolved to travelling with one large suitcase which also allowed me to take a regular airport taxi. I wore my StreetGuard jacket and brought my helmet onboard the flight.

Arriving at Linate airport at noon, I took a taxi to HP Motorrad. I checked the Multistrada, signed the contract, repacked for travel and dressed up in less than one hour. I was a bit concerned with Italian traffic in a big city like Milan, but once I was on the bike all stress was gone.

2015 Ducati Multistrada

Unlike Norway, Motorcycles are not exempt toll roads. I chose to ride the back roads towards Verona. Eventually, I was running out of daylight and decided to enter the autostrada. I was surprised that the Oust Brescia entry did not provide me with a ticket but thought nothing more of it as the gate opened and I entered the fast road.

The 1200 Testaretta DVT engine definitely enjoyed the fast 130 km/h roads. At low speeds the lack of torque at low revs took some time getting used to. At higher speed I could feel that powerful engine being more in its right place. The sound of the V-Twin and the stock exhaust were both fantastic. Comfort wise, the bike did not fit me well. Being 6' 2'' this bike immediately felt small for me. The seat was comfortable enough, but the knee angle would eventually make riding uncomfortable. I found no salvation in standing up as for me it was impossible to ride the bike in this position. The adjustable windscreen did not help me much as the top position resulted only in some serious helmet wobble.

Approaching Verona, I got a surprise when trying to exit the autostada. Although no information was given in English, it was obvious that I should have presented a ticket. As a consequence, I was instead presented with a € 62 penatly; the toll for the longest possible driving distance to Verona Sud on the autostrada. Slightly irritated, I still managed to find my hotel in the dark. I chained the Multistrada to a fence and called it a day after an excellent dinner at the hotel restaurant.

The next two days, I was in full day meetings. The rain was pouring down all day long, so I had to travel in full gear. I have to admit, that although my Ortlieb backback kept everything dry, changing clothes before and after every meeting felt cumbersome.

After two days of meetings I was ready to leave Verona and head into the mountains. The rain was pouring down so it was not optimal for my visit to my beloved Valpolicella region. I got there fast and drove by the famous MASI winery. I then crossed the ridge and visited the town of Negrar before hitting the SS12. I followed this road North until I was just West of the road to the North end of Guarda lake.

One this I discovered in this stretch was the vast amount of speeding cameras. I knew that they would snap your photo for the rear so I knew that I would be getting caugth. The problem was spotting the orange camera boxes but rather know the speed limit at their location. Driving too slow was not a good strategy as trailing traffic would catch up and start tailgaing. I tried to make a fair compromise and avoided being caught either by camera and traffic.

Enering the SS240 towards Trombole it was already pitch dark and it was time to find my hotel. The bike was parked safely inside the gates of Activhotel Santalucia, and I still had time for dinner in the city. The Ristorante Aqua turned out to be a very good choice.

After a good night's sleep and a very good breakfast it was time to ride down the East shore of Guarda lake. Staring up the bike I found that I had no response from the electronic throttle. The engine failure lap was also lit so I was a bit worried that this was the end of my day at Guarda lake. The weather was finally good so I was really frustrated with the bike.

Engine failure warning

 I tried to call the rental company but go no reply. I drove down to the harbor and tried again to call to no avail. I decided to drive the bike with the engine light on. I quickly discovered that the bike power was significantly reduced but otherwise it worked well for these low speed roads.

I had another stop half way down the Eastern shore and tried again to call the rental compaty. This time the call came through but they were unable to help me with my problem. I decided to google the problem and actually found a key combination that solved my problem. Bike was back to full power! Sweet.

I had a stop at the very scenic location of Campione before I left Guardia Lake and headed West over the mountains.

Campiole appartments

Campiole beach

Leaving the SS45 for the SP9 was great fun. The climb up from the lake had long stretches and hairpins. I struggled with the gear ratios and the lack of torque at low revs. The road was also wet from morning mist and the sides were covered with leaves. To my frustration I was overtaken by a R1200GS at one point. Once I reaced the dam of the Valvestino lake, the road straightened out and I started to enjoy myself. The countryside was beautiful and I had to make several stops to take photos.

Valvestino dam

Leaving the lake and SP9 I entered SP58 and headed for Capovalle. The road again narrowed and more haripins had to be overcome. Capovalle turned out to be a very nice place and I stopped for sevaral photos. From there the road went downhill towards Idro Lake. The view towards the lake was gorgeos.

View of South end of Idro Lake

At Idro lake I found a bar near the South show and stopped for a double espresso. I also had a walk along the lake shore, enjoying the view of the show covered mountains.

Walk along Idro shoreline

Driving from Idro to Iseo Lake was probably the least exiting part of the trip. The roads were busy with traffic and passing slow, industrial towns were slow. I eventually found a nice spot near the shore of Iseo where I could have lunch. I remeber having an excellent calzone with artichokes sitting outdors in the sun.

Restaurant with outdoor seating

As it was getting dark I decided to take the shortest route to Como Lake.  I drove the SP469 down to the A4 and followed the Autostrada until I hit the SS342 taking me to Lecco. Here I found a decent NH hotel (Lecco Pontevecchio) with garage parking for my Ducati. It was almost dark so I snapped som photos before taking a walk downtown.

Bridge in Lecco

I walked downtown in order find a decent meal. I used Tripadvisor and found at the Trattoria Corte Fiorina came highly recommended so I chose this restaurant. Without a reservation I was lucky to be seated immeditially.  The food and atmosphere were excellent.

After a good night's sleep I started early for my return trip to Linate airport. I knew that Milano traffic could be slow, so I figured that I would need at least two hours to get to the rental shop. I followed the SS3 down to the ring road and as I had plenty of time to reach Linate I decided to drop by Autodromo Monza and Villa Reale. Luckily, the racetrack was open to the public that day so I was able to enter with my Ducati.

At the exit, I convinced the guy in the entrance boot to take a photo of me on the Ducati in front of the gate.

Me and the Multistrada

To sum up this trip I would say that it was a good experience. Cost wise, about twice the amount a rental car would cost add some for the transportation from Linate to the rental office.  Not driving your own bike takes some getting used to in order to enjoy the extremely windy roads. It also depends on your versatility when it comes to riding of course.

On my next trip I think I will do Germany on an R1200GSA.

Pictures from the trip can be found here: 

Asus EEE PC 1005P

On my last travel I decided it was to be the last for my 3 kg 17" Full HD notebook. As the battery capacity of my iPod Touch 1G is insufficent for watching anything longer than one hour, I decided it was time for a new gadget: a netbook. A quick look through reviews revealed that the Asus EEE PC 1005PE was the best choice. An impressing battery capacity of 14 hours was listed. Limited availability of the PE had me look to the P version. Cheaper, but why? The guy in the store claimed the smaller HDD (160 vs 250) was the only difference. I tried to list differences from the Asus' website but found none. A google search indicated that the PE had a glossy display, which would rule it out as a choice. The PE battery was also of bigger capacity, 14 vs. 11 hours indicated.

I decided to buy the 1005P. Having used it for a couple of days, I have now an updated list of differences:

1) P does not have Bluetooth
2) P does not support 802.11n
3) PE does not have glossy screen
4) some keyboard difference I don't know the details on

More importantly, as I had a 128 GB SSD drive I planned to use I was sad to find out that HDD replacement was not trivial. The procedure was so complicated I decided to use the 160 GB HDD for now. Had I known this fact, and there would be another non-glossy alternative, I'd probably chosen another Netbook. At least the PE with larger HDD.

Using Win7 Starter for half a day, I had to install Ubuntu. While it did not work straight out of the box (wireless chip needed a kernel update), it was pretty much straightforward.

All in all, the difference in spec is probably worth the 500 NOK. If I could find it I would probably have gotten the PE. If ASUS had documented their models properly I would definately have gotten the PE model.

It's a very nice gadget I will probably use a lot in the next couple of years...the 2 GB memory upgrade is most likely not neccessary for its use but I just wanted it nevertheless

Moccamaster R.I.P.

In 1994, December 15. to be more precise, I purchased a Moccamaster KBC741. This morning, almost 15 years later, it stopped working.

In 1994, 1,195 NOK was a lot of money for a coffee maker. Now, after 15 years of maintenance free service I am happy to go out and get another KBC741 with aluminium finish. The buttons have moved, but the design is otherwise unchanged. An auto-off feature is implemented as an option. The price is now 1,500 NOK.

Volvo V70 2.4 Turbo

A family with two kids and a large dog often face the challenge of finding a car big enough. By car I then exclude the bus category some peope resolve to buy. When we knew a couple of boys were on the way, we contemplated buying a VW Caravelle or a MB Vito. We came to the conclusion that we'd rather buy a trailer and use it whenever needed rather driving a bus year around.

Still, there's only a handful of station wagons to fit the dog cage and a twin cart. My lovely '01 BMW 520iAT (two seater, "green" license plates due to odd tax rules) could be converted, but the car was simply not big enough. I decided that only MB E-class, the new BMW 5-series and Volvo V70 were the list I could choose from. I should mention that some brands like Ford, VW and all french cars were excluded by obvious quality considerations.

Still, I was not sure whether my station wagon slash trailer would suffice. To avoid putting too much money into this project (cars are generally bad investments in Norway) I decided to buy  a car I always wanted to buy: the very spaceous Volvo 940. I found a  lovely '96 with leather interior and differential. This 2.3 L low pressure turbo engine is easily chipped and with a new wastegate you can easily get 200 break horsepower out of it. You need new suspension though, because the very soft setup of this car makes it rather useless to add more power. I would have done all these modifications if the car had air conditioning. After one year I decided to let the car go, as driving in summer with kids and dog was rather unforfortable.

As the station wagon had proved to be spaceous enough, I decided to find a replacement with A/C. As I contemplated buying an E-class I was forced to consider diesel engines. As I refuse to own anything with four cylinders the 270 and 320 CDIs were alternatives. On the petrol side, the 240 does impress anyone with its performance. On a trip to Germany I rented a 220 CDI and drove 1150 km in that very comfortable Avantgarde. The average mileage of 0.67 L/10 km  is very impressive considering "hard" driving on Autobahn as well as Mosel and Ahr valleys. Still, what the diesel lack is agressiveness. The effect and torque characteristics does fit the needs of a man who loves to rev up every now and then. After this trip, the diesel alternative was out of the consideration.

I eventually got comfortable with the idea of buying a Volvo V70. I did own a '01 2.0T but it was thrashed when I was hit buy a tractor in Heidalen. My experiences with the car was good, but I always wanted the  2.4T turbo instead. Not because of the 20 bhp extra but because the torque of 285 Nm is very attractive.

Firstly, I was able to find a '00 V70 T5. This is a 2.3 high pressure turbo with 250 bhp and a torque of 330 Nm. The high pressure turbo was a bit uncomfortable, as lag was experienced up to 2300 rpms followed by a feeling of too much power on the front wheels. As the general condition of the car was not as expected, my trip to Tønsberg was a waste of time. Well, not quite: driving the manual T5 made me narrow down the list to only include cars with Geartronic automatic transmission.

Luckily I was able to find a '03 2.4T with leather interior. It did not sport xenon headlights but otherwise the car was as I wanted it. I flew down to Stavanger and drove it back to Trondheim. The sport leather seats in the V70 are very comfortable  and I was very impressed by the effortless work of the engine and transmission; the low pressure turbo gives you torque from 1800 rpms and you can hardly feel the engine make an effort unless to press the throttle unneccessarily hard or override the automatic transmission. The sound of the five sylinder engine is not good; a hollow sound that is very characteristic of newer Volvos. Still, I find it better than most four cylinder engines and it takes the revs down a bit. After four years of rear wheel driven cars I was really surprised how the car handled on snow. Firstly, the STC traction gave you a feeling of actually loosing grip. Secondly, the strong engine makes it neccessary to handle the throttle cautiously. I remember my 2.0T to be a very nice experience on winter but the 2.4 is not so.

The quality of the V70 cannot be compared with a BMW. The plastic looking interior makes a lot of noise you'll have to get used to. The handling of the car is not too god. The turbocharged V70s have a harder suspension that makes up for some, but still the V70 is best suited for comfort on longer trips. Engine power does not fit well with front wheel drive, especially on Norwegian roads. Hard acceleration should be avoided, but overtaking could be done effortlessly. The best feature of the V70 is the space. The almost vertical rear door makes loading the car practial and the whole space can be effectively utilised. The downside with this design is that the rear window needs wiping frequently...unless you get that god-awful spoiler mounted, that is.

My next car will definately be a BMW. Still petrol and six sylinders...

Cadillac DTS

It's always been a dream of mine to drive a Cadillac DTS. The Northstar V8, the four chromed exhaustpipes and the majestic exterior has always attracted me about this car. So when me and my friend decided to go roadtripping from San Antonio to Miami we settled for a DTS.

At San Antonio International airport I picked up a '07 black DTS. I could not get it confirmed, but I belive it was the 272 bhp version. It was really fantastic to take the car out from the lot. It definately gave the feeling of excessive luxury you fail to find in most American cars.

The next morning we set out for Austin, and we discovered soon the comfort of this car on the highway. It is definately a car for the long stretches; very comfortable. For a person used to a fairly tight BMW 5-series, this car felt very loose. I had read to my surprise that this car had a front wheel drive, and this was certainly noticeable when hitting the accelerator. Both me and my friend normally drive rear wheel driven cars so and this was a characteristic we did approve of. Aggressive handling turned out to be the worst feature of this car. Firstly, although the 4-speed automatic transmission was silk smooth, it did appear to shift slowly. Hence, acceleration certainly did not reflect the figure of 272 bhp given. The crawling was inevitably felt, but not as bad as for instance in a Volvo V70 Turbo. On slippery conditions the traction control turned out to be a huge disappointment. The antispin was very jerky compared to German cars.

After driving the car for a couple of days, we learned to appreciate the comfort of the car. The seats were very good and escially the perforated air-conditioned leather was appreciated in Florida. Navigation worked flawlessly (we had a spare GPS unit) and during heavy rain, the sensored wipers and the climate control did their jobs impeccably. When we hit Daytona Beach, we were not even tempted to drive on the beach: this was simply not the car for the occasion.

When we left the car at Miami International, we had learned to like it. The feeling of power and the V8 experience was not memorable but the comfort certainly was.

From XP to Vista

It has been an issue for me for some time that the dual athlon was ready for decommisioning. Especially certain Adobe products as well as the installation of Internet Explorer 7 made it obvious that it was time to enter the Core2Duo era. When the PS3 was presented with a price tag og 6k NOK I seriously considered returning to the PC gaming platform a couple of years and wait for the PS3 to become cheaper. I have been waiting for a while to make sure Vista was available when I bought a new computer. I have so far never purchased an OS other that the ones that came with the computer.

A decent gaming PC cost easily 13k NOK. As I have a "hjemmePC" deal with SINTEF I was able to buy a Dell computer that cost 10080 NOK and basically pay half of that. I got a decent Dell with E6400 processor 2 GB 667 MHz RAM, a couple of 320 GB SATA drives in striping mode, Vista Home Premium and a 19" LCD. The LCD was not an issue as I have a 21" CRT EIZO I'd stick to for gaming purposes. For gaming purposes I paid up and additional 3k to replace the ATI XP1300Pro with an overclocked GeForce 8800GTS/320. At about 8K I now had a fairly decent gaming machine. This was verified by running S.T.A.L.K.E.R. at maximum detail and 1600x1200 resolution. No DirectX 10 yet, but the wait Alan Wake and Crysis should be worth the while.

So what about Vista? Since I am fairly pleased with XP Pro I put the dual Athlon in the basement for RPC access. I already knew that applications like Garmin Mapsource did not support Vista yet. The new desktop layout is of course nice but although the M-TAB now has a 3D alternative, it's really nothing of particular interest to me. The sidebar actually has a couple of gadgets that I make use of. Vista quickly took use of half my memory, so an upgrade to 4 GB will eventually be neccessary. The motherboard supports 800 MHz RAM so a full upgrade will be most likely for the future.

Apart from S.T.A.L.K.E.R., not much has actually been installed. Office 2007 is one of the applications that actually impressed me. Word looks completely different. Pretty cool, but as I am a basic user, the functionality appeared to be the same. Google Earth ran very smoothly, but made use of another .5 GB of RAM.

If you let Vista index your files there is actually a nice structure to where media files are kept. For me, using an Adobe application for digital image import and organizing it is really nice to see that you can use applications that comes with Vista to quickly find view all your fotos. The Adobe applications are still slow loading and hence quick access is beneficial. Windows Mail and Calendar looks like Outlook Express wrapped differently, but if you use Outlook that is not interesting.

The stability of the OS has so far been good. BSOD is still blue. I only experienced that when I installed the Logitech G5 gaming mouse and tried to flash the firmware. Apart from that, OS has not crashed. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. crashes every now and then, but only to the desktop. Hard to tell if there is something related to Vista or not. I originally installed the F-Secure Public Beta of Internet Security. As the reading from DVD-ROM was erraneous, I switched to avast! which has so far been working great.

All in all, I am pleased with the fact that the new computer is running Vista. It is definately neccessary to have another computer around for work and media burning. But for gaming and media Vista is ok.