Double Trouble!

Had a cruise this weekend with two lookalike BRZs in attendance!  Both white, and even the owners had the same first name!  I know both of 'em personally, good guys.  It's just funny to see two Satin White Pearl BRZs in one cruise, ya know?

We had a good time, hugging turns that weaved through some nice scenic parts north of Omaha.  We met at my dealership, cruised up past the North Omaha Airport into Fort Calhoun, through some superfun roads into Blair, and then back.  They really are some of my favorite roads in the area, so I take whatever excuse I can to head up there.  Most of the folks had been on some of those routes, but I showed 'em a few new ones I managed to work in.

It's a much more extensive route that I usually do, but we had time and folks seemed up to it.  One of our guys in an '04 STi is making the switch to E85, so he had some 91 he wanted to burn off which helped fuel the idea to go for a longer route than usual.  The route took us about an hour and a half to complete.  This route pretty much covers all of my favorite roads in this area.  There's one REALLY fun branch that's a "one way trip" for us because it ends up turning into gravel, so we turn back around and hit the highway again.  It's worth the small detour, as many of our drivers will attest to.

This route, when combined with an Iowa route that I also have, is pretty much the longest continuous cruise route that I have plotted out.  Maybe someday I'll find a group brave enough to do both the Iowa and Nebraska side in their entirety!  I'm tempted to map it out someday just to show how crazy I can get with cruise routes when they're all linked together!

Night Light Trails

Last night my fiance and I decided to go stargazing, so we found a nice spot just west of Springfield to set up and admire the clear sky.  Far enough away to escape most of the light pollution from the city, we managed to get some cool pictures too.

We tried out some different long-exposure shots and messed around with some other settings on my Canon Rebel T1i.  Just using a stock lens and a Wal-Mart tripod, we were able to get some nifty night photos.  Playing with light in the absence of light has been something I've enjoyed recently.

The picture on the left is using the "Bulb" capture function.  My awesome fiance drove my car while I set up the camera and watched her abandon me in the middle of a cornfield.  T'was fun, not to mention interesting watching my own car drive away.  I don't often get the chance to actually see my car driven from the outside!

Managed to get a pretty cool shot with my Impreza while I was at it.  I really need to get the Side Skirts installed on it, but every time I've got a day off, I'm busy getting other things together.  I'd really like to get that finished up soon, as I've had the parts for well over a month.

Regardless, it was a fun night and it was good to get a few good Subaru shots in there as well.

Sharing the Wheel

It seems like since I got my Impreza, Subaru fever has caught on with many of my friends and family.  My fiance is even interested in one, so I decided to go on a bit of a road trip with her.  Whenever I take a corner a little too quickly, she gets nervous.  I figured it's not because she's a wimp, but rather that she's not used to the control you can get from AWD and a lower center of gravity.  We drove out to my favorite road just south of Blair, NE.  After a quick Chinese Fire Drill, she was in the drivers seat.  I wanted her to feel confident behind the wheel so, the next time I took a corner with a little more gusto than she's used to, she'd know the car could handle it.

Turns out not only did she have a good time, but she got a little greedy and kept driving!  The route has plenty of twists and turns and, once she was comfortable with it, I started giving her a few tips for approaching corners and such.  After dodging a gigantic turtle and a few more corners, she turned the wheel back over to me and we headed back into town.  I think she's ready for a Subaru, now.

Northern Run #1

This is a route I've recently put together that combines some of my favorite roads with a few new ones I've managed to find.  It's not quite as smooth of a route (turn-wise) as others that I've planned, but it ties in a few tidbits of routes that in general were tough to integrate into their own routes.

It starts off at the North Omaha Airport, which is just off of the 72nd St exit for I-680.  Hang a left on Omaha Trace Rd and then wrap that along the top of some rolling hills all the way up to Fort Calhoun, NE.  A short drive through their "downtown" area and then you're back on the "fun" roads through more rolling hills.  The route works it's way south through some back roads, all still paved, onto 133.  Just when you thought the route was over, there's just a little bit of Bennington Rd through some more country roads, and then back out to 133 via State St that finish it out.

Like I said, there's a few more fragmented turns in this than I'd normally like, so this cruise route tends to work better with smaller groups, as it can be easy to lose parts of the group at the tail end of the route.  Other than that, it's convenient for most Omaha-based drivers to get to and there's some nice spots in there that would lend themselves well to a few sunset photos, too!

Route Searching

Of all the stuff I do with Subarus, from meeting people, selling cars, working on my car, etc... I would have to say I enjoy cruising on fun roads the best.  I'm a fan of those yellow signs with a curvy arrow on 'em, as it's usually a sign of a good time soon to come.  The adventure of FINDING new roads is probably my favorite part of cruising in general, and I do a lot of exploring on local roads, highways, and byways to find routes that'd be fun to plot out a good cruise route on.  Having a CVT means I get better gas mileage too, so I can afford to make a wrong turn here and there trying to work the errors out of a potential route, so I'm not getting punished at the Gas Pump in my adventures.

The majority of the routes I find are in rural portions of the state.  I try to keep as close to the Omaha Metro area as possible to make possible events with these routes more accessible to other local Subaru owners.  I've found quite a few roads north of here, between Fort Calhoun and Blair, that weave through the Ponca Hills area.  There's also some great roads just over the river in Iowa along the Loess Hills Byway.  I've found bits and pieces West and South from the Omaha Metro too, but stringing them together into one cruise route is a little more difficult.  On top of that, I try to make sure I find routes that can be pieced together without too many road changes and to keep away from gravel and dirt roads.  While I enjoy a romp through the mud, sometimes there are Garage Queens in my midst on cruises.  I wouldn't want to upset them hitting some not-so-clean roads.

Many times I'll use the dealership as a launching point for cruises.  Our location is right off the interstate, so it's easy to get to wherever we need to go for the route.  On the one hand, it's nice and easy for me to go from work directly into leading a line of Subarus into a cruise route.  On the other, it's nice to see a showing of Subaru Pride at the dealership.  Plus, with WRXs being so sought-after and tough to find at local dealerships due to their high demand, sometimes it offers an opportunity to show a customer what they're like.

I'll be sharing a few of my favorite routes in the next couple of posts for anyone who's interested in taking 'em for a spin.  Whether you're with a group of Subarus or just out for a solo cruise, these roads will be sure to make you and your car happy.

Adventure-mobile

In just over a year, I've managed to go on some fun adventures with my Subaru.  All those curvy-swervy roads around the area, local and state parks, and pretty much any excuse I can figure to drive my car have amounted to over 21k Miles on my car since I purchased it in 2012.  My companion and soon-to-be-wife has been alongside me for many of these miles.  

I have also accumulated many miles FINDING fun roads to traverse with the Nebraska Subaru Owners Club (NSOC).  Not only have I attended events and meetings with this group, but I've also organized many cruises myself.  I'm always trying to find new and exciting routes to take with my Subaru-loving buddies and enjoy their company as well.  Nothing makes me more proud to drive a Subaru than looking in my rear-view mirror to see a line of Subies!

In the coming days, I'll go over some of my favorite cruise routes I've taken with the NSOC, sharing a few roads and byways I've managed to find in the area!

BBQ & Cruise

Had a great time last night with the NSOC with a KILLER showing of Subaru-ness at local weekly car show.  After destroying some fantastic tasting BBQ, we rounded up those rumbling boxers into a cruise that I led that wrapped around a portion of the Platte River.  It's a nice easy route and it was only about a mile or two south of where we were eating, so it worked out great for everyone.

Pretty nice assortment of Subies at the cruise too!  The usual newer-model WRX and WRX STi showing with a few 2nd Gen Bugeyes, Hawkeyes, even a Legacy GT.  I had fun taking a few pictures (as I always do) and handed the camera over to my shotgun-riding buddy while I led the rest of the cruise route.

We enjoyed beautiful weather that evening, too!  For a week that had dumped rain on the area literally every day of the week, it was dry, sunny, and PLENTY green outdoors!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have another cruise route to plot out!