While we are sound asleep in the Admiral I'll explain the Drivin' Adair nickname.
I like Drivin' !! There- that was easy.
I started late...I was 24 and living in London a place where you don't really need a car so obviously I had to have one! But first I had to learn to drive and get a lisence as proof of my study.
I picked a School from the phone book and as the book had their phone number (Brilliant!) I called them and next day after work an Indian man came around in a car to get me started. Like most Indians I have known he was very witty.
Off we went-driving! It wasn't so easy as I was driving a stick shift and he would ask me "what were the last 3 road signs you saw?" and things like that so I had to pay attention. After 3 or 4 miles I found that we were headed for the (dreaded) Hyde Park Corner where seemingly every car in London was also headed. It's a wild broad circus of a road with much lane changing.
I said "oh gee thanks for bringing me here!" as my head was on a swivel and sweat dripped down my face and off my chin into the beer I was holding. He was laughing. "Hey- if you can get through this it'll make a man of you" he chortled.
I became a man, albeit one with damp trousers, and as a reward he had me drive next to Picadilly Circus! It was insane but when we got home I had a great feeling of accomplishment and signed up for more lessons.
After a course of 12 lessons I was ready for my test and on the day, in Teddington, London I passed with flying colors and immediately bought a Fiat 850 which was a car with a powerful lawn-mower engine at the back. A driver was born.
Many years later in the USA I took on the 1397 mile drive from Chicago to Marco Island, Florida and shared the driving with a friend who was moving down there. We drove a Ryder truck which was limited to 70 mph no matter how hard I pushed on the pedal.
Fast forward to Germany 2002 where I drove a round trip of 500 miles from Berlin to Bayreuth to "have lunch" and visit the grave of Richard Wagner. The 250 miles back was in darkness with a lot of roadworks. I scoffed at the distance. I was driving a rented Mercedes E Class and topped out at 140 mph. I think it was on this trip that Carol coined the term "Drivin' Adair" as I am tireless and endlessly enthusiastic when driving in Germany in a German car.
Then there was the morning drive from Frankfurt to Berlin (350 miles) where i was jet-lagged (we flew coach and didn't get much sleep) but was on a mission so thank you Red Bull and the many beautiful autobahn rest-stops I got out and walked around to stay awake and alert. The return trip a week later was in heavy rain at 125mph in a BMW 5 series, but I'd had a good night's sleep and the autobahns have (a) drainage and (b) no potholes!
Great drives abound in the USA of course, even if the roads aren't so good and the speed is a lot lower; Pacific Coast Highway south of San Francisco to Big Sur and beyond, Napa Valley, Death Valley and the drive we have made several times-Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. Monument Valley!
Closer to Chicago we have made some wonderful driving holidays to the eye-candy that is the Province of Ontario, Canada. The last day there involves a 500 mile race to get back home before dark.
I drive an average of 24,000 miles a year, spread over two cars: one is a BMW coupe (stick shift) which I love and the other, a VW (automatic) is the Spawn of Satan.
My work commute is 12 miles round trip per day so you can see that mostly I drive for pleasure!
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