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Yes, we had rented a Mercedes A-class with a manual at Avis at the Rome airport. Day tripped down to Pompeii, Sorrento, around the Amalfi Coast. Lake lunch in Positano. It was one of the most scenic drives of my life…

BONUS PHOTOS Look for a Greek temple ... that's not in Greece. This is as close as I could get to Valle dei Templi without paying, as I've already seen it up close once before In most roadside fuel stops on the autostrada, there is always an Autogrill (sort of like Denny's, but not really since the table service part is minimal) where you can pick up sandwiches, pizza slices, drinks, use the restrooms, and, of course, see people standing up at a counter and drinking small cups of coffee that taste like kerosene. The usual ... nothing changes ... Andrea True singing implied smut to me on the autostrada across the middle of Sicily 30 degrees C in Sicily's interior and, since it's not ventilated by the sea, it can get really toasty in July and August, albeit dry, but it's still uncomfortably hot - - - - - END OF PHOTOS

Happy Birthday @Robert Hall!

Lovely Mix of autos, agree with you what things felt like when we were 20 is so different in our 50's Happy Birthday Robert

Today spotting---my '87 Mustang GT. Got it out this morning and took it for a spin on my birthday. I still enjoy driving it, doesn't quite feel the same as it did when I was 20, though. But for better or for worse, I'm not the same as I was at 20...

Official 2 month Anniversary of our EV9, YES we still LOVE it!!! ? Miles Driven - 4,800 Cost of Electricity - $85.33 to date Loving that I no longer am averaging $600 for Premium fuel in the SS we traded in each month or the $100 every 2 months for the Synthetic oil change. Yes, We Are Loving the EV Life Style. ?

That you even drove in Salerno and on the Amalfi Coast, presumably with a manual, is sort of amazing to me. I have some major issues with the region of Campania in general ... blame it on Naples. Autogrill is okay for tide over food. More people seem to go in for stand-up coffee (not me) or clean enough restrooms (me). There are at least 2 in the north where the Autogrill sits in one big building that is placed over the autostrada and can be reached from the pullouts on both sides of it. Right. The PacNW thickens one's blood. I remember. But perfect coffee weather. I'd go down to California at about March to visit and they'd comment on how pale I had become. So, it's also a great place for good skin and you know this when you walk outside on a cool morning. That 30C can brush 40C in July and August in Sicily's interior. I'm in the north right now and the felt heat index today has hit the equivalent of 99F.

30C is too damn hot for me. Have fun on your road trip.

I remember the fast food at an Autogrill on the Autostrada from Salerno to Rome having decent food...that was 20 years ago.

I had to comment on this, which I saw a few days ago. Boeing 787 Dreamliner operators have been using 3-3-3 seating in economy. That's 9 across. Japan Air Lines has bucked that convention. They've gone to 2-4-2 regular economy seating, so that's 8 across. They've widened the seats a little, which realistically means a lot. https://simpleflying.com/japan-airlines-boeing-787-seat-configuration-guide/ I really like the Dreamliner, and its ambiance and ambient features are great, but it does look like a 1.5x wide 737 in the back of the plane. JAL's move probably works out to a loss of 30 seats, unless they now have fewer business class rows. But customers will think about the seating and it might cause them to pick JAL, which might mean fuller flights. That part of the world isn't my cup of tea. I want to understand what people are saying and respond. It would be great for European - and North American - carriers to go 2-4-2, so you would get the great Boeing plane and a more comfortable cabin. I'm more on board with the latest Airbus 330 Neo, which is still 2-4-2 and I've enjoyed flights on it. Look at this obviously more comfortable layout and nicer seating that Japan Air Lines is offering.

This is interesting to see for Farrari, the fake exhaust tips are just too funny! This Is Our First Look at Ferrari's New EV (motor1.com)

Tongue and Groove is best! For the Computer Nerds here:

One thing leads to another ... having one Alphaville song in my music collection leads to being clue in to another. These German guys - meaning Alphaville - are good. "Big in Japan" This is quintessentially '80s all the way around, which is just fine!

30 Day update on the EV9 Miles Driven = 2,238 Electrify America charging = 517 kW, zero cost due to 1,000 kW given free upon leasing, would have cost @.48 per kW - $248.16 Home Charging = 232.52 kW, $23.85 charging cost Auto continues to drive great and all is working except for a small, weird issue. Easy exit is turned on for both drivers and yet it does not always work. This feature is where the steering wheel is pulled into the dash and out of the way and the seat goes all the way back giving maximum room to exit the auto for the driver. Reached out to support via the auto and they initially had me delete both the wife's and my profiles and reset the auto. This did not fix the issue and upon further remote testing it has been determined that the memory module for the seat settings / easy exit seems to be defective. Will be scheduling up the first service visit for this. Interesting note, upon the deletion of the user profiles, I forgot to turn off the LKA or lane keeping assist as I know my wife does not like the nanny devices. She drove it and came home to have me turn it off after running her grocery errand before leaving again. Says it is the weirdest experience when it kicks in at 40 mph and above having the auto self-correct to stay in what it sees as the middle of the road. I will say that having the cameras and Lidar telling you where the auto should be on the road is a very weird feeling and one, I do not like as it truly moves the steering wheel in your hand, and you initially want to grab it but the auto wins in moving itself. Have not tested the hands-free cruise yet, but I imagine that the wheel would move the same based on the system self-driving for you on the highway.