Quabbplorer Farewell Tour Begins Thursday
Explorer Sacks Up, Will Join PDEMLKNOLA2k3 Crew

By Perry Stevens

LAKEWOOD, Ohio - Entering the final nine months of its lease, Tim Bennett's 2001 Ford Explorer, dubbed the "Quabbplorer," will begin its farewell tour with a trip to New Orleans this weekend.

Amid many deals being sought for a rental vehicle to get the Great Lakes contingent to the French Quarter, the Quabbplorer has volunteered its services for the 2,118-mile round trip trek.

The Quabbplorer on the Lake Erie waterfront.

"It got to the point where it just made sense to start the farewell tour now," said Bennett. "Due to my current job situation, I don't put a lot of miles on her. I knew I'd be in a position to burn the miles over the last year of the lease, but I didn't know I'd be in this good of shape. The farewell tour wasn't going to start until the summer, but we may as well get it going now."

New Orleans was selected for the first tour stop as this weekend marks the fifth anniversary of the "PDEMLKNOLA" trip. It will be Bennett's third year making the trip. Bennett will be meeting former UD roommate and 2001 PDEMLKNOLA veteran Pat Horstman north of Cincinnati and then begin the voyage to the Big Easy Thursday evening.

"Pat [Horstman] and I expected flights to go down somewhere close to where they had been in years past," said Bennett. "When it was apparent this wasn't going to happen, we had to look into other options. I nearly booked a rental car, but realized it may not be too fun for two six footers in a Chevy Metro with no cruise or CD player. The savings of the cost of the rental will help pay whatever gas the Quabbplorer eats, as well as several hurricanes at Pat O's."

The Quabbplorer was named so in its infancy when its first trip outside of the greater Cleveland area was a journey to Dayton for Homecoming 2000. Since then, an estimated eight to twelve quabbs have taken place. Among other road trips the Quabbplorer has taken have been numerous voyages to Cincinnati and Columbus, as well as trips to Putnam County, Lima, Detroit, Fremont, Washington D.C./Northern Virginia and New York/New Jersey. Its lease runs out in October.

Although the farewell tour schedule has yet to be finalized, it is believed that it will include the Quabbplorer's usual stomping grounds: The Ghetto, Cincinnati, New York, Columbus and Detroit, as well as first-time appearances in Chicago, York, Pennsylvania and Midland, Michigan.