I called the Denver Smart center before leaving. I left my vin# on their vm for the service mngr, asking if he could check to see if service is up to date and if the trans update had been performed, but no call back as yet. Guess I'll try again after I get back.
Sifting is..... different, but I'm getting the hang of it. Most of my personal cars have been manual shift and except for the long lag in the 1st-2nd shift, it seems to be fine. I'm surprised at how spunky the car is in 3-5 gear. Buzzing around town with my local frined here in Tucson I was reallys surprised as betwwen teh 2 of us the car is hauling 300lbs. and did just fine.
I've been studying the owners manual and found out a lot (like there is storage within the tailgate) and feel ready for the trip tomorrow Back to Boulder. My 1st mod will likely be a mini amp and plug so I can play my ipod thru the stereo sys, as I already have the parts. Then I'l build a set of brackets for the drivers seat to tilt the seat bottom up at the front, raise the seat 1-2" and allow it to go back an extra 2-3". Also I'll be getting some graphics for my biz within a couple weeks.