Congrats on the return to CTR! I got the same advice from a friend, enjoy it stock. You will definitely appreciate the mods more after you know what stock feels like. Now enjoy!
Painter's tape it is. The long road trip is going to awesome and I'm sure you'll get a ton of nice pictures of the R at different locations. I'm in the military as well and it makes more sense to drive vice fly. Per Diem and also the travel time they give you without you having to utilize...
Owners manual and everything I've read says 600 miles then let her rip. I had the same issue, once I started driving and felt that little bit of boost I was hooked but had to keep it under control.
As for the shift knob, anything soft that will cover it works. It definitely gets to hot to...