Month: June 2015

Sneak Peek 2b

I’ve already submitted one sneak peek photo for this quarter, but with just three weeks to go, I don’t think I’ll capture another picture worthy of Sneak Peekdom, so I’ll go ahead and use the panorama from this last weekend’s Motorfest as my second. When I got long winded on my reply to his reply on my submission email I thought I’d include this slightly longer description of our Saturday here.

Subject: 2nd April-July Sneak Peek Photo
From: Brian ‹xxxxx@gmail.com›
To: David ‹xxxxx@mossmotors.com›
Time: June 8, 2015 10:04 PM

This past Saturday I attended a big ol’ car show at the warehouse of a famous Miata (and others) Parts & Accessories vendor1. I wanted to capture as many participants as possible so I stood on the base of a lamppost and using the camera’s built in panorama function tried to capture as many as I could. Got most all of them.

Brian

Moss Motors

Subject: RE:2nd April-July Sneak Peek Photo
From: David ‹xxxxx@mossmotors.com›
To: Brian ‹xxxxx@gmail.com›
Time: June 9, 2015 11:58 AM

Hey you made it!
Hope you had fun, Brian! Thanks for the photo!

David

Subject: RE:2nd April-July Sneak Peek Photo
From: Brian ‹xxxxx@gmail.com›
To: David ‹xxxxx@mossmotors.com›
Time: June 9, 2015 1:45 PM

David,

We’ve been to the Miatas at the Gap in July and a couple of National Meets so we have seen that many Miatas in one spot, but the collection of LBC’s was staggering. There were everything from what looked like unrestored cars pulled from a field to ones that looked in showroom condition. There were daily drivers and race cars. Very impressive.

We watched some slot car antics and took a tour of the facility, but as you could tell from our lack of car show participation on 2014’s Challenge, they are not really our cup of tea, so after eyeballing all the cars once or twice we got antsy*. Two hours of sitting still were enough and we pulled out of the parking lot around 11. There were motoring Challenge points awaiting.

The real objective for the trip was to cross off two states and their capitol buildings along with the 3 points for the facility. Everything else was gravy; Car Show point for the “fest”, a truck stop, a lake and a Z city.

When we left Petersburg we were heading to Raleigh to spend the night (State Capitol buildings are easier to get early on Sunday mornings.) Because we traveled enough Interstate on Friday we vowed not to set wheels on one on Saturday. Donna pulled out the Virginia state map and plotted a course on gray lines with three numbers on them.

About 15-20 miles south of Petersburg on VA-619 we zipped right by a one-room schoolhouse. Whoa, we were just a few minutes earlier discussing one-room schoolhouses and of those we had already researched, we might want to get. Serendipitous. We made a U-turn. It had a small sign on it that said “Concord School 1906” (when we got home we tried researching it on the net, but couldn’t find anything about it. It is definitely a one-room schoolhouse though, the only thing missing was the proverbial red paint.

This is no sea story, but less than 5 miles further down 619 we spotted a sign that said “Doodlum, Population 34”. Wow, another unexpected bonus. Of course, you could see it wasn’t any sort of official sign (and research later on the web confirmed this), but we took a picture anyway.**

Brian

*There is a rolling stone and Moss joke in there somewhere…
** We are not worried though, as we have a big trip planned for the fall that includes at least one state with population numbers on their signs.

Subject: RE:2nd April-July Sneak Peek Photo
From: David ‹xxxxx@mossmotors.com›
To: Brian ‹xxxxx@gmail.com›
Time: June 9, 2015 3:37 PM

It was after the Guide was sent to the printers when I had the though: “You know, Dave, Miata owners aren’t into car shows like the Brit folks are. You should have probably changed that up a bit.”

And so I shall. Next year…

1 I thought this was funny because David works for the company that not only runs the Motoring Challenge, but put on the Motorfest too.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1509

Mad for MG

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie6J77X0prE

I always wanted a new MG from like high school on. But I didn’t want the newer ones with the rubber bumpers. This was a moot point anyway because I couldn’t afford one. By the time I reached the stage in my life where I could get a small toy convertible, any MG I might want was over 30-years old. No way with my limited mechanical ability could I deal with what was an unreliable British car when new, that would now be doubly iffy. So I bought a brand new Japanese version of the car.

Now if I wanted, I could buy what I desired back in the day, a new reliable MG. This one has modern running gear tucked under that classic body. It is something called a MG Abingdon Edition from Frontline Developements in Oxfordshire, England. Oh, all I need is about $123,000.

Started up, went down, went up, back down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1507

The Martian

Ask anyone who has had a favorite book turned into a TV show or movie if it was as good as the book (don’t get me started on Jack Reacher) and if more than one of your first million friends says yes I’ll be shocked.

The best scifi book I’ve read since I was a wide-eyed 12 year old is being turned into a movie. So I clearly had low expectations, until now. Here is the trailer:

If you like hard science fiction and tales of survival garnished with humor, go read the book, its only six bucks for the Kindle – The Martian by Andy Weir, so now that you too can be impatiently waiting for November 25th.

Started up, went down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1503

Spy Novel

In a spy novel I had just read, the hero hid a letter in a particular statue in Washington, D.C. Since I was in that city at the time, on a whim I decided to see if the statue really contained the small niche the author had described. To my great surprise, it did — and a cellophane-wrapped letter was inside. After a moment’s hesitation, I pulled out the letter, opened it, and burst into laughter.

An unidentified reader had penned, “Good book, wasn’t it?”

Running A Red Light In Search Of The Perfect Look

North Carolina Capitol

After checking out of the hotel this morning we headed to downtown Raleigh to get a picture of the State Capitol Building. The GPS led us right to it so we slowly cruised around the block looking for the best angle. Then we cruised around the block a second time. Then we missed the turn we wanted to take to check out this one street where we could legally park to take a photo. So we made a larger diameter circle because of all the one way streets to get back to it. Once we found our way there it wasn’t that great of a picture of the building (see above), so we made one more slow loop.

Turns out there are a couple of streets that come in from the east and west, that although aren’t cross streets they have traffic signals. I rolled right through the one at New Bern Place at about 5 miles an hour on that last loop. We ended up at the end of Fayetteville Street parking illegally with the flashers on to get the picture we will submit (see below) and I’m expecting a photo citation in the mail for at least one of those infractions…

Started up, went down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1501

Motoring Challenge Points 2, Approx Miles Driven 300
Totals So Far: 57 points & 1985 miles

151,000 Cars On Moss Motor’s Front Lawn

[photonav url=’https://www.mr-miata.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Moss-Motors.jpg’]

Not exactly that many cars, but they had over 300 pre-registered and with the nice weather I bet they 30-40 more day of registrations. The Emperor passed the 151,000 mile mark on a perfect rural back road in southern Virginia.

Donna and I managed to stay about an hour and a half before growing bored looking at little sports cars and crashing the exit gate to go drive the one we came in. Like rolling stones, we gather very little Moss.

Started up, went down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1499

Motoring Challenge Points 12, Approx Miles Driven 295
Totals So Far: 55 points & 1685 miles

The Cops Took My Biscuits

Pedro's Truck Stop

We left Florence this morning and took a combination of back roads and I-95 to get to Midlothian, VA. This stop is for two reasons, Donna’s Cousin Susie & Family live here and it is 6 miles from the capitol building of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

One of the first things we did this morning was make a stop at South of the Border because one of the Motoring Challenge destinations this year is a Truck Stop and Pedro has one. While I’m sure any Pilot Travel Center, Love’s Travel Stop or Travel Center America would count, they said truck stop and by golly I was going to get one that said Truck Stop. The photo above is the out-take, the one below is the official submission.

Another reason to take US301 here is that you could get two state signs (1 point each) with ease. So we checked off NC & VA within 100 yards.

Today’s title comes courtesy of some high as a kite patron of a quick stop. We got off I-95 near Dunn, NC to make a pit stop and start on a back road, but couldn’t go much further than a 1/8 mile because a state trooper car had the road blocked. It was then we noticed the two police mobile command centers parked across the street with perhaps 2 dozen LEO vehicles parked there too. When we got to the counter with our drinks there was a dreadlocked individual in front of us trying to explain why he was so upset. After he loudly proclaimed he had to use the restroom, he exclaimed that he was upset because the cops took his biscuits. We asked the proprietor what was going on and it turns out that the house just past the stationary trooper’s car there was a big drug bust.

Started up, went down, went up, back down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1497

Motoring Challenge Points 3, Approx Miles Driven 310
Totals So Far: 43 points & 1390 miles