2014 Moss Motoring Challenge
There are very few Ski Resorts within driving distance of us, Sapphire Valley in North Carolina was out best bet. Turns out the only way to get the name of the "resort" and "ski area" in the same frame was to take a picture of one of the many banners hanging from nearly every light post that populated the parking area. (8/23/14)
I actually thought of this idea to use as a sneak peek back in April. On our road trip to Texas I found a used car dealer called Moss Motors in a small northern Alabama town using the online Yellow Pages. Unfortunately when we actually passed through the town, the business was no longer there. (12/25/14)
I swear we have visited this National Military Park before, Dona has no recollection of it. Unfortunately e couldn't verify it one way or the other as the place was closed for Christmas Holiday. (12/26/14)
We've passed by this National Battlefield numerous times while enjoying the drive along South Carolina's Cherokee Foothills Parkway, but have never visited it. Couldn't do it today as it was closed for the Christmas Holiday. (12/26/14)
Unlike the other two National Park Service run sites we visited today, this one was open. Every time we drive on this road I can hear in my head cycling commentator Phil Ligget, while calling a stage of the Tour De Pont in the mid 90s, call it the Blue Park Ridgeway. (12/26/14)
The world's largest peach is getting a new paint job. It doesn't look like the million gallon water tank is getting any kind of puritanical makeover though, it still resembles, from certain angles, a certain part of the human anatomy. (12/26/14)
We originally were going to do York County in the morning, but as it turned out there was just enough daylight left to visit one last site on Christmas day and this gray bearded man in a Santa hat picked a Senior Center. (12/25/14)
Good thing it was Christmas morning and traffic was nearly zero because there wasn't any parking right in front of the County Complex. I pulled over in the right-hand lane, put on the flashers, Donna ran up the steps, I got in the right-hand lane on the other side of the street and BAM, photo magic. (12/25/14)
We stopped and took a picture of the green rectangular Kershaw County sign on the way into the county. We drove around a bit in the biggest town in the county, Camden, looking for a different sign, but came up empty. On the far side of the county we stumbled on this place while looking for an unsanctioned outdoor restroom. (12/25/14)
The Quinby Diner is just around the corner. Don't fret about trouble here, as the sign says, "Property Under Jurisdiction Quinby Police Department." (12/25/14)
We took this picture back in early March and were not too pleased with the way it came out. But we weren't worried as this is less than a mile from the house and we could go back anytime. With the deadline approaching we went back on 12/27 to redo it. Uninspired,we decided to use the mediocre original. (3/2/14)
Third times a charm. At Myrtle Beach, SC and then at Jacksonville Beach, FL we couldn't get anywhere close enough to the pier or at enough of an angle to car and pier in the same frame, but at Folly Beach, SC we got lucky. We did have to drive a bit past a sign forbidding from driving on the beach. I wasn't really going to drive on the beach, just drive about 100 feet past the designated parking area. (9/27/14)
This was supposed to be a VW only car show, but I did see a couple other German brand automobiles in the line up. Instead of being the only Japanese entry I bought Low Country VW Club sticker and took a picture at the registration tent. (9/27/14)
There are very few Ski Resorts within driving distance of us, Sapphire Valley in North Carolina was out best bet. Turns out there was no way to get the name of the "resort" and "ski area" in the same picture, so we picked this backside view of the chair lift from the scenic ambulance parking spot. (8/23/14)
The Earle of Sandwich Pub on Hilton Head Island, SC. We might have even had lunch here if it weren't closed for the season. (12/6/14)
I really wanted to get a picture of the Harbour Town lighthouse on Sea Pines Plantation, but the only spot I could find to park didn't have a view of the harbor and you couldn't see any boats, so I wasn't sure it would count. The sun was in the wrong spot so you couldn't even tell it was "the" lighthouse. At least in Shelter Cover you can see the tops of some boats. (12/6/14)
This is the 3rd year that the city of Columbia, SC has erected a temporary ice skating rink in front of the Museum of Art in downtown. It opens up on Thanksgiving and shuts down in mid-January. (12/21/14)
This giant fire hydrant is located right across the parking lot from the tunnel mural and when we were here in April we considered taking a photo to use as a Sneak Peek, but we didn't really need one so we passed up the shot. Fast forward to August and an email from David Stuursma of Moss Motors letting us know that a roadside oddity fits a Bonus spot, so we came back. (12/21/14)
The Masters Miata Club lines up to be in the Ridge Peach Festival's Parade. (6/21/14)
I thought for sure this would be a killer photo for the Horse Track Destination, but it turns out they need a sign involved. OH, Well, it'll work for a Sneak Peek. (5/26/14)
There were closer places that would have worked for the challenge, but we wanted one that actually had the word dude on the sign. (6/7/14)
We waited and waited hoping that no one would want the Handicap Parking Spot I was standing in as we waited and waited for the woman who is leaning against the wall on the right to get out of the shot, she never did. (6/6/14)
We have taken this short ferry ride between Fort George and Mayport, Florida before just for the heck of it, but this time it counted. (6/6/14)
Fortunately for me my neighbor across the street trains horses for a living, so getting into a horse barn was not to hard. Too bad almost all the thoroughbreds have left town to go racing so she couldn't rustle up a couple to pose in the stalls. (5/26/14)
Amazing how often we get photobombed by automobiles real early in the morning while in practically nowhere South Carolina. (5/25/14)
This sign is right in front of the Hampton County Courthouse that we couldn't get an image of that we liked. As we were leaving we noticed that the sign mentions the county.(5/25/14)
In direct defiance of the No Parking sign, we stopped here anyway to take the shot. A City cop drove by while we were parked there and didn't give us a glance. (5/25/14)
This was the second vineyards we photographed this morning. We had a couple more on the list to try, but stopped after this one. No way either of them could top this. (5/25/14)
Hutchinson Island sits in the middle of the Savannah River and would gives a terrific view of River Street in the city of Savannah if you are at the Convention Center. (5/25/14)
River Street in Savannah, GA. The cobblestones rattled the heck out of the car until I discovered that the width of the train tracks and the track width of the Miata were roughly equal. (5/25/14)
South Carolina painter famous for painting rural scenes and Coca-Cola calenders. (5/25/14)
We traveled nearly 3,000 miles last week and never got a City that started with an A, so today we drove 1 mile to edge of the town we live in and took a picture of its sign. (5/24/14)
Edgefield County borders our home county of Aiken to its north. (5/24/14)
Where's Brian with the poster? (5/24/14)
This is a National Historic Site that is about 50 miles from home and takes you over 200 years back in time to the Revolutionary War. (5/24/14)
Lexington County borders our home county of Aiken to its northeast. (5/24/14)
After taking pictures of the generic green rectangular signs for the last 2 challenges, when Red River Parish had one too, we vowed to find something a little more interesting. This one, while not that interesting was all we could find on our route. (5/16/14)
We were barreling down the road when my navigator said, "Did that sign say covered bridge?" I replied, "Didn’t notice." So we turned around and sure enough it did say covered bridge. When we first came around the corner I thought we’d hit the jackpot and could actually drive over the Auchumpkee Creek Covered Bridge, but as we got closer the chain preventing that came into focus. (5/19/14)
There are a couple of National Monuments within a day’s drive for us, but seeing as we were passing right by Ocmulgee we thought we’d pop in for a visit. They have done some improvements to the park in the 20 years since our last time here; we may have to return when we have some time to explore more. (5/19/14)
On what used to be a simple two lane road going east from Macon, GA has now been turned into a pristine 4-lane divided highway. From our travels on this trip it seems like in a couple generations folks will really have to hunt down a quiet 2-lane back country road. (5/19/14)
Another bit of two lane roads slowly morphing into an Interstate Highway that will run from Augusta to Macon, GA. Maybe once it is they will replace this county sign that appears to be melting from the southern summer sun. (5/19/14)
Another twist on getting a county sign instead of the usual green rectangle. (5/18/14)
This town did a nice job creating a patriotic acronym from its name and state. (5/18/14)
Hey! We still need a B county! I do a u-turn, then another and park in the weeds next to an empty Bud Lite can. Done! (5/18/14)
The square in the center of a typical southern town has one of three things dominating it, a county courthouse, a Confederate Civil War Mounment or a Gazebo. Troy, AL had the monument. (5/18/14)
You can always tell when you are miles from nowhere when the signs have bullet holes in them, but this is the first time I've seen one of these wooden National Forest signs perforated by small projectiles. (5/17/14)
This was the other County/Parish, along with Quitman in Mississippi, that was included in the trip planning from the get go as there are none beginning with the letter V anywhere near our home base. (5/17/14)
I'm a wed-hot sportsman after wasically wabbits and wild town names. Heh-heh-heh-heh. [Best read in an Elmer Fudd voice] (5/17/14)
It was lunch time so we were looking for a place to eat. I spotted a sign for Cap't Jack's Cajun Café, so headed that way. When we got there, there was only one car out front (a bad sign at noon.) A little further down the road was a place that had a dozen vehicles outside. Little did we know we had stumbled on the famous for pies Lea's Lunchroom. (5/17/14)
Today was a no travel day, but because we are still physically on Eastern Time, we are up early. When my wife opened the shade on the hotel window she saw a full moon in the sky. "Get dressed," she said. So I did. (5/15/14)
It is always so good to get back to where Donna grew up and we lived for 4 years in the mid-80's so we can enjoy some real Cajun/Creole food. (5/16/14)
This road was so little traveled, we hadn't seen a car for about 15 minutes that it felt safe just stopping in the middle of the road and taking this photo. (5/16/14)
No offense to the townsfolk of Keachi (key-chai) Louisiana, but one week removed from driving through your town, I have no distinct memory of it. (5/16/14)
After taking pictures of the generic green rectangular signs for the last 2 challenges, when Red River Parish had one too, we vowed to find something a little more interesting. This one, while not that interesting it was all we could find on our route. (5/16/14)
This county is the gateway to best unkept secret driving road in the east. This spot is right where US129 starts to get curvy and ends when US129 goes crazy curvy. (5/10/14)
We stopped in town here because we saw a nice Main Street sign, but couldn't find a spot to photgraph it well, but we did stumble on some law enforcement vehicles across from the town hall. (5/1/14)
We were entering this forest, but the sign doesn't say Entering. I wonder if the other side says Leaving? Come to think of it, none say Entering… (5/12/14)
This sign looks like it belongs on an Interstate, but I-22 ends right at it and US78 begins. But this section of US78 in MS is not an Interstate in name only. (5/12/14)
Birthplace of the King. Tupelo, Mississippi (5/12/14)
We mailed our first batch of postcards back to our co-workers from here. Nobody sends postcards anymore, they tweet, but in our own small way we are trying to keep the old tribal traditions alive. (5/12/14)
We were also doing a little geocaching on the trip. There was a cache at this little roadside rest area and while searching for the cache we noticed this nice city sign for Foreman, AR. (5/14/14)
Another state we needed a geocache in, so we drove across the lower southeast corner of the state for all of 16 miles. Just long enough to get this sign and a guardrail cache before entering Texas. (5/14/14)
The small blue rectangle in the center background is the big official Welcome to Texas sign, but we liked the nice little granite piece in the shape of the state. (5/14/14)
We make a stop in this town just to get a picture of this bit of Roadside America, but ended up getting the best hamburger we've ever had at a place called Burgerland. No fancy French cuisine for us. (5/14/14)
Greenville, MS has a very tall levee protecting their Main Street from the flood waters of the Mississippi. It is so tall that its local nickname is the Great Wall of Mississippi. (5/13/14)
One of only sixty of the country's 3,086 counties that shares its name with a U.S. state. There is a Nevada County in Arkansas (this one) and another in California, but none of Nevada's counties are named for a state. (5/13/14)
This sign is the real reason we are traveling to Texas via this part of Mississippi. It was the closest county to us in any direction that starts with the letter Q. (5/13/14)
We drove about 50 miles through the middle of Sunflower County and didn’t see a single sunflower. (5/13/14)
We had taken a Robbinsville, NC on day 1 for the letter R, but when we saw this small sign for Rome, MS with nothing around it but farm fields we knew this was more indicative of our road trip. (5/13/14)
Kind of cruel irony that the state's death row prison is in Sunflower County. Neither one of us wanted get out of the car and pose because the guards inside the gate there were giving us the evil eye. (5/13/14)
Not too far past this sign, Arkansas, like Georgia, has another of the few state Welcome Centers not located on an interstate highway. This one is on US82/US278 and is located on an oxbow lake formed from the Mississippi River. (5/13/14)
When we started planning this trip this was the second "challenge" we thought of as we both like visiting Chattanooga. (5/11/14)
The sign that was on the Interstate was much bigger and more impressive but traffic precluded my stopping out there. (5/11/14)
We took the very first chance we got to get off I-59 in Alabama and we pulled into a little strip next to a convenience store. And there was the town library. (5/11/14)
This was at our overnight town on Day 2. When we asked some folks we know that are familiar with Huntsville what we should see, they said the Botanical Gardens. They were closed by the time we got there. (5/11/14)
We are entering this National Forest, but the gravel lot is on the other side so it looks like we are leaving. (5/10/14)
This waterfall outside of Highlands, NC is a popular photo stop on the way to twisty mountain roads of western North Carolina. (5/10/14)
When we started planning this trip this was the first "challenge" that came to mind just for the next 11 miles of roadway that followed it. (5/10/14)
This dragon, that is made up of about 42,000 metal pieces and vehicle parts, sits right outside a relatively new souvenir stand that has popped up just across the street from the original, more motorcycle oriented, souvenir place, at the junction of NC28 & US129 near the start of The Tail of the Dragon. (5/10/14
I passed up the first entering North Carolina sign to catch this one while I was across the street from the Tennessee one. (5/10/14)
20 miles later we find another small town with a big sign. It too is a Heritage Corridor Community, I'm guessing there was money in the budget for signs once you were designated as one. (5/10/14)
70 miles from home and our first stop is at the entrance to a Town of Opportunity. (5/10/14)
Although the sign says leaving, we are actually entering the forest here. (4/25/14)
This colorful spot caught our eye as we were passing through Gaffney, SC. (4/25/14)
The city of Union is the county seat and we tried to get a photo of that sign too, but the one we passed on the way in faced at an impossible to photograph angle. (4/25/14)
Second attempt at getting this image. The first time it was too crowded to get anywhere near it, today it was early enough that it was no problem. Turns out the sign was not nearly as grand as we remembered it. (4/27/14)
I is relatively scarce as the first letter of a county. Of the 3,143 counties (or its equivalent) in the United States there are only 30 that begin that way. Georgia only has one, Irwin, and it is 200 miles away from Aiken. North Carolina only has one, Iredell, and it too is around 200 miles away. But as luck would have it, this weekend’s Foothills Photo Rally 4 that we participated in started in Statesville, NC which just so happens to be in.…..Iredell County. (4/26/14)
The elusive doughboy statue. Madison, GA. (4/19/14)
The sign entering the forest was to hard to get to, so this is the sign on our way out on GA 83 near the Ocmulgee River. (4/19/14)
Not too far from the Oconee National Forest sign we couldn't get in Georgia. (4/19/14)
This town in Georgia, as its first letter attests, was today's road trip main objective. (4/19/14)
The gentleman in the photo looked at us strange, so I said, "Photo scavenger hunt and we needed a brewery." He grumbled, "You could say so." Editorial comment or professional opinion? (4/20/14)
One of only a couple remaining State Welcome Centers not located off an Interstate highway. Located on US 301 near Sylvania it is believed to be the nation's oldest continually operating roadside visitor center having celebrated its 50th birthday in January of 2012. (4/12/14)
The Savannah River National Laboratory has been in operation since 1951 doing who knows what, but it can't be that bad as it off a public highway and not behind heavily guarded gates like the rest of the "bomb plant." (4/12/14)
We "photobombed" the Aiken Horsepower Association's Spring Fling Car Show on the way out of town. (4/12/14)
The Capitol Center, at 25 stories barely qualifying for the Challenge, is the tallest office building in the whole state of South Carolina. I can't be sure, but that may be the tallest gamecock in the state too. (4/5/14)
This mural was painted on the side of a bank building nearly 40 years ago by the Columbia artist Blue Sky. (4/5/14)
A small town of about 500 folks we passed through on the way home from Columbia. (4/5/14)
This place is humming with activity on Saturday morning, but this is how it usually looks on Saturday afternoon, really quiet. (4/5/14)
I'm not sure how much you can manipulate an image for submission to the Challenge, so I didn't submit this desaturated, except for the Miata, version. (3/23/14)
This truck junkyard on the western edge of town has been considered an eyesore by the city fathers ever since we've lived here. They have badgered the owner to put up a fence, but he has steadfastly refused. Finally about 5 years ago he relented somewhat and let the city plant some fast growing arborvitae. Within 6 months the owner started parking junk trucks in front of the greenery. (3/23/14)
After having to guess what the highway number was for us to take leaving Yemassee yesterday, we decided to get an official state of South Carolina map, so today we made a stop at the Welcome Center on I-20. (3/23/14)
The town of Windsor, SC had this older truck parked outside their station on a Sunday afternoon. I'm guessing that there is a newer shinier one in a bay behind one of the closed doors. (3/22/14)
On a day trip to Savannah, GA to spend the day with friends we spotted this county sign and there was a tree right across the street that resembled the one on the sign, hanging Spanish moss and all, but when I tried to get both the tree and the sign in the same frame I realized I was parked in the wrong spot. Time constraints dictated we move on. (3/22/14)
I have to be honest, I have "photoshopped" this image. It wasn't until we got home and looked at our pictures on the computer monitor that my noticed I was holding the Motoring Challenge Guide against the door of the car using just my middle finger. So I copied the tip of that finger and pasted so as to appear that I was using two fingers to hold the Guide. (3/22/14)
Another small town we passed through on the way home from Savannah, GA today that had something other than the typical small reflective green rectangular sign announcing its boundary. And because we stopped we noticed that the next lot over was the town Fire Department with one of its old trucks parked outside. Woohoo, another point. (3/22/14)
On our way back from the coast on Saturday my navigator spotted this shiny new city sign just past the standard green rectangular one. (3/22/14)
If you look past the car and squint real hard you might be able to read the second sign further down the road. It's there in case you didn't understand Dead End, it reads, No Outlet. (3/8/14)
Love the county signs, with just the right parking job you can get two for one. This one mates up with Calhoun County. (3/8/14)
Love the county signs, with just the right parking job you can get two for one. This one mates up with Orangeburg County. (3/8/14)
We drove around CAE looking for just the right photo for this.Our first stop was at a small parking area just before the terminal, but there was only one plane and it was too far off. We then pulled into the general aviation terminal and found a small Cessna just on the other side of the fence, so I took a couple pictures. Unsatisfied I remembered a little further around the airport was the UPS terminal, they were sure to have some big ol' jets. Sure enough they did but lining up a car, a sign, a person and the plane looked problematic. I finally settled on a spot to stop and try to get something. Just as soon as I got out of the car I saw a Delta regional jet coming in for a landing. I turned around, shouted, "Hold up the sign," to my wife and got off one shot. (3/8/14)
This spot was today's goal, the only National Park in South Carolina, Congaree Swamp. We didn't actually enter the park, we've been in a couple times previously, we just took this picture of the sign. (3/8/14)
This town is almost as populous as its namesake country. (3/8/14)
Home of the South Carolina Peanut Party. (3/8/14)
Home of the 2005 South Carolina Class A Basketball Champions. (3/8/14)
You can catch an Amtrak train or buy a Jim Harrison print here, but not much else. (3/8/14)
I stuck the Challenge poster in between the sign and the post so I wouldn't have to hold it in my hand, but then I nearly drove off leaving it hanging there... (3/2/14)
Our second cupcake bakery of the day. The first didn't actually say cupcake anywhere while this one did. (3/2/14)
Couldn't get to a City of Aiken sign because of all the fallen tree limbs from the the recent Ice-ageddon. So we snapped a photo in front of the City's newly repainted locomotive. (2/23/14)
This was the biggest tree we saw that was felled by the Big Ice Storm of '14. (2/23/14)
We stopped at the Strom Thurmond Dam to get a picture that could be used as a future Sneak Peek Photo, but stumbled on a small playground there. I've entitled this "Small Dam Playground." (3/2/14)