2018 Moss Motoring Challenge
Coffee with a Friend: When "coffee shop with a friend" was on the destination list in 2015, on the last Saturday of the year, we advertised free coffee to anyone in the Master's Miata Club who would come and have their picture taken with us. We got 3 other people in 2 cars. This year we got 11 folks in 7 cars...(12/29/18)
City Lights at Night: Downtown Augusta, Georgia across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina. (12/15/18)
Horse Drawn Carriage: From the annual Hoofbeats and Christmas Carols Parade in town. They invite horse drawn carriages, horseback riders and walkers with dogs to parade a short mile or so through downtown Aiken, making a couple stops to entertain the gathered crowds. (12/15/18)
Bicycle Built for Two with Riders: As usual with us we leave the easy ones and the ones we know we got in the bag, until the very end. The bicycle built for two was going to be easy as we have one parked right next to the Miata in the garage. We ride at least once a week and it was just a matter of putting the two vehicles and the two people together. While the Miata is longer than the bike, the wheelbases are very similar. (12/3/18)
Santa Claus: We were eyeballing a large Santa inflatable down the street from us and were waiting until we could catch it in its full glory, when or next door neighbor installed this one. (11/30/18)
Roller Derby Rink: On the way home from Hendersonville, North Carolina on Friday after we had spent Thanksgiving with my sister and her husband, we detoured through Spartanburg, SC to check on a skating rink that hosts roller derby. Sure enough, there was a sign out front of Skate Palace advertising a match from back in October. Unfortunately we were in the Mini not the Miata, so we vowed to drive the 100 miles one-way back there the following day. But Saturday was a cold, miserable, and rainy. Not a nice day for a drive, even with the top up. We waited until today to make the trip. When we got there, the two people you see on the left were changing the sign to read Craft Fair Today (see the ladder…) and fortunately for us they had finished only one side. The other side still had the roller derby announcement on it. Pheew! (11/25/18)
Coffee With Someone You Have Not Talked To For 10 Plus Years: When it came down to lost friends I thought of two people, one in Connecticut (900 miles away) or one in North Augusta, SC (20 miles away), so guess which one this is. The last time I talked to Gene was 14 years ago when he sold us his tandem bicycle (which you'll see in that Challenge photo.) He and his wife Gloria live down the bluff along the Savannah River. His driveway (to right of the picture) is a 300 foot long, 1st gear only, climbing adventure. (11/13/18)
Photo With Another Challenger: Outside the Lowes Motor Speedway in Concord, NC with David Forvendel. (11/10/18)
Creepy Motel: Eleven months of the year this motel outside Great Falls, SC is creepy enough, but for Halloween they crank up the creep to make it a "Hunted House" attraction. (11/10/18)
Signs of Fall 03 - Cotton: I'm standing in tall cotton. (10/22/18)
Signs of Fall 02 - Tail of the Dragon Color: I always lead the Masters Miata Club on a trip to western North Carolina on the first weekend of November to drive the famous Tail of the Dragon's 318 turns in 11 miles. Of the dozen or so times we have gone, this year's colors were the best we've seen. (11/3/18)
Corn Maze: A low key corn maze at a small dairy farm north of Edgefield, SC is only open for business on Tuesdays in October. (10/19/18)
Signs of Fall 02 - Pumpkins: (Alternate) Nothing denotes fall like pumpkin. Pumpkin Spice Coffee, Pumpkin Chai Spice Loaf, Pumpkin Waffles, Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Ravioli, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pumpkin Spice Tea, Pumpkin Spice Cookies, Pumpkin Muffins, Pumpkin Butter, Pumpkin Biscotti, Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Ice Cream, Pumpkin Cookies and, oh yeah, Piles of Pumpkins themselves. (10/7/18)
Signs of Fall 01 - High School Football Fridays: Every Friday evening in the fall when Aiken High has a home game we can hear the bands play at half time when we are sitting on our screened porch because we live about a half a mile away. (10/5/18)
This Is On My Bucket List: Ever since I have retired the only think on my bucket list is to not run out of money before I shuffle off this mortal coil. (9/23/18)
Double Decker Bus: We were heading into downtown Asheville to take a picture of a double decker bus that had been turned into a coffee bar this morning when Donna spotted this beauty along US74 outside Sylvia, NC. (2/23/18)
Wild Animal Statue or Sculpture: Me, a Miata and a life-size bear at the entrance road to the now closed Junaluska Museum in Robbinsville, NC.(9/22/18)
Treehouse: Unit 1, "White Pine", of the Rivers Edge Treehouse Resort in Robbinsville, NC. We are thinking that next spring we just might stay here instead of the Quality Inn, nee Microtel Inn, that is our usual home away from home when driving the dragon. (9/22/18)
Curves Ahead Next.. > 10 miles: There is another one of these signs that says 12 miles ahead leaving Robbinsville and one more with no miles ahead listed at the base of Fugative Dam. From there, the first 6 of those 17 miles starts uphill until you reach the Tennessee border and a place called Deals Gap.From there the last 11 miles include 318 turns...(9/21/18)
I Go Here All The Time: Each tank full is filled with possibilities... (8/26/18)
A Scene You Can Smell: They are not actually smoking butts in this thing, it is just a little bit of creative advertising out front. (8/23/18)
Disc Golf Course with Players: Unlike our first attempt, which was a serendipitous event, this one we planned. We found the website of the local Disc Golf Association and staked out a hole during a regularly scheduled event. This time we actually caught a disc mid-flight. (8/23/18)
Mail Carrier: I parked right in front of a mail box hoping that they would have to get out of the vehicle, but they didn't have any mail for the box because the truck pulled out and went around me. (8/18/18)
Disc Golf Course with Players: We photobomb a couple playing disc golf at a nearby park. (8/18/18)
Horse-Drawn Carriage: We live in a town that prides itself on being very "horsey", so finding a horse-drawn carriage should not be too hard, but today when we passed through the small town of Landrum, SC we saw this display in front of an antiques store, looked at each other and nodded. I turned around for the photo. (8/11/18)
Historic Landmarks 05 - Carl Sandburg Home: I tell you the past is a bucket of ashes, so live not in your yesterdays, no just for tomorrow, but in the here and now. Keep moving and forget the post mortems; and remember, no one can get the jump on the future. - Carl Sandburg
As we drove through Flat Rock, NC this morning. (8/11/18)
Lightning or Hail!: While out bicycling one evening through a local park we saw a storm towards the west that was producing lots of bright lightning. But by the time we rode the 2 miles home, hopped in the car and got back to a spot where we could see towards the west, the storm had quieted way down. I did manage to snag this one weak bolt, but we are going to start "storm chasing" for the rest of the month in hopes of capturing a nicer image. (8/8/18)
Share the Road: We were going to try and stake out the local bicycle club's Sunday morning ride for this challenge point, but found this sign along a local back road and thought it looked like a nice road to take a ride on. (8/4/18)
Carpentry Shop: Cruising the industrial park over in Evans, GA netted this little carpentry shop. (7/29/18)
Monster Truck: Donna found an event that included Monster Trucks at a drag strip outside Orangeburg (about 50 miles away.) We didn't want to pay the $25 entry fee, so we just pulled up to the fence and took this picture of a multi-passenger Monster that they use to give rides...(7/14/18)
Rust Bucket: This ~80-year old rusting panel truck is for sale if you are interested. That and another $40k and it will probably make an awesome Friday Night Hot Rod Cruizer... (7/4/18)
Signs of Summer 03 - Summer Revival: Get your fire and brimstone preaching right here. (7/4/18)
One-Lane Bridge: Hoggard Mill Bridge over Ichawaynochaway Creek is a steel structured Parker through truss bridge on a dirt road near Newton, Georgia. (6/30/18)
Corn Field: I really wanted to get a running start and crash into a row of corn and getting the Miata a full car length in for the photo, but my wife wisely talked me into just parking along side the field. (6/29/18)
Signs of Summer 02 - Summer Sale Event: Same Shoe Dept. store as that we used for a Sign of Winter. (6/29/18)
Rain Storm: We were supposed to get some hail with this storm, so the Miata stayed in the garage and I stood outside holding the sign. All we got was rain and all I got was wet. (6/23/18)
Signs of Summer 01 - Crape Myrtle Blooming: ,Around here you know summer has arrived by the blooming Crape Myrtle. This huge example is just around the corner from where we live. (6/23/18)
Cement Mixer: We seriously considered staking out the entrance to one of the local cement plants, but then one day Donna came back from the gym all excited, there was a cement mixer less than a mile away. "Get dressed! Get in the Miata! Hurry!" (6/18/18)
Historic Landmarks 04 - Aiken Institute: The Aiken Institute was built in the 1890s and was in continuous use as a school for nearly 100 years before closing down. Later it was converted into the County Library. (6/16/18)
Historic Landmarks 04 - Aiken Institute: Historical Marker close-up
A Worlds Best Sign: No disputing this one as far as challenge point suitability, but I'm sure there will be some dispute throughout barbecue land as to whether this is actually the best. (4/14/18)
Drive-thru Window: When we visit relatives out in Washington State little java huts like these are on practically every street corner, but to see one here in South Carolina is like spotting a unicorn. (4/14/18)
Astrological Signs 12: Pisces the Fish. Here was our third marriage strength test for today's Challenge run. First was does Greatest equal Best and then there was does Private Investigations equal Private Investigator and now we have does Pisces have to be two fish or will one do? (4/3/2018)
Private Investigator: Some say that doing a Road Rally together is a real test of a marriage. We do every one of the sporadically planned Master Miata Club ones, and they certainly are tests, but we find doing the Moss Motoring Challenge an even greater test. Does a sign that says Private Investigations count 3 points towards the requested Private Investigator? (4/3/2018)
Moss Distributors 03: The B Hive is NO longer at 1003 Old Stone Church Road in Clemson, it is now at 7230 US-76, Pendleton, SC 29670. This is the first time we have visited a distributor on a work day, so we stopped in and chatted. The owner was a fun story teller. He mentioned that he was one of the first distributors to have their own website (http://thebhive.com/) and I believe it. The copyright on the page says 1996-2018 and it looks pretty much unchanged since 1996... (4/3/2018)
A Worlds Best Sign (alternate): Here is another test of marital strength. Fuddruckers claims to make the World's Greatest Hamburgers, does Greatest=Best? She says yes, he says no. Who will end up with the right to say "I told you so!"? (4/3/2018)
Candy Store: We know that Jelly Belly jelly beans are all the rage, but we are partial to the old school Russel Stover ones. (4/3/2018
Astrological Signs 05: Leo the Lion. Every United House of Prayer for All People we have ever seen has two stone lion statues outside the entrance doors. We found this one in Abbeville, SC. (4/3/2018)
Used Book Store: There were a lot of used books jammed into what once was a family dwelling, but after each of us looking around for several minutes, neither of us bought anything. We've been Kindlized and just can't seem to go backwards. (4/3/2018)
Astrological Signs 08: Scorpio the Scorpion. We pass this way quite a bit when traveling north away from Aiken, but it wasn't until we saw it today that I remembered its name was a sign of the zodiac. (4/3/2018)
Astrological Signs 11: Aquarius the Water Bearer. This statue/fountain sits at the entrance to the Edisto Memorial Gardens in Orangeburg, SC (4/1/2018)
Worlds Largest (Sweet Tea): These challenge points were hard earned. Our first attempt was from the street, but the "mason jar" full of iced tea was tucked into a alley between buildings. While our first photo from the street would probably suffice, we circled the building and even tried a few different car positions on a couple of different levels of the adjacent parking garage taking 10 photos before settling on our actually entry. (4/1/2018)
Worlds Largest (outtake)
Honky-Tonk: Another literal interpretation of a challenge. (4/1/2018)
Moss Distributors 02: Charleston Import Automotive at 3170-A Stanton Court, North Charleston, SC. When we stopped in on a Sunday morning there were quite an array of cars that benefit from Moss Motors parts. There were also several other import autos there too including a Rolls Royce, a Jaguar XK8 and a newish BMW 7 Series that had someone sleeping in the front seat. (4/1/2018)
Dive Bar: Not sure how loose the interpretation of the phrase Dive Bar was, we opted for the literal one. (4/1/2018)
Rat Rod: I'm not sure of the providence of this vehicle, it looks like the hood almost belongs, the front fascia could have been homemade and the fenders were tossed in the trash somewhere. (4/1/2018)
Astrological Signs 03: Gemini the Twins. I am not so sure I like this photo for the challenge, but my wife insists that everyone else is using the word of the symbol as their entry, so why can't we. I'm holding out to actual get a set of human twins, but we'll see how that pans out. (4/1/2018)
Curves Ahead: We have seen a ton of other pictogram Curves Ahead signs, but this one, near the beach on the only road around that has a bend in it, has a sign with the actual words Curves Ahead on it. (3/31/2018)
Astrological Signs 12: Pisces Lane in Crystal Lake Mobile Home Park in Myrtle Beach, SC. (3/31/2018)
Astrological Signs 11: Aquarius Drive in Crystal Lake Mobile Home Park in Myrtle Beach, SC. (3/31/2018)
Astrological Signs 10: Capricorn Drive in Crystal Lake Mobile Home Park in Myrtle Beach, SC. (3/31/2018)
Astrological Signs 09: Sagittarius Drive in Crystal Lake Mobile Home Park in Myrtle Beach, SC. (3/31/2018)
Astrological Signs 08: Scorpio Lane in Crystal Lake Mobile Home Park in Myrtle Beach, SC. (3/31/2018)
Astrological Signs 07 (alternate): Libra Drive in Crystal Lake Mobile Home Park in Myrtle Beach, SC. (3/31/2018)
Astrological Signs 06: Virgo Lane in Crystal Lake Mobile Home Park in Myrtle Beach, SC. (3/31/2018)
Astrological Signs 05: Leo Drive in Crystal Lake Mobile Home Park in Myrtle Beach, SC. (3/31/2018)
Astrological Signs 04: Cancer the Crab. Cancer is the only astrological sign in Crystal Lake Mobile Home Park in Myrtle Beach, SC that doesn't have a street named after it. (3/31/2018)
Astrological Signs 03: Gemini Drive in Crystal Lake Mobile Home Park in Myrtle Beach, SC. (3/31/2018)
Astrological Signs 02: Taurus Lane in Crystal Lake Mobile Home Park in Myrtle Beach, SC. (3/31/2018)
Astrological Signs 01: Aries Lane in Crystal Lake Mobile Home Park in Myrtle Beach, SC. (3/31/2018)
Dinner Theater: Not a traditional dinner theater, but a big, bold and tacky touristy type dinner theater. What you can't see is that there are three terra cotta planters in front of the walkway I'm parked on. They were obviously meant to prevent people from driving up it, but they were spaced to keep SUVs out, not Miatas. (3/31/2018)
Wine Tasting Room: The early bird gets the ability to park up close and not have anyone in the picture at this wine tasting room in Barefoot Landing in Myrtle Beach, SC. (3/31/2018)
Moss Distributors 01: Carolina Car Care at 860 Inlet Square Dr. in Murrells Inlet, SC is not open on weekends...(3/31/2018)
Military Cemetery: The Florence National Cemetery in Florence, SC. (3/31/2018)
Racetrack: The NASCAR track built in 1950 and nicknamed the "Track Too Tough To Tame" in Darlington, SC. (3/30/2018)
Bison in a Field: There are as many bison in this field as there were cows in our "Cow in a Field" photo, but apparently bison are not nearly as curious as cows as this group just continued to laze about and generally ignore us. (3/29/2018)
Signs of Spring 03 - Golf Traffic Signs: As sure a sign as blooming dogwoods and azaleas are that spring is here in our area, so are these signs that sprout up along I-20 the last week of March to direct the hordes of golf fans to the Augusta National to watch The Masters in the first week of April. And just like the blooms on those dogwoods and azaleas after a couple of weeks the signs disappear. (3/29/2018)
Great Place to Take a Date: If you are still in middle school..this is as close as we get around here to the "Malt Shop" in a Norman Rockwell painting. (3/13/18)
Over-sized Load: For whatever reason I was under the impression that we were looking for a Wide Load, so I questioned my wife's desire to take a a photo of a truck that had a banner that read Oversize Load. About the time she finished pointing out that it was in fact Oversize, not Wide, we found this along the side of the road. (3/13/18)
Bridal Shop: The name of this bridal shop always sounded to me the the first part of a Before and After Wheel of Fortune puzzle - House of the Bride of Frankenstein. (3/13/18)
Motorcycle with a Sidecar: As we were leaving the Carolina Dragway we had to wait for incoming traffic to pass first and what should drive by but a motorcycle with a sidecar. If it was worth just a point we would have shrugged and continued home, but for 5 we chased him down. (3/10/18)
Vehicle with Flames: Had we taken our time and looked past the FLAMES!!! we might have noticed that this vehicle could have passed for a rat rod. It is a VW Beetle with the front fenders gone, the doors have swapped ends into suicide doors, the hood was a conversion thing offered back in the 80's, but the trim and ornament is off a vintage 50's car. The "sunroof" is homemade from a piece of vinyl and snaps. Who knows what it might have looked like inside. (3/10/18)
Racetrack (alternate): Augusta's March Coffee and Cars was held at the Carolina Dragway and we went hoping for a "target rich environment" and we were not disappointed. Racetrack, two vanity plates, a vehicle with flames and a motorcycle with a side car. (3/10/18)
Clever Vanity Plates 05 - BLOWN04: A supercharged 2004 Mustang...(3/10/18)
Clever Vanity Plates 04 - 4NOBJTS: We racked our brains trying to solve this one. I thought with the tank in the trunk the NO had something to do with nitrous oxide, but it turns out the tank was for the air bag suspension to drop the car flat to the ground. The plate means Foreign Objects
Signs of Spring 02 - Blooms on Dogwood Tree: Our scrappy dogwood near our garage is the only one of three that were originally on our property when we moved in 1989 that is still around. We are hoping that it might flourish a bit more now that the huge hickory tree that sat beside it had to be removed due to the damage it suffered in 2013's massive ice storm. (3/4/18)
Cow in a Field: The challenge reads "Cow in a Field" so does it still count if there is more than one? 😉 (3/4/18)
Astrological Signs 01- Libra: Donna had Street View Stalked a sign that had the words "Private Investigator" on them in Orangeburg, SC (about 65 miles away) so on a sunny Sunday afternoon we made the trip. The address led us to a street full of law offices, but that particular sign was no longer on display. Not wanting to come up completely empty we took this photo for one point. (3/4/18)
Historic Landmarks 03 - Ocmulgee Indian Mounds: Donna and I have visited here at least four times and every time we visit we vow that next time we will spend more time here and see more of the place. Well, it happened again, took picture of the sign and not much else. Next time. (2/24/18)
Photo With Another Challenger: After leaving the Hall of Fame with our 5+ Challenger success we thought there were going to be plenty of opportunities to get the +1 Challenger photo. Unfortunately, once we got going on our madcap Macon Tour I forgot all about it. Fortunately, when going through my photos of the trip I found this little portion of a shot from the Hay House with Meghan and Donna in it. (2/24/18)
Historic Landmarks 02 - Johnston_Felton_Hay House: Most commonly referred to as the Hays house, because they were the final owners of the house before it became a museum, but its total name is the Johnston-Felton-Hays House for the other owners of the 18,000 sq ft "Palace of the South." (2/24/18)
Opera House: Opera House in Macon. Just one of several stops on Beth Wallace's Madcap Macon Tour. (2/24/18)
Clever Vanity Plates 03 - GT CHUM :The back of fellow Challenger Megan Smith's yellow '92 Miata. Probably should have asked her what she meant by chum, pal or shark bait? (2/24/18)
Photo with 5+ Challengers :Thank you Beth Wallace for putting the 5 Challenger event together and thank you Beth Wallace for the image, because both Donna and I are in the 5 Challenger Photo I don't have my own image, so I cribbed one from your FB post to use on the Trello Board. (2/24/18)
Any Hall of Fame: Donna and I showed up to take of photo of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in Macon, Georgia and "coincidentally" there was a small gathering of little sports cars that were doing the Moss Motoring Challenge too. 😀 (2/24/18)
Grand Opening: Serendipitously stumbled on a Grand Opening sign on the square in Sandersville, Georgia on our way down to Macon this morning. (2/24/18)
Signs of Spring 01 - Magnolia Tree Blossoms: I know some of you folks are still getting your Winter photos, if even out and about at all, but the unseasonably warm past couple of days have brought out the spring blooms. The magnolias are usually first and the Bradford Pears are starting to show as well as the early azaleas. The dogwoods won't be too far behind. (2/21/18)
Drive-thru Window: This is the back of federal credit union for the largest employer in the area, the Savannah River Site (AKA the "bomb plant"), and there are at least three other places just like this in the surrounding communities. Eight lanes and three teller windows. I may have to come back on a Friday afternoon and see just how busy this place is... (2/18/18)
Your Favorite Charity: We typically designate our United Way donation at work towards the Golden Harvest Food Bank. (2/18/18)
Ethnic Restaurant: I'm betting it as authentic Argentinian ethnic as it was when this very same building housed (possibly under the same ownership) Greek, then Italian and then Caribbean restaurants during the past twenty years. (2/18/18)
Health Food Store: Says so right in the name. (2/18/18)
Clever Vanity Plates 02 - SCRIPPY: This is the 2nd Mini Cooper Clubman that the pharmacy has used for deliveries. They drove the the first into the ground just driving around Aiken bringing YOU your prescription to you instead of you having to go get it. (2/11/18)
Clever Vanity Plates 01 - CHAUTQA: Don't break your head trying to figure out what this one means. Neither one of us knew what the aim of the plate was until we noticed the bumper sticker: Chautauqua Bats - Chautauqua Bird, Tree and Garden Club (2/10/18)
Historic Landmarks 01 - Graniteville Mill: This building and the mill building to the right are part of the Graniteville National Historic District. The maker reads: "This mill, the largest textile mill in antebellum S.C., was chartered in 1845 and opened in 1847. It was founded by William Gregg (1800-1867), a Virginia native and advocate of industrial development who chose this site for its proximity to waterpower, granite deposits, and the S.C. Railroad. The company provided housing, a school, a store, and land for churches, creating a model mill village. Unlike most early textile mills, it was adequately funded." (2/11/18)
Signs of Winter 03 - Bare Trees: Inspired by fellow Challenger David Forvendel. This is a small dogwood tree right outside our garage. In winter it is as bare as all of the other oaks and hickory trees in our yard. (2/11/18)
Neon Sign:This photo covers all the bases. The neon forms the letters in the words Miller and it's embellishments while underneath the marquee itself is made of thousands of LEDs. The area under the marquee is illuminated by florescent lights and the Miata uses regular ol' incandescent. (2/1/18)
Fire Station: This building was built in 1913 and was the first fire station in Augusta, GA to house the newfangled motorized fire trucks. It remained in continuous service for 90 years. Ten years later on the building's 100th anniversary there was a push to turn it into a museum, but it was never totally realized. (2/1/18)
Unusual Mailbox:As befitting Aiken County's being the home of wintering thoroughbred horses and many equine activities, this mailbox is perfectly unexpected, but for some reason this is the only one we've seen like it around. (2/1/18)
Sewing Store: This place is right around the corner from home and an easy point as we finished today's drive. (1/27/18)
A Play on Words: The first one of this destination we saw posted on Facebook was a hair salon called Curl Up 'n' Dye. I thought cool, there must be a hair salon in nearly every town in America with that name. Might be neat to have everyone participating submit theirs for this destination.A Google search proved me wrong, but hair salon names are a treasure trove of play on words. (1/27/18)
Sign with Lucky in the Name: I bet the owners felt lucky when they bought these stables, but as you can see from the hand sprayed For Sale sign below they have not been so lucky trying to sell them. (1/27/18)
Shooting Range: This place stayed in business only a couple years. Hard to believe around here this would be possible, but I blame the location, it is jinxed. This is the fourth business that has come and gone since it was built 15 years ago. (1/27/18)
Signs of Winter 02 - Big Winter Sale: After trolling a large section of Augusta's shopping areas looking for a Winter Sale sign and failing we found this one a few miles from home. (1/20/18)
Roller Rink: Acting on a tip that the Augusta Soul City Sirens practiced at this rink we stopped in hoping to see some outside indication of it, Nope, still worth one point anyway. (1/20/18)
A Sign That Rhymes: As soon as we pulled into this morning's Masters Miata Club breakfast spot we knew we had found our second Challenge point of the year. (1/20/18)
Signs of Winter 01 - Flurries: Hopefully Wednesday, January 17th's flurries is the only snow we see this winter here in Aiken. (1/17/18)