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Almost One Tenth As Old As America

Cars

That’s Entertainment

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Le Tour started today with the Prologue Time Trial. A zippy little 5.5 mile jaunt around the Dutch town of Rotterdam. Lance Armstrong is in 4th place 22 secs back having completed .25% of the total mileage of the race. I know Lance is fourth because it was posted on Google News (from the New York Times) in the Entertainment Section.

We hit the road this morning with the intention to check out a possible location for the MMC Breakfast drive we lead later this month. Destination was the Ten Governor’s Cafe in downtown Edgefield. Of course there was some geocaching involved too. After we found a couple of them at Exit 11 of I-20 we were going to drive to Exit 1 where we had planned to start the breakfast run, but we were getting hungry, so we opted to head up the Bettis Academy Road to US25 thereby shortening the trip by 20 minutes or so. A couple miles up the road we passed by a small airport community where folks have a giant garage, otherwise known as hangers. We actually know somebody who lives in there, someone from our old Aiken Bike Club days. As we drove by we both noticed the small white building with a couple of cars out front that had a sign that said Airport Cafe! We’ve driven this way numerous times, but never noticed that before. We looked at each other questioningly and Donna said, “Turn around.”

There were maybe 6 tables for four inside and two of them had people at them. We picked one of our own and sat. It was two person operation, her (waitress/cashier) and him (cook), so service was kinda of hit or miss, but the food was hot and good tasting, plus cheap. It certain fit the bill of Club’s Breakfast Drive originator. We may be the biggest group they ever dealt with, but I think we found our spot. Next weekend we may go check out the Ten Governor’s Cafe as a back up plan.

We looped through Trenton (1 find), Edgefield (1 find, 1 DNF), back to North Augusta via Martintown Rd (3 finds) and on to the Greenway (5 finds.) One of the Greenway caches was the last of the Bread Crumb series, The End of the Trail – North Augusta. Donna wanted me to just say as little as possible so as not to raise the ire of the CO, but you know me:

Last Saturday we didn’t have the minutes portion of the hide’s coordinates (we did have the degrees & and the decimal minutes portions) and because we thought we had done this one earlier this year we walked right by the cache. After we gave up trying to remember where we were before we headed home. It was there we realized we *hadn’t* done this before and what we were remembering was the final of the Color Code Series…

I plotted out about 10 different combinations of possible locations of the final using any north & west minutes that kept us in North Augusta, but figured the best chance of finding it was near the end of the Greenway, close to where the Question Mark showed. And that is where it was.

Thanks for the series. My wife and I thoroughly it enjoyed it and will wonder for a very long time what the heck were those containers for the finals.

I hope I didn’t knock off the scab…

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 714
Tagged: Cars, Food, Geocaching

Bread Crumbs

Sunday, June 27, 2010

While out caching in September one of our finds was called Bread Crumbs #2. I knew it was part of a series of caches from my reading of the description:

I designed the Bread Crumbs series #1-6 to lead cachers from North Augusta to Greenwood or Greenwood to North Augusta. In either location there are many very good caches that you can goto once you have reached which ever city you are heading for. On each container you will find clues for two finishing caches. One is in North Augusta the other is in Greenwood. you must complete the series # 1-6 in order to find either final cache. Also don’t forget my other two caches that i have along this route. One is “In the middle of nowhere”(GC1MH7R) the other is “Cachers Dash # 1″(GC1N1GB) which is another series of caches i have that leads you to a 5 stage multi cache. Good luck….kaboyd

So I alertly wrote down the snippet of coordinates that were on the cover of the container. Donna and I put it on our wish list to do the series in the future. The future turned out to be 2 months later in November. We started at Crumb #1 near Exit #1 of I-20 in North Augusta and worked our way to Greenwood. We skipped #2 because we already had that one in the bag. Each hide was well thought out with an nice spot for parking and it was just far enough into the woods so you wouldn’t be seen while you hunted. All the containers were the same, so you knew what to look for, and the route was 2-lane through almost entirely undeveloped land. The only one that gave us any problem was #6, it was slightly over 40′ from where our GPSr said GZ was, but once we had it we had all we needed to find the two final caches.

The Greenwood final cache was right up the street in a little park. As I turned into the parking area it was jam full of cars and loads people milling about. There was some sort of soccer game going on, so we opted to not even try. I backed up out of the lot and we came home, figuring we would come back in the future. The future turned out to be 2 months later in January. It was a sunny New Years Day, so we took a nice little top down drive back to Greenwood hoping there would not be a soccer game going. Turns out the place was deserted. Cool. About 400′ into the woods we found the cache. It was an odd looking container, almost looked like a miniature ships wheel with a screw off center.

We signed the log and left behind a couple of small trade items. Felt kind of weird finding a cache and not getting to log it as a find. I had searched Geocaching.com for the key words “bread crumbs”, but nothing came up in our area besides the numbers 1 through 6. And even though we wouldn’t get “credit” for either, we decided to do the North Augusta final in the future.

Last week while researching caches to do along the North Augusta Greenway, I found one at the far end from where we have been looking called, End of the trail ‘North Augusta’, and the description read:

The above coordinates are bogus.This is an unusual looking container that contains a log but byop. It is big enough for a few trade items (small) Also it is in the woods so be careful.

——————————————————————————–
This is the North Augusta end cache for my bread crumbs series # 1-6. You need the clues from each of the containers in that series to hunt this cache and the one in Greenwood.

HUH!?!? So I searched in Greenwood for something called End of the trail and sure enough there is the other one…. You do get credit for finding the final caches in the Bread Crumb series. We’ve been robbed! We have more finds than we thunk! We had a good idea on where to look for the final caches to see what date we had signed them, so we could log the finds on the web site, but knew there was no way we could find them again in a patch of woods without the actual coordinates. Trouble was after we found the two finals we tossed out the coordinates, so we will have to do #1 through #6 all over again.

Guess what we did today? Right. We set the alarm for early, ate breakfast and started out following bread crumbs. They were not too difficult to find the first time though and this time we made short work of locating each container. Park, walk a hundred feet into the woods, open the lid, grab the coordinate snippet and on to the next. We found a fly in the ointment at #3 though, the bonus cache coordinates were faded beyond recognition. The only thing I could make out was that they were for North Augusta, so we continued on to Greenwood, figuring we would worry about that little problem in the future.

There was no soccer game at the Greenwood park and after a spider web busting walk, we found the odd shaped container for the second time in 6 months. We opened it up and seeing as there was a new log, meaning no proof we had actually been here back in January, I went ahead and signed it. I’ll go online later today and log the now official find of the End of the trail ‘Greenwood’.

Because it was still early, we went over to Greenwood’s Rail to Trail where there was a series of 6 caches to look for. We started at the high numbered end and found #6, DNF’d #5, found #4, 3 & 2 before the combination of the heat, the distance left to #1 and the fact that 4 of the last 6 folks to look for it came up empty caused us to turn around and head back to the car. On the way back by we made another pass at #5 and couldn’t find it again.

Because it was such a pretty top down drive up, we drove back home via the same Bread Crumb route, but this time we had the top up and the air conditioner blasting. Donna wanted to try the North Augusta final next weekend, but I talked her into giving it try today so we could cross this series of that wish list. Bad move. It was now past 11:00 AM and it was probably above 90° and even though the North Augusta Greenway was still shaded, there was no breeze and the humidity was just as high as the temperature. We didn’t have the whole set of coordinates because of the faded Bread Crumb #3, but because both Donna and I remember finding the North Augusta final before, we figured we could spot the trail we thought it was off of and work it out. Using the trail, the degrees and the decimal portion of the minutes we had we could locate the cache. As we looked for that side trail a conversation, turned into a misunderstanding, which escalated into a DISCUSSION, stopping short of an argument, so after a half mile we did an about face and went back to the car defeated.

Because I didn’t blog about finding the North Augusta final I can’t pick out the date we did find it. And now looking back through our finds, I can’t seem to see any other found caches that would have put us any where close to the area where it should be. The only two times we cached near that end of the Greenway was in August of last year, before we even thought of doing this series. Maybe we didn’t do it. Odd.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 705
Tagged: Cars, Geocaching

Frustration

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

While returning from Hendersonville on Saturday afternoon I witnessed the true definition of frustration.

We were zipping along south on I-26 somewhere south of Spartanburg with Donna at the wheel and me watching the world go by at 70 MPH. Up ahead I could see three turkey buzzards right on the edge of the shoulder moving back and forth towards the road. One would take a couple steps towards the right lane and then quickly hop back. Then another would do the same thing. When we got right next to them I could see what was going on. There was a small piece of roadkill about 2 feet into the right lane and after a car passed, one bird would take a few steps towards what it considers food, he would get about 5 feet from a tasty morsel, then another car would approach making it hop back to safety. Trouble was, traffic was fairly light and there were single cars in the right lane spaced evenly about 200′-300′ apart, so there was never enough time to get a nibble safely.

Started up, went down, went up, down again, up again, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 659
Tagged: Cars, Food

Hamsters Got Soul

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The KIA Soul is one of those “cute” little cars targeted towards the younger set and their ads for have it have been interesting. I personally think the car is ugly and I’m not a big fan of Hip-Hop music, but I’m smiling now having just watched this latest one.

It hits the all the right notes (pun sort of intended.)

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 638
Tagged: Cars

Adding Insult To Injury

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Donna and I went back over to the bike/hike trail next to I-520 this morning. We had two more caches to hide, one was one that used to be in Hitchcock Woods before the Great Cache Purge of 2009 and the other probably would have found its way into the woods eventually (if it had remained a possibility.) We also had a Travel Bug we were going to drop into the cache we had placed yesterday.

We hid the first and then on our way to hide the second cache we walked by yesterday’s site and we could see 3 cars parked in the cul-de-sac near the cache. Our hide wasn’t yet published when we left the house this morning, but it must have been since because sure enough cachers were there. One couple had already found it and another was in the woods looking. We chatted a bit and even got nudge for the Gargoyle’s Crypt we missed yesterday. We hid cache#2 and went down and wasted 15 minutes looking and even with the hints couldn’t find it.

Remember yesterday I bent my glasses doing a small tumble when researching today’s possibly cache locations? No I didn’t fall again today, but I did break my temporary crown while eating lunch today. I have been chewing on the good side mostly, but sometimes I slip and chew over there. I didn’t just pull it off the post, but managed to bite down on it and break it into three pieces with the smallest one of never recovered…

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 620
Tagged: Cars, Geocaching

Gonna Need A Bigger Garage

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

We have been virtual wishful car shopping recently, maybe it is because we are under a year in the countdown to a New Miata or maybe it is talk of taking this year’s trip out west in a car instead of a plane or maybe it is because automakers are offering great deals at this time of year (Mazda is offering $4500 off left over 2009 Miatas), but I have been hitting the web and having fun.

If you had told me 4-1/2 years ago that I might be driving anything other than a Miata I would have told you you were crazy. But now I’m not so sure. It all harkens back to our first ride in the current generation Miata back in October of 2005, we were underwhelmed, so the seed of doubt has been planted. The Miata is still at the head of the list, but there are a couple of other contenders on our radar, cars that are in our cost comfort level, around $25k and are convertibles and are available in blue. From worst to first they are:

  1. Sebring. This only makes the list in that it fits all three criteria, but its faults are many, chief among them is that it is as ugly as sin.
  2. Mini. High fun to drive factor, but we were underwhelmed when we drove one back in 2003 and the convertible version takes a big hit in the looks department, both up and down, over the closed car.
  3. VW Beetle. Donna has always liked the looks of these, I have to admit that I do too. Downsides include no manual transmission and cockpit wind with that big an opening.
  4. Mustang. The base V-6 falls in our price range, but the blue is kinda odd and it is 7″ wider and over 2 feet longer than a Miata, contributing to the title of this post.
  5. Miata. Needs another test drive and to take advantage of the the current deal we would have to accept a color that sucks.

Now let’s go a little further out there, what if we don’t get a convertible at all. Wild huh? Suppose we consider a little larger “sporty” car instead of a convertible. The car would have to be in the same price range and it would have be a coupe (I may be getting older, but I’m not ready for a 4-door Buick just yet.) From worst to first they are:

  1. Accord. We were Honda folks (2 Accords, 2 Civics and a Prelude) before the Miata revolution, but my how this car has grown. It weighs as much as a Mustang and is a foot longer than one too!
  2. Gensis. The front look leaves me cold and there is that still lingering Hyundai crap car association.
  3. Altima. Really like the looks of this and the blue is a terrificly bright shade, but I know nothing else about it.
  4. Mustang. With the convertible we were stuck with the V-6, but a coupe means we can squeak a GT with a V-8 in under our spending cap.
  5. Mini. It has lots of techno gizmos to go wrong and doesn’t have the best reliability record, but it is fun to drive, good looking and will fit in the garage.

A wild card in the coupe class would be a Miata with the detachable hardtop, leave it on nearly all the time and just pop it off for nice weekends.

Started up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 519
Tagged: Car Buying, Cars, Miatatude

15 Years Ago

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

I didn’t have a blog back then, so my creative writing outlet was the Aiken Bike Club’s newsletter. I tried to add a little humor to the meeting minutes and the ride reports, but the most fun came from making up the Ride Schedule. Find an obscure event that happened on a particular day and spin a title and text from it. Here is the December 1994 Aiken Bicycle Club Ride Schedule:

Sat Dec 10 – 10:00 AM
SHOOT the ROCK, BAY-BEE! Ride. 98 years ago today in New Haven, CT an event happened ensuring that Dick Vitale wouldn?t have to try to make a living selling cars. Wesleyan University played Yale in the first inter-collegiate basketball game. Yale won 39 to 4. Doug Walker is today?s ride coach/announcer. (40 miles/M)

Sun Dec 11 – 1:45 PM
Christmas Parade Ride. Once again the club will ride in the Aiken Jaycee?s Christmas parade. Deck the bikes with boughs of holly, garland, etc. The tackier the better and meet at Weeks where we will ride to our starting spot, do the parade thing and ride back home. (10 miles/E)

Sat Dec 17 – 9:00 AM
Saturnalia Ride. The masters and the slaves will ride the same trails on the first day of the festival in honor of the Roman god of agriculture, Saturn. Meet Brian Bogardus with your ATB on the car rack for the trip to the trailhead. (8-12 miles/M)

Sun Dec 18 – 1:00 PM
Extol the Ride Leader Ride. Today?s route will will be fairly circuitous as ride leader Donna Bogardus takes the group to every drive-up window on the southside of Aiken to compliment the employee behind the sliding glass window on the first day of ?Tell Someone They Are Doing A Good Job? Week. (10-15 miles/E)

Sat Dec 24 – 1:00 PM
Christmas Eve Ride. If you are not too busy assembling tricycles put some warm spiced, not spiked, cider in your water bottle and go for a ride with Doug Walker in search of roasted chestnuts. (30 miles/M)

Sun Dec 25 – 1:00 PM
I Got Some Really Cool Stuff Ride. Nobody volunteered to lead this ride, but if you want people to see those new bike related presents, show up and show off. Bring a $1 grab bag type gift for swapping. (10-15 miles/E)

Sat Dec 31 – 5:00 PM
First Night Aiken Non Ride. Meet some of your fellow club members at this family oriented New Year?s Eve celebration on Laurens Street. Starts at 5:00 PM and runs ?til the New Year starts. To purchase admission buttons ($5, kids six and under are free) or for more information stop by the Aiken Center for the Arts <641-9094> at 112 Laurens St.

Sun Jan 1 – 10:00 AM
New Year?s Day State Park Ride. Steve Nolan is up as ride leader for this Bike Club tradition. Start out the year the right way! Ride to Aiken State Park, eat some cookies, and ride back. (45 miles/M-D)

Started up, went down, back up, down again, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 508
Tagged: Bicycling, Cars
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sturgeon’s law

"Ninety Percent Of Everything Is Crap"
Derived from a quote by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, who once said, "Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That's because 90% of everything is crud." Oddly, when Sturgeon's Law is cited, the final word is almost invariably changed to 'crap'.

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1) You will never find a more wretched hive of scu 1) You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. 2) Who is this guy? I don't remember him at all. Maybe the puzzle's artist?

#moseisley #cantina #starwars #jigsaw #jigsawpuzzle #jigsawpuzzlesofinstagram #jigsawpuzzleanonymous

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