Miata Washings

140,000 Black Eyed Susans

Black Eyed Susans

Day 6: Fort Worth, TX – 33.3 miles*

We got up this morning and drove about 10 miles east to a park in a subdivision that turned into town, Trophy Place. There were about 3 dozen caches spread over 4 different trail areas. Trouble was finding a trail head. All the roads were twisty and littered with cul de sacs, there were no signs to trail heads that we could see and none of the caches had a secondary waypoint that was trail head parking. With the busy traffic of the big city and the trouble locating a starting point we almost gave up, but Donna wouldn’t say quit. We finally found a spot that got us going. We ended up finding all nine caches that we searched for. We missed out on a couple on the loop we started on because there was a creek crossing and neither of us felt like getting our feet wet.

This evening Jim, Donna’s oldest brother who works in Ft. Worth, picked us up and we drove to the Grapevine Mills Mall to eat at a place called Love & War in Texas to met up with a co-worker of ours who is dropping off a daughter to go to school in Dallas. Jim can now become a local contact if she gets stuck with car trouble or needs someone to bail her out of the hoosegow.

We did get one Motoring Challenge photo this morning. When we opened up the curtains in the hotel this morning we could see the full moon slowly dropping towards the horizon. We quick like bunnies went downstairs and lined up the Miata for a picture.

Oh, and yesterday, somewhere just before Gunter, TX on Farm to Market Road 121, the Emperor passed the 140,000 mile mark.

Today he got a bath at a coin operated hand wash place in downtown Roanoke, TX.

*Pre-drive Google Maps estimate: 0 (-33.3) – Total miles so far: 1499.6

Started up, went down, back up, back down, up again, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1345

Twice In A Fortnight

The Emperor got another bath tonight. I washed him two weeks ago before we went up to NC for the Foothills Photo Rally. There was pine pollen still stuck on all the horizontal surfaces from the later blooming pine trees in those foothills. Not to mention the several dozen dead bugs in his teeth, also from that trip.

Saturday we embark on another road in the Miata and I wanted it to at least start out clean. There is a 30% chance of showers where we are headed in a couple days, so I’m not sure how long it will stay that way.

Two weeks ago I was going to put a coat of wax on the car, but discovered (remembered) that I had used the last of the paste wax last fall when I waxed last. Tonight, so I could just one stop shop, I bought a bottle of Turtle Wax Ice spray on stuff at the grocery store. I’m sure the hangers about over on the Miata.net Forum’s Car Care Section would cringe at using such a thing, but I’m all about easy and as previously mentioned, not really into the “Car Show Shine” level of clean.

Started up, went down, back up, back down, up again, down again, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1326

10 Run Mercy Rule

Kind of wish they had the 10 run mercy rule in the major leagues tonight. The FRS are down 12 to 2 in the 7th inning against the MFY. The official scorer at Fenway did take some mercy on them just now, ruling an obvious 6th error of the night a fielders choice.

The Emperor got a bath tonight. We are headed up to North Carolina to do the Foothills Photo Rally 4 and he needed to look a little less grungy around all the other cars. I was going to take the cheater’s way out and dust him off, then touch up the real dirty areas with some Quick Detailer, but realized I really needed to break out the hose and bucket. After last Saturday’s trip to Atlanta and back in the constant light rain/mist mix he was dirty enough to warrant the royal treatment.

Started down went up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1313

136,000 Calories

136,000 Calories

A little bit of Spring weather today sent Donna and I out into the world with the Miata to have a top down adventure. It was time to go take a few more Moss Motoring Challenge photos and some make up geocaching. We needed a Duck Crossing sign and knew right where to find one because we had stumbled on it while on an unsuccessful geocaching trip about a month ago. When we had gone to sign the log of our first find back then, we realized that neither of us had a pen, doh!

We started in Aiken with a photo of a horse track and then we drove to Augusta to get the Duck Crossing sign photo. I took our laminated Motoring Challenge poster and stuck it right below the crossing sign between the sign and the post while we snapped a couple shots. We then took a walk near Lake Olmstead and the Augusta Greenjacket’s stadium to take care of our cache signings. It wasn’t until we were getting back in the car that I realized that I had left the challenge poster hanging on the Duck Crossing sign. Almost forgot it.

Next we headed for a cupcake bakery. I remembered where one was on Washington Road and Donna remembered where another one was further out on the same road. The first one didn’t actually say cupcake in its name, so we continued out further on Washington Road into Evans where the above photo comes from, a place called “Small Cakes, a Cupcakery.” I made myself right at home at the table right outside to un-opened bakery with my poster propped up at the window.

Seeing as we were this far out on Washington Road we decided to keep on going north and then cross over the Strom Thurmond Dam back into South Carolina. Donna thought it might be cool to take a picture in front of the dam to use as one of our next Sneak Peek photos. Turns out there was a small playground right there, something we needed for the Challenge, so we took a photo of that with the dam in the background. When I opened the trunk to get the camera and the laminated Challenge poster I realized that I had the camera, but no poster. This time, unlike at Lake OLmstead, I did leave it behind.

I was all for just forgetting about it as we did have the back-up smaller version still and I could always make another one, but Donna thought that we should go back to Evans and get it. She reasoned that it was nearing lunch and there were plenty of places to chose from for eating back that way and then we could get a cupcake for desert.

The Emperor passed through the 136,000 mile mark as we crossed the dam back into Georgia. The sign was still there at the bakery, right on the table, where the girl who sold us the cupcake had put it when she opened the store. Originally we were going to share a cupcake, but they looked so good and had such a variety that we opted to get one each. They were moist and dense and the frosting was so superb that I’m betting they packed in about 136,000 calories each.

When we got home it was still too nice a day to stay inside, so I went out and washed both cars. The Emperor will be fine as he will be staying in the garage for the week, but the Purple Whale’s cleanliness will not last, tomorrow it is supposed to rain and with the warm weather, the pines surrounding the Valve Store’s(r) parking lot will be emitting yellow pollen dust soon.

Started down, went up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1297

It Is Only A Fantasy

After the early afternoon NFL games Team Wrangler had 10 times as many points as the Purple Whales:
Its Only A Fantasy

After the the late afternoon games the Purple Whales had made a near miraculous comeback to take the lead:
Its Only A Fantasy 2

The lead was guaranteed not to last as Team Wrangler still had 2 players left, one tonight and one more on Monday. But I expected it to last more than 3 minutes into the first quarter on the Sunday Night game. But it was erased by a 54 yard field goal by Denver’s kicker, Matt Prator, which was worth 5 points:
Its A Fantasy 3

The Emperor got a wash yesterday, taken for a nice fall afternoon drive before being hidden away in the garage. The Purple Whale got a bath this afternoon and then huddled under the carport trying to avoid the impending sprinkles.

Mountain Getaway

Hiwassee Reservoir

Made a trip into the NC/TN mountains this weekend. We were celebrating my birthday, our anniversary and on a recon mission for an MMC trip up here in November. Total distance traveled between 7:00 AM Friday morning and 1:00 PM Sunday afternoon was 760 miles. I drove every one of them and enjoyed the heck out of myself. We bought premium gas 4 times in that time (if you count the fill up before we left), 2 in the NC mountains with an average cost of $3.89 and 2 in SC midlands with an average cost $3.39. For the trip the Emperor got a little over 28 miles to the gallon, which ain’t half bad considering that about 2/3rds of the driving was spent in 2nd and 3rd gear at 3500 to 4500 RPM being flung around turns.

We stayed in a one bedroom cabin at a place called Fontana Village and had a mostly great time. The only real fault we found with the place is that you are a captive audience restaurant-wise because the nearest place to eat is Robbinsville, 22 twisty mountain miles away and what they have there really isn’t anything worth going for. As such, dining at one of the two open restaurants on the grounds can set you back a pretty penny. On Saturday morning the breakfast buffet at the Mountain View was our only option and at twelve bucks a person (total bill with tax & tip; $29) it was not as good as the $7.95 one at a Golden Corral in Aiken, just served from nicer containers. Dinner at the Wildwood Grill on Saturday night was $40 for 2 hamburgers a beer and a glass of wine. But now that we know there were serious about the fully equipped kitchen in the cabin, next time we are bringing our own (well as least as much as we can carry in the Miata.)

The photo above is of the Hiwassee Reservoir taken at the overlook of the Hiwassee Dam on at about the mid-point of the loop planned for the Saturday drive when we take the Miata Club to Deals Gap. This is the same loop as we did 2 years ago, but we are hoping the weather in November this year will be a lot more like our weather this weekend and not anything like the cold and wet of the 2011 trip.

This afternoon the Emperor got a well deserved bath while I ignored NFL football and its effect on my fantasy football team. I may not watch any games next week either, if that is what it takes, because the football Purple Whales are winning 118 to 106 and I still have one guy playing tonight and my opponent has nobody left to play at all.

Started down, went up, back down, up again, down again, up once more, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1261

133,000 Angry Crows

Bird of Prey

We went for a Sunday morning hike in Hitchcock Woods and when we got near Fulmer Stable towards the end of the walk we could hear a murder of crows squawking like crazy. It sounded like a hundred thirty three thousand birds shouting about something. As we exited the woods onto the sandy road leading to the parking area we could see what all the hullabaloo was about, a very large bird of prey was perched in what was obviously their favorite tree.

I had just enough time to get out the camera, locate the bird, zoom in and snap this one photo of his backside before he flew to another branch further into the tree. The crows never stopped making a racket and a few minutes later our hawk had had enough and he flew right over our heads and deep into the woods. I never did get another picture of him.

Today on the way to work this morning the Emperor ticked past the 133,000 mile mark, so tonight I gave him a sponge bath in the garage as a present. Well, that and he got filthy when the grounds crew at the plant weed-eated the strip of grass right behind where we park.