Miatatude

Gorging on a Buffet of Twisty Roads & Seafood

I had picked out a neat looking drive for us to do today called the Cherohala Skyway – Joe Brown Loop, from a page off of the Tail Of the Dragon website. But it was so foggy this morning that we opted to do the loop backwards, hoping the fog would clear up later because the first section was straighter, flatter and views less scenic, the middle section wound through rural woods and the final section was the Skyway with lots of scenic pullouts.

The plan worked nearly flawlessly, except for the confusion caused by trying to read the descriptions in reverse order. First, we had a touch of trouble finding our rural road out of Murphy, NC, but that worked out well for a needed potty break. And then we couldn’t find the dining place in historic downtown Telico Plains, TN, but that worked out fine because we stumbled on a BBQ place that everyone thoroughly enjoyed. But the sun did come out after lunch, allowing top down motoring for two thirds of the group as we drove the Cherohala.

After we completed our 166 mile loop, Kurt and I topped up our tanks at the Shell station in Robbinsville and there was talk of heading back to our hotel, but John and Jackie still hadn’t transited the famous “Deals Gap,” so we headed north on US129 to make the trip. On the way west we made it about 8 of the 11 miles at speed until we caught up to some traffic and had to creep to the dam overlook. The trip back wasn’t half as nice as it seemed like only a couple minutes along we ran into a pair of cruiser bikes who refused to exceed the ridiculous posted 30 MPH speed limit and wouldn’t pull over to let us break the law. It got so slow that I actually had to get into 1st gear going around some of the switchbacks. The plate on the bike was from Ontario, thereby shooting major holes in the whole Canadians Are So Polite theorem.

After our Gap Run we all headed over to Fontana Village for dinner as tonight they were having a sea food buffet that included crab legs. I have to say we were all impressed with the food and atmosphere of the Village. Our somewhat negative memories and attitudes towards this place came from perhaps a decade or so in the past, but someone has been investing some money here and from what we could see, spent it well. Donna and I are even thinking that when we come up this way next time we’ll try renting one of their cabins.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Tran?si?tions since 10/24/08: 1087

One Eyed Jack

On Sunday I noticed the passenger side fog light was out (only one reflection in the shiny back doors of an SUV.) Tonight I popped on down to Advanced Auto and bought a new H1 bulb. I briefly considered a fancy new LED replacement, but they are roughly 3 times the cost and the LED portion is sometimes longer than the standard bulb, making fitment problematic.

As I sat on my butt on the garage floor removing the front right tire, so I could access the fog light housing, I had a distinct sense of deja vu. And it didn’t seem like too long ago that I was doing this same thing and to this same fog light. So to see if this a regular recurring thing I’ve added a “Fog Light Bulb” tag for tracking purposes.

The Emperor got the spa treatment today after work. Not just to wash the north Georgia bugs off, but the interior needed vacuuming to find a couple “dropped in the cockpit” items. At the Tallulah Gorge Overlook earthcache I lost the stylus for the Ipaq and it was presumed to be inside the car. Also, on the drive back from Hendersonville I dropped a maple covered peanut. Didn’t find the stylus, but did find the peanut.

And finally, because it is October, I remounted the Vampire Teeth in the mouth of the Miata.

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1071

Three For Three

We ate for the Trifecta. Breakfast at Autens where we were too early to for the annual pancake eating contest. Lunch at Chick-fil-A where the parking lot was full, the drive-up window line was long, but inside the service was surprisingly fast. Dinner was at Zorbas Pizza and Grill where the food was spectacularly mediocre for the price they charged for it.

Dinner with the MMC at Zorbas was a prelude to the Annual Bug Splat Rally and for only the second time in its 13 year history no one went home with the Biggest Bug trophy. I skipped 2002 for some reason and this year, as I alluded to in Friday’s post, no one hit a bug, let alone a big one. In an effort to make sure he didn’t take home the trophy, one member wrote the word bug on the green Avery dot on another car and another member, a past winner, said even if he did actually win the trophy, his wife would not let him back in the house with it. So, awaiting next year’s run, the trophy sits in a place of honor at our house; on top of the water heater in the laundry room at the back of the garage.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1052

Bugless Splat?

Saturday is the MMC’s Annual Bug Splat Rally and this year we have added an extra zig and corresponding zag to the route. Monday we ran about half of the route to see how the extra roads worked out and last night we ran the whole thing to make sure that my mileage numbers on the route map were correct. Before we started I didn’t really make sure the nose of the car was squeaky clean, but at the completion of both runs the nose of the Emperor did not have seem to have any real new splats on it. Maybe the very dry, very hot weather has really decreased the insect population around here.

There are 4 prizes up for grabs on the Bug Splat Rally, Biggest Bug (winner gets an awesome trophy), Closest To The Target, Most Bugs and Cleanest Car. If the insect total tomorrow is anything like this past Monday and Thursday one car could win those first three prizes and the rest of the participants will all be tied for the Cleanest Car Award.

Started up, went down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1050

It’s Alive! It’s ALIVE!

Came home from work and plunked in the new battery in the Miata. I had to set the clock to the correct time, make the one radio preset for the CD Changer, set the radio volume leveler for top down motoring and took the Emperor out for a spin.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1046

Lawnmower?

After work today I decided to take the Emperor down to the local Advance Auto and have them read the battery. I hopped in the Miata and as I have been want to do lately, had to reach back into my front pocket and take out the key after I couldn’t locate the push-to-start button on the dash. As I turned the key to start all I got back was rrrr_RRRRR_rr r  r    r_click. Good thing we bought that other car a few months back.

I disconnected the Miata battery, took it out of the Miata trunk and put it in the Sonata trunk. On our way to grocery shopping tonight, we stopped in to the aforementioned Advanced Auto. When I hefted it up on to the counter and asked if they would put my car battery on the tester, the fellow behind the counter, Will, said, “Car? Looks like a lawnmower battery.”

He hooked it up to the magic box and because there was no indication of what the battery’s cold cranking amp rating was, he used the number off their replacement battery, 370. He said, “That really is only a little more than a riding mower’s 340.” “Your battery is bad, the voltage is a little low at 12.4v, but the cold cranking amps reads 90.” I thought to myself, kinda figured it would be low, cause there wasn’t much cranking going on in the garage a little while ago.

He said, “We have two of these batteries in stock.” I thanked him as said I’d let him know. You see there is this sticker on the top of the battery that says ‘Limited Warranty’ and under that are the numbers ’36/60′ and I wonder if that means 36 month replacement and up to 60 months prorated discount. Going to call the Mazda dealer’s parts department tomorrow to find out what the deal is.

Perfect Tweet

I had an idea for a blog post and if I was in the mood I know I could have stretched it into a couple hundred words, but I wasn’t, so I turned into a tweet for the MMC.

I have come to the conclusion, from swapping between the Sonata & Miata, that the Miata’s steering wheel is too big for the size of the car.

Exactly 140 characters.