Miatatude

Title Block

Finally feel like writing something, but I can’t think of title…

We drove the Miata to work on Thursday because we *could* ride home with the top down. But we didn’t drive it today even though it was warmer than yesterday. We rode the tandem.

I found a fool proof method on how to get your wife to agree to let you buy a new computer: While she is in the middle of shuffling the contents around in the kitchen cabinets (for who knows what reason other than to confuse me) just walk in and ask if you can spend $425. Well, that and the fact that I have been moaning about it’s slowness for a couple years (it was purchased just shy of 9 years ago.)

Like the plethora of fragrance commercials that show up on TV before Christmas, you can tell it is January because of all the ads for diet plans and gym memberships.

Which leads us to: “A gym is not designed to make you feel instantly better about yourself. If a gym wanted to make you feel instantly better about yourself, it would be a bar.” which is Rule #1 for Conquering the Gym, go read the other 26.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Tran?si?tions since 10/24/08: 1098

Trophy

We have driven the Miata to work the last couple of days and it is all because of the weather. No, it has not been warm enough to ride with the top down, just the opposite, it has been in the 20’s for morning lows. We took the Emperor because he spent the night in the heated garage so it was nice and warm inside to start the drive, unlike the Purple Popsicle would have been.

Started up, still up.
Miata Top Tran?si?tions since 10/24/08: 1097

Danger Overhead

The weather has been warmer than average around here this week, so much so that we drove the Miata to work and had the top down both to and from. Today was on the windy side and this morning as we were driving down our street we got dripped on from the trees a couple of times with left over rain drops from last night. As we approached the first stop sign an acorn hit the road in front of us and promptly bounced off the windshield with a pop.

As we left ASCO’s parking lot to come home tonight a piece of pine straw zipped by Donna’s head before bouncing off the console. The rest of the way home we put the windows up to keep the blowing dead leaves from smacking us from the sides. And the Coup de Grâce was on our street again, where another acorn barely missed our heads and landed somewhere in the cockpit between us.

This prompted Donna to say, “We should have ridden our bicycles (we had contemplated this seeing as it is sort of Friday), we’d have been safer because we would have been wearing helmets.”

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1094

Keeping The Sibling Peace

This morning the three cars of the MMC went their separate ways and probably at separate times. Kurt & Karen were headed back via Helen, GA, John & Jackie were planning on lunch in Spartanburg and we were just headed home. We arrived there 6 hours later after a gas stop, 4 driver changes and lunch. Total mileage for the trip, eight hundred fifty four and seven tenths. Took three tankfuls of gas for around $90 total and averaged a touch over 33 MPG, which is pretty darn good for the kind of driving the mountain roads bring out in a sports car.

Ever since the Purple Whale got a dragon sticker after his trip through Deals Gap, the Emperor has been whining about getting his own. He already has a diamond shaped one on the inside of the trunk lid and he has been driven through the gap about 2 dozen times to the Whale’s once, but his jealous carping was just too much. So to keep the sniping between the two cars at a minimum, one gold dragon sticker now resides on the Emperor’s butt trunk lid where the little geocaching one once did. Of course I had to wash off all the road crud (and bear fur) before applying said sticker.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Tran?si?tions since 10/24/08: 1089

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