Motoring Challenge

10 Years Ago Today

As part of the Moss Motoring Challenge for 2015, one of the “Destinations” was something called Coffee shop (with friend) and I still needed it late in the year, so I sent out an email blast to the Miata Club saying I’d buy them a cup of coffee if they came over to my favorite coffee shop and be my friend. I had two cars show up. I’m standing in front of my 2003 Garnet Red along with Rita and Larry Garner and my fairy godfather, David Adcock. Larry and Rita’s car is on the right and the car in the middle belongs to David. Little did I know that 8 months from then I would own that 2002 Silver car of his.

On a side note, when the Moss Motoring Challenge asked for the same “Destination” in 2017, I put it on the club’s website as a club event, and a lot more people showed up for that one:
 

Well, That Was A Nice Surprise

A month ago I wrote about the 2020 Moss Motoring Challenge and how it was the last one and it looked like we finished out of the money. In today’s mail was an envelope from Moss Motors and inside was a $50 gift certificate.

Wow, that was not expected, but thank you very much. I guess because it was the last year of hosting this event they were extra generous with prizes. In spite of COVID-19 there were 6 people who scored 304 points, only missing the five points each for visiting the Moss warehouses. Also probably because of the pandemic there were quite a few who signed up (looks like about 200 total) and nearly half scored no points at all.

I have already spent the prize money on some new silicon wiper blades. When I drove the Miata to the a doctor’s appointment back in January it started to sprinkle on the way back and when I turned on the wipers they squealed like a stuck pig. Needless to say, on the short drive home, they were used sparingly.

Out of the Money

2020 was the 8th and last of the Motoring Challenge contest put on by Moss Motors. We participated in 7 of them, the first year Miatas weren’t invited, and 2020 was our worst year ever scoring a measly 21 points and for only the second time we weren’t one of the 50 runner-ups and not earning a $50 Gift Certificate.

One reason for this years lack of motoring challenging was our late start, our first photo wasn’t taken until April. Back in Aiken because of the milder winter we would jump on the challenge in January, but here, pleasant drives start much later on the calendar.

Another reason was there were several categories that left a lot up for interpretation, like The Science Corner (Signs or Scenes) with requirements like Geology, Meteorology, Mycology or Physics and the category like Sign Up For Interpretation with requirements of The Meaning of Life, Promises Kept, I Would Do Anything for Love or But I Won’t Do That. We always found it easier to search for the more straightforward things, like cities that begin with every letter of the alphabet.

But the main reason was really the whole pandemic thing. Because the biggest reason we enjoyed the event was that it got us planning and then taking trips to find all these challenges. We decided that this year discretion was the better part of valor and it really wasn’t worth getting sick, really sick or dead for a $50 gift certificate.

Once More Into The Breech

Trees in Bloom

This is the eighth year that Moss Motors has been doing the Motoring Challenge and this is our 7th year doing it. It is also our last, not because we don’t want to do it anymore, but because they are going to stop running it.

Because of the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders we figured we would just wait to start the Challenge once Oregon started easing up on restrictions. But Monday we noticed one challenge that we would have missed out on if we waited any longer, Trees in Bloom. It has been spring here for a couple of weeks and a lot of the trees are already dropping their blossoms for leaves, fortunately whatever kind of trees are, they held out for us.

Well, doing the challenge is sort of like eating Lays Potato Chips, you just can’t eat one, so we went back out today and grabbed a couple more local ones. I hope the Governor understands that driving around with the top down on a nice spring day to do the Motoring Challenge is essential business…

2019 Motoring Challenge Results

Alliteration: I only wish Wayne sold Wasabi instead of fireworks…(2/26/19)

In spite of missing out on 3 months of prime Aiken photo taking weather at the end of last year, we still managed to finish as one of the 50 runners up in the 2019 Motoring Challenge. Our final score of 152, or a little more than half the total of the Miata Division winner’s, put us in 34th place.

The photo above is probably both Donna and my favorite photo from last year. The fellow running the contest thought it was pretty cool too as he included it on the 2019 Winners Page (keep scrolling, it is way towards the bottom.)

Our second favorite photo from last years is below. One of the objectives was a picture with the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. This one is on a page on the Moss Motors site as well, 2019 Motoring Challenge Wieners! (this time we are just the 5th one down.)

Wienermobile: With fingers crossed, hoping the Wienermobile App was going to be right, we braved driving into the outskirts of the Atlanta megalopolis to go to a Walmart parking lot in Lithonia. We were all smiles as soon as we pulled into the lot and could see it in all its glory. (2/17/19)

Our runner-up Gift Certificate showed up in today’s mail. Within an hour it was spent. It took care of most of the cost of a front license plate relocation kit for the Miata. Or more accurately, a front license plate mounting kit. Because South Carolina didn’t require a front plate I never had a front plate mount, but because Oregon requires both front and back plates I need one now.

Perfect Timing?

This year’s Moss Motoring Challenge is chock full of obtuse “challenges” and some of them have us really scratching our heads on how to capture them. The current popcorn husk stuck between our gums and teeth is Perfect Timing. We can both think of several things that would be perfect timing, but none of them lend themselves to a photograph.

Just as you get to the other side of some railroad tracks, the crossing arms come down and an eight mile long freight train passes. Approaching a stoplight on a 4 lane road, to avoid the half dozen cars in the right lane you switch to the empty left lane, halfway to the front the light turns green and you zip through.

While passing through downtown Aiken the other week we drove by the Bank of America. It had a sign out front that had a time and temperature display. An idea was formed, we could park in front of the bank and snap a photo when the time on the sign matched the time displayed on our radio. While this seemed like an interesting and capturable image it just didn’t excite us. Last night, after coming up with nothing else, we set out to take the picture.

When we arrived at the stoplight kitty-cornered from the sign we noticed that the two clocks didn’t match up. Damn. So we drove around some more hoping to find another bank with a similar sign. We could swear there used to be several, but there were none to be found.1 Unable to think of what else to do, I parked in front of the bank, adjusted the clock in the car back 38 minutes so it matched and took the photo.

While we could probably use the picture without describing how we got it, but it would kind of be cheating and we just can’t bring ourselves to do it. After we got back home Donna searched the internet for “perfect timing” and after weeding through a bunch of results she found an auto-repair place in Savannah, GA called Perfect Timing Automotive Services and I see a road trip in the near future…

Where’s That Confounded Blimp? Act II

Two weeks ago we missed out on the Goodyear Blimp that was covering the RBC Heritage Golf Tournament in Hilton Head Island because we didn’t know what airport it was based out of. This time we knew exactly which airport it would be at.

Wingfoot 3 was scheduled to provide TV coverage for the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, NC. The official Find the Blimp page didn’t list the golf course like it did for the Hilton Head Island event, it listed the town of Chester, SC. As it happens there is a Chester Catawba Regional Airport just north of town. Donna searched Facebook for “Chester Catawba Regional Airport blimp” and there were pictures of the blimp there in May of 2016 and May of 2018.

We got up this morning, loaded some snacks in a small cooler, had breakfast at Dunkin’ and headed north. We dodged rain showers for most of the 100+ mile drive, even putting the top up for a stretch and arrived at the airport at around 10:30 AM. I pulled up to the spot that was clearly where those Facebook photos were taken and…

…No #%$&ing Blimp!