Miata Mailing List: September 1996, Message #0138
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   From: Robert Lovejoy 

Subject: Heavy cockpit time!

   Date: Mon, 2 Sep 1996 08:08:21 -0500



     Today Shalimar took me from our Philadelphia suburbs to Richmond, Va.,

where I picked up my wife who had been helping a friend pack (she had left

by train a few days earlier).

     Started early in the morning - well, before 7am - with the top up.  It

was a little cool and I wanted the dew to completely evaporate from the top

before I folded it down.

     Enjoyed the radio but I'm looking forward to Jeff's mod.  Got to play

with AutoM and found a great new station in the Annapolis area called WRNR

103.1.  Lots of great music.

     Got the top down around 8:15 and had the ride of my life.  The Miata is

a grin machine.  That's all there is to it.  The solidity of the car,

coupled with the open cockpit, creates euphoria.  I'm finding out it's so

powerful that I suspect Mr. Dole will make it illegal if elected.  And if

Mr. Clinton had had the chance to Drive one of these things back in college,

he wouldn't have engaged the clutch.

     But I digress (as I often do (in fact, I'm digressing now...)egads!)..

     Crossing the bay bridge over the Chesapeake with the top down was

amazing. The feeling is indescribable.  I could look up and see the moon

ahead, there were clouds along the shore, sailboats in the bay...

     Arrived in Richmond around noon and it was great to see Wanda again.

She'd been looking forward to seeing us(Shalimar and I) and before too long

we were headed home.  The trip back was a bit warmer but even more enjoyable

because the feeling was shared.  Wanda looked up once in Virginia and

spotted a young eagle flying over the highway.  Quite a sight.  

     By taking Rt. 301 we eliminated the crazy interstate highway games.

Those few times we were on a freeway, it seemed that there were a lot of

daffy drivers out there playing tag with big rigs.  Driving in the Miata has

given me an entirely new perspective on interstates.  I'm taking the back

roads from now on!

     Total milage was 520.  Saw one other miata on the way down (in Va, on

301 near Richmond, red, top up, no return wave) and four on the way up (two

red, one blue, one white, all top down, one return wave(the blue)). 

     Problems?  Does anyone have a fix for boot loosening at highway speeds?

Is it OK to travel around without a boot or would that be a faux pas? 

     That was my day, or most of it.  Happy back home all together again,

looking forward to taking a spin tomorrow, and eager for my first DelVal

driving event, which will doubtless be the Bucks County Fall Foliage Tour.

     Thanks for the bandwidth.  I'll try not to write an epistle every time

I drive down the block, but this was such a fun time I wanted to share it

with fellow enthusiasts.  I'm sure you all know the feeling!



Robert Lovejoy

White '95 "Shalimar"

















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