Miata Mailing List: August 1997, Message #173
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From: 	mrmiata@icx.net (scott and woody)

Subject: And a good time was had by all

Date: 	Sun, 3 Aug 1997 08:28:16 +0000



Arrived lsst evening after spending a wonderful day with many other Miatae in

Tapoco and Deal's Gap. What a great time we had, irregardless of a few mishaps.



Woody and I arrived at 8:30ish and were immediately greeted by Larry Alster,

Bob Hotaling, Bill and Mary Gusky, Kathy O'Connell and a vast plethora of

others. Everybody was out drying cars that had been out in the morning dew and

waking up, getting ready for our run. I was introduced to Mary Osmar, our

hostess, who must be commended for gathering this fun group together. The sun

was shining, the air was warming up and the cars were lining up. After we got

pictures......



We left out for the Gap, also known to motorcyclists as The Dragon. Roads were

pretty clear, so we didn't have any traffic to speak of to contend with. The

sound of 42 Miatae (we would have had 43, but one had a bit of an accident on

the way to the gathering. I'll let Larry or someone else that was with the group

when the accident explain in full detail) gong through the gap, tooting CRI

horns and running to redline in 2nd and 3rd gear was intoxicating. We would

accordion out and make runs at the curves, diving in and hanging on.



Motorcyclists approached us at our first stop and were in awe at the number of

  Miatae we had gathered in one place. We managed to occupy one huge gravel

turnoff. Next was to be the adventure of the day. We hit Foothills Parkway

and

headed for the Smoky Mountains National Park. Big mistake. We got stuck in the

Cades Cove campground. The Rangers were nice but they basically told us that it

was the wrong day to be in the park This place was packed! We had passed a young

girl in a Miata as she was coming down the mountain and it turned out that her

parents worked at the store up in the Cove. She stopped at the bottom of the

hill and called her parents, saying, "You won't believe all the Miatae! There

must be 40 or 50 of them!" I spoke to her parents, and they were amazed. People

were wandering around the cars looking. Little kids were asking their parents if

they could go for a ride. People were asking the moronic question, "Is this some

kind of club?" It was great!



We finally got out of the cove, fractured into about 5 groups, and met up just

before the picnic area. I was so embarassed about the Cades Cove mishap that I

was just praying that there would be room at the picnic area. There was. In

fact, we were the only people there. Perfect spot. And we got back to the Lodge

10 minutes before we planned to, so it worked out perfectly.



Well, needless to say, we had fun. I enjoyed skipping rocks with Bob Hotaling

and sitting around with everybody in the lodge, trying to cool off. I enjoyed

playing horseshoes and getting to see all the cars I had heard so much about.

I can run the Gap anytime I want, living only and hour and a half away, but

there is no comparing that to doing it with all my friends.



Scott and Woody, who hopes dad does the gap again soon.



'96 LP

MCA member #60732

Team Voodoo, Hard Dog, Stripes, CRI, and Rev-limiter

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       *     Wind in my hair, shifting and drifting     *

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