Miata Mailing List: August 1997, Message #351
sponsored by



     



From: 	doc@dickson.net (Doc Wynne)

Subject: Re: And a good time was had by all

Date: 	Mon, 4 Aug 1997 16:49:56 +0000



On Sun, 3 Aug 1997 08:28:16 +0000, mrmiata@icx.net (scott and

woody) wrote:



>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.



 Just got a CPU back in the old 'puter so I could catch up on

MiataMail (tm)...only 1200 messages since last Tuesday. <g>



> I was introduced to Mary Osmar, our hostess, who must be commended

>for gathering this fun group together.



 I'll second that!



> After we got pictures......



 Got a few of those as well...I'll scan them in soon and get 'em

to Gary for the miata.net site.



>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.



..and hanging back so we could charge the next section...and the

"between sections tire warming" you and I were doing. <g>



 You should have been with us Friday night when we were returning

from Clingman's Dome...meeting a semi on the Gap at 2 am isn't

fun!



>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.



>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.



 Aren't you glad we didn't go try to go all the way to Elkmont?

<g>

 Don't be embarassed about the Cade's Cove fiasco...I suggested

it as the alternative to driving all the way to Elkmont, and as

it turned out, we both underestimated the amount of OTM traffic

there would be on this weekend...as well as myself completely

forgetting about the picnic area at Look Rock.



 Be thankful we didn't decide to take everyone through the East

passages to Cherokee. Julie and I spent an hour and a half in

bumper to bumper traffic getting through there on our second trip

over the mountains headed home.



>Well, needless to say, we had fun.



 True, although I wished Julie and myself had gotten back to the

lodge from accomodation hunting in time to hear Vince Friday

evening, and my ears hadn't recovered from my previous trip

through the gap for me to hear anything once we did arrive. Julie

had to tell me what was going on most of the evening.



>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.



 Julie and I sat down and figured out just what we had done over

this weekend. We left Dickson at 2pm CST Friday and arrived back

home at 11PM Sat. night.  In that time we covered a bit over 1000

miles, of which only 500 (give or take 30) were driving to and

from the event. Of the 33 hours of the trip, we spent all but 6

of them in our Miata (3 of those hours were sleep Friday night).

We made 2 runs up to Clingman's Dome (one Friday night about

midnight and one Saturday evening), and 5 passes through Deal's

Gap.



 Did you know that you can blister street tires? <g> I've been

waiting for those D60's to wear out so I could justify buying new

wheels and tires..I got my wish.



 Best of all was meeting all the list members and finally putting

faces (and Miatae) to the names I've been reading messages from

for so long. We *gotta* do this one again!!! (Annually?)



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



 Doc, Julie, and still unnamed, who hopes it's parents does the

gap soon as well....after a new set of shoes.