Gang,
What a spectacular Miata weekend!  I've never seen so many Miatae and
Miata-owners in one place.  Thanks to Scott, Doc, and the others who pitched
in to make such a great weekend for the rest of us.  I got to meet a lot of
people from the list, and I know there were a few there whom I wanted to
meet, but just didn't manage to bump into them.  I was also glad to see a
few that I have met before and known for a while.
We had a great time driving the superb roads in the area, including the Gap,
and the Snake (north of Dahlonega on our way to and from the Gap).  I
enjoyed both for different reasons.  The gap is fun because it is just so
incredibly twisty, steep, and generally insane.  The Snake is fun because it
is a bit more open, and in many sections there are two lanes going in your
direction and banked curves so you can drive a "racing line" and carry a LOT
of speed through the turns.  The only problem is the amount of traffic.
After the picnic at Look Rock on Saturday, several of us were led on a great
drive by Brian Tucker, who knows the local roads.  Brian treated us to a
drive into the Great Smokies National Park, which ended up connecting back
with the Gap via a "primitive" road (can't remember the name of it right
now).  Anyway, it was a one-way, one-lane road cut right through the forest,
and paved with gravel.  It was muddy, steep, rough, and in many places,
small streams cross right over the road surface, requiring you do drive
through water that is a few inches deep.  This was no drive for anyone
concerned with keeping their car showroom-clean.  I was impressed with the
composure of all the Miatas (even my R) over unpaved roads for miles at a
time.  It was a blast, and we came out right in the middle of the Gap, from
whence we made our way back to the Lodge in time for the "Blowers and Bars"
session (thanks to Will Brown for instigating that).
The motorcycle riders in the Gap were INSANE!  These guys go through those
turns, with a knee brushing the pavement, at speeds you wouldn't believe.  I
admire their bravery, but have to question their good sense.  One came up on
my rear bumper going 30 or 40 mph faster than I was, and I had to get out of
his way in a hurry, pulling over where there really wasn't a place to pull
over. If you ever go into the store at the Crossroads of Time, look at the
pictures pinned to the wall in the back.  There are many examples there of
what happens when those guys mess up, and it's not pretty. If they are going
to run the Gap that fast, they should get out there at 6 in the morning
before any traffic starts. At 3:00 in the afternoon there were so many
sports cars and motorcycles in the Gap, it was hard to get a clean run for
any amount of time.  You were either overtaking someone or someone was
riding your ass wanting to get by.  Luckily no Miatas had any incidents in
the Gap.
The Fiat owners were very nice to us, except for a few "Rice Burner" cracks
just as we drove up on Friday night (which we countered with "oil leak"
comments).  They have the same passion for their cars that we do, with the
added bonus of having many different models and a lot of history to learn
about.  I hope that in 30 or 40 years, the Miata will have as much history
behind it as the Fiats, Alphas, and Lancias do.
Steve Swiger and I came back to Tampa today, leaving Tapoco at 7 am, and
arriving in Tampa at about 4:15, shaving about 2 hours from the time it took
us to get up to Tapoco on Friday, when we had 6 cars with us.  I was sorry I
couldn't stay up there another day and participate in the autocross the Fiat
guys put on, but I couldn't take another day off of work.

Now I'm so tired I can hardly see straight, but I had a great time and hope
to do it again next year.

Kevin Morrison and Spider, '94R+
Tampa, Florida, and other places...
kevin@sunriders.com
http://www.sunriders.com
http://www.mx5.net
"Kevin is one hip dood.  Very tight.  Hangs out at all the right places, and
knows where to go to have fun." - Eric Schwarzentraub
Team Gap '98
Team LS '97