Preface: This story involves British cars only tagentially. If you're not
interested in travel tales involving Japanese roadsters, disregard for
authority, anyone named Ed or Adam or anything having to do with the
incredible potential for boredom in Kansas, READ NO FURTHER!!!
_Go West, Young Scion_
or
_Babylon By Miata_
When I told people that I was going to drive cross-country in a Miata,
the uniform reaction was "You're crazy", which was no big news to me.
In retrospect if it wasn't crazy, it drove me crazy - that "finely-tuned
exhaust note" starts to beat a tattoo in your brain after 9 hours of the
plains of Kansas, and the diminutive cockpit gave me new respect for
people like the fighter pilots who bombed Libya - they spent more time
a similar space and didn't even have the stunning accomodations of
the National Defense Highway System Rest Areas to ease their
discomfort.
But I'd do it again. In a minute. Then again, I'm weird.
Sunday, 10 May
Started reasonably early (for a computer geek) with breakfast and
packed the car - it didn't take too long, because there's just not too
much you can pack into a car the size of a large suitcase (Spridget
owners eat your hearts out, though!). In fact, the car was packed
_like_ a suitcase - why take up valuable space with luggage?
There are those of you out there who are saying "Hey Ed - I've seen
a Miata, and they're not that small." Let me then remind you what
we had to take:
2 persons, size medium-large.
clothes for one for 4 days, climates from seashore to mountains
clothes for one for above time and also first week of work, in case
the movers are really late.
standard road-warrior gear: ~80 cassettes, fire ext., maps, radar det.,
CB walkie-talkie, portable cellular phone, maglight, map flashlight,
first-aid gear, tools, food, water (deserts, doncha know).
advanced road-warrior gear: besides cars & m/cycles, I also shoot,
and I don't trust the movers with firearms that are registered to
me, so add 3 rifles, one 12-guage shotgun, and 3 pistols, also an
ammo can full of the ammunition that the movers can't ship. These
take up the vast majority of the trunk.
"10 pounds in a 5-pound sack" pretty much sums it up.
I picked up Adam, my co-driver, and off we went from Philadelphia to
that mecca of speed, sparkling Indianapolis!
Monday, 11 May
We rise from our luxorious Motel 6 to a wonderful Denny's breakfast
that I can still (after)taste. I'm convinced that they must export all of the
fruits and veggies grown in the Midwest, because they sure don't serve
them locally - I ate more meat & eggs in a week of travel than I do most
months... Suitably greasy, we set out for The Speedway and it's very
fine museum. While it's very Indy-oriented, which is fun in itself, it
also holds a decent selection of other race & a few street cars, including
a MkII GT40 that I lusted over. Lots of Millers, Lolas, and other Indy cars,
and a fine display of engines, from Millers and Offys to Cosworths and
Judds. The displays are very open, and one canget pretty close to the
cars. Two thumbs up.
After that, we set off for Points West. Lunch in St. Louis, and we
made it to lovely Topeka KS by night. Topeka. I used to hear "Topeka"
and think of Dorothy and Toto, of wholesome, corn-fed people from
good homes. That it may be, but not where we were - the waitress
in the HoJo's (hey - this was a low-budget trip!) made it a point to
tell us that the area we were in was a strong gang zone. Great.
Fortunately, the advanced road-warrior gear was brought along, and
in a motel room that looked like a scene from a bad rip-off of Lethal
Weapon, we passed a quiet night. However, someone thoughtfully
left a cigarette butt on my hood, leaving a lovely burn mark.
Tuesday, 12 May
We decide to make a hard run for Boulder, where we are to meet up
with Lawrence Buja and some of the Front Range SOL crowd, after a
detour to the US Cavalry museum at Ft. Riley, KS (my co-driver is an
armor officer in the 102nd Cav). This is a nicely done museum which
is enjoyable for even the casually-interested visitor, and is quite
informative as well.
We arrive in Boulder in the late afternoon, and get a nice room this
time - we're on vacation rather than in-transit. Boulder's a great
town, and while I liked the open spaces of the midwest (especially
western MO and eastern KS), it was nice to get back to a culture that
we were more familiar with. "This is good - there are more airplanes
around and they don't have propellors."
Wednesday, 13 May
Lawrence invited us up to NCAR, the Nat'l Center for Atmospheric
Research, which sits on a mesa above the town of Boulder. The
building is familiar to anyone who's seen the Woody Allen movie
"Sleeper", and I expected people to come running around the corner
with noses held at gunpoint. Besides lots of supercomputers and
scenery to drool over, they also have a good cafeteria. Two stars.
No reservations. Dress is research-casual - bring your sandals.
The SOL get-together was at the Walnut Pub, a brewpub down
the street from a very fine pool joint. In what was the high point
of our trip, we were feted by Lawrence and Ann Buja, Carl Stern,
and Jean Hertzberger of the Front Range crowd. Lawrence & Ann
brought the Daimler down, and a cool piece of sedan-iron it is.
Dinner was passed with too much food, some great beer, excellent
conversations, and a few off-color jokes from my co-driver - you
can take the boy out of the Army, but you can't take the Army out
of the boy. Lawrence & Ann, and Carl, and Jean are well-worth
visiting, and if I could remember specifics of why we had such a
good time, I'd mention them.
A quick word should be made about beer in Boulder. They make a
number of very fine brews, which should all be sampled. However,
beware the altitude; it must have been the altitude. The fact that
Adam & I were ready to wobble down the street singing Christmas
carols can only be blamed on the altitude and not at all on the fact
that we quaffed until our eyeballs floated.
Thursday, 14 May
Thursday was Bad. We rolled out of bed around 6:30, so Adam could
make a 7:10 shuttle to Denver airport so he could help another friend
move from Philly to Atlanta - this is what he gets for being always
willing to help. Lawrence & Ann gave me a very pretty route to take
to Salt Lake City, which even went by the scenic Rocky Flats nuclear
weapons plant. This was finally country to really drive in, and even
with the Granddaughter of All Hangovers I drove con brio (when the
road wasn't blocked by construction or Winnebagos). I had expected to
stop in SLC, but it was only dinner time, so I pressed on - still, I'd
like to see the Fat Chance and the Happy Valley scions one of these
days. But at least I made it to Wendover before too late, albeit alone.
Friday, 15 May
"Wendover, Utah?" you ask, "Isn't that where...". Yup. And on Friday
morning I visited that Western mecca of 'Merrican speed, the Bonneville
Salt Flats. The track wasn't ready, but I did have to drive around a bit,
just so I could say I had the car at Bonneville. The flats defy
description, and are really pretty in a very stark way.
In an attempt at cellphone DXing, I did manage to get a tenuous carrier
after holding the phone above my head and had to call a friend of mine
at work in NYC. The thought of being able to direct-dial someone from
the middle of the Bonneville Salt Flats was irresistable, and the
entertainment value alone was worth the exhorbitant charges.
Having seen the Salt Flats, I was also overcome with the urge to use
Nevada's long, flat, straight roads to perfom some limit-testing of the
Miata's speedometer. For the record, I have photographic evidence that
my car will make an indicated 115 mph at over 4000 feet ASL, and let
me tell you that taking a picture of the instrument panel at 115 with
only one hand on the wheel while there are some crosswinds is really
stupid, and that I am a trained professional idiot, and you should not
try this at home, unless you have a really big back yard. I know that
I'll never do it again.
Next time I'll use an autofocus/autoexposure camera. And a faster car -
the picture's just not that exciting...
Made it to Reno by 3, and took the rest of the day driving through the
very-beautiful Sierra Nevadas, the not-as-beautiful Central Valley, and
entered San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge at about 8 pm.
Many thanks again to Lawrence & Ann Buja for their fine hospitality,
and to Carl Stern and Jean Hertzberger for providing excellent company.
So now I'm ensconced in my new place in San Fran, and have mothballed
my fun-cars in order to make this move, as I can't afford a place with a
garage yet. Bummer. But the job looks good, the Bay Area SOLers have
proven in the past to be as friendly as the Front Rangers, and I did learn
a few important lessons on this trip: 1) use a Grand Tourer for Touring
Grandly (ie, over 600 miles/day) b) ask the BritCar list if anyone wants
to get together on your trip - they're a good bunch, and iii) watch out
for Topeka.
Yr Hmble & Obdnt Srvnt,
ed devinney pismobch@well.sf.ca.us
"I know a van that's loaded with weapons,
packed up and ready to go..." - T-heads
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