Year: 2015

148,000 Hours Ago

Lakes & Rivers - Savannah River

After spending yesterday cooped up in the house, today we decided to go out and take a couple of photos for the Motoring Challenge. Our goal was to get a picture of a Savannah River sign with some of the river in the background. Some of the folks in the challenge have been posting their River & Lake photos with just the required sign, we on the other hand have vowed to have the named water visible along with the sign.

The Savannah River lies between Aiken and Augusta and we have the option of 6 different bridges to cross to get from here to there. Trouble is, using Google Street View (GSV), I can find no place on either end of those bridges (12 opportunities) where the river itself is visible where a car can be parked and have the sign in the frame too. I did find a few places where it looked possible, but they were all further north. Hoping to get lucky I started our trip by crossing the Savannah on I-20, where there was a nice sign on the SC side, the Street View was correct, but no river visible.

We then turned north and recrossed the Savannah River back into South Carolina hoping that maybe they had put up a nice sign sign the GSV car had been that way 5 years ago. Nope. Eight or so miles later we hung a left and crossed the Thurmond Dam back into Georgia with still no reversing of my Google Street View research. Our next opportunity, which did look promising, was about 30 miles later when we returned back into South Carolina on US378 between Lincolnton, GA and McCormick, SC. The Georgia side sign was not there as they are building a second bridge across the river. Fortunately the the South Carolina sign was still there, but construction forced us into a less than ideal photograph (the one you see above.)

Not real happy with our effort, we drove further north another 25 miles to the next bridge across the Savannah near Calhoun Falls, SC. When using GSV it showed a small sign with the river’s name on it on both the SC side and the GA side. We stopped at the South Carolina side and took a picture. Then because of the angle of the sun, crossed the bridge into Georgia to check if a better shot could be had there. Along with the small Savannah River signs on both sides there were much larger ones for the lake the river had become because of the dam that was between this bridge and the last. In the end we decided to use the above sign for the river and use this one for a lake. All in all we crossed over the Savannah River 6 times.

In the middle of May last year, the Emperor had 140,000 miles on it and after a little less than 148,000 hours since and after our 3rd river crossing today, near Pollard’s Corner, GA, the Emperor passed the 148,000 mile mark.

Started down, went up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1456

Motoring Challenge Points 10, Approx Miles Driven 230
Totals So Far: 20 points & 400 miles

We’re Number 20!

Well, actually, number twenty-three when you take into consideration the top 3 grand prize winners. Today they announced the winners in the 2014 Moss Motoring Challenge. Our 128 points tied us with two other folks (a Miata & an MGB) for twentieth place of the 50 runners up, so to go along with our t-shirt and sticker we get a $50 Gift Certificate to Moss Motors. But everyone was a winner by just participating.

The winner was a fellow driving a 1961 Triumph TR3A. He scored 200 points, only 6 or so less than the most available while second place, in an MGB, was only three points behind him. Both of these fellows visited every one of the 48 contiguous states and difference between them was the winner went to 9 of the 13 Canadian Provinces, while the runner up “only” got six. Third place was a Miata, way back, with only 180 points.

Back in May I thought we could possibly score 139 points if everything went our way and had we achieved that goal we would have been tied for 12th place. This year I’ve set a goal of 150 points and if that happens and the scoring doesn’t jump too much that might place us in the top 10 (of the $50 winners.)

Here is my favorite photo from last year’s contest. If it wasn’t for my shadow you might assume I was just another painted figure in this mural in Johnston, SC.
City-Johnston

Photobombed

Bookstore

The above is from last Saturday, but we probably won’t submit it for the Bookstore Destination in 2015 Motoring Challenge. It did get us thinking about how in some* of last year’s photos we went out of the way just to get a person or vehicle in the frame to add some interest to it.

I bet there are quite a few people who live in most densely populated areas had to go the extra mile or wait the extra minutes to try and keep any annoying background or foreground distractions out of their photos.

If you look through the whole set of last year’s challenge entry pictures you can kind of see why we purposely wanted to get “photobombed.” Our modus operendi is to get out early to avoid the crowds and the summer heat. This, along with our mainly back road travels netted us around 80 of the 121 photos with nothing in them except one of us, the car, the challenge poster and the object worth the point(s).

Started down, went up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1454

*For the record, I found six.

Sunday

Water Tower Alternate

A 16 mile bike ride that accomplished bill paying and breakfast eating.
Home in time to watch CBS’s Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood.
I read a book made out of paper.
Wasted the rest of the day watching football.

Dual Doughnut Shop Day

 

 

And an Ice Cream Parlor too, it wasn’t open, we just stopped in for a photograph. I’ve monkeyed with this enough that you can’t read the sign which reads: Pink Dipper an old fashioned ice cream parlour. All the digital darkroom messing around helps hide the fact that I’m holding the Challenge Poster upside down too. I didn’t notice while posing and the camera woman was more worried about composition than content, so it wasn’t until we got home that we noticed the faux pas.

The MMC Breakfast was lightly attended, I’m not sure whether it was because it was January and cold or “Doughnuts for breakfast?!?” or the no chain rule violation. Anyway, there were 10 people in 5 Miatas and 1 Prius who whiled away an hour or so eating puffy fried dough coated in pure sugar and downing hot beverages.

I snagged one of their trademark paper caps, possibly left over from the Free Hat Day on the 15th, with the intention to wear it while being photographed in our Motoring Challenge photos today. Trouble is we dropped the top on the Miata after breakfast, so I threw the hat in the trunk so as not to have it blow off and promptly forgot about it.

Didn’t notice it again until after we were done taking our pictures and were doing a little shopping in Aiken. As I was tossing my newly purchased DD K-Cups in the trunk I did a Homer Simpson head slap (DOH!) Oh well, I left it in there, maybe when we run across another KK I’ll don it and have Donna take my picture with the Miata and Challenge poster to use as a Sneak Peek Bonus point.

As predicted yesterday we did take 4 photos for the Challenge, just substitute Water Tower for One-Lane Bridge.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1450

Motoring Challenge Points 4, Approx Miles Driven 40
Totals So Far: 10 points & 170 miles

More Of A Guideline Than A Rule

 

 

More fun with filters. I’m fairly sure this isn’t an Instagram one…

This Saturday’s breakfast with the MMC violates rule number one of the event charter; No Chains. Tomorrow the Club will meet at a Krispy Kreme in Augusta. We haven’t been to an event with them in a while, so it is about time to make an appearance. As usual we will probably have a small pre-breakfast because of the later than normal for us to eat time. And while I would probably be alright with just doughnuts for the morning repast, Donna would not and I should not.

We will probably snag a couple more Challenges points while we are out; Book Store, Ice Cream Parlor, Irish Pub and maybe a One-Room Schoolhouse.

Started up, went down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 1449

Instagram Envy

BeFunky_null_1.jpg

One new feature in the Moss Motoring Challenge this year is the whole social network thing. You can earn 5 bonus points by posting 5 photos using #MotoringChallenge on Instagram or Twitter. When you use the hashtag they will also get automatically added the Challenge’s Gallery Page.

Twitter I got (@MisterMiata), but Instagram I can’t have because you need a smarty pants phone. I do like the filters available on Instagram, so I set out to see if I could find their equivalents as plugins for PaintshopPro. PSP can use the same plugins as Photoshop, but all I did find were Photoshop Actions which I don’t think I can use.

Then I remembered my old friend BeFunky and ran one of my previously submitted Twitter photos through the HDR filter there to get the above image. I wonder how the folks at Moss would feel about me running all my submissions through some type of filter?