This is a reprint from the Masters Miata Club newsletter, The Driver, November 1999 Volume 6, Issue #11. Reprinted with my Permission, because I wrote it.

Date: Saturday, October 23, 1999
Time: 8:30 AM
Place: Georgia Welcome Center
Members Attending: Bill Baugh, Bonnie Baugh, Brian Bogardus, Donna Bogardus, Kurt Breitinger and Rudy Wilmoth.

After the usual chat session at the Welcome Center the four cars started barreling west on I-20. After about an hour and a half, Brian, who was leading, remembered that last time he had made a pit stop about midway between Augusta and the Interstate exiting town. We were way past that, so he picked the next exit that looked like it had a concentration of fast-food places and pulled the train into a waiting McDonalds.

In what turned out to be a preview of things to come, the place was jam-packed. Apparently this was also the getting off the Interstate point for travel to Athens, home of the University of Georgia. As luck would have it, it was football homecoming weekend, and the area was thick with cars flying red and white flags with black Gs on them like so many Staff Cars for Generals of the UGA Army.

Back on I-20 for a few more miles until we got off in Covington for the northern backroad loop around Atlanta to Alpharetta. The last two times the Bogardi had made this trip it went smooth as silk, but that was with a 7:00 AM start. Today’s later start was just enough for the millions of normal people who live in the ever increasing rash of suburbia surrounding Peachtree Center to wake up and hit the road. This made traffic a mess in the semi-small, normally sleepy, towns that the caravan had to pass thru. The first major setback was in Lawrenceville. They were having their annual fall crafts fair and probably some sort of pagan celebration to the pumpkin, which ground us to a halt. Of course now the “Spiraling Traffic Density to Time Postulate” kicked in. The further behind we got, the worse the traffic got.

Then, I think just to test our mettle, the Georgia D.O.T. tossed in an unexpected detour. It was “nicely” planned to take 2 lanes of impatient traffic on the right side of the road and funnel it into one left turn lane within the span of 50 yards. Then of course the detour signs magically disappear within a few miles leaving us to wonder whether we are still going the right way.

Finally our plucky band of adventurers arrive at the MCA Headquarters. It had taken us 4 hours to travel the 120 miles that usually takes 2-1/2. We were 30 minutes later than the listed start time, but that was not a problem because they were just starting the cars on the Poker Run. Looks like these bimonthly events may become a victim of their own success. The place was jammed. It looked like there were about 200 Miatas scattered around. The cars filled up the parking area around the HQ building and had spilled over into the parking areas of some of the neighboring complexes.

After the frazzling trip, Donna at first balked at getting back into the car when she found out that the Poker Run was an 80 mile affair. After convincing her that the route was rural, not suburban and that we would stop at the first likely place to eat something, she agreed to navigate. Because of complex directions, driving and navigating was really a two person job, so Rudy agreed to ride with Kurt.

The Bogarduses and the Baughs were following each other because Bill and Bonnie wanted to get a bite to eat as bad as Brian and Donna. Kurt & Rudy were several cars back. They were certainly right about the rural part, north and east of Alpharetta is still just Georgia farm land. The bad part about that is that there was no place to eat. At the first card stop we ended up feasting on Moon Pies and RCs at a little country store. That would just have to suffice until the post run BBQ.

On the final stretch back in to HQ for lunch we had about 6 Miatas running together along the back roads. Can’t help but wonder what those farmers thought about the steady stream of little Furin Cars travelling down those roads.

I don’t remember what Bill and Bonnie or Kurt and Rudy had, but on our last card Donna and I managed a pair of eights. We thought we were hot stuff. We were nowhere near the money, the winner had a straight flush! The Master’s group didn’t come away entirely empty handed though, Bill & Bonnie won a poster in the door prize drawings.

Miata driving on back roads, good food, car-nut camaraderie and near perfect top-down weather. Plus R-Speed and others had displays of all kinds of car goodies to separate us from our money. Thanks Vince and Norm for having us. Way to go, MCA. Big thank yous to Diane and Doneeta who probably did most of the work.