Motoring Challenge

World Travelers

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Did a bit of Motoring Challenge work this morning after our usual bike ride to breakfast. First stop was to get Hero or Villian #9 and we have had our eye on this sign for a while as it seemed perfect, a nice big sign with the full name spelled out, not just the usual three letter monogram. But it was hard because it is on a very busy and oddly configured corner. With most of Aiken’s good christians in church this morning we made easy work of it.

After getting the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr sign we headed over to Europe to cross off a chunk of the Around the World category by traveling to the English countryside and visting Canterbury, Nottingham and Lancaster. Then off to the current day Belgium to visit Waterloo, before travelling to the Burgundy region of France. Craving Japanese cusine after all that driving, we flew over to Tokyo for some yakitori.

: Canterbury: Our third and final stop in England today on our whirlwind one day, five stop European tour. (10/15/17)

: Nottingham: Our second stop in England to pay respect to our Hero & Villains #3 today on our whirlwind one day, five stop European tour. (10/15/17)

: Lancaster: Our first stop in England today on our whirlwind one day, five stop European tour. (10/15/17)

: Waterloo: Popped into Belgium quickly on our whirlwind one day, five stop European tour. (10/15/17)

: Burgundy: A stop in France to sample some grapes on our whirlwind one day, five stop European tour. (10/15/17)

: Tokyo: This replaces what was our favorite “Around the World” photo up to this point until we found out Mexico didn’t qualify because it is part of North America. So instead of going south we went far east. (10/15/17)

Who Likes Who Better

Friday, October 13, 2017

When I sat down at my desk at work this morning I looked down and noticed a bruise forming on the back of my hand at the knuckles of the middle and ring fingers. Took me a second, but then I remembered.

It is an immutable law of the universe that whenever there is a couple, each of the individual satellites surrounding them will seem to gravitate more to one than the other. Daddy’s little girl or the dog will come when called by one, but ignore the other. And it is not just people or pets.

Last night we went out for a drive in the Miata to grab a couple of Motoring Challenge points locally. The Miata was in the garage with the top up. I went to the driver’s side and Donna was on the passenger side and we both reached into disengage the top latches on our respective sides. Mine went easy, but Donna was having a hard time getting it to unlatch. She got it partially open and it snapped back closed, pinching outside of the hand between thumb and forefinger. Not hard enough to break the skin, but enough to turn the skin red and to hurt a bit.

Yesterday I drove the Mini to work to 1) show it off, 2) see how many people would think I’d bumped my head and got rid of the Miata and 3) see how many people don’t pay attention at all. The answers are: 1) a half dozen wanted to know about the car while one wanted to actually see it and sit in it, 2) two people, both today and 3) the other 250 or so.

My lunch box goes in the trunk of the Miata and went in the trunk of the Sonata too, but the Mini does not have an actual trunk per se, it has a hatchback with a spot behind the back seats and a little lid thing to keep stuff out of sight. When closing the Miata’s trunk lid I grasp the loop that goes into the latch mechanism and “throw” the lid down. The Sonata had a nice handle for this purpose molded into the underside of the lid. When I closed the Mini hatch before leaving home I just pressed down on the outside of the hatch and pushed. When I got to work, I noticed that the Mini, like the Sonata, had a handle for grabbing to close the hatch. When I tried it, it was sort of awkward to reach and when I “threw” it down I didn’t get enough force on it to totally overcome the upwards pressure from the 2 struts. The hatch went down 6 to 8 inches and bounced right back up and hit my hand. Hard.

This must be the cause of my bruised hand. And we now know for a fact that the Miata likes me better and the Mini likes Donna better.

The top photo of Fresh Pavement (1 point) was taken Wednesday on my way home, the other three we took last night. The BBQ Joint and Bed & Breakfast were worth 1 point each. The Solar Array is to replace our first attempt, so no points gained there.

: BBQ Joint: This place is new in town and like every BBQ joint there is, some stuff is very good and others not so much. This one wins for use because we can, once the weather cools some, walk to it because it is less than a mile away from home. (10/12/17)

: Bed and Breakfast: We’ve never stayed here as it is right in the next town over, the bustling metropolis of Montmorenci, SC. (10/13/17)

: Solar Array: Found this much larger array than our original attempt and ironically, it was right across the street from that one. (10/13/17)

Home Again, Home Again Jiggity Jig

Saturday, September 30, 2017

Today was our shortest day on the road, we were home by 10:30 in the morning. We took just one picture, Roadside Oddity for 1 point, and that was while we were still in Hendersonville before we even started home. All told we took 23 pictures worth 31 points which brings us to 189 total. We have a possible 68 points left on the table. The big hitters are the vehicles from 1900-1909 worth 10 points, and a vehicle from 1910 -1919 is worth 7 and a rainbow is worth 4. there are four goals worth 3 points, five more worth 2 points and twenty-five goals worth just 1 point.

In the seven days we traveled 1645 miles. We filled up with gas 7 times averaging $3.12 a gallon with the lowest being $2.90 in Newport News, VA and the highest being $3.24 in Hendersonville, NC. Average MPG for the trip was nearly thirty miles to the gallon at 29.93.

Blue Park Ridgeway

Friday, September 29, 2017

Today was our longest drive with a total of over 300 miles covered. It was our longest in total time also because the last third of it was on the Blue Ridge Parkway where the top speed is only 45 MPH. The first third was a straight shot down I-81. The middle 1/3 was spent on lovely rural, and mostly empty, two lane VA & NC roads.

Three points in the Motoring Challenge today, 1 for Switzerland, 1 for Blue Ridge Mountains and 1 more for the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi, Mount Mitchell.

: Natures Giants 03 – Blue Ridge Mountains: Taken at one of the many scenic overlooks along the Blue Ridge Parkway. (9/29/17)

: Natures Giants 04 – Mount Mitchell: That is not it in the background. We didn’t drive to the top on this trip for two reasons, 1) we already had a 8% Grade photo and 2) the top was shrouded in clouds, so the view would have not be anything to see. (9/29/17)

Oh, yeah, today was our 41st wedding aniversary, so we had a special dinner of microwavable chimichangas and hot pockets in the hotel room.

57,000 Something or Others

Thursday, September 28, 2017

This picture was taken on US-15 outside Dillwyn, VA. In the 2014 Moss Motoring Challenge this would have been worth 2 points for Bonus #2, it wouldn’t have been worth 3 points in 2015 or 2016 as a Moss Motors Facility (there are only two official ones) and this year it might be worth one point only if I call it a “Roadside Oddity.” Not long before we took this photo the CTBNL crossed the 57,000 mile mark.

The only real points today were 1 for Stonewall Jackson in the Heroes and Villains category and 2 points for 8% (or greater) grade in the Destinations category.

: Heroes and Villains 08 – Stonewall Jackson: A hero for the Confederate Army during the Civil War and now a days probably considered a villain because of it. Jackson neither apologized for nor spoke in favor of the practice of slavery. (9/28/17)

: 8 Percent Grade or Better: We’ve driven all through western North Carolina in places we knew had steep grades with no luck. We have searched Google images for 8% Grade signs and found plenty, but they were all west of the Mississippi River. Our last hope were the roads leading up to and down from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Bingo. US-60 West coming down into Buena Vista, VA. (9/28/17)

Giant Human Creations

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

On this trip we planned to stop in Wilmington, NC so we could take a picture of the battleship U.S.S. North Carolina to use in the category of Giant Human Creations. Well if we had done a little research, we would have discovered the the ship was undergoing repairs to its hull in a dry dock right there on the Cape Fear River. Because of the work it was moved closer to the pier and inside a coffer dam making it partially hidden from view from shore. Also especially unhelpful was the half flooded parking area left over from hurricane Irma. So we missed out on the battleship.

We thought we were going to get a make-up opportunity in Newport News, VA this morning when we found a little tidbit in the throw away touristy magazine in our hotel room. An aircraft carrier was undergoing overhaul at the shipyard and is visible from Victory Landing Park. We could see part of the ship from the road in front of the shipyard, but as we got there you couldn’t see anything of the ship unless you were in the park itself. Trouble with that was the park is a walk-in place and Miatas, while probably small enough to drive on the walkways, that would probably be highly frowned on. So we missed out on the carrier.

We didn’t miss out on the supermarket right across the street from tonight’s hotel in Lexinton Park, Maryland. And while this morning’s trip down near the Newport News Shipyard didn’t net a giant human creation, it wasn’t a total loss because on display outside the yard is the very first ship they built, the tugboat Dorothy. A tugboat is worth two points in the Destinations category. We also scored 5 points for capturing a place of personal significance to us. Donna and I first met on the Patuxent River Naval Air station a little over 42 years ago. They don’t allow us mere civilians on base, so we stopped in and visited the museum just outside the gate.

: Tugboat: We had hoped to get a Giant Human Creation of a aircraft carrier in dry dock at the Newport News Shipyard, but we couldn’t get a good angle on it, but in driving around looking we stumbled on the tug boat Dorothy, the first boat produced by the yards in 1890. (9/27/17)

: Place of Personal Significance: In 1975 a very attractive E3 Airman Avionics Technician and a moderately handsome E4 Petty Officer 3rd Class Avionics Technician were assigned to fix several of the same pieces of electronics at AIMD on the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland. A friendship developed. After a while their shop supervisor feared a romance was building, so he seperated them, she stayed on 1st shift and he was moved to 2nd. This ironically sparked the friendship into a romance. Forty two years later, 41 of them in marriage, the romance survives enough that the two of them still willingly cram themselves and their baggage in a small sports car and drive for days on end taking pictures of themselves, their car and random objects along the road. (9/27/17)

Washington Counties Revisited

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Back during the 2015 Motoring Challenge there was a requirement to “get” 15 counties and I decided that I would get all 15 of the same name. Washington, with 26 states having a county by that name, got the nod. If you look at the image above, Donna and I drove through a large swath of the country’s southeast and midwest missing only three states. Our home state of South Carolina doesn’t have a Washington County and neither does West Virginia. North Carolina’s was way too far east to get to on our loop.

Guess what county we drove through today? Right. Washington County North Carolina. We don’t need counties this year, but there is a category of Heroes or Villains that General George Washington fits into, so we took a photo.

Only three photos today for three points. Mr. Washington and Bill Gates for the Heroes and Villains column and Plymouth for the Around the World one.

: Heroes and Villains 06 – George Washington: During the 2015 Motoring Challenge there was a requirement to “get” 15 counties and I decided that I would get all 15 of the same name. If you start with Pennsylvania, go west to Missouri, south to Louisiana, east to Florida and north back to Pennsylvania that encompasses 18 states. South Carolina and West Virginia don’t have Washington Counties, North Carolina does, but it was too far east to get on our loop that year. This year we were that far east, so… (9/26/17)

: Heroes and Villains 07 – Bill Gates: Hero to geeks everywhere (and now the world’s poor through philanthropy) and a villain to PC users everywhere when the Blue Screen of Death appears. (9/26/17)

: Around the World 07 – Plymouth: The Pilgrim Fathers left for the New World in 1620 from the town of Plymouth, Devon County, England. They landed at a rock near what today is Plymouth, Massachusetts. This is Plymouth, North Carolina. Some pilgrims moved south after a couple of really cold winters up north and became the first snowbirds. (9/26/17)

Life of Brian

a proud part of the 90%