|
420 CURVES X 11 MIATAS = MILES of SMILES |
|
The September Miata Club road trip was led
by Charlie and Joyce Clark. The route followed the same one used
in a rally trip that Charlie and Joyce participated in several years ago. The initial group of nine departed
the Route 66 Diner just about on time. All the blue Miatas led the
way, but at the first rest stop we distributed the colors a little better!
Starting out we traveled south on I25 switching over to NM1 and arriving
at the Owl Bar and Café for the lunch stop. After all the chili
cheese burgers and onion rings we could eat, our group continued on NM1
eventually rejoining I25 for a few miles before traveling on NM181 almost
to T or C. We exited west to NM152 and met up with the Schwartz'
for the remainder of the trip. Although we had begun warming up on a
few hills and curves on NM181, NM152 really kicked off the fun driving.
The closer we got to Silver City, the more twisty the road got.
This was a portent of roads to come on Sunday. We had a few stops
along the way to admire the view and see the huge Santa Rita copper mine.
We met up with car #11, the Brooks/Bagioni Merlot, at the Palace Hotel
in Silver City. George DuFour invited us to join in a surprise birthday
party for Roselyn (It was her 29th):
we had cake and champagne to celebrate. Dinner for 22 that night
was at the Buckhorn Saloon & Opera House in Pinos Altos. After
a few false turns we found the historic theatre on Main Street where we
were enjoyed terrific meals and Roselyn was treated to a chocolate mousse.
Not only were we served at tables in the opera house proper, as a bonus
we were surrounded by artifacts representing both recent and ancient history
cased in lighted glass-fronted displays. During the return drive to the hotel,
the Sharp's experienced electrical system problems with their red '91,
Baby. Sunday morning Sam and Carol opted to return to Albuquerque
via the quickest route. Sunday was just one terrific day for
the remaining ten cars. We had intermittent showers, but most of
the vehicles traveled top down. Ira Schwartz found out he was able
to pick up our radio communications on his HAM receiver. It's
fun and important to be able to communicate between vehicles. Hopefully
we can get more "tuned in" as we gain experience with the equipment.
(For more information read the article "Radio Communications.") The mountain scenery was spectacular and
the road was a Miata owner's dream: 120 miles of curves connected by curves.
All this and pie, too! The folks at Pie Town, NM stayed open late
especially for us. What a treat the pies, ice cream, coffee and
tea were, and a double treat to be met by smiling, friendly people.
The last sight on our journey was the VLA (Very Large Array). The
dishes are spread out over several miles of the valley floor west of Soccoro.
(This might be an interesting future destination/tour for the club.)
Dusk found us fueling up in Soccoro for the final stop before home. As a final thought, Charles and I discussed what a challenge this course must have been to the rally participants. We can only imagine that factoring in the grades, radius, cambers, et al must have been a mathematical feat. We look forward to Charlie and Joyce telling us more about their rally experience. |