Grassroots Road Tripping Revisited

Minimal Miata tool kit: 10, 12, 14, 17mm wrenches. Philips screwdriver.

But it's a Miata. So it's unlikely you'll need anything. And no, the CAS on the 1.6 isn't a big concern. About the only thing that causes a side of the road failure in a 1.6 is either the trans stuck in reverse or a failed main relay. The latter will almost invariably fail at startup, so at least you're in a place where you chose to stop! But those are both pretty rare.

Pack the trunk like it's a suitcase, you'll put a lot more in there. Use soft-sided bags. And to make the trip less pleasant, try to keep any loose stuff or luggage out of the interior. Makes it less like a road trip and more like a pleasure run.

admc58 wrote: Also...http://rocketcenter.com/ The Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville AL Where else can you see a real Saturn V rocket hanging from the ceiling...along with a ton of other cool space & NASA stuff.

Well, since they're in Florida - Kennedy Space Center, that's where

For those of you following along at home, we're flying out tomorrow morning to pick up the car.

Here's what we're headed toward

So that's awesome.

Also, while headed home from work on Wednesday night, I totaled my daily driver. So instead of preparing for this trip, I've been dealing with insurance and thinking about what we're going to do to replace it. The end result is - we leave in 12 hours and have basically no plan and nothing packed.

Should be fun!

Well, we're all packed and ready to head to the airport at 6:15.

Wish us luck!

Well, we're off. Woke up to this wonderful weather. The picture really doesn't capture just how lovely it is out - it's sleeting pretty hard. Whether or not we'll make our flight remains to be seen.

Sorry to hear of the DD damage. Good thing that there is an additional car being added.

A couple pieces of advice that bear repeating...
1) Pack the trunk like it is the suitcases.
I once did a ten day trip with my Miata. We used grocery store bags and put shirts in one bag, pants in another, toiletries in the spare tire, etc.

2) Every hotel has laundry mat facilities so rewash as needed. If your stops include nights with family, wash there.

Good luck.
We're all counting on you.

RedGT wrote: Awesome trip. For god's sake you're in a Miata. I don't know what river crossing that is in NYC but being that far south I can tell you it's nothing pleasant. Go further up and then across the bear mountain, and enjoy one last dose of twisty roads before shooting across CT/MA to home.

This. Take the Palisades Parkway from Jersey over the Bear Mountain Bridge and then Rt 9 up to I-84 or to 9W, stop of at West Point and cross the Hudson at Newburgh. It's a little slower but more scenic.

What a cool plan. I'm in Gainesville, FL if you find yourself in need while in the vicinity.

I was going to say "invest in a good camera" but it looks like you already left. Hope you have a nice trip!

We have a decent camera, but did we bring it? Nope. Oh well. It looks like imgur is really killing the resolution of my phone shots, they look much better on my screen.

Still sitting in the airport, but it looks like we're actually going to make it to Raleigh today, so that's good. About 2.5 hours delayed so far.

The weather will all blow through and you'll have sunny 60 degree weather the whole trip north.

crosses fingers for you

We made it! 3 hours late, but Brett_Murphy met us with the car at the airport (thanks again for that, and really nice to meet you!) and we were on our way. Stopped to repack the trunk and check everything out. I'm super happy with the car, its a bit of a project but I think I got a great deal!

Great looking color!

My copilot and navigator, in road trips and in life

Also, parked next to this rather magnificent creature

So far everything is going pretty well! Trying to make Charleston tonight, then stop in Savannah for brunch tomorrow. Further plans to be made only as necessary...

Cool! Have fun.

Very cool trip! Check out St. Augustine for sure, check the breakers in palm beach county (they may also still be running the 38 hour chumpcar race down there at PBIR), Kennedy Space Center in Titusville, Ybor City in Tampa, and theres so much else in Florida.

Car looks great as well.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions! I'm going to try to do a daily recap - we'll see how it goes, but day 1 at least will be preserved for posterity.

Day 1 recap

Starting mileage: 222458 in Raleigh, NC

Ending mileage: 222751 in Charleston, SC

Got off to a bit of a slow start thanks to snow in Boston delaying our flight 3 hours, but we made it to NC, crammed our stuff in the trunk, and hit the road (after a quick stop to pick up some essentials, like tools).

We stopped for a celebratory "first night of vacation" dinner at The Library in Florence, SC before making our way to the Motel 6 in North Charleston for the night. The flight delay cost us some time we would have spent in Charleston, but such is life.

The car is running and driving great. It will definitely be getting a suspension overhaul: it wanders a bit on the road, but everything is more than sufficient for this trip.

Pressing issue 1: The shifter boots. They're toast, which is no big surprise, but paired with a slight exhaust leak and the prospect of spending several hours a day in this thing, they've got to get done. Going to see if I can grab some from treasure coast miata on my way past?

Pressing issue 2: The finish panel. The one on the car is broken, and a nice, color correct, unbroken one came with the car. I'd like for it to remain unbroken, so I'm going to swap it on ASAP. Plus we could use the storage space it's currently occupying.

Overall, I'd say day 1 was a resounding success!

cmcgregor wrote: Pressing issue 1: The shifter boots. They're toast, which is no big surprise, but paired with a slight exhaust leak and the prospect of spending several hours a day in this thing, they've got to get done. Going to see if I can grab some from treasure coast miata on my way past? Overall, I'd say day 1 was a resounding success!

Duct tape can also fashion a fairly convincing replica of a shifter boot, in a pinch. Plus it comes in all sorts of colors.

Day 2 is in the books!

Starting mileage 222751 in Charleston, SC

Ending mileage 223088 in Daytona Beach, Fl

We did some catching up on sleep instead of getting off to an early start, which was much needed. Grabbed some brunch in Charleston. Then headed down to the waterfront Where we ran into a girl that my wife danced with in high school. Outside of Boston. So that was a bit unexpected, but she and her boyfriend gave us some good tips for Charleston and Savannah, which was great!

We drove through the battery on our way out of the city and checked out the ridiculous houses, grabbed a few pictures from the car on our way out

Then headed toward Savannah on 17. We were starting to get antsy when we spotted a wildlife conservation area, so we decided to head in and walk around a bit. Got a few more pictures and did some dirt road driving.

We didn't explore any of the unimproved roads, since I had no intentions of trying to unstick the car from a mud puddle ( it wouldn't have taken much).

Made it to Savannah for dinner at the Crystal Beer Parlor, which was excellent and cheap. We did some walking around, but by then it was dark, so we went on our way pretty quickly. Got into Daytona around 11:30 last night and passed out. The plan today is to do the tour at the speedway, then head to Fort Lauderdale for a NYE party then the wedding tomorrow.

One thing I've noticed the car doing - we'll be cruising along, when all the sudden the tach jumps around before steadying again. It doesn't feel like the car is missing when this happens. Loose connection?

Make sure you drive on the beach at Daytona. My wife and I did this when we drove down to Key West (where I proposed to her and she said yes).

Thanks vch, really glad you just suggested that!

Wasn't even on our radar. I just wish we had a place to stash the hardtop for a few hours.

Awesome. :-) Just make sure when you get home you wash all the sand out from your undercarriage. Oh, and the Miata's.

You know, once you're in Miami, you'll only be about an hour from the Keys. US-1 out to Key West is a great drive with the top down.

Find someone local to the wedding and leave the hardtop in their garage/back yard/living room and go to the keys for a day?

RedGT wrote: Find someone local to the wedding and leave the hardtop in their garage/back yard/living room and go to the keys for a day?

I was just coming back here to post this.

Happy New Year. You kids still alive?