What we've done so far in 2004:
January 17 - Tech/workday on our Miatas - graciously hosted by Roger & Judy Rusert at Rusert Machine Shop. 14 Miatas and their owners gathered for insulation, brake fluid replacement, baby teeth extraction, tune up, and lots of pizza and soft drinks.
February 20 - Permian Sea Restaurant - 10 Miatas drove 80 miles s.w. of Midland to Imperial for a marvelous shrimp dinner. Friday nights are special with fried shrimp served as the "only" organic shrimp harvested in the world. They have a descriptive website at http://permianseashrimp.com for more information.
March 6 - Dallas Auto Show - The Rusert's, Steve Spain, Bob Price, and Jude Miller all attended the auto show this year. Of particular interest was the Chevrolet SS concept model and the new Maybach 57 luxury division from Mercedes among others.
March 13 - Craters and Enchiladas - 11 Miatas ventured to the Odessa Meteor Crater and toured the new museum followed by a delicious dinner at La Margarita Restaurant in Odessa. Pictures at http://groups.msn.com/TumbleweedMiataClub/odessameteorcrater31304.msnw
March 19-20 - statewide "bend the Bend II" - 14 Miatas and an RX-8 from Lone Star, Bluebonnet, Tejas and Tumbleweed clubs used Prude Guest Ranch in Fort Davis TX as headquarters for a full weekend of driving. Drives included a 73-mile loop tour around Ft. Davis and a 255-mile loop down to Study Butte and across to Presidio. David Kimble (world-renowned cutaway illustrator) graciously opened up his Palace Theatre home in Marfa for a private tour of his studio and collection. We ALL saw the famous and mysterious Marfa Lights on Friday night. The planned star party at McDonald Observatory was "clouded" out on Saturday, but we enjoyed the new facilities and the opportunity to visit. Pictures at http://groups.msn.com/TumbleweedMiataClub/bendthebendiimarch2004.msnw?albumlist=2
March 27 - Vietnam Veterans Wall in Big Spring - the 1/2 scale touring wall was toured at the Vietnam Memorial Park in Big Spring. Nine of us participated and then drove the Forsan/Coahoma loop in wonderfully sunny weather (a little windy, but fun.) We then visited around the dinner table at La Posada Restaurant.
April 17 - Chaparral Gallery Grand Opening in Midland - what an event! We had 7 Miatas participate as Jim Hall drove Chaparral 1 to the museum for its last mile before being placed in the gallery. All seven of the famous Chaparral cars are now on permanent exhibit in this $7.4 million addition to the Petroleum Museum. More information can be obtained at http://www.petroleummuseum.org/ . We ended the day with a lunch gathering at Texas Burger.
May 14 - Sky-Vue Drive In Theatre in Lamesa - 8 Miatas enjoyed unusually "cool" weather to see "Mean Girls" and "13 Going on 30" at the Sky-Vue. It was terrific to have 4 cars from Lubbock attend the event....good rendezvous point for all of us.
May 29 - Miatas to Sedona - lunch gathering as the Sedona trip bunch stopped for gas in Big Spring at Rip Griffin's enroute to El Paso for the night. 14 Miatas participated.
June 8 - "Zoomer Tuesday" dinner to Buddy's Drive In Restaurant in Andrews. 10 Miatas participated.
June 26 - Night in Old Pecos - 7 Miatas enjoyed a 90-mile drive to Pecos for dinner at Alfredo's Mexican Inn, car & bike parade through downtown Pecos, and a street party complete with dancing and vendors.
July 10 - Mazda of Midland tech/garage day - a wonderful garage day and a personal tour of the new Mazda of Midland dealership hosted by Chris Robin, Mitch King, and Bill Haase. With as many as 9 Miatas in the garage at one time, we had 15 Miatas enjoy food and free service provided by our sponsoring dealer....thanks to the staff at Mazda of Midland!
July 24 - run to Colorado City Lake - (wrap up from Bob Price): The morning was cool and somewhat cloudy so top down was the order of the day. Three Miatae from Midland, Clayton and Donna Pollard, George and Beverly Robertson, yours truly and "what's her name" departed at the scheduled 9:15 AM. We drove the back roads most of the way to meet Wayne Bartlett south of Big Spring. Wayne lead after our hookup, keeping to back roads with which he was familiar from his oil field days. We had a rest stop in Forsan (which was so named due to the 4 oil producing zones in the area) including a brief tour of the town (including a "pit stop" at the local oil field supply house for the girls, since our intended cafe stop was closed). We then proceeded to Hyman where only a dilapidated Methodist church and cemetery remain (Wayne and Clayton got pix). Then on to Al's Sportsman's Club (which by the way is for sale). Our lunch was interrupted by the first shower which required a quick dash to the cars to put the tops up. After lunch, we attempted to travel north toward Snyder, but the rain was coming down hard and a prudent decision was made to head back to Coahoma to visit a combination old car, junk yard, antique and cafe stop. Some interesting things, but Donna didn't see how she could fit them into the Miata. We bid Wayne adieu at this point with a big "thank you" for guiding the run. We hit the road and again encountered some heavy rain, but made it into Big Spring to tour the historic Potton House which was built in 1901. After a guided tour of the old home (including the upstairs) we headed back to Midland.
Aug 6-7-8 RUN TO RUIDOSO 2004 - 16 Miatas, a Honda S2000, and a Nissan 350Z spent a fabulous weekend in Ruidoso. We enjoyed runs to Capitan, a twisty drive up Sierra Blanca Mountain to 11,000', Flying "J" Western Dinner and Show, Travel Center Casino, Cloudcroft drive to Sunspot Solar Observatory, and a LOT of visiting. It was terrific to have four Miatas from the Bluebonnet Miata Club join us, and one from Roadrunner in Albuquerque. Alarge pictures file is loaded at http://groups.msn.com/TumbleweedMiataClub/runtoruidoso2004.msnw
Aug 10 - "Zoomer Tuesday" dinner run to Cowboy Cafe (beside the Super 8 on I-20) - Seven of us enjoyed conversation over hamburgers, chicken fried steak, and steakfingers.
Aug 21 - annual Bar-MIATA-Q - this year at Rick Ganem's house and pool. 14 of us dined on charcoaled burgers and fixins' and enjoyed conversation on the patio as a rain storm blew through. Temperatures dropped from 95 to 68 before the evening was over - and about 1" of rain!
Sept 11 - Sky-Vue Drive In Theatre - Lamesa, we had 6 Miatas to watch "Benji Unleashed" on a beautiful and cool evening....not a bad turnout for competing events like SeptemberFest, the Permian Fair, and the Olympic Divers at COM. Mike & Debbie Grossie even brought 2 dozen doughnuts from Krispy Kreme for our dessert!
Sept 14 - "Zoomer Tuesday" dinner run to The Barn Door Restaurant in Odessa. Thirteen of us enjoyed dinner and conversation.
Oct 12 - "Zoomer Tuesday" dinner run to Clear Springs Cafe in Midland. Eleven of us enjoyed dinner and conversation
Oct 23 - "Lap Up Lubbock" day trip to Lubbock hosted by Mike & Debbie Grossie. This was a FULL day of activity for 10 Miatas and an RX-8 that included sampling/purchasing wine at the Caprock Winery, lunch at Zoo-kini's, Top Speed and Forces of Nature at the Science Spectrum IMAX, guided tour of the Silent Wings Museum at the Lubbock Airport, and dinner at Hub City Brewery. Mike & Debbie even supplied goodie bags and Krispy Kreme Donuts - WOW!
Oct 30 - "Shrimp Run to Imperial" and private car collection tour in Odessa. Eight Miatas enjoyed a fabulous cool weather 80-mile drive to Imperial for lunch at the Permian Sea Restaurant. After lunch, we drove to Odessa for a private showing of classic 50's and 60's muscle cars and a private railroad collection that included a restored train depot, caboose, and a lot of memorabilia. Ask Bob Price or Steve Spain for more information. If you didn't attend, you missed an awesome experience! Check the pictures files for more detail.
Nov 9 - Tuesday, "zoomer dinner" to Catfish & Co. (Odessa) - five of us enjoyed lively conversation around the table....great food!
Nov 20 - "Bowling for Dogs" rally to Big Spring. Eight Miatas enjoyed a tour of the Hangar 25 Air Museum, fabulous BBQ at Big John's, and two rounds of bowling.
Dec 4 - Saturday, annual Midland Christmas Parade - a light turnout this year (4 decorated Miatas) - but we had fun anyway. The judges stand commented that we were the "favorite car club entry" again this year. We met at Fuddrucker's afterward for dinner and conversation.
