For ANYONE out there driving a Miata, I have one piece of advice: FIND A CLUB!

One of the resellers I work with told me about an upcoming run that sounded too great to pass up! So the wife & I went out with the Arkansas Miata Club on their 3 Mountain Tour back in October 2003.

Now this tour isn't for the faint at heart if you want to run with the first group of drivers! JR is semi-psychotic in the way he takes corners! (No offense JR!!!!) I mean I thought I knew how my car handled - I was pushing it way beyond what I thought it could do just to keep up! I kept saying to myself: If he can do it so can I! We were taking corners at speeds anywhere from 20mph to 2x over the posted speeds.

Here's a group shot of everyone there. Debbie & JR headed up everything and were (and still are!) great people! I'm above Debbie in the pic (in the green hat) and Robin is on my right. (your left when looking at the picture)

Here's a pic from the passenger's POV when taking some corners through the mountains. Lights are on for safety!

Towards the end of the first day we were twisting down a long winding road. The sun was flashing down through the treetops and temporarily blinding drivers. I was headed for a right 90 degree turn while being blinded. Right before the turn, the sun went behind the mountain and all I saw was JEEEEEEEP!!!!! A quick lockup of the front tires, smacked the steering wheel right, let off the brake pedal, and I went right under the fender behind his rear tire with the front corner of my car. I think it scared me WAY more than it did him!

On day two Mount Nebo was spectacular! The road sign says "No trailers over 24 foot permitted". I do NOT see how a person could even get a trailer UP that mountain! It's one switchback after another with what looked like 40 degree grades in the corners from the drivers seat! Everyone's Miatas were chirping their back tires as they were climbing these. It was WAY more nerve wracking on the way up than on the way down. Here's Robin in the driver's seat after we made it to the top for some sightseeing.

This was a two day tour that we hope to go on again this year. The Arkansas club did an excellent job with arranging hotels, food/bio stops, and making sure everyone made it through safely.