First Trip in my Miata

Purpose of this page...

When I initially thought about posting this page, I thought the friendly folks at Miata.net would enjoy it. When I added a few other photos of the cabin my brother commented that it looked like an advertisement for The Cabins. Hmmm. Anyway, the cabins are absolutely terrific so, maybe it is an advertisement in an off-handed way. But, did want to give my first impressions so to speak, of my car.
We started the trip with about 600 miles on the odometer. After five days and 560 miles I do have some comments. Hey, keep in mind that my next birthday will be the big seven oh!
Cons: The ride of the car is OK; however, most parts of Interstate 64 around Richmond (Virginia) are dreadful. Mile after mile of patches. The car was going thump, thump and, wasn’t all that comfortable. Smooth highways were fine.
Noise. Wow. Yes, I know it’s a small roadster. And, yes I realize it has to be noisier than a hard top. I'm sure the noise is reasonable for the type car, but...it is noisy.
Pros: Am I having buyer’s remorse? Not at all. The thumping on the patched roads and a little wind noise at highway speeds are more than offset by how delightful a car it is to drive. I had a great time zooming around on the country roads. Rarely try to shift into 7th gear anymore. Getting used to keeping the revs up during my occasional spirited driving. This is the first convertible I’ve owned in over forty years and am thoroughly enjoying it (except as noted above). Though I may not always look forward to going to work, I do always look forward to the drive to work. Though I haven’t driven the car anywhere near its limits, it does have that feeling of being predictable in its handling when pushed. The car seems well built and sturdy, and from all reports bullet proof. I guess that after the purchase of anything, when trying to evaluate it, might be the question, If you had it to do over, would you buy it again? In the case of Miata the answer is, yes. It’s a great car and I’m sure it will provide many miles of driving pleasure and yes, I look forward to my next trip (just want a few more days and a few more miles).

Surely glad I bought the luggage from Geri. She was very accommodating and got it to me quickly. I ordered red and charcoal so it was easy to know whose bags were whose. Everything fit as advertised though I didn’t put the garment bag on top. I’m sure it would have fit if I’d adjusted the other bags but just didn’t want to spend the time. The garment bag was stowed behind the seats. You might notice one red bag is not zipped. Yep, Pat insisted on bringing her (not so small) espresso maker. Couldn’t quite get the bag zipped. When I first saw the bags I figured there was no way all of them would fit in the trunk. I was wrong. They did fit, as you can see. And, yes, they are well made with what seems heavy-duty material and zippers.
Thanks, Geri. Your bags helped make the trip a great success.