The Toyota Corolla is surprisingly comfortable on long drives. It was 10 hours there and 9.5 hours coming home, and my back felt fine the next day both ways.

If you are headed south from DC (away from the coast) there is a better route than I-85. Follow US 29 South through Lynchburg and Danville VA to Greensboro NC, where it intersects with I-85. US 29 is four lane the entire way, sparsely populated, and much more interesting than the interstate highway route. It’s 50 miles shorter via 29 too.

When in Danville, eat at Short Sugar’s BBQ. It might be as far north as you can find real NC BBQ.

The Hair Metal station on XM Radio doesn’t have enough music to go 24 hours without repeating songs.

Ozzy’s Boneyard might be the coolest station on XM Radio. Where else where you hear Ratt, Led Zepplin, and Celtic Frost in succession? They also play a lot of Queen, which is cool, even if it doesn’t really fit in well.

They still drive like maniacs on GA 400. Some things don’t change.

Our first house and neighborhood still looks pretty good, although I had forgotten just how hilly the neighborhood was.

The white rail porch is gone, and our shutters were darker, otherwise pretty much the same.

There is a Varsity Jr. in Dawsonville. The food tastes the same, but the ambiance isn’t even close.

My son has gotten pretty damn good at this fencing thing.

I kind of miss Atlanta.

Then this week while reading The Soul of Baseball I found the quote that nails it. It says exactly what I was thinking. However, coming from a 94 year old ex-Negro League star who was married for 51 years, it carries a little more weight.

That’s how it goes in this world. Life doesn’t turn out the way you think. You just hold on to each other. That’s the trick.

I agree. It really is that simple.

Expect more on Buck O’Neil here this week. I loved this book. Buck O’Neil was a truly exceptional human being.

I exited the office early today and took in a couple of hours of sun and baseball with the Red Sox and Nationals. The Red Sox won, not that it matters in a Spring Training game. I left in the bottom of the 7th when both teams on the field were mostly guys who will not be on the MLB clubs in 24 hours.

A few random thoughts that crossed my mind as I enjoyed the game.

- I need to follow baseball more, and politics less. Especially this year.

- $8.00 for a Miller Lite is freaking crazy. I didn’t partake.

- The $50 seats are nice, especially when you only paid $10 for it.

- There were a lot of young kids with Dads there. However, the Dads are failing as the kids had no freaking idea about baseball. I taught the 5ish year old next to me to yell Yoooouuukkkk. What kind of Dad brings a child to a game unprepared to show proper respect to the Greek God of Walks?

- California Girls may do it for the Beach Boys, but I’ll take a woman in the Red Sox Jersey any day. There is no contest between the Red Sox girls and Nationals girls. The female members of Red Sox Nation win in a landslide that would make Obama – Santorum look close.

Opening Day is Thursday. Play Ball!

They also did a straight Training Test 1, which didn’t focus properly, and Training test 2, which somebody has requested not be put online because she may have been on the wrong diagonal.

Undaunted, we headed out on a Sunday afternoon to look at a few cars. The pickings were slim. We looked at a 2008 Kia Optima which neither of us liked. The suspension and handling were very soft. It was like driving your grandfather’s Buick. Then we drove a 2010 Hyundai Elantra, which is the same car, but handles much better, and is just generally better put together. Next we stopped by the Dodge lot and looked at a 2008 Ford Fusion. We hated it. Then we stopped by the Chevy dealership. They didn’t have anything on our short list available, but the sales guy talked me into test driving a 2011 Cruze. I was generally curious about GM’s newest try at a small car. The car is loads of fun to drive, a turbo charged 4 cylinder that still gets well north of 30 mpg. However, it’s a Chevy, and I’m not buying a first model year Chevy under any circumstances.

The Kia and Hyundai salespeople were both relaxed, laid back, and non-pushy. So relaxed in fact, that neither bothered to follow up with me. The salesperson at the Dodge dealer had a significant air of desperation. The Chevrolet guy was older, and the only person who exhibited any sales skills at all. He at least got my respect for trying, and that was part of the reason why I did the test drive on the Cruze in the first place. At 4 PM Michelle wanted to go back to Hyundai and make an offer on the Elantra. I didn’t feel like I knew enough to negotiate effectively, so I talked her out of it. Had the Hyundai guy called me on Monday and made a decent offer, he might have had a sale. He never called.

In the meantime, I was getting dismayed about what $12,000 buys in a small sedan. The used market is tight, and it’s only getting worse for fuel efficient cars. Meanwhile, with 0% financing, new cars can be had for not much more out of pocket than used cars. So this past weekend, we decided to look at new cars. We started at Mazda, to look at the Mazda 3. It’s important to note that of the 7 cars we have owned since we got married, 5 were Mazdas. I let the sales guy know up front that I was a Mazda guy. We took the Mazda 3 iSport for a drive. It’s a fun car to drive, definitely the most fun of anything we test drove. On paper, the Mazda is larger than the Hyundai Elantra, but it sure feels smaller, both in the front and rear seats. Also, I wasn’t thrilled about the layout of the dash, and Michelle thought the seats were a little stiff. That said, I would have been fine owning the car. They made me a nice offer on it too, less than $16,000. However, it was still early, and I wanted to drive a new Elantra and Corolla before making a decision. The Corolla was sort of a due diligence car. It was more expensive than the other two, and my impression of Toyota was they trade on their brand reputation, and that it is hard to get a good deal.

The next stop was Hyundai. A sales guy pounced on us immediately. He exhibited every negative stereotype of a car salesman. We asked for the guy that we talked to the previous week about the used car. He implied that guy can’t sell new Hyundais because he works for the Nissan side of the dealership. So we took a lavender 2012 Elantra GLS for a spin. It’s a very nice car. I was sold on the car, but I was not buying purple. He told us it was the only one they had. I asked about the used one from the week before. He brushed me off and pitched me on a Sonata for the the same price as an Elantra. That’s like getting a Mazda 6 for the price of a Mazda 3. It doesn’t happen. He tried to convince me a 6 year loan is a good idea. At this point I was ready to split. While I was dealing with the guy, Michelle wandered next door and found the guy we dealt with the previous week. It turns out he can sell anything on the lot. He was pissed about the Hyundai guy trying to steal us. I was too. I’m in sales, honor among thieves and all that The 2010 was still on the lot, so we took it for another drive. When we came back I told him I liked the Elantra and wouldn’t mind owning one. I told him I could get a new Mazda 3 for $15,800, and I didn’t think the Elantra was worth much more than a Mazda. I gave him two options. I’d put a deposit down and wait for the next shipment in a couple of weeks; or I’d consider the used one if he gave me enough of a delta to walk from the good deal on the Mazda. The sales manager refused to talk price on the 2012 Elantra. I could pay sticker if I wanted one. He offered $13,995 on the used car (sticker was $14,995). I pointed out that less than $2000 with used car interest rates was not even close to enough. I’d rather have the new Mazda at that price.

At this point, we almost went back to Mazda. Had the salesman called me at that point to see how my day shopping was going, it probably would have reeled me in. Instead, we went to Toyota, expecting to be underwhelmed by the Corolla, especially at a sticker price at the very top of my budget. Instead, we both really liked the car. It drives nice, it’s roomy for a small sedan, and it is nicely equipped. So I sat down with the sales guy and laid it out. I can have a new Mazda 3 for $15,800. I’d be willing to pay $1200 more for the Corolla. The sales manager came over and did his pitch on Toyota. Then he came back with his best and final offer. It wasn’t quite to my $17,000 number, but it was pretty damn close, and I liked the way they do business. Add in a 0% loan and free oil changes for as long as I own the car, and it was an all around good deal. So I took it.

The Mazda guy still hasn’t called.

The true version of our beginning. I got really lucky that night, even if I did go home alone

Photos

This is what we saw.

This is also when I thought I heard thunder.

About 1/2 way across the meadow it looked like this.

This is also when the thunder really started booming. It was as loud as I’ve ever heard thunder. I’m not sure if the storm was really all that bad, or if it just seemed louder because we were 4000 feet closer to the source. This was also probably the only time in my life when “Let’s get to the woods” made perfect sense in a thunderstorm. They had to be safer than being exposed up on the summit, right? Luckily, it was about 1 mile, all downhill, to the car from this point, most of it wooded. We speed hiked our way down the Appalachian Trail and beat the rain to the car by about 5 minutes.

After that, we hit the George Marshall museum on the VMI campus so Breck could get his history fix for the day, and then found a spot to camp. As I started to get going on dinner (ribs and corn on the cob) I learned that my 20 year old portable propane grill had officially cooked its last meal. So dinner ended up being a pizza at a local pizza joint in town. There was a drive-in movie theater right down the road, so we took in the the double feature of Captain America and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, getting back to the tent at near 1 AM.

Sunday morning we broke camp and were on the road by 9 AM, because we wanted to fit in a quick hike to the Devil’s Marbleyard before picking up Delaney at noon. It was only a 1 mile hike, but it was all uphill, and very rocky. I think the name fits though.

This was the view from near the top.

On the way back to Lexington we stopped off at Foamhenge. I like cheeky roadside attractions, and this has to be one of the best. A 1:1 scale model of Stonehenge, made out of Styrofoam.

From Lexington

After paying our respects to the God of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam we headed back to the Virginia Horse Center to retrieve Delaney and head home. Even with the weather and equipment malfunctions we managed to have a great time. But I think I want to get back on Cold Mountain again when the weather is better, so I can have my Julie Andrews moment, running and singing through a mountain top meadow surrounded by wildflowers and amazing scenery.

Wait. Did I just type that out loud?

More pictures.