Photo: Tamales Bay campfire.
Photo: Action shots at “Camp Marshall”.
Photo: 2007 Mazda Miata. 500 miles on the clock.
So I enjoyed FreedomHEC (a sanitized version of events, sans company conf. super secret stuff, etc. will be posted here – including mention of the glowing Martini glass I was dared into buying from the revolving bar in downtown LA) and left after the Linux-powered rockets and SoC random talks, dropped Deepak and the Mustang off at LAX (man, I hate driving in downtown LA) and then hopped a flight up to San Francisco. I’m glad I left a little early as the flights were all delayed due to wind – and bear in mind it takes a lot to close half the runways at SFO – and I didn’t get in until late as it was.
At San Francisco, I had a somewhat cheaper rental reserved – a generic Kia – but I missed having a convertible and happened to drive past a Mazda Miata on the way out of the parking garage…so I made a U-turn and went back to upgrade. One confuzzled trainee, a manager discount, and some hassle later and I had a brand new 2007 white Mazda Miata (MX-5) to drive up to Tamales Bay in, along route 1. Top down, music playing…figuring out the new AT gearbox manual mode…all random run. The Mustang has *nothing* on this puppy. I’m quite convinced the Miata could take off, if you kept your foot down. Obviously I was obeying all speed limits and behaving in a civilized fashion 
I arrived at the Marshall boathouse around 23:00 (11:00pm to Americans) and found Sven had taken a nap in his car. This was fortunate, since there’s not much cell coverage out there. We had an interesting and somewhat frightening crossing over the bay in heavy winds, in the dark, in a dinghy. 30 minutes, a lot of water, one giant campfire, and a change of clothes later and I was drinking beer from a keg and chilling out on the beach with the guys. We had music, beer, food, great accommodation (tents), and a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to doing this again in August – though not quite out in Tamales, but over the Bay in San Francisco nevertheless.
In the morning, we had breakfast and packed up, interspaced with a little hike up into the hills to get a great view of the Pacific. After that, we sailed back to Marshall beach for some Oysters before I took the Miata for a little drive north up to Jenner, all along California Highway 1. I stopped at various beaches and vista points along the way…see the photos. I stayed over for the night in Marin again, before taking a flight out of SFO (mixing in conference calls with flights).
Various other stuff happened…this is just a quick update while I’m sitting delayed in Denver.
Jon.
Told ya. MX-5 is great even after the redesign.
Oddly enough, I thought what kind of car would fit you and had an epipahny: Honda S2000. Imagine an MX-5, but with a slightly bigger 2.15L engine which revs to 8K rpms, for 43% more power. Unfortunately, the peak power is taken at 7800 rpm. This is because current S2000 is detuned from the original which revved to 10K. They did it in order to enhance the lower end output for street driving.
The downside is, S2000 is significantly more expensive than MX-5. Think $35K kind of sticker. Someone has to pay for those metal-matrix cylinder walls.
Pete, I don’t think the S2K is really Jon’s style. Its faster and more racy, but Jon is not going to be one that drives *that* hard. The VTEC zone comes in quite late so to appreciate a S2K you need to really keep your foot in right to the red line and snatch the next gear like you mean it. I just can’t see that happening.
More torque, more easy going and also something automatic is the order of the day. MX5 is a good choice.
Personally my epiphany for Jon was a previous shape SLK. A relaxing cruiser, long mileage roadtrip comfort, automatic all the way, toys and that trick folding hardtop roof. But I know he likes the MX5 better and thats cool.
Jon, the 2007 MX5 suits you sir! I know you’re gonna get one
Hurry up so I can come over and we can drive around the US listening to Beach Boys.