I had a good time in the mountains this past weekend. It’s always tough to determine which weapon to take up there. It was calling for rain on Friday night, the temps looked damn hot and the cabin we rented was at the end of a steep gravel road. That killed any idea of riding. I also didn’t want to throw a bike in the back of the truck because I didn’t have the inclination to load all the crap and then have to load/unload from a gas station in the mountains. I also didn’t want to just take the truck becuse it isn’t very fun in the mountains. Then there was the idea of the Boxster-S. 350 miles each way of slab and the steep gravel road scared me out of taking that. In the end I chose the lowly Kia Forte Koup. Boy did I make the right choice. I know, it’s a Korean car. The Forte is their first attempt at a sporty car with some oomph and handling capabilities. It won’t win any awards for acceleration, but the 2.4 liter is pretty peppy, and is a pretty good compromise between performance and fuel economy. It did rain on Friday night and the gravel drive was indeed steep. Thanks to the front wheel drive on the Kia (I’m not a fan of front wheel drive in a sports car), it scooted right up the driveway. The first thing I did after getting to the cabin was strip all the loose items out of the Kia. I mean EVERYTHING. Anything not in the center console or glove box was vacated. If you’ve ever thrown a sports car around a mountain road, you know what can happen to stuf f inside the car — they become projectiles. Once the car was empty, I proceeded to take out my frustrations on the mountain roads. The Kia was unflappable. I slung it as hard as I could into corners and it didn’t flinch. Sure the Porsche handles better, but it doesn’t handle THAT much better. I was simply amazed. By bracing my left leg against the door and my right leg against the center console I kept myself still while corner carving. A 5 pt harness would have been better, but overkill as well.  There were a lot of bikes up in the mountains, but I never saw one in my rear view mirror and a lot moved over to let me by. Between the roads, the sight-seeing and the vineyards, much fun was had. The cabin was awesome too. A big thanks to the Heltons and the amenities in their cabin. The hot tub didn’t hurt either.

Last week I decided to try out Pensacola Beach to see if there was any change in the conditions. The only people on the beach were the cleanup workers. They’re doing the best they can, but there’s only so much they can do. Granted I only perused the stretch towards Ft. Pickens, but I’m guessing Casino Beach has similar issues. The workers are scooping up the big tar balls, but there are minute little ones everywhere. And they’re more like tar paddies than tar balls. The entire beach needs to be scooped up and purged of the oil, something they aren’t about to do. I braved the smell and the toxic looking surf to go for a walk. By the time I returned the bottoms of my feet were black from oil and I reeked of it. I had to crank the A/C on high on the way home just to keep the smell bearable. A quick shower removed the offending Texas Tea. The cleanup workers were all properly garbed except for one thing — no respirator. You can expect there to be lawsuits from the workers in years to come should they come down with respiratory ailments… which some will. There’s no way you can breathe that in without there being damage. I walked across to the sound side and it was fine, but people come to the beach to see the Gulf, not the sound. It will be a hard sell for Pensacola Beach to encourage visitors with these beaches. There was a park ranger at the end of the boardwalk and I chatted with her. She said the water was fine but I should wash when I got out. You’ve got to be kidding. There’s no way I’d swim in that. You can see the oil in the water and the entire surf looks like some molten concoction. It’s just too depressing. I’m staying away for awhile. Officials can put on the brave face all they want, but it’s a disaster. I should have a one-day sale the day that the CEO of BP is canned. All I can remember is his two infamous quotes “I want my life back” and “it’s just a drop in the ocean”. What an Fing moron. The beaches will heal just fine in the coming months/years. I’m just glad my livelihood doesn’t depend on the Gulf.

TTYL – LT