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It had been a
while since our last S2000 event, and on April 14th we decided to take our
chances with the unpredictable Spring weather and hold a
drive/meet/picnic. As has become "customary" we began our
meet at Moanalua Gardens. This offers an excellent place to gather
since there is ample parking, and easy access to the freeway in both
directions.
| Our group
of S2000 owners were supplemented with five Acura RSXs in what was
their first real gathering. It presented a great opportunity
for these owners to meet fellow auto enthusiasts and share some of
the modifications each group had performed. The skies were
pretty overcast as we headed over the H-3 freeway towards
Kaneohe. Most of the S2000s had their tops down, so we
were hoping for great weather as we emerged from the tunnels. |
Stephen's
Berlina Black S2000 climbs the H-3 freeway. |
Kealii's
Nighthawk Black RSX Type-S looks menacing with the dark tint and
gunmetal rims! |
As always,
the urge to "rev it up" in the tunnels took hold and we
were treated to the "F1 soundtrack" courtesy of Honda's
VTEC and Stephen's J's Racing Exhaust. (Franceen mistakenly
thought Stephen's car was a sport bike! :o ) Sorry, I'm not
sure if you consider that a compliment or not???
I had a true car
enthusiast and future (we hope) S2000 owner along as my camera man and he
took these great |
| shots of our cars on the road. Mike's wife
rode shotgun with Franceen and both had a great time experiencing
the high reving, top down fun that the S2000 brings to the party.
Along the way we
shared a number of road and driving stories we've each experienced
over the years.As we cruised along Kahekiki Highway on the way to
Kualoa Park, the skies really looked dark, but thankfully things
remained dry, and all
the chatter on |
A
train of S2000s and RSXs round a curve in Kaneohe. |
Getting lunch
out of the cars... the tops are up, just in case! |
the radios regarding rain,
was quickly silenced with
strong warnings of "you'll jinx us if you keep talking like
that!" Fortunately,
the skies stayed clear and we reached the beach park without
incident and still in our long train of cars!
Once there, we all
started unloading our trunks with all the food for our lunch, and
spreading things out on some of the picnic tables. |
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|
Like a scene
from "The Birds" They were watching ... and
waiting! |
| As
before, we had quite a lot of food, and a stunning variety of
choices were available. Franceen thought it would be
cool to feed a few of the birds, and before too long, there were
dozens just "staring" at us and waiting for more food.
After our
bellies were full, some of the RSX owners swapped rides with some
S2000 owners to get a feel of what each others cars were all about,
and I think in every case, each person came away with a greater
appreciation of the remarkable job Honda has done with each
car. It really shows why each does so well in the marketplace
(small sales pitch, sorry, I couldn't help it).
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| While we
were eating, an S2000 owner who had missed the rally point at
Moanalua Gardens drove up and joined us. Kingston had read about it
at the s2ki.com website and
decided to join in. After we left the
park, we headed towards the Laie Point lookout and this is when our
luck with the weather ended. |
Waiting to
depart Kualoa Park on our way around the North Shore. |
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| We encountered a brief cloudburst
that prompted many of us to stop and put our tops up. Kingston went
ahead to fill gas, and when we turned off to go to Laie Point, he
drove past us. I later learned he was speeding along trying to
catch up with us! Too bad we hadn't exchanged cellular
numbers, we had no way to tell him where we were.
As we snaked our way
around Waimea Bay, we decided to make a pit stop for some Shaved Ice
at Matsumoto's. Everyone had a chance to stretch their legs
and have a cool refreshing snack. As we were leaving there was
a slight miscue regarding our route, but once everyone was gathered
up again, we headed up Road. |
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I
absolutely love this two lane road! It twists and turns as it
winds it's way through ironwood trees and pineapple fields. On the
other side of the road is a breathtaking ravine with little more
than a small strip of shoulder and a guardrail that looks 50 years
old separating you from the cliff. |
| We made a
quick run up the road and cut through Wahiawa, Schofield Barracks
and Mililani to get to the new Waipio District park. This
brand new facility has numerous soccer fields and baseball
diamonds and lots of extra parking (on this day at least). |
Click on the
picture above to open a huge panorama of the cars in our meet. |
| In the
end, everyone had a great time. It was great to see the
Honda/Acura enthusiasts enjoying an afternoon together, and although
the weather looked threatening at times, everything stayed pretty
dry for the most part. Thanks go to Rick for helping with the
S2000 participants, and Derrick (visit
his website www.rsx-s.com by clicking here) for helping with the
RSX's. Unfortunately Rick was unable to attend as he and
Roxanne caught a cold that week and were still feeling a bit out of
it. So until our next event... |
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