So ... an update. I no longer trust my dealer.
Took my car in for service (outlined above) and off I go to drive 10 hours to Maine. About 4 and a half hours in, around 1:00 a.m. in the morning, guess what? Battery light shows up on my dashboard and my air conditioner no longer works. I pulled off, checked the book to see what the battery light was for, cursed for a bit, and then headed to the closest hotel to my location as I was in the middle of nowhere and had no choice. Next morning, go outside and check the car.
My belt (ya know, the one the dealer checked out and said was in excellent condition), is broken and in pieces. Ok so maybe my alternator went or a pulley jammed or something - don't really know at this point. Find a Mazda dealership relatively close and even though they are booked for the next 1 1/2 weeks, I beg them and they tell me to have it towed in. Tow truck shows up - no place for us to sit for the ride to the dealership. Ugh. So the car goes without me and we take a $60 cab ride to the dealership. Dealership has forewarned me that if it is the alternator, it is going to be 3 or 4 days until they can get the part in.
In any event, turns out it was only the belt. Alternator and everything else is completely fine and the belt was worn and should have been replaced (at the very least before my trip and at the most, at 100,000 miles per maintenance schedule). They charge me $140 bucks I am back on the rode. My mile per gallon immediately begins to go up, even though I am doing over 65 miles an hour (when it would normally go down). It had been pretty much at 33.1 or so but I had just figured it was due to tire changes, aging parts, etc. As of this morning, mpg is at 34.2, which it hasn't been in ages.
So my dealer will be getting a lovely email from me shortly.
So here is a tip - if you notice a steadily decreasing miles per gallon and you haven't had that drive belt changed and it is overdue, get it done
Oh and the dealership in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts was wonderful and even said they would talk to my dealership and tell them that it was obviously wear on the belt which caused it to break.