Whoa Karting

So tonight was the monthly meeting of my car club. For those who don't know, I am a member of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) through the South Bend Region (SBR). We have a monthly meeting on the first Tuesday of the month. I am the chair of our Street Survival Program and of course do my racing with the club.

Well for this monthly meeting we decided to go Karting. Besides at amusement parks or things like that I have never done "real" karting. So this was an adventure for me and man it was FUN. We went to Michiana Raceway Park out near North Liberty, IN.
It was a really fun track layout and the cars were a lot faster than I thought they would be... It was easy to spin the cars in a circle but once I got the hang of it man it was fun drifting them around corners.

I was surprised that the karts didn't have harnesses or seat belts. We were required to wear fire jackets, neck supports, gloves and full face helmets though. Surprisingly the seats kept you in tight, even when you were getting bump drafted or spun out in a circle... We got to run in groups of 8 at a time on the track. We got three run heats in before it got dark and we had to stop. On my first time out I ended up 7th of the 8... but for a first timer not so bad I thought. For the second heat I moved up to 6th, and then for the final run I was getting the hang of it and moved up to 4th!
So it was a fun night, I for sure want to do this again sometime. Now I want to take Novali out there and see if she really wants to drive a KART. It would be an expensive toy, but man it would be fun! Then Lemon can grow into it and drive it as well! I smell family hobby coming on...

Its Fall Time

Well there are a lot of good things I enjoy about fall... nice 60 degree days, my Nissan jacket, school is back in session, and many other things. I don't like picking up crabapples, raking leaves and the thought that soon I will have to put away my grill...

This weekend Novali was here visiting and we had a lot of fall time fun. We did some indoor go karts, played basketball and she even wanted to learn how to grill chicken. So needless to say I was a proud papi for the weekend.

We went to Strikes and Spares in South Bend. Surprisingly I have never done the go karts there, it was a nice little indoor track and we had fun. We did two runs, one which was just us and it was fun, the second had a flock of girls who just crashed into each other (and us) but we still have fun.

On Sunday we went to campus and hit up the SAC. It was family hours so they had the small rim pulled out and she got to practice her shots. She is thinking about trying to play basketball at her school this year, so we need to practice more.

It was a fun fall Indiana weekend. Weird to think a month ago I had her during the week and now I just have her every other weekend. She was bummed because in Sunday school they practiced for a play, but she won't be here then... maybe she can do a winter play here.

I posted a few new pics on her website... I know I know... Finally!

Novali: Oct 2010 - Fall Fun