A W E S O M E ! ! !
...now I want a Danish! yummmm:)

A lot of the ones I saw in Holland had living quarters. I don't know if that was an afterthought or not.

Back at it again. I have two trips to report on, but could only get to the first. Mid-January, my family and a couple friends flew into Porto, Portugal for a long weekend. We booked a 4x4 tour of the Duoro River region and it's wineries. The Detours company picked us up at our apartment, and already had carseats for the kids ready to go. It was amazing at how organized they were. Two guys showed up, the owner in a VW Toureg TDI, and a 2010 Land Rover Defender diesel. We decided to split up girls and guys, and of course, the guys took the Rover!! The owner brought the Toureg specially for the girls in hopes to make it a somewhat comfortable ride.

We drove about 90 minutes out of town where we stopped for a potty break and some traditional Portuguese breakfast snacks. Shortly after that, the pavement ended as we climbed up and down the hills on the banks of the Duoro river. This is what the valley's look like in that region.




Here is a Quinta - or fancy home owned typically by the family running the big wineries.


Each terrace will have a row or two of grape vines.

From there we picnic'd on top of a mountain, for which the tours guides provided everything. All typical Portuguese vittles. Most of them very tasty. We took a family pic at this spot with the LR.



Along the way, we stopped for an impromptu look at how olives are harvested. They lay these nets down and someone beats the branches with a stick to knock off the olives. Then they gather them up.


My son "helping":


From there, we stopped at Croft winery for a tour and sampling. It's quite amazing what makes Port wine so different and even tho you might see a label with Port on it, does not mean it really is a Port.


One of the varieties we tasted. There wasn't any the whole weekend we didn't like.


The following day, we toured the city of Porto on our own and dropped into several of the store fonts of the big wineries for samples. Most were fairly cheap accompanied by chocolate of some sort. Win-Win!

This is how they transported the wine before the train rails were built. Sounds like they lost a lot of wine doing it this way.


These are huge wine casks from Graham's. I don't recall the volume, but I think they bottom was about 12-14ft diameter!


Here is their private storage of very valuable wine. The oldest being from 1868 and they claim it never goes bad as long as it's stored properly.


They like to decorate their buildings with Tile, and this church was quite amazing!


We did some more touring the following day before we caught a ride back to the airport, but Porto is a cool place where your money goes pretty far. I could be talked into going again, but perhaps when it is a little warmer!

Really beautiful, keep 'em coming!
Thank you!

That is some mighty old wine there

Getting caught up here. We booked this trip a year ago thru the Army Outdoor Recreation office. It fills up fast, and it's expensive, but it was very worth it.

We went to Reykjavic Iceland...without kids!! Flew in on a Thursday morning and out on Monday morning. It was about 50% guided, which was nice to get your feet wet. I was amazed at how well people spoke English there. Icelandic is an interesting language and when speaking English a lot of the locals had fairly thick accents, but they were easier to understand than say Scotland whose language is English...

Onto the story...
We arrived late afternoon at the KEF airport and boarded a bus to Reykjavic and our hotel. The evening was ours, so after asking some questions of the guide, he mentioned "The Lebowski Bar". With a name like that, how can you resist? We ate a good burger and had a couple beers there before seeking out one of the few craft brewery bars in town. It wasn't long ago that Beer was illegal in Iceland and it's gaining in popularity, but still has a ways to go. Still, the barkeep was friendly and made good suggestions for us.

We retired to our hotel for a good nights rest.

The following morning the bus picked us back up at the hotel for a "city tour". Rocka was our guide and she was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable. We saw some cool buildings, learned some history, and got to know the city a little bit. Late morning we arrived at The Pearl, which is basically just 6 huge cylinders they fill with hot water exchanged from the geothermal water there. It's continuously exchanged to keep hot. Several years ago the Mayor wanted to do something with these unsightly cylinders so he built a nice domed building over the top, ergo, Pearl. Inside was a nice foyer, a shopping & observation level, then the top was a rotating restaurant. Here's the view of Reykjavic from the Pearl.








From there we went to the Aurora Center to learn about the Northern Lights. It was a fairly short, yet informative tour and I would recommend it. We had the afternoon to ourselves after that. So we went to a Brewery just down the way and had lunch and a beer there. Then we walked back into town on the shopping street and did that for a while. With our Northern lights tour looming, we wanted to get back to the hotel for a nap. Our friends and us split up as my wife wanted to show me a cool t-shirt. Which then led to more shopping and an afternoon Creme Brulee... We didn't get much of a nap before it was time to find some dinner and get to the hotel lobby by 8pm.

We loaded up onto the boat at 9pm and set sail trying to get away from the light pollution. I don't know why they choose to travel East into the bay more because the city lights from other villages were nearly as strong there as in Reykjavic. But we watched and waited for 3 hours and didn't see anything.

Back to the hotel for some shut-eye to be ready for our tour the following day at 9am.

At 9am we were on the bus headed for the Golden Circle tour. This is a scenic nature tour and more along the lines of what we wanted to see in Iceland.

Some landscape:


First stop was the Fissure between the European and the American continents. They say this spreads 2cm per year. This picture is a bit deceiving, but the crack you see is actually just the access down to the bottom. All of what you see is on the American side. 2-3 miles to the right of the picture is the Euro side.


A small frozen creek along the path. What amazing color!


From there we went to Geysir. This is the one from which all others are named. He is apparently the original discovery and quite larger than Old Faithful. However, he is no longer active due to earthquakes and such. But he has a little brother, Strokkur, who blows every 3-5 minutes.









After lunch there we made our way to Gulfoss Falls. Very scenic place!


The gorge at which the falls dive into.






Frozen!


We backtracked from Gullfoss, to a small village called Hveragerði (your guess is as good as mine) where they had a small earthquake center. I think in 2010 they were hit with a quake of 6.3 magnitude and the grocery store has the surveillance footage of what happened during the quake. Quite devastating as you might imagine. Then they had a very small shed inside that was a quake simulator and you could stand in it and get a feel for what a quake feels like. I was shocked at how much the floor moved!

Back at the hotel, we made dinner plans and also visited another local craft beer bar.

Sunday was our free day and luckily we had the foresight to check into booking tickets at the Blue Lagoon. I don't think anyone else did and that was mainly the fault of our Army tour guide who didn't send us the itinerary early enough for people to look into what they wanted to do. But as we were deciding on when to go, the slots starting filling up. The Blue Lagoon offers transportation from common spots in Reykjavic, but since we missed the popular times, we missed that opportunity. But that ended up just fine as we rented a cheap little car for the day and drove ourselves for cheaper.

the Blue Lagoon was a very nice and relaxing experience and I would recommend it as well. Just book a few weeks early. We spent from 9am to 4pm there, enjoying a few drinks and lunch.

The massage area where the two girls got their Valentines massages and the boys went to the swim-up bar.




Outside the lagoon looking towards the power plant:


After driving back to the hotel, we all took a nice nap and then met for dinner. Since we hadn't seen the Northern Lights the first night, the company offers a second try for free. So our last night, we attempted it again. They give you the flotation coveralls to borrow and you do need them to stay warm in the bitter cold wind!


We did see some very very faint lights that night, but it was nothing spectacular. Which made it all the more difficult to get up at 4am the next morning to catch our flight home.

Everything was expensive! A hamburger was the equivalent to $20. A beer, $8-10. I needed a heavier stocking hat, but the cheapest I found for a no name cheapie was $25. So I skipped it! When nearly everything has to be imported, what can you do? Still, Iceland is an amazing country and I would love to someday go back. We are thinking about making a stop-over when we fly back Stateside in July. That way we can do some fun stuff with the kids!

If you're looking to fly to Europe for a vacation, do check into this Iceland Stop-over if you have an extra couple days. It'll be worth it!

Oops, I almost forgot!! This is a motorhead forum yeah? Well, I was able to get a few pictures of some very cool machines you see everywhere in Iceland!
Nissan Patrol (I think)


Mercedes Sprinter...yep!


6-door DIESEL Excursion!


Diesel van:


Defenders:


More Land Rovers:

Nice, my girlfriend is going to Iceland in April with her brother & sister-in-law. They are big gamers and go each year for some big nerd-off convention. She won't be gaming, so she'll be on her own a couple days. I'll show her this stuff.


Thanks

Chad - I'd be happy to help if she needs any more info. We brought home a bunch of brochures and I could share websites from them if needed. She'll need to book early some of the items.

Great photos and journaling! Passed through Iceland on my way to and from Europe this fall. Was sunny on one of the legs and looked like a fantastic place, was only there an hour to switch planes this time but definitely on the list to visit.

Thanks JD,

Any info would be appreciated. Her brother & SIL have both been there several times before, so she's not flying blind.

We were in need of a ski weekend in the Alps. Perhaps our last... :-(. But we needed to get my son on the snow again, and make use of our seasonally rented equipment! I hope we can go again, but who knows. In any case, we made our way down to Meiringen, Switerland again. We stayed in Innertkirchen, which is just over a small mountain pass from Meiringen. The ski area is called Hasliberg and it's a smaller resort, but plenty for a couple days skiing. When ski lessons for my son fell thru (They like for kids to start on Monday's and end on Friday's here!) my poor wife spent the majority of the two days on the rope tow helping my son relearn his skiing techniques. Bless her heart! We went with another couple and they did relieve her for a spell so her and I could make a couple runs together. It's Switzerland, so of course, the scenery was incredible!

This was the view from our apartment we rented the first morning!


Then we were treated to so many beautiful views from the top half of the resort. The lower half mostly remained fogged in the whole trip.




Off in the distance a nice cornice off Hochstollen mountain.


Cabins inside the resort. Likely used for farming during the summer, but scenic nonetheless.


Me near the top of one of the runs with lake Brienz in the background.


There were a couple of wide-open bowls like this to ski. Snow conditions were ok the first day with some fresh powder, but there is a real lack of snow in the alps this year!


Perhaps March will yield some more snow fall enticing us back...?

Beautiful!

Great write-ups! Very cool that you are taking full advantage of being over there. Speaking of the cost of Iceland-- I read an article that said much of the same. It said it was the 4th most expensive country on the planet but a great place for Americans to vacation because almost everyone speaks fluent English.

I'm glad some folks are enjoying them!
Eck - Curious to know what 1-3 are? Sweden? Norway?

That skiing looks amazing. Colorado has been decent this year, but....

I'm sure CO conditions are better but it's really hard to beat the scenic alps.

In early April for my wife's birthday, we took a trip that's been on our bucket list for some time! And we also coerced a sitter to watch the kids for the long weekend! We knew that we were going to have to move fast to do Rome any justice and our kids just aren't at that level yet. We arrived one night just before midnight where we met our driver to take us to our apartment. We proceeded on one of the fastest and most scary taxi rides I've ever been on. Thank God there was no traffic! We settle in and get some sleep.

Next morning we walk towards the Colosseum as we have an early afternoon tour there that we didn't want to miss. On the way, we took in some sites and interesting areas. But first, I found this little Iveco 4x4 truck:


From there we made our way to "The Mouth of Truth", made famous by Audrey Hepburn in the movie "Roman Holiday".


After that we made our way to the Colossuem to find our meeting point. We then tried to get away from the tourist areas to find some lunch to kill some time before the tour. We also managed to find some Gelato!

We took some more pictures while waiting for our tour to start. This one is of the Arch of Constantine with the Colossuem:


The quintessential Colossuem shot:


The Arch:


with incredible detail:


Note the layers or rings the colosseam had in it's day:


The tour then took us to the colosseum floor:


where we saw a labyrinth of tunnels once covered by the arena:


Then we went deeper into the colosseum to where the gladiators were kept:


From there we made our way to the top of the structure to get a birds eye view:


And of the surrounding area:


This is the Roman Forum with the Altar of the Fatherland in the background (horse and Chariots)


From here we made our way to the overwhemling history found at the Roman Forum:


Basilica of Maxentius:


Antoninus Temple. Note where there are rope marks high up on the columns from when they tried to tear it down to build something else.


A couple of panoramics of the forum:




A view from higher:


This is the Altar of the Fatherland at night:


The following morning we had a tour booked for the Vatican and there was even more to see then one could soak in given a week or more! Simply jaw-dropping.


There were miles and miles of hallways decorated emmaculately




Hallway of statues:


Somewhere in here we did get to visit the Sistine Chapel, an hour before the general public gets to come in. It was quite amazing, but we honored the rules and took no pictures.

Here's a famous statue called "Laocoon and His Sons" at the Vatican


Although a copy, you might recognize this; excavated in 1790.


Courtyard at the Vatican:


The onto St. Peter's Basilica:






The Courtyard:




We self-toured the Pantheon:


Then the Trevi Fontane:


Here is what we could see of the Spanish Steps:


Another checkbox on my bucket list was to visit the Tre Fontane Abbey to buy and drink the only (and newest member) Trappist beer in Italy. It was made with Eucalyptus which makes it quite refreshing on a hot day! We got a ride back to the Colosseum and then walked to our apartment from there.

The following day we climbed a hill near the apartment overlooking the city.

A view of Rome from a hill-top:


Trevi at night:


Rome is an incredible city. April is the perfect month to go, as it begins to get busier the hotter it gets (don't understand why that is...). The running joke all weekend was how many times a day we'd have Gelato. On average - probably 3 times! I could see myself going back to Rome someday when the kids are older and doing this all over again. Aside from the taxi ride to and from the Abbey, we walked EVERYWHERE and I am sure we walked 10-15 miles each day! Not traveling with kids spoiled us a bit, but we were ready to be home to see them again!

JD I/we have all really enjoyed this thread. Big question is, whats next? Illinois Idiosyncrasies? North American Nuance’s? welcome back to the "world" as we used to say coming back from overseas......

I'm glad you've enjoyed these. I have one more unique update left when I have the time. But we have more last trip booked, however it's a repeat.

Yeah, I'm not all that sure what's next. Location is Illinois (found out yesterday). But I've substituted traveling and beer collecting for most things bronco. So I am excited to shift back into the mechanical things, but I know we'll get the itch to travel more...

A short 4 days after Rome, we boarded another plane; this time with the kids. This is a trip we had known we wanted to do all along, just couldn't find a good time. So we MADE the time for it before it was too late! We took a late flight into Florence, Italy and caught a cab to our hotel. At about 2:30am, two hours after we got to bed, my 2yr old daughter started vomiting and we spent the rest of the morning in the bathroom with her. Poor thing couldn't even keep water down. She handled it all like a champ!! But we were worried as we had a fair amount of driving to do that first day. So I found a pharmacy and bought some items they recommend and prayed for the best. We delayed our travels by a couple hours that day in hopes that she would feel better before we started the road trip. She wasn't feeling good, but we needed to press on and hope for the best.

We made our way South headed towards Siena, stopping first at the hilltop village of San Gimignano.


An old well in the town square:


View from Village:


We found a place for lunch and my daughter tried some bland pasta, which seemed to hold. So we were hoping she was on the mend!

We left the village and made our way to Siena for our nights stay. We were staying inside the city walls, and I had mapped out each way point for our voyage as I've learned not to blindly trust the location based solely on the address. But as we entered the city, we found one-ways the wrong way, narrow walk-ways not wide enough for a car, dead ends, etc. We wondered around this small city for more than an hour before we finally made it to our B&B. And then upon arriving, the hostess immediately took our license plate number and emailed that to the police. Apparently there is a special pass to drive in that area and not conforming to this results in a hefty ticket! But we were taken care of now. We walked around a bit that evening and enjoyed a nice meal in their sister restaurant. We turned in a little early as we were exhausted from the night before.

We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast and began to explore Siena. Here is the city square, where twice a year they haul in mountains of dirt and hold horse races around the perimeter!


A fountain at the top of the square:


We then walked to the Duomo Di Siena:


Continually amazed at the detail in these churches!






Due to some event, we could not see inside.

Late that afternoon, we left Siena for Tuscany. I was expecting beauty, but as we traveled into the Tuscany countryside, we found more. It was easy to see why people fall in love with this area. You feel laid back; the narrow winding roads have barely any traffic, there are fabulous Villas, hilltop castles, and abundant scenery in every direction!







The first village we planned to visit was Montalcino. Here it is from a distance:


View from the village:


We continued our way South towards our B&B near Seggiano.

More Tuscan countryside:


Neat Villa:


As we neared our B&B, the land began to close in changing from wide open rolling hills giving way to trees and a bit more variety.


After we checked into the B&B, we had arranged for them to also provide dinner that evening. We just settled in and got our *relax* on. This is an Agriturismo, which means a working farm offering rooms to tourists. And for us, it's the perfect thing to keep the kids with the animals, farm equipment, etc, but we also enjoy getting to know the owners.

The following day was going to quite a lot of driving. We drove North from the B&B and topped a hill to get a very nice view of a nearby ski area, still with snow on it:


As we wound our way down the narrow two-lane road, we saw hilltop fortress after hilltop fortress:


If there wasn't a castle or fortress on top of a given hill, it probably had a more modern Villa:


Our first scheduled stop was the village of Montepulciano. I have to apologize for some (ok a lot of) our photography as most of it was done on the move. There isn't many pull-offs on these roads and with them being so twisty, any stopping is likely on a blind corner. But you get the idea I hope:


The view from Montepulciano:


Steep walkways everywhere!


From Montepulciano, we pointed the rental North West past Lake Trasimeno, past Perugia, to Assisi. Here is Assisi from the valley:


We parked the car outside the city and walked in, catching a glimpse of the Rocca Maggiore Fortress above it:


It is a beautiful view of the valley below:


Relics of past times!


We are not Catholic, but it was still neat to learn more about Francious of Assisi and visit his Basilica:


A view of Assisi that night as we headed home:


The following day, we didn't have anything on the agenda, but we found out there was a local natural hot spring that we thought the kids would love. After a wonderful breakfast, we made a quick 20 minute drive to these calcium rich springs near Bagni San Filippi:




Being in a natural setting, the pools weren't too conducive to a 2yr old, so we spent as much time there as we felt comfortable, but there was supposed to be a more developed part of it in town. In search of the pool, we only found closed gates with a sign we can only guess meant they were under renovation. So we searched the GPS for more Hot Springs locally and made our way to it, only to find it was only for hotel guests! We ate anyway in this tiny little village. We returned to the B&B for a nice afternoon nap!

After breakfast we checked out, said our goodbyes and thank you's and channeled our Mario Andrette as we headed to the Eastern Coast and then turned North. Our first stop, Pisa! Somehow my wife wasn't too excited for this, but this leaning tower is certainly high on the attraction list in all of Europe!



The tower begins to present itself immediately as it just catches your eye being off-kilter:


I don't recall the numbers, but not long ago it was closed for fear it may fall. Then they did some underground stuff and leaned it back a little to a stable angle:


But it started to lean again, so my son and I held it while they did some more work:


Kids could not tour the tower and my wife didn't really want to, so it was an easy decision for me to go alone. This is the interior of the tower and it's hard to capture, but the metal post is perfectly vertical and this is part of how they monitor it's angle:


An amazing view from the top:


How many millions have treaded on these steps?


It was very cool walking up the spiral steps that are just inside the perimeter of the outer stones. On one side, it felt as if your feet were going to slip off the steps, then as you walked up the stairs to the other side, it felt almost as if you were walking down! It certainly played tricks on your mind. And the stairway was very narrow, so you are passing people closely unless you found a window well to duck into.

The top of the tower:


After I returned back to ground level, we tried to find a pizza joint recommended by Rick Steves and his map wasn't matching what we were experiencing, but we finally made it to find it was closed. We had just passed another one, se we went back to it and enjoyed some of the best pizza I had in Italy. This place could only hold 20 people and it was clearly and mom-n-pop operation and they were very accommodating. Before we left, I looked for a business card to find out it was the restaurant we were originally looking for, just in a different location! And further down the street was a Gelateria by the same name where we stopped to enjoy their offerings. From there walked back towards the tower and our car park beyond. That tower just don't blend in with its lean.


Back in the car, we continued North to Cinque Terre. We checked into our apartment in Monterosso, which was by far the least value for the money. We were quite disappointed by this one! But it did serve our purpose. We got some pasta and bread at the local store and ate in that night. I took my son down to the beach while my wife stayed back and put our daughter to bed. Not much longer we were all in bed.

The next day, we boarded a boat-taxi and began our voyage down the coastline to see the 5+ villages that make up Cinque Terre. This is the new section of Monterosso where we stayed:


Here is the old section, which was a neat place to explore:


Next village was Vernazza:


Then Cornglia:


Manarola was next:




Riomaggiore:




While Portovenere is not part of the "Cinque", it is still worth a stop. There is a Fortress and church as you approach:


The fortress:




And neat views of the city from the harbor:




View as we exit the harbor:


We stayed on the boat only getting off a one or two of the villages on the return trip, but the kids were reaching their limit and when my daughter fell asleep in the stroller, we knew she had had enough. We returned to our apartment, ate leftovers and turned in for some shuteye.

We had promised the kids we'd take them to the beach, but we wanted to see the local market that morning before the sun got too hot. We got to tour the old part of the village and take in the local cuisine. The old and new are about 1/2 mile apart and on the walk back, my daughter fell asleep in the stroller so I took my son to the beach for the afternoon. Something he had been begging me to do for most of the last 2 days!

At the end of our beach was a Statue of the Giant. I don't know much about it:


The waves were crashing hard that day, which made us very thankful we took the boat trip the day before. The boats do not run in rough seas as the docks are nothing more than an unprotected flat walkway and a ramp off the boat. Anyway, the crashing waves:


We played all afternoon on the beach, and even my daughter got a couple hours in after her nap!

We climbed up to near the Convent of San Francesco to get a higher view of the rough seas:


Enduring our last night in this miserable apartment, we drove out climbing up the steep mountains making our way inland towards Florence again. This time we'd stay in Florence and take in the sites. We stayed right off the Central Market, which is a huge building that has some unique cuisines, craft beers, Gelato, etc. It was a neat experience!

First thing the following day, we had our entry booked to see Michelangelo's David statue. This is the original and there is a copy on display outside in a nearby square.


The detail was quite impessive taking into account the tools he had to work with!




Some other items as we toured the rest of the museum:


After leaving there, we wanted to see a famous bridge, but stumbled upon the Baptistry of St. John. It was a different building compared to it's surroundings:


Just beside it was the Cathedral of Santa Maria:




And alas, the famous bridge; Ponte Vecchio. It's where you buy precious metals and jewels:


Another interesting site we stumbled upon was Basilica of Santa Croce. I know nothing of it, but it was a cool looking building:


During our wandering, we found a neat little steakhouse called the Red Garter, where we enjoyed some very American Gourmet burgers and great beer!

We relished our last night in Italy as we had an early flight home the following morning! We were very happy with the sites we got to see and the ground we traveled! I could see us going back to Italy, but likely spending more time in Tuscany. It is awe-inspiring!

If you are thinking of going to Italy - DO IT!!

One half of a huge checkmark was completed on my Bucketlist Sunday! I never thought that 11 short minutes would make such a colossal impact on my Euro Bucketlist!

One half? Yeah, let me explain that. As I mentioned in my other thread, my wife and a friends wife went together and bought myself and my friend a Nurburgring Package. 1st part was a lap with a professional driver in an M5 (560hp).

We met our friends locally at 0830 even though our appointment wasn't until 1300. But I wanted to get up there and get a feel for how things were ran at the track, where we were to meet our driver etc. The forecast was quite dismal with rain all day, worsening towards the afternoon. :-( Just over 2 hrs later we arrived at the paddock and everything was so unassuming, I nearly turned right onto the track!! Having to execute a U-turn with all these guys driving exotic cars was a bit humbling. We checked in with our rental company and they confirmed the grim weather outlook. But they said that the Ring Taxi was available now and all we had to do was sign on the dotted line and go!

In case the worst happened, we split the couples up and I rode with my friend's wife and he rode with mine. The rain would come in for 10 minutes, then quit, then drizzle, then pour, then quit. But we took our chances and were hoping for the best. Friend's wife and I took the first ride. We load into the M5, got the GoPro running and entered the track. Traffic was quite heavy for being such a rainy day, but soon our driver put the likes of Porsche GT3s, Peugeot's, Mini's, Renault's etc, behind us as the M5 struggled for grip during the initial acceleration to well over 100mph. Still, it was completely amazing at how well the M5 gripped the wet road. I was even more impressed with as hard as you could push the car around the corners without losing complete control. The M5 liked to wag the tail a bit as the driver pushed the car hard trying to give us the best experience possible, but he wasn't able to put all those ponies to work today. Corner after corner, drop after rise, I couldn't believe it was possible to take these obstacles at the speeds were traveling! Our top speed was somewhere between 150-155mph! It was an incredible experience I will cherish forever! I have a newfound respect for professional drivers and for the M-series BMW's!

We have a full GoPro of each of our laps, but I don't have the data plan to allow me to upload that. So this shorter clip from my phone will have to suffice. It certainly does absolutely no justice to what your body feels as you accelerate, brake, corner, rise and fall!


Here's a picture of my friend and I with the driver and our M5:


So that brings us to the second half. After seeing what it takes to make a safe lap around the track, we asked if we could reschedule our self-driven laps. And the company was so amiable and allowed to take a rain check for the actual reason of precipitation! They could have said no! So we have another date with THE RING in two weeks! We are praying for better weather!

WOW Super jealous! So many times I have been by there but, just haven't made it a priority. Were the hats part of the package? good souvenir! awesome!

The hats were the first clue on Christmas Morning. But we did get a couple stickers and a few shirts. I actually have to reign in my wife from buying one of everything!!!

And this box may have very well went unchecked for me as well if it hadn't been for my wife. Same as you, driven by a few times and it's only a couple hours away...

Awesome, JD. I got to ride in a Roush Mustang around Miller Motorsport Park near SLC with a pro driver. I don't think he could really let it loose, as there were other cars, and a strict 'no passing' rule (pace lap for a IMSA race). It was so much fun. But, I'm sure, it was no Nurburgring.

I am sure that was also exhilarating and you loved it! That is all that matters. I like to think I am pretty darn good at picking lines on a track and figuring out how hard I can push things, but riding in that M5 forced me to adjust my scale on "good drivers". I'm not sure I'd push 70% as hard as he did in dry conditions... Ok, so I've never been on any other track, but I do push things on public roads occasionally. If it wasn't so expensive I'd look into doing the Taxi again to see what was achievable, but my wallet can't afford it!

Finished our experience at The Ring! Terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. I'll try to get a full writeup this coming week. The important thing is we had a blast and are home safe!

We picked up our car at 0800 and then made our way to the paddock. While we waited for our wives to arrive we ed over all the Porsche's, Audi's, Lambo's, Ferrari's, and Aston Martins. This was a cool looking Bimmer at the paddock:


Posing before the race:


Back in the parking lot we got the gopro setup in the car and organized a place for our wives to go to get good photos. Once they were in place I took the driver's seat for the first lap. It took me several minutes to get acclimated to the GT and since I didn't know the track at all, I chose a relaxed approach. I began to push where I felt comfortable, but still remained very conservative in my driving throughout.

Here's a couple more shots of me on the track:




Here are some videos my wife took.

This one was about 5km from the starting line, so I was still taking it slow.


As the day progressed the track got busier and it was nearly impossible to string a few corners together without interference. This is my buddy on his first lap coping with the heavy traffic well.


This is me on my second lap.


I've got more video that is uploading...a full lap!

I have gained a healthy respect for the GT86. That 2.0L likes to rev and it starts pulling pretty hard at 4,500 all the way to redline. I think my top speed was near 120mph, which isn't amazing in and of itself, but considering the traffic, lack of track knowledge, and the car not being a power-house, I am perfectly pleased with that!!

I was also flabbergasted at how well these Front wheel drive Renaults and Peugeots could get around the corners!

Overall it was a truly amazing experience and one that I will NEVER forget. Probably the best Christmas gift I've ever rec'd. And who'da thunk that going fast is just as fun as going slow!

This video is Gopro footage of my first lap. After I got home, I realized there must be some 12 minute limit to the length of a video on the gopro, and that meant neither of us got below the 12 minute mark per lap. However, I do believe that due to less traffic, my first lap was my best somewhere near 12:30.
https://youtu.be/dVThUT1It-s

The second gopro is after moving the camera to the rear window (which as you can see wasn't ideal), but it does add perspective. Perhaps there is something I can do to bring out the track better? This is the last little portion of the track after the camera cut off at 12:00.
https://youtu.be/OQe-OKhEKKA