November 3rd weekend – Saturday we were up
earlyish to drink coffee. We had an
appointment to have Scrappy’s exhaust fixed and a new muffler be installed at
Chuck’s Discount Exhaust at 9:00 and we arrived there only a few minutes past
that time. Unfortunately they were very
busy so we had to drop off the car.
Equally unfortunate was the weather as it was raining and so leaving
Scrappy outside with its bare metal exposed to the elements was not an
option. Fortunately they were able to
make some space inside the garage and we eventually dropped Scappy off and
headed home to wait for the news the work was done.
Once back we lifted Tia onto jack stands and swapped out her
differential and transmission fluid.
Unlike Scrappy this went smoothly since we now had the correct
tools.
We took a break to catch lunch at a Chinese place close by
before I received the call that Scrappy was almost ready. We hopped in the suburban again and made our
way back to the exhaust shop. We arrived
and quickly filled Scrappy with gas from the station next door and loaded it
into the safe confines of the trailer as the sky once again started to piddle
rain on us.
Not content with calling it a day we once again went out to
do some shopping and grab fresh rotisserie from Walmart. We still had more to do to prep Scrappy so
spent time zip-tying the gauge cluster in place, installing the seat, and
swapping the wheels out before loading it into the trailer again. Finally we finished the evening on the couch
with the poor pups who had missed us all day.
Sunday we were up early for coffee before our trip to High
Plains Raceway. It was Susan’s first
experience driving on a real racetrack so we brought Tia and Scrappy. That way Susan could drive some with a
passenger to give her pointers before making the leap to Scrappy which has no
passenger seat.
When we arrived we parked next to Janis Dancis who was there
with a couple of his BMWs. Susan and I
checked in and both picked to drive in the slow group. After a brief drivers meeting we jumped in
Tia, me behind the wheel and Susan in the passenger seat.
I think Susan had a rough go of it though I’m not sure what
more could have been done in the given circumstances. Tia is a fun little car but most all of the
other cars there had at least twice the horsepower and the drivers were
generally pretty terrible. Thus we were
passed every which way which was annoying and jarring for Susan. After a couple of laps I pulled in to the
pits and we swapped seats. While Susan
did manage to get around the track alright I was a terrible instructor and it
was very stressful experience. After the
session was over she hopped into the passenger seat of one of Janis’ BMWs for
more seat time.
I decided that we should probably run in different groups so
we could both get actual seat-time so I headed to the main office to move to
the fast run group. Unfortunately they
only allow this change to occur at noon so I missed out on one session of
driving. I really didn’t mind and
instead watched Susan driving with Janis in the car (he was a MUCH better
instructor than me (in my defense – I’m new at this myself and really can’t
offer much in the way of good advice)).
Eventually I got the chance to drive again and this time I
jumped in Scrappy. Man oh man that car
is a blast! It ran great, drove great,
braked great, and cornered great. In
fact, it had much more to give than I could take. After this we exclusively drove Scrappy for
the remaining sessions with Susan riding with Janis when it was my turn to
drive.
After I finished my second session around 3:00 we packed up
to go home. While we could have
technically done one more session each Scrappy was almost out of gas and we
felt like we got our money’s worth. Next
time we would come with gas cans to prolong the fun.
Once home we unloaded Scrappy and other racing stuffs we had
brought. Our celebratory meal for
Scrappy and Susan’s first track day was Domino’s Pizza and we enjoyed every
bite. The weekend ended with us on the
couch thinking about what we next needed to do to get Scrappy ready for Lemons.
November 10th weekend – Saturday began earlyish
with coffee. Susan snagged a quick
shower and we hopped into the suburban to tow Scrappy out to HPR for another
open lapping day session. We arrived
later than I wanted but plenty early to check-in and be ready before the first
session began. Susan drove in the first
group and I the second. There were far
fewer drivers on the track with us which was nice. We also brought gas cans which allowed us to
put almost 180 miles of track-time on Scrappy’s odometer. We had a good time and each got something
like 30 laps.
It was around 3:00 when I was driving and saw some drops of
rain splatter the windshield. As we
still didn’t have the roll cage painted I elected to pull off the track the
next time around and into our trailer.
Thus the day ended early but not terribly early. It was fun and it’s hard to argue with the
seat-time to dollars-spent ratio.
I drove us home to take care of the pups and then Susan and
I got in Flo to drive up Deer Creek Canyon to Dave Brown’s home. Dave Brown was a local rally hero this year
as he won the championship for the 2018 season and we were invited to his house
to celebrate with many other folks. The
final leg of the journey had us on a perilous dirt road far from pavement. We made it alright but I imagine the going
gets mighty difficult after the snow falls.
While we didn’t know half the people in attendance we knew enough to
keep conversations going for the evening.
Most everyone there was an auto enthusiast so we found we had much to
talk about. While unintended we were
some of the last to leave Dave’s house around 9:00 to go home where we finished
out the day on the couch with the pups.
Sunday had both Susan and myself sleeping in a bit. Eventually we were both up drinking coffee
together and watching the snow fall. I
brewed it this time as a minor disaster occurred the day before when Susan had
the reigns. Basically we discovered the
importance of closing the coffee maker immediately after turning it on.
Anyhoo.
I spent some time compiling the footage from the day before waiting
hours for my computer to output a final file (4K footage is CPU
intensive). Susan busied herself doing
her internet-thing and going outside to try and coax Slayer to come home.
We had last seen Slayer on Tuesday and were concerned as
more and more snow fell throughout the day.
I thought it likely that our friendly cat had meowed open another
family’s door and was making new friends.
We really couldn’t know for sure and Susan put out the call on the neighborhood
Facebook to be on the lookout.
Lunch was Jimmy Johns and dinner Domino’s. We had made the decision first thing in the
morning to experience our first lazy Sunday in quite a long time and made the
most of it by keeping our productivity relatively low. It was a nice way to end our weekend.
Thanksgiving week
The week began on Friday, November 16th for me as
I took the day off to clean up the house.
I’m glad I did as I was able to accomplish a lot.
Saturday had us up early to finish cleaning up and
reorganizing. Early in the afternoon we
braved the slick roads to pick Mom up at the airport. We were in the cell phone parking lot well
ahead of time which was good as Mom’s flight came in a few minutes early. After she was bundled in our car we stopped
at the Lazy Dog Restaurant and Bar for an early dinner. It was a new place to everyone and we found
the food tasty. As the weather was still
nasty we decided to just go home for the evening.
Sunday we were up in time for coffee before heading up to
DW’s in Aspen Park to have brunch with John and Karen. It was busier than we’d ever seen it and
there was a brief wait while tables were cleared and pushed together for
us. As always the food was great and the
conversation flowed. Instead of going
directly home we ventured down to check on the Dawn house and then to Parker to
check out some gift shops. I did my best
to turn down my surly nature and cynicism as to not be too annoying. I think I kept my mood in check until I
realized I’d left my credit card up at the restaurant in Aspen Park. Such a bummer!
Monday began early for me as I called DW’s as soon as they
opened at 8:00. Sure enough, they had my
card. Thus we went up for another
breakfast before Thanksgiving shopping was to commence. First we went to Costco which was busier than
I’ve ever seen it. Holy moly. Once we were freed of its clutches we
apprehensively stopped by Walmart to find the place largely and thankfully
empty. We bought all manner of food
stuffs and then went home to unpack it all.
Tuesday was mostly a relaxing day as we prepped what we
could ahead of time.
Wednesday morning Mark’s family came over for brunch. We had sweet bread and pastries for everyone
to munch on and then I led everyone on a tour of our property. It ended in the living room where we chatted
and watched YouTube videos both I and Mark had uploaded showing us driving at
the track and Mark and Co’s new house being built. We then headed over for lunch at Casa Mariachi
which was great.
The afternoon plan was to paint with everyone including
Emilee’s family at Canvas and Cocktails at 2:00 and we all arrived just in time
to do so. The painting part went well as
we all (including Stew and Lee) created amazing art over the course of a couple
of hours. It was fun!
Dinner was at Saltgrass Steakhouse in Parker for the adults
while Mark’s kids watched Emilee’s kids at their hotel (coincidently they
booked rooms at the same hotel). The
joint was busy and the service might not have been the swiftest but it was all
good as there was much conversation. The
food arrived yummy and we all had a nice time.
Thursday had Susan and myself up early to prepare various
Thanksgiving Day food stuffs: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and green bean
casserole. Mom made sweet potato
casserole and Susan whipped up onion dip and put together a pickle and olive
platter. Of course, orange jello made an
appearance which Susan had prepared the day before.
Mark’s family was the first to arrive a bit after noon
followed shortly by Emilee’s family. The
turkey took longer than expected to finish cooking and we finally sat down to
eat about 2:00 in the afternoon. The
food was all oh-so good and we all ate far more than doctors would
recommend. After dishes and leftovers
were cleaned up (much thanks to Jesse for helping out) we piled up White
Elephant gifts in the living room.
There were many brightly wrapped things to choose from and
we had a merry time opening, stealing, and exchanging this and that. I do believe everyone made out like bandits –
especially the kids.
Then came dessert which consisted of four pies, ice cream,
and a bunt cake. Even though some time
had passed since the main meal most of us were still full and not a lot was
eaten which was ok. The initial reviews
were that the desserts were tasty so there’s that.
Most everyone then began playing a game where one wears a
dental speculum and tries to read various words and phrases. It was mucho fun to watch and there was a lot
of laughter. After several rounds we
called off Thanksgiving for 2018 as Mark and Emilee’s families made their way
back to their hotel for the evening. Susan
and I were so happy with how it turned out.
Mark’s family came by the house again on Friday for a movie
and leftover desserts. The movie was
“The Meg” which was good in a horrible way which made it a perfect holiday
flick. It was a nice time!
Saturday and Sunday largely went by in a blur as they were a
pair of equally lazy days. After the
previous week’s festivities I couldn’t bear doing much more and we utilized
leftovers and delivery for our caloric needs.
Mom was great throughout as we largely sat around on the couch.
Thanksgiving was great for Susan and myself. Mom was a fantastic guest and we loved
hanging out with her all week. The Meal
itself was fun to put together and tasty to eat. Hopefully we can all get together for
something similar for next year’s holidays.
Our pet situation seems to have changed in November. Slayer never did come back home. We are both sad about this and still hold out
some hope that he’ll make a triumphant return.
Not sure if we’re going to try to get another cat from a shelter at this
point as the cold weather would make it difficult.
Bella and Pebbles were great over Thanksgiving week. Everyone loved Pebbles as she is content to
be held and sit on and around anyone’s laps.
Both her and Bella were patient with the little kids and exhausted after
the festivities were over.
