Space Tea Baby Shower for a Baby Boy

One of my very closest and oldest friend is having her first baby, so of course I was first in line to ask...ok maybe demand...to be the one to host her shower!  Thinking of a theme was super easy after we found out it was a boy because my friend has loved outer space/NASA/astronauts since she was a little girl, and both she and her husband are aero-astro engineers.  But having it be all about space seemed more like a little boy's birthday party, not a classy baby shower.  To boost the elegance factor, I decided to combine the idea of high tea with space.  You'd think that putting that into Google to look for ideas would return nothing from the search.  Ho ho!  You are wrong!  Putting on an outer space themed tea party shower is as simple as giving clever names to all the food, like "moon rocks" for scones and "rocket fuel" for the tea.

Complete list of party food:
- Cucumber and Chicken Salad Tea Sandwiches ("UFOs")
- Scones with Cream and Raspberry Jam, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip and Double Chocolate Bread Loaves ("Moon Rocks")
- Mini Strawberry Shortcakes ("Booster Rockets")
- Bunches of Red Grapes ("Space Debris")
- Tang, Iced Tea, and Hot Tea ("Rocket Fuel")
- Almond Joy Cupcakes (couldn't think of something to name them)
- Abandoned Idea: Mini Cotton Candy Sticks ("Nebulae") because the humidity ruined the candy floss within 30 minutes 

Decor included:
- Tissue paper poms of various sizes
- Streamers with tissue paper circles and paper stars of various colors
- Blue hydrangeas with green pipe cleaner antennae (aliens!)
- Various other items utilizing some of the space stuffed toys I planned to give as part of my gift

And here are some of my favorite photos from the event:

Food Table

Circle Cucumber Sandwiches - using a circle cookie cutter for the bread

Mini scones and quarter slices of gourmet breads

Shot glasses filled with diced pound cake and strawberries with whipped cream

Almond Joy Cupcakes - chocolate cake, coconut buttercream, unsweetened coconut flakes with sugar stars and a chocolate covered almond on top

Butter Cookies decorated as baby spacemen with royal icing

Packaged spacemen and star cookies for favors

Personalized M&Ms favors, with one that said "And Baby Makes 3!" 

Mommy Gift: Capture Baby's 1st Year in Photos - monthly onesies made with iron-on transfer paper and these templates

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Reducing the Reading Pile (Summer Funny Books)

This month is the month of silly books perfect for summertime reading!

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

I can probably count on one hand the number of books that have made me laugh out loud, to the point of being embarrassed in public for my extreme displays of amusement from a book.  If you're a fan of witty, self-deprecating, and almost always crass, humorous storytelling (similar to Chelsea Handler's books), then you are going to love this book and not be able to put it down.  The best way I can possibly describe it is to just quote some of my many favorite passages:

• Cleaning a deer for people who clean deer all the time:  I know, right?  Can you believe there are people who don't know this s**t?  Weird.  These are probably the same people who call the poop rope "the intestines."  We all know it's a poop rope, people.  Saying it in French doesn't make it any less disgusting.
• Most people don't go out into the woods to catch armadillos so that their father can race them professionally.
• Occasionally the turkeys would follow us, menacingly, on our quarter-mile walk to school, lurking behind us like improbable gang members or tiny, feathered rapists.
• Dear Victor:  I've poisoned something in the fridge.  Good luck with that.
• When I got home Victor asked what the doctor had said, and I explained, "He sent me home to die." "He did what?" "I mean, he sent me home with some ointment."  It was all very anticlimactic. 
• I was touched, both because she'd come to check on me and also because she'd assumed I was digging a grave but hadn't called the police.  "This," I thought to myself, "is exactly why I love the country."
• "Didn't you once tell me that more than one dead animal in the house borders on serial-killer territory?" he asked.  "Yes, but this one is wearing a hat," I explained.

Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection by A.J. Jacobs

 

I have been a fan of A.J. Jacob's previous work and have even met him at a lecture he gave at the Sixth & I Synagogue in D.C. as part of his last book tour for "The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment."  I find that I can appreciate his experimentalist point of view, as I feel like I am someone who likes to try a lot of things in order to gain the knowledge you can only get firsthand from actually doing rather than learning about something.  In his fourth book, Jacobs tackles the subject of how to live the healthiest life you can possibly live based on scientific studies, health trends, and self-proclaimed "experts."  He's broken the book down into body part-specific chapters that all end with a progress report on his two year endeavor.  What I love about Jacobs is that he isn't afraid of giving credit to the extreme view, if warranted.  I would have loved to see the group of "cavemen" of the Paleo Movement in Central Park throwing stones and tossing logs while barefoot and shirtless!  And, keeping consistent, Jacobs continued to irritate his wife with his shenanigans, but this time she actually willingly participated in some of the experiments for a change!

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

I've had several people tell me that I would love reading any book by David Sedaris, so when I finished with this book, I was a little confused.  Perhaps this was not the best example of his writing and humor.  I found very little cohesion between the chapters, almost like it was a hodge podge of leftover stories that didn't make it into other books.  There seemed to be no purpose or direction, and honestly lacked humor.  I think the only chapters that mildly tickled my funny bone included the stories of when Sedaris decided, while touring Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam, it was his dream apartment that he needed to buy immediately and then compulsively began to remodel the interior in his head; and, second, when he was comparing Christmas traditions between the Dutch and Americans - "We tell our children to be good and send them off to bed, where they lie awake, anticipating their great bounty.  A Dutch parent has a decidedly hairier story to relate, telling his children, "Listen, you might want to pack a few of your things together before going to bed.  the former Bishop of Turkey will be coming tonight along with six or eight black men.  They might put some candy in your shoes, they might stuff you in a sack and take you to Spain, or they might just pretend to kick you.  We don't know for sure, but we want you to be prepared."  (This combines some Dutch stories about Santa Claus - who lives in Spain, has six or eight companions but no one knows for sure, and threatens kids with a beating instead of a lump of coal if they are bad.  The Dutch have weird traditions!)  So, maybe I read the wrong book as my introduction to David Sedaris.  I would appreciate feedback from anyone on which one to read next to, maybe, reverse my position.

Jonathan Tropper

Ending on a better note, if you're looking for fun summer books (not reviewed here), one of my favorite authors is Jonathan Tropper.  ANY of his books are hilarious!  Great storyteller!  His book, This is Where I Leave You, has actually been optioned for a movie.  

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Tiki Drinks

A night filled with zombies, scorpions, and painkillers...

....and a mai tai.

Until this week, I had no idea about the true origins of the tiki culture, nor did I realize that a tiki cocktail isn't an electric blue blended drink in a giant fish bowl with a squeaky rubber shark swimming amongst giant straws.

D.C.'s popular restaurant, Founding Farmers, is also home to notable mixologist Jon Arroyo, who is a big fan of the tiki culture and its history.  He's such a fan that he wanted to share his interest with eager recreational alcoholics (at least that was who was seated at my table) and people wanting to expand their knowledge of mixed drinks (me).  Arroyo is now teaching classes at the LivingSocial headquarters on preparing the foundational tiki drinks.

The tiki culture can count two people as its founders: Trader Vic (actual name Victor Bergeron) and Don the Beachcomber (actual name Earnest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt, later changed to Donn Beach).  The movement started in the 1930s and was based on the classic cocktail combination: spirit, bitters, sugar, and water.  During the class, we focused on: two of Donn Beach's creations - the Zombie and the Scorpion; a blended Painkiller; and the most famous tiki cocktail originated by Trader Vic - the Mai Tai.  Based on the class, you'd better love the taste of rum if you're going to make a tiki cocktail because the recipes Arroyo demonstrated for us call for at least one kind of rum, sometimes three!

If you're looking for any of the odd ingredients listed in the recipes and live in Washington D.C., apparently Ace Beverage is a good source.

Zombie
Be careful, this one is STRONG!  Do the math...there's 4 oz. of rum in one serving.  Which may explain the inspiration for the name, since it makes you dead to the world.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1/2 oz. cinnamon syrup
• 1/2 oz. Falernum syrup
• 1 1/2 oz. Jamaican Rum
• 1 oz. Lemon Hart (rum)
• 1 1/2 oz. Cruzan Single (rum)
• 2-3 dashes Angostura Bitters
• 5-6 drops Pernod Absinthe
• 1 bar spoon grenadine
• mint sprig

Place ingredients into a mixing glass, cover and dry shake (no ice).  Pour into a tall collins glass filled with crushed ice.  Garnish with a mint sprig, pineapple slice, and orange slice.

  
Scorpion
Usually you find this prepared in a large volcano bowl with several long straws (scorpion bowl), accompanied by special dramatic effects created with dry ice and alcohol aflame in the ceramic volcano.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. Hennessy VSOP (brandy)
• 1 oz. Appleton VX (rum)
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. Orgeat syrup
• mint sprig

Place all ingredients in a mixing glass, cover and dry shake (no ice or 1 cube).  Strain into a wine glass filled with crushed ice.  Garnish with a mint leaf, lemon wheel, orange wheel, and pineapple.

Painkiller

Supposedly, this drink originated at the Soggy Bottom Bar in the British Virgin Islands, so named because there was no way to get to the bar except to just swim there, so all your money was soaked.

• 2 oz Pusser's Rum
• 1 1/2 oz. coconut milk
• 1 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 oz. orange juice
• nutmeg

Place all ingredients (except nutmeg) in a blender.  Add 1 scoop (plastic glass) of crushed ice, cover and blend for about 2 minutes.  Pour into wine glass.  Garnish with fresh grated nutmeg, mint sprig, and two large straws.

Mai Tai

The name of this cocktail is Tahitian for "the best."  The legend that accompanies this drink suggests that Trader Vic made this drink for friends visiting from Tahiti, and after a sip a friend exclaimed, "maita'i!"  There are many variations of this recipe, but this is purportedly the original.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. Orange Curacao
• 3/4 oz. almond syrup
• 1 bar spoon orange juice
• 1 oz. Rhum Clement Gold (rum)
• 1 oz. Flor de cana (12 year rum)
• 1 long dash Angostura Bitters
• mint sprig

Shake well with ice and strain into a collins glass filled with crushed ice.  Garnish with a wheel of lime, a mint sprig, and if possible with a little powdered sugar on the leaves.

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Resolutions (a bit tardy) Mid-Year Check

Practical:

• Take more time to be cognizant of how I am saving and spending money
• Become more engaged in the management of my savings and investments
• Try to clean out closets once each quarter and give to charity

One good thing about moving is that you end up making a lot of trips to Goodwill.  Since the move, I've also done one closet purge, but am probably due for another one soon.  So doing alright with that bullet.  One bad thing about moving is that it's a huge financial burden paying for one-time services that are out of the ordinary, so yes I am more cognizant...of money leaving my accounts!!   

Lifestyle:

• Try at least 10 new restaurants
• Bake something new at least once a month
• Cook a nice dinner at least once each week
• Schedule one weekend a month to do something creative with friends
• Host a dinner party and open house for friends

I definitely have room to grow in this category.  Life has been pretty busy for me these last six months, and while my intentions were fantastic, I'm at a loss for time.  Something to work towards over the next six months.  I did do a major open house party and hosted a recent Sunday brunch, plus I have not been neglecting my crafting with friends, just have not nailed it down precisely to once each month.  So I'm not completely ignoring these bullets.  

Knowledge:

• Read at least one book each month and at least three books on investing
• Finish Rosetta Stone French and Spanish programs
• Take time to play piano more and try to find a beginning guitar class

I'm rocking the reading this year, especially with my traveling and long plane flights!  Again, I need to better prioritize my time so that I can work on my language and musical skills.  

Physical:

• Become a regular runner again, at least 10 miles per week, to assess marathon potential for 2013
• Drink more water

I'm getting there on the running!  Yes!  Water....well, I'm reading a book right now that is making me feel really bad about my diet coke obsession, but you need to understand that those cans are my only source of caffeine!  Anyway, I'm trying to consciously make better choices and opt for water or iced tea as substitutes.  Hoping this lasts!

Travel/Culture:

• Travel to 3 countries, at least one new - potentially Peru (Machu Picchu), Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Belize, England
• Go on two fun long weekends - potentially Las Vegas, Nashville, New Orleans, Skiing, Caribbean, Sundance, Austin Formula One race
• Attend the US Open in NYC

On the international front, I can check off Italy and prepare the red pen to check off England.  Unfortunately, my plans to go to Africa fell through and circumstances forced me to push my Peru and Belize plans to next year.  So I may not get my third and "new" country this year - a first for awhile.  But then again, technically my plane landed in Bali right before midnight on New Years Eve, so maybe that counts?  As for fun long weekends, I can definitely say "DONE!"  And US Open plans are in the works right now.

Stretch:

• Go to bed early enough to get at least 7 hours of sleep (really tough because I'm a night owl)

Hahaha!  I'm lucky if I get 6!

OK, time to focus now.  One check and several partial checks is not too shabby considering the craziness of the first half of the year.    

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Learning to Fly

Oh my gosh I actually flew an airplane today.  I'm not sure exactly if all the perspiration soaking my backside when I got out of the cockpit was from the 100+ degree day in a non-air conditioned plane or from my nerves and adrenaline!  Most likely a combination of the two!

What could be so hard about all these gauges?

A few months ago I purchased a Groupon from Freeway Airport in Burke, Maryland for an introductory flight lesson.  It was meant to be a taste of flying without all of the classroom time.  Boy, I felt like I was 15 again sitting in my drivers ed car with Craig Opra in the passenger seat - same set up with the mimicked steering and pedals on the right side of the vehicle. Though I don't remember panicking in the car as much as I did in the plane whenever we hit an air pocket, perhaps because correcting yourself on the road is A LOT easier than when you're 2,500 feet in the air!!!

Here we go!

The instructor was kind enough to take over the take-off and landing parts - phew, what a relief!  Once in the air, it took me some time just to get comfortable with the sensitivity of such a small aircraft to air disruptions (a.k.a. turbulence) and to experiencing the sensation of flight from this perspective, as opposed to my comfy seat a few rows back with beverage service.  Once he demonstrated for me the airplane's responsiveness to simple flight maneuvers - banking left and right, pitching up and down, and adjusting the speed - he was true to his word and handed over the controls to me for a good half hour!  I flew that little Cessna plane out over the Chesapeake Bay, then back up towards the Bay Bridge, turning to get a good view of Annapolis and the U.S. Naval Academy on our left as we made our way up the Severn River.  

Hello Annapolis!

As we approached the airport, the instructor gave the controls back to me (I had voluntarily given them up because we had hit a nice rough patch of air that was freaking me out!!) to guide us on the home stretch before he tool control to land.  What an experience, and what a rush!  Like the longest roller coaster ride ever!  I think the one takeaway from this introduction to flying is that I'm more than happy to pay for someone else to fly me to my destination!  And I thank every pilot who got me to where I wanted to be, safely, on my many travels around the world.  Whew, now I can finally calm down. 

My flying technique: Death grip on wheel and biting my lip to calm my nerves

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Everything is bigger in Texas

While originally I made plans to go to Texas to drive an indy car, I took advantage of my time there to also see some popular tourist highlights in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, then to hop over to the other side of the state to experience the allure of West Texas.

I basically had less than a day to explore Dallas and Fort Worth, with four hours being reserved for the racetrack, so I had to be really selective of where I wanted to go.  With construction impeded traffic, getting between the two cities ate up a lot of unexpected time.  Since I had not visited Fort Worth before, I made that my first priority.  There's one part of town that contains the historic stockyards, where you can visit the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, shop for cowboy gear, or if you're lucky, see one of the twice daily longhorn cattle drives - the "Fort Worth Herd" at 11:30am and 4:00pm.  I made it a point to get to the stockyards to make sure I could witness the morning drive!  Let me tell you, on an excitement scale of 1 to 10, I may put it up there at maybe a 4, but still how often can you say you saw a cattle drive - even if the herd was only six cows?

After the morning drive, I had to abandon Fort Worth in order to make it to Texas Motor Speedway for my racing time slot, but not before I stopped in to the nearby cupcake shop, La Bella Cupcakes - something I love to do everywhere I go because I'm a cupcake snob. And it was worth it because I sampled an amazing Almond Joy inspired concoction that I'm going to have to replicate soon!

The advantage of arriving early at the racetrack was that I got to drive in the first group, which allowed me to zip out right after I finished and drive into Dallas to visit my targeted point-of-interest before it closed - The Sixth Floor Museum in the Historical West End neighborhood.  The museum is housed in the former Texas Book Depository made famous by its deviant employee, Lee Harvey Oswald, who used the building's vantage point to assassinate President John F. Kennedy in November 1963. ( I feel like I should also put "allegedly" here because I was obsessed with the 1991 Oliver Stone movie "JFK" and became quite the conspiracy theorist when I was a kid.)

Oswald's 6th Floor window (green arrow), grassy knoll to the left, motorcade route coming down Elm St. towards the camera with impact around the concrete patching areas.

The museum presents several chronological displays about Kennedy's life, his presidency, the events on that fateful day, and his legacy.  Curators have also replicated the setup Oswald created on the 6th floor to block the view of his activities from others in the building.  You can look out the window on to Elm Street and see exactly where Kennedy's motorcade traveled, as well as the infamous grassy knoll.  Besides The Sixth Floor Museum, the West End has several other interesting sites, but unfortunately I had to get into traffic to head back to the Fort Worth Stockyards in order to make it in time to see the Friday night rodeo at Cowboy Coliseum!!

After this whirlwind day and a good night's sleep, I headed west for a visit with family near Fort Davis, about a 2 1/2 hour drive from the Midland/Odessa airport.  This was the perfect time of year to visit the small West Texas town because they throw a great party for the Fourth of July!  When I arrived, I had unfortunately missed the fireworks and parade, but I was able to meet up with my family for a picnic on the courthouse lawn.  Our lunch was interrupted by the staging of a bank robbery reenactment, performed by the local preachers.  This was a must-see event!  After lunch, we meandered amongst the various tents selling handicrafts, and I actually found a fantastic gift for a friend - I haven't given it to her yet, so I can't say what it was except that I think it's supercute!  Later that night, my cousin and I pulled on our cowboy boots and headed to the annual Fourth of July dance, where men with their hat/boot/belt buckle combinations lead the ladies in country two-step, waltz, and swing dances on a sand-covered floor.  The music was fantastic, and it was very entertaining to watch some of the amazing dancers.  Ah the charm of small town West Texas life!   

Fort Davis is one of three towns that form a triangle in the Big Bend of Texas, all about a 20 mile distance from each other. The other notable town of the three that has gained popularity in the past few decades is Marfa, Texas.  This town used to be the center of a big cattle ranching area and was the location of a railroad water stop.  It also was home to the Marfa Army Airfield, a training ground for WWII pilots.  There's a very cute hotel in the center of town, El Paisano, that hosted three celebrities in 1956 while they were on location to film the cattle ranch based flick, "Giant" - James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rock Hudson.   

Marfa Courthouse

Of course, Marfa is now also known by art aficionados for its modern art festival, Ballroom Marfa, and has become the home to a niche community of artists and writers.  In the 1970s, Donald Judd founded the modern art movement in Marfa that continues to expand even after his death.  An artist famous for his minimalism, Judd bought the land that was once Fort D.A. Russell in order to create a permanent art installation of his work and work of other modern artists, mostly his friends. Judd died in 1994 and the facility is now operated by the Chinati Foundation.  When you enter into the complex, you can see many random hollow concrete blocks sitting out in the field that may lead you to think they are leftover from the military base, but they are actually one of Judd's permanent works.  What he is most famous for, however, are his 100 milled aluminum boxes housed in two buildings that were once used for ammunition storage.  Judd gutted the buildings of everything but the walls - no electricity or A/C - and replaced the garage doors with large windows in order to present his pieces in the natural light that creates desired optical illusions and effects.  Each box measures 41 x 51 x 72 inches and has a unique interior configuration.    

Some of the 100 boxes

I am totally willing to confess that I do not like nor understand minimalist art.  Some of the optical illusions were interesting, but that was maybe on only a handful of boxes, and I appreciated it more from a scientific, not artistic, perspective.  If you were to ask me what kind of minimalism I appreciated on this trip, it's more like these amazing photos of the big spans of West Texas land and sky!

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Happy Birthday, America! - 5 Things I'm Loving Right Now (America Edition)

Happy Birthday, America! 

1. American flag art made out of baseballs: I found this art (pictured above) at a Red Robin restaurant in Virginia.  Unfortunately, it was made especially for the restaurant chain, but that by no means discourages me from trying to replicate it for my house in the future!  I saw this video that shows how to make something similar, but I think I'd rather have the balls remain whole.  So how much do 260 baseballs cost?  It looks like this monster would be 60+ inches wide by 40+ inches tall.  'Merica!  Now I need to think just where I could put this in my house...

2. Homemade Ice Cream:

I've made two batches of ice cream over the past two weeks - raspberry & cream and peanut butter cup.  Both used the same vanilla custard base and added the flavor of choice right before churning.  Here's the recipe I used with my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker...

2 1/8 cups whole milk
2 1/8 cups heavy whipping cream
3 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
1 1/8 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used Mexican Vanilla Extract)

1. Freeze ice cream maker canister overnight
2. Combine whole milk and heavy cream in a medium saucepan, bring the mixture to a slow boil over medium heat, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.  (If you want a pure vanilla ice cream, add the seeds of a vanilla bean and the bean itself to the milk/cream mixture. You will want to remove the bean after the simmer time).  Stir occasionally to keep film from forming on the top.
3.  Combine eggs, egg yolks, and sugar in a standing mixer and beat on a medium speed until the mixture is thick, smooth, and a pale yellow color.  You can also do this in a bowl with a hand mixer.
4. Turn the mixer to a slow speed, measure out 1 cup of the hot milk and add to the egg mixture slow and steady to temper the eggs.  Too fast and the eggs will cook - not a pleasant taste in ice cream!
5. When complete, add the egg and milk mixture into the remaining milk mixture, stirring to combine.
6. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
7. Transfer to a bowl, stir in vanilla extract, and cover with plastic wrap placed directly on the top of the custard.  Chill completely in the refrigerator.
8. Pour chilled custard into the ice cream maker canister, set up the machine with the paddle and lid, and turn on.  After about 30 minutes, the ice cream should look like a soft serve consistency - also known as yummy taste test time.  Transfer into a storage container and freeze for a harder consistency.

3. Patriotic Rice Krispie Treats:  What's better than a plate of gooey, sticky marshmallow and cereal square goodness colored with red and blue food dye?

4. Bakerella's Snow Cone Cupcakes:  I've posted them before, and I'm going to do it again because I'm just smitten with them!  Plus, it's reminding me to find the time in the near future to try this myself.  The colored sparking sugar is in my pantry just waiting to be opened!

 5. I Only Run in Red, White, and Blue T-Shirt:  Raw Threads has the softest t-shirts I've found, made from organic cotton, viscose from bamboo, and elastane.  Don't think you need to limit yourself to buying this just for running, it's amazing any time!

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Driving an Indy Car!!!

I drove 158+mph!

Oh, do I have to write more than that one sentence?  But doesn't that say it all?  OK, fine.  But before I do, a little background.  

I went to my first open-wheel race in 1995, and from that day forward I loved racing.  My obsession with the sport was intense for the first 6 years, focused mostly on the (then) CART open wheel series.  Alas, it faded as I found my attention being drawn in many other directions.  But my love for speed and adrenaline on a track has never left.

Recently, a LivingSocial offer popped up for the Mario Andretti Racing Experience.  I drove a NASCAR last summer, and it was fun, but nothing could compare to getting into the cockpit of an actual open wheel racecar - my young adult racing fantasy come true!  The track experience deal included a one-on-one training with in-car radio communications and a five-minute racing session for about half the normal cost.  I ended up buying 3 additional minutes of tracktime to ensure I got enough laps to make the experience worthwhile.  Before I even set foot on the track, I had to first select which track to drive.  The obvious choice, given its proximity, was Richmond International Raceway, but that was the location for my NASCAR drive and the track was very short - uncomfortably short.  So, I decided to go to Texas Motor Speedway because not only was it a lot longer, 1.5 miles or twice as big as Richmond, but it had 24 degree banking on its turns.  Can we say "fun!"??

After checking in at the track, we waited to be called to the drivers meeting where we got a safety lesson on track specifics - staying above the line that designated the "apron" on the corners, where the racing line is on the front and back stretch, passing protocol, etc.  We were also told that our objective was to eventually, through coaching from your spotter, get our speed up so that we were hitting the revlimiter - or the device that regulates the maximum speed for the indycar.  They also stressed that, contrary to our natural instincts, we were to do whatever possible to NOT lift our foot off the accelerator -- what!!!???  Yes, I know the car was designed specifically to create downforce on these curves at TMS, but seriously not slow down?

After the drivers meeting, we had a meeting with the crew chief who reminded us, again, of the key safety points, especially staying at least 5 feet above the white line on the curves - emphasizing that if we touch the paint, we will go into the wall.  Yikes!  The advantage to getting to the track early meant that I was in the first group called - yahoo!  We got our ear buds for the in-car communication system that linked us to our spotter, who was providing us with instructions while on the track.  Then, with helmet on, I sunk into my cockpit bucket seat, got my 5-point harness buckled, attached my steering wheel, and prepared to be shuttled down pit lane by a 4-wheel ATV.  When told by my spotter, I had to pop the clutch and give it gas....and the heavy concentration and maybe a too tight grip on the steering wheel began!!!

The first lap was a giveaway because it was spent building speed and entering the racing line.  I worked on understanding how sensitive the steering wheel was to movement.  It was unbelievably responsive to the smallest of turns.  I barely had to even move it to the left on the corners!  I'm not sure exactly how many laps I was able to complete in my 8 minute session, but I really did try my best to hit that revlimiter.  I never did hear the sputtering noise that indicates I triggered the device, so I can't say that I went as fast as I possibly could, but I went as fast as I felt comfortable.  The computer clocked me at a 158.16 mph top speed.  Not too shabby!  While the experience was amazing, it went by so fast I can't even recall every sensory detail about the drive itself.  But I can say two things:  I have checked off driving an indycar from my bucket list and, were I to do it again, I think I'd like to stick to the road courses with right and left turns. Vroom Vroom!

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