So... Where were we?

Mom has been "between computers" as she is moving stuff from her "old, wonky" computer to a "new, non-wonky" computer, so she's been WA-AY behind in helping me follow bloggies and things. She promises that we'll get back on track soon. Which means when she actually has some time...

*ahem*

Anyhoo. Last weekend we were back out at the historic Wendover Airfield for a two-day autocross. It may be an historic airfield, known for being one of the prime test-flight sites for the Enola Gay before she went off for her historic flight, but it is still also an active military base (here is a current helicopter landing next to the Enola Gay's hangar; Mom was warned by the airport people not to get too close to the helicopters as [and Mom quotes] "they can shoot you").

We took the House With Wheels out to Wendover, and were totally captivated by the Utah desert.

Or not...


Dad was running the event, and Mom was helping him, so they didn't get a ton of pictures (where 'ton' means 'any'). Mom got a couple pictures of Dad setting the course (he's in the truck, I promise!)

Since it was pretty hot out, Abby and I just hung out in the air conditioning while Mom and Dad did their thing. (Mom has a picture of the two of us hanging out together, but for some reason it keeps posting it sideways, so you just get me!)

The helicopters hung around all weekend, and Mom was captivated by them (especially when they did fly-bys).

A bunch of the Army guys got rides in the autocross course, but apparently, they weren't allowed to return the favor and give us rides in the helicopters!

Mom and Dad seemed to think it was pretty cool to have the helicopters flying around, and since they didn't buzz the House With Wheels, it was all fine with us.

Mom and Dad raced the Miata both days. Mom was driving really well on Sunday, but the car developed "technical difficulties" (because we've had so many car races in a row, there were a number of cars that were experiencing technical difficulties by the end of the weekend), so she and Dad (and Uncle Charlie, who came out just for Sunday) only raced half day. Frankly, Mom and Dad were worn out from running the event that I don't think they minded too much. (Dad drove well both days, but he always drives well, so it pretty much goes without saying!)

So, despite the 'technical difficulties', and all the fun, I think they had fun!

Anyhoo, we came back Sunday afternoon, and Abby and I spent several days frolicking in the yard.

Uh-oh. She's still looking like my Evil Twin....
After a week of beating up on each other frolicking together and walks and stuff, Mom and Dad had another autocross, this time at the E Center, in Salt Lake City. Because it was supposed to be another hot day, and it was just a one day event, Abby and I stayed home with Jessi (the lady who is teaching Mom to feed us turkey hotdogs) while Mom and Dad went off to do their thing.

Dad was chairing this event, too (it's a long story, but there aren't a lot of people in the region who can actually run events, and so the bulk of the events fall on a couple of people), so Mom and Dad got up at the crack of dawn and Abby and I went back to sleep left us.

Before the truck and trailer showed up (that has all the stuff for setting the course), Dad and one of the other 'regulars' drove the guy's car around the parking lot to get an idea of the kind of course he would set.

Dad then did the course setting thing.

While Dad was doing that, Uncle Charlie was getting the Car of The Day ready. The two main cars are being worked on, so Uncle Charlie decided to dust off (literally - it has been in our garage for a couple of years now, doubling as a shelf) his old 1989 Corvette.

Pretty, huh?

For a car that has been shelved for 8 years, and tires that were unused, but 6 years old, it did really well. Apparently the car has a ridiculous amount of horsepower, and everyone had a great time in it. Uncle Charlie was 3rd in raw time, Dad was 10th, Aunt Linda was 11th, and Mom was 20th, but was less than 1.5 seconds behind Linda, which, on a 60 second course, is good for Mom. And they all had fun.

Abby and I had a great time frolicking in the mountains (and not cooking down in Salt Lake!).

Holy double-vision, Batman! Heehee!

So. It was a good weekend all around! And I think we're all caught up now!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Mutant Puppy

Another Weekend of Autocrossing

Wow. Okay, so another weekend of car racing in the books, and Mom managed to get only a few more pictures of us this weekend than she did last weekend. But I'll forgive her. She was too busy making her (borrowed) car go around in circles that she was probably too dizzy to get many pictures of us.

Heehee.

But I'll get to that in a few. We went back out to Wendover on Thursday because Dad and Uncle Charlie were setting the course for the weekend, and wanted to get it done before it got dark. Because we had left the House With Wheels out at Wendover, and Uncle Charlie had done the same with his, we all piled into the Jeep; Dad and Uncle Charlie in the front, and me, Abby and Mom in the back seat. Whether it was because she was in the back seat with dogs (Abby, not me!) sitting on her, or she was just getting sickie-poo, Mom didn't feel very good when we got to Wendover, so while Dad and Uncle Charlie were setting the course, Mom was snoozling, so she didn't get any picture of the two 'boys' working away.

However, Mom was feeling better by the next afternoon, and attended a driving school. And lemme tell ya', Mom totally needs driving school! Heehee! Um. Apparently this was a school that was specifically designed for this event. This weekend's race was a 'ProSolo' which is kind of like a regular autocross, but the start is like a drag strip start complete with 'Christmas tree' drag start, and a 200 ft. straight-away.

The other big difference is that rather than one big course, there are two mirror courses, so as soon as you run one course, you come around and run the other course.

Mom, being Mom, decided that since she has only done this once before in her life (and it was about a month after she got her driver's license and was all focused on the fact that it was the first race in her life where she couldn't have a passenger helping her) and because she was driving a Mini Cooper (a borrowed one - and, ironically, the same sort of car she drove at her other ProSolo, except this car was quite a bit different from the one she drove then) she'd do the driver's school thing. Mom was a little nervous about the whole 'drag start' thingy and thought that if she had someone other than Dad or Uncle Charlie sitting in the car next to her, they might not frown as much. Heehee!

Here's Mom trying to look like she knows what the instructor is talking about (and the car owner looking at Mom to make sure that she knows how NOT to burn up his clutch...):

After the talking part, Mom took a bunch of 'practice starts'.

Note the look of utter concern on the instructor's face! Heehee!


Anyway, Mom managed not to blow up the car, and seemed to think she was 'ready' to race the next day.


After the school, Mom and Dad "walked the course"; you aren't allowed to see the course at speed until you race it, but you can walk it as much as you want. Which is a good thing, because Abby was being a Giant Pest again, and so Mom took her on course walks to see if she (Mom) could wear her (Abby) out.

It didn't work, BTW!

Mom was not the only one who was out trying to wear out highly-energized doggies, however. There was one lady who seemed to be dragged around the course by her Vizslas.

Apparently, Vizslas are warm weather doggies (like Dennis, who is from the mythical city of Sandy Eggo, where doggies need only wear fedoras) and are not used to the colder climates of us more Northern Lands. These girls got cold in the mornings, and had to wear coats! BTW, Dennis, these girls were pretty cute. I got their phone numbers if you are interested!

I guess it was actually pretty cold (I still am wearing my home-grown winter coat, so I didn't get bothered by cold weather), because there was another doggie who had her own coat. It included her own personal porter, too!

While it was cold and windy, it didn't rain this weekend, which made Dad quite happy, as he was driving the Franken-Miata.

Saturday rolled around, and since this was a National event, Mom and Dad were racing along with 160 other people.

The event was set up so everyone took 4 runs in the morning (2 on each course) and 4 in the afternoon, and then 4 more Sunday morning before they did the "challenges" (which I'd explain, but since neither Mom, nor Dad nor Uncle Charlie made it into any of them, it doesn't really matter).

Anyhoo, on the runs in the morning, Mom spun the car once (I should note that the owner of the car was not at all concerned), and hit a few cones, but managed to get times on 3 runs, so at least she was 'in the books'. (With the drag strip start, if you start before the light goes green you 'red light' and don't get a time - even if you are within thousandths of a second before the light goes green.) Dad ran some fast times in the morning, but red lighted 3 times, so both Mom and Dad were under a little pressure to get things cleaned up in the afternoon.

However... In the afternoon Mom spun the car two more times (she says it was because she was on cold street tires. I say it was because, well... Maybe Mom should have spent more time in the driver's school! Heehee!) and didn't get any faster. Dad cleaned it up and got times.

Dad doing human zoomies!

Abby and I looked out the door and watched the cars go by.

And there were LOTS of cool cars to watch.

Here are two very fast cars at the start.

Uncle Charlie and another 'D prepared' car heading off in mirror opposite directions.

This green thing was REALLY fast!

Yes, this is a truck. And it was surprisingly fast!

Here's Mom's co-driver (and the car owner).

Dad and Uncle Charlie were in an 'indexed' class (I don't totally understand it, but they use some formula to make all the prepared and modified cars "equal" - it really doesn't, but that's the theory), and so they didn't make the run-offs. Mom and her co-driver were in the 'Street Touring Extreme' class, and while they had fun, the Mini is not competitive in the class, and so they were battling each other for last place - Mom won the battle and was DFL in the class! But she had fun (and got to see the class from the 360-degree perspective!). And she did have her best run of the competition on her very last run of the event, so she was happy.

Computer problems in the afternoon on Sunday made the challenges start late, and since the Utah region was hosting the event, Mom and Dad had to stay and work the challenges, so we didn't leave Wendover until late, and got home very late last night. Mom and Dad are both worn out from two big weekends of racing, and so while I'm being all mellow and good, Abby is being her usual, PITA self. Which is why Dad has been forced to stick a Dingo bell on her nose.

Heehee.

*ahem*

In other excitement, Flat Brutus has made it to our house!!!! He didn't make it in time to go out to Wendover, but we have a local race next weekend, so Flat Brutus will get the chance to be an autocross doggie! Mom says that if he's really lucky, he may even get to ride along in one of the cars! Of course, we will be documenting Flat Brutus' adventures!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Pest

Mom and Dad have been "busy"

So. Mom and Dad had a Really Big car race this last weekend. They were so busy getting ready for it that Mom hasn't had a chance to take pictures of us. Seriously. At least that's what Mom says.

C'mon Mom. How could you not take pictures of my beautiful snooter? Whatever...

Yeah, um, so. This race was a 'National Tour' event - which means that a lot of the people who race at the National Championships come out for this. So, for the first time since last year's Nationals, Dad and Uncle Charlie had more than themselves to compete against, and Mom and Aunt Linda (Uncle Charlie's wife) had more than themselves to compete against, too.

The big race was at the Wendover Airport (this was the second weekend that we've raced out there this year), and because Friday is full of 'pre-race' events, and the Utah Region was hosting the race, Mom and Dad decided that we'd go out on Thursday. And, because there is another big National race at Wendover next weekend, Mom and Dad towed the Jeep out so we could drive back to Park City after the first race,and leave the House With Wheels out at Wendover for the week. So, we got there on Thursday, and Dad and Uncle Charlie set the course while Mom got the House With Wheels all set up.


There was a big 'paddock' area with lots of houses with wheels and trailers and stuff, but Mom and Dad chose to park away from everyone else (the big paddock area was all on concrete, and far away from the dirt, and since I don't like to piddle on concrete, Mom and Dad wanted to be close to the dirt; also, Mom and Dad are kind of anti-social! *grin*)

Here's the main paddock.

Since Mom and Dad were So Far Away from 'the action', they had to ride their bye-sickles back and forth so their feet didn't get worn out!

Oh, I do want to show you a sponsor that really caught my attention:

It's the big Bridgestone tire truck/tent. Mom and Dad use Hoosier tires, and my tires are my own personal brand, but I am a new fan of the Bridgestone people because one of the nice people from that tent met Abby (who was out on one of her many 'Mom is taking her for a walk because she's driving the rest of us - meaning me and Dad - crazy' walks) and for some reason, he was suckered in by her puppy cuteness (and Abby just sucks that up like a sponge - she's such a diva). He was So Suckered by her puppy cuteness that he stopped by the House With Wheels the very next morning and brought us Vita-bones!!! If Abby and I needed new tires (or doggie cookies) we'd have gone straight to the Bridgestone people!

And while Abby can be a little obnoxious with this whole 'cute puppy' thing, if this face has people bringing cookies to our door, well, I guess I can't complain too much!

Work it, baby! Heehee!

But when Abby wasn't doing her cute puppy thing, she was being a General Pain. Mom says it has something to do with all her needle-like puppy teeth falling out and her Big Dog Teeth coming in. I think it's just because Abby is a pest, but that's just my humble opinion. But she was Such A Pain that Mom took her on a lot of "course walks". In the car racing Mom and Dad do (it's called autocross), they drive around cones, and they can look at the course by walking it, but they don't see it at speed until they race it. The more you walk the course, the better you get to know it. So under the guise of wanting to "walk the course" Mom gave Dad and me a break from The Not-So-Little Monster. Abby probably saw the course more times than most of the racers out there! (Seriously. She was being a Monster!)

Unfortunately, Mom couldn't actually take pictures of her walking the course with Abby, what with not being able to step out of her body and all, and Dad and I were hiding in the House With Wheels, far away from The Giant Pest, so here's a picture of Other People walking the course. And in case you were wondering, Abby only made one 'deposit' on the course - which Mom promptly cleaned up.

Unfortunately for my totally photogenic self, pretty much all weekend long, when Mom or Dad was racing (or working), the other one would ride back to the House With Wheels, take us out (one at a time, thankyouverymuch!), and then get back to "the action". Personally, I think they were trying to avoid The Pest!

However, they did get a bunch of pictures of themselves. Hello?!? Excuse me?!? Whose bloggie is this, anyway? Pictures of people and cars? *YAWN* I'm just saying... However, since Mom generally indulges me, I'll cut her a little slack and let her post some car racing pictures. Just this once.

Here's Dad in the 'Franken-Miata'.

And here's Mom.

And Dad again!

And Mom going 'zoom-zoom'. Heehee.

Here is some of Dad's competition:

Unfortunately, this car broke (which is totally common for the cars in this class), but in the true spirit of competition, one of the other driving teams gave up some of their runs and let this guy drive their car. Pretty cool, I think!

And here are some of the other cars that were out there:
If you are wondering why the cars are going in different directions, it is because they ran the course one direction one day, and then changed it slightly and ran it backwards the next day.

Here's a picture of Mom and Aunt Linda after their runs on the second day:
And Mom sitting in the car looking all racer-y.

As for how everyone did? Dad did okay the first day, and Really Well the second day, and ended up 5th. Uncle Charlie won the class. Aunt Linda came in 2nd in the women's class, and after a really bad first day, Mom did really well the second day, and ended up 3rd (she probably would have been 4th, but for the broken car; the car that broke in the men's class had a lady driver in it as well, and the woman ended up driving a completely illegal-for-the-class-but-very-cool-looking Mustang, and so she had to be DSQ'ed.) Mom and Dad were both very pleased with how they did on the second day, and so while they are Very Tired now, they are happy with how the weekend went.

Next weekend we are back to Wendover for another race, but I am hoping that before that, Mom will get some pictures of me. (Particularly pictures where I am beating up on The Pest, who needs to be put in her place!)

Oh, and we had a moose encounter today, but Mom didn't get any pictures because she was too busy shooing us inside, and panicking about the very pissed off moose in the yard (the moose only got pissed off after we got inside and Dad was trying to get her to leave...)

*kissey face*
-Fiona