Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Speed Week!

This photo is from www.kiwiasalt.blogspot.com
The picture was taken just after I was born in 1979...what a good year!!!

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted anything for a month!! Bad Alison!!! :)

The biggest highlight of the last month is Speed Week out at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Patrick spent a week camping out there, relishing the history of the event that gave birth to his motorcycle. (I'm trying to get him to post on this blog, too...I'd love to have his perspective on here.)

I went out for the day on Tuesday, the 19th. It was hot and extremely beautiful. The salt looked just like snow all over the ground. I got out there just after 1pm and met up with Patrick and his friends from the H.A.M.B. They're a fabulous group of people!

Next we went to the starting line to watch and listen to the cars as they took off. The louder, the better, right? Yes!

We walked around the lines of cars waiting for their turn to run and checked them out. There were some awesome vehicles!!

The people watching was just about as entertaining as looking at the cars. If I had a discreet way of taking random people's pictures (and if my batteries hadn't died), I would have gotten some hilarious shots.

There was a woman with a see-through white shirt on, little khaki shorts, white tube socks with red trim, up to her knees, and a trucker hat that was too big, sitting atop her head. The see through shirt was funny...I pointed it out to Patrick before he even had a chance to notice!

There were a handful of women who came all decked out in their vintage-hot-rod-chick outfits, topped off with beautiful red lipstick. I was baptized by salt that day, into the sexy red lips club. :)

There were also some entertaining dudes to look at...big 'ole bellies, topless, itty bitty shorts, etc. I absolutely LOVE people watching. The cars were cool too, don't let me take away from that!!

We went and ate a late lunch/early dinner at the Salt Flats Cafe (I think that's the name), and ate way too much food. Good stuff, though.

Next we walked around the pits. It was late enough in the day that most people were packed up, but I did get pictures of a rubber band powered car. That was pretty amazing. I also got to meet some of the Old Crow crew. I swear, the guys out at Speed Week are some of the nicest people I've met.

After that we went to the Hop Up party and checked out a sweet car show. Cars that were running out on the flats for Speed Week, as well as sweet cars that people have "loved to life" were lined up everywhere. It reminded me of my Junior High and High School years when I would go to car shows in Phoenix with my brother, Jeremiah, and his friend, Jeff. I thought I was so cool because I was at a car show with my older brother. :) I love those memories. Anyway, the car show and party was awesome. I wish I would have taken pictures, but I was feeling camera shy.

We went back to Patrick's campsite and hung out there until a wind storm got so bad that I decided to start my drive home. My hair, ears, clothes, skin, everything was covered in salt. It was awesome.

Patrick took a lot of pictures, so when we get them developed (yes, I said developed...he's anti-digital) I'll post those on here.

That's my share of the experience. We'll see if I can get Patrick to share as well. :)