We had a couple of friends over for dinner yesterday. Jim is just getting over a bad cold which typically means he’ll be ravenous after a week of soup and spaghetti.    So I decided on something hearty: Carolina style country pork ribs, Smashed Baby Red Potatoes with Chile Oil and Dry Jack Cheese, and a simple Caesar salad.  I also tried a new dip, but it was a bust.   Two out of three ain’t bad. The ribs were very tasty.  We’re trying to figure out why they came out a teeny bit dry. I tested them after two hours, before I added the...
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It’s hard to describe a day so completely satisfying, exhausting, and fun. But, we’ll try. We set out to get to the track well ahead of the noon start time. We were shooting to get off the metro at 10 am and beat that by half an hour. It’s a good half hour or so walk from the metro stop to our grandstand. We got there and camped out by our favorite shady tree. Since it was a sunny day we figured we should manage our sun exposure as much as the drivers would have to manage their tires. So we bopped up to...
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Got up and found a full breakfast before heading to the track. A very happy crowd in the metro and the police did a great job with crowd control. We never felt crushed or an issue with people not playing nice. Got into the stands just in time to finish qualification for the spec 1600 series. Now a brief wait until F1 qualification. We find a place in the shade to rest. 30 minutes to qualification:  The crowd is moving to the stands, a few engines start and rev only to be shutdown as the mechanics finish their checks. Qualifying:  Lotus Racing doesn’t make...
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After a great dinner we crashed for 11 hours. Got up and tried the world famous Tim Hortons coffee. Eh. On the plus side our Ham sandwich combo meal came with a donut. Yes, we slept through first practice and breakfast. This vacation thing is working. Metro to the track. Jim’s bright idea for the day is to walk around the track the long way. We have almost 2 hours until second practice so it shouldn’t be a problem. There are people everywhere. We first agree on a meeting place in case we get separated in the crowd. There are a lot more people...
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After too little sleep, too little coffee and neither of us understanding “do you have it” we find the metro. Like the metro/tube/subways I’ve been in it is easy to follow the colored signs and map that leads to our walk. What walk? The walk down the F1 pit lane! Nadya gave her camera to one of the guys at the Lotus Racing pit and he walked throughout the garage snapping pictures. What great hospitality. Ferrari started their car first. The sound is surprisingly like you hear on TV only turned up to 11. We spotted a pallet of live lobsters being brought in...
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We are off to the Canadian Grand Prix. As a gauge to our excitement, we only left the house 30 minutes a before we planned. Nadya was a little worried about our supplies, insisted on the big bag and cross packed knitting patterns. I cross packed the charging devices and am happy we have the big bag. Rogue Spruce Gin martini + Coffee People double espresso = perfect Portland buzz
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