Summer 2009

Friday, June 21st. Short day. Lunch with friends at the Maltby Cafe, work at Target. Freedom! 

Fourth of July

The fourth of July was spent at my Dad's house hosting a barbeque and lighting off fireworks. Quite a few of my friends made it over at one point or another (Wow, that's a terrible picture >>>) to light something off (legal or no), and altogether the day was a lot of fun.

The fun factor tripled at night, however. The extravagance of the fireworks rose exponentially, as multiple families from our street gathered in our cul-de-sac and combined their fireworks into one big "Wow!" And I was in the middle of it all—choosing, positioning, engineering, lighting, and enjoying. 

While we were down there we celebrated my Grandpa's birthday (the official occasion for the get-together). Altogether, it was a relaxing few days (kite flying, beach combing, lots of good food), and it was great to see some family members that I hadn't seen in quite a while. 

Kirkland Car Show, July

July 26th was the Kirkland car show. Here in K-Town we're fortunate to have a legitimate car show (none of that small town, thirteen-car crap). The show takes up five of the six main streets in downtown Kirkland and includes all types of cars, from old-school American muscle to foreign beauties like the 944 in the picture. That's the best kind of show, really: enough variety to prevent you from getting bored. 

Also, the car show is accompanied by other events. Downtown Kirkland sits on the edge of Lake Washington and includes a popular marina. During the car show, the marina was host to a boat show, which had a large turnout this year, and on the beach were multiple events, including an art exposition and a dog show. Emily joined me in wandering through it all, and it was a fun day.

PLUS, I got a popsicle ->

On August 8th, I was able to go to my third PCA Driver Skills Day. I watched one in 2007 (see Summer 2007) and then participated in one with my Corolla in 2008 (see Summer 2008). But now, finally, I was driving a car that wanted to be there. This was my first opportunity to stretch the ol' e30's legs, and it was a blast. After every run, I jumped out of the car grinning like an 8-year-old on Christmas. Making the day even better, Emily was kind (and patient) enough to come along and watch/photograph me in the event. I definitely appreciated having her there to share my excitement.

All in all, the car did fairly well—certainly much better than the Corolla! The e30 could use some suspension upgrades, though. Look at that body roll [left]!

Magic Mountain, August

The very last weekend before school, Mom and I flew to Los Angeles to spend two full days at Six Flags'  Magic Mountain. We rode all the coasters: Batman: the Ride, Riddler's Revenge, Superman: the Escape, Colossus, Deja Vu, Goliath, Revolution, Scream, Viper, Ninja, Terminator: Salvation, Goldrusher, Tatsu, and X2. The last two [Tatsu at right] were most extreme and also my favorites (also the two Mom refused to ride). Talk about physically intense! In 104ºF+ heat, the water rides were also necessary. Saturday was pretty busy, but Sunday there were hardly any lines, and we were able to repeat some of the rides several times. 

All the automatic coaster cameras took similar photos: me with my arms up, laughing my head off; Mom with a death-grip on the seat, screaming and grimacing with a mixture of determination and terror. She was a good sport, though, and I appreciated that she repeatedly stepped out of her comfort zone.

The weekend ended too soon; I could have stayed another four days riding over and over, round and round. Nevertheless, if summer has to end, this was the very best way to do it.