MotoGP in Indianapolis

MotoGP ran in Indianapolis for the first time this year. It was worth the drive, the wind and the rain! Saturday was a beautiful day! We met up with Uncle Mike and Auntie Audra. Mike and Eric got to take a Buell, KTM and Yamaha for a demo ride. Eric gave the Yamaha R6 a rave review. His face was awfully bright after the test drive and got him wondering how Honda's new CBR600RR compared. Too bad I think he will just have to suffer with his 2003 CBR600RR for awhile. After the track, we headed downtown for some Japanese food. Then walked around downtown for Motorcycles on Meridian which was a crazy line up of tons of bikes downtown. I love Indianapolis. Where else can you have the Symphony hosting a dinner on the circle with fireworks and a thousands roaring bikes just 2 blocks away? (Sorry we didn't have more time to do some visiting!)

Sunday was all about the races on the track. The Riders Cup drivers raced. I found out I was a mom when one of the 13-15 yr old riders bit it kind of hard right in front of us and I got teary. Seriously!?! Then they ran the 125cc. toward the end of that race, the weather got all Ikey. Freak heavy rain and crazy gusty winds. Since the weather was kind of in bands. They postponed the 250cc race until after the main event (The 250cc eventually got cancelled). The rains stopped and they dried the track and ran the MotoGP race. Around lap 17 the rain started sheeting accross the track. In 3 more laps they red flagged (ended) it and Rossi had another win. Rossi also said those last 3 laps were the worst conditions he's race in. Kudos to the skill of the drivers and the rain tires, none of the 125s or premier class riders bit it despite the conditions. Also despite the 80 closure. it only took us an hour and 45 minutes extra to get home via 30 Sunday night. Yea! Here are some pictures.
Auntie Audra and Elena.
Tuckered out after a late night on the town!
Before the first squal. We camped out at the top of the Northwest corner cause it has a great view and a fabulous fence backrest which helps in the wind...
Waiting for the premier class race out of the wind and rain. Elena slept through most of the worst weather. Props to the Baby Bjorn Active - a baby item that is a must have in my book. Apparently, the gusts were up to 59mph and the track even lost power.

The first lap of the premier GP race everything was dry and nice. My lack of zoom and sound does not do this race justice. We will definitely be back to MotoGP in Indy.

Camptastic!

More importantly than silly home projects... We took Monday to clean our bikes up, put a hitch on the Civic and prepare for camping the following weekend. Thursday, we cruised up to Penninsula State Park to meet my parents and Team Gemo. Elena got to go tent camping for the second time in her life. Lucian and Elena enjoyed long walks with Grandpa and riding bikes. Eric and I, Team Gemo and our parents all got to take the kayak out. Eric and I got to take a little time for ourselves, so we decided to work out our bikes on the fabulous mountain bike trails. As usual, he totally kicked my tail. All the pictures are on my mom's and sisters camera except these few. Here is Elena chillin' with a bottle in the camper.
Elena thinks riding bikes is hard work. The Co-pilot Limo is a fabulous kid carrier for long rides. It is a lot less work than a trailer and it reclines... (The Bell Cocoon is also a good carrier if you can't find this one on supersale!)It also detaches and sits on the ground...Where is that do not disturb sign?

Off to Indy on Thursday (before the flood)!

Paving the Way

Labor Day weekend we devoted to another home project - finishing the sidewalk. This is the first home project we've actually have had fun with in a while! Elena wasn't too crazy about the rough gravel.
So we leveled and compacted it.
Then landscaping paper goes down to keep your sand from mixing in the gravel. Elena liked this a little better...
Then the edging gets put in to shape.
Then an inch of level sand goes down. Laying the pavers is the fast part as long as you lay it out to minimize cuts.
At the end of the day Saturday, Kodi was done and so were the easy cut pieces.
Elena explaining to her father the best practices for wet saw use. Cutting is the most time consuming part. This portion took a majority of Sunday. Silly curves...
We used a polymeric sand to fill the cracks. It is suppose to harden and resist erosion, insect and weeds.
Sunday evening and Eric is misting the sand to make it harden and then we are all finished!

Elena likes this much better.