I drove my used car made by the Bavarian Motor Works down to the Fireside yesterday. It was almost all highway driving and I got 28.4 miles per gallon. Match that!
I also discovered the difference between Obama and Jesus! Jesus could actually build a "cabinet".
I got a brochure from Road America, the road racing association in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. They wanted me to buy season tickets. It brought back memories of the original creation of the 4 mile track. In the 1950's, a group of local investors got together and purchased the Kettle Moraine property that Road America was built on. The featured race was called the "June Sprints". It was scheduled to coincide with the end of the college school year. College students from all over the country would descend for a weekend of boozing and babes/hunks. Elkhardt Lake on Friday and Saturday night didn't allow traffic because of all the wild students. The sprint cars were basically foreign like Jaguars, Austin Healeys and maybe a gull winged Mercedes. The race was really secondary. The "blowout bash" in Elkhart was all that counted.
I actually attended one race at Road America in my lifetime. It was 1960. I had been accepted at Marquette University and I remember the hot August day. Your Mom (who was pregnant with Grasshopper No.1) and I went to a road race featuring driver Augie Pabst along with his special Scarab race car, a truck load of beer and his trophy wife. He led the featured race and was winning by a wide margin. On the last lap, on the last major uphill grade, the Scarab puked and Augie pulled off to the side and waved to all his competitors as they drove past.
Your Mom and I were treated to tickets by Grandpa George and Nana. We picked a high vantage point so that we could watch as much of the track as possible. We discovered that there is no one perfect way to watch a four mile track. So your pregnant Mom dragged me to popular locations around the track. I don't know if climbing up and down hills and walking long distances is good for pregnant women but when you are 20 years old, you don't think about those things. Grasshopper No.1 didn't arrive for another month. She can say she attended a Road America event.
So you see, by living 3-4 miles away from Road America when it began offered me the the opportunity to watch it evolve and attend an early event. Your Mom and I were there.
This August will signal 49 years since your Mom and I walked the hills. I have never attended another RA event. No, I have no interest in going back.
The lesson Grasshoppers is that you never know when you are witnessing history. Pay attention. You may be experiencing something important.
Love,
Dad
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