We last left off with me
dropping the bike off at the rental place.
Which is certainly better then dropping it off a cliff on The 101.
Not as entertaining - to be sure - but monetarily more prudent.
So.... which one do you pick?
Not a hypercar fan, myself.
You can have ‘em.
Now, were we looking at some low-slung roadsters from somewhere between say 1935 through about 1965, then I’d likely have more of an opinion
I scooted down and gave her
a big hug.
She hit me with her purse.
(Surprisingly, there aren’t any readily available GIFs from one of those encounters)
We retrieved my car and set out
So…
Did you take the McLaurin or the Lambo
I had printed off Alison's directions
and had Liesa act as navigator
and co-pilot.
"Okay, it says go to the roundabout
with the flowers and turn right."
City Slickers attempting to use country directions?
This is not going to be pretty…
I'm kidding.
The above did not happen.
I made it up, just for some fun.
So far as we know…
A murky and tenuous thing?
There was no skinny dipping either.
Otherwise you’d be posting this on a slightly different verity of web-site
(one of which I’ve never seen – mind you – but have heard tell of)
I did get pressed into bar tending duties.
So, did you remember to card them before serving the drinks?
Some municipalities are rather picky about that little detail.
I had mentioned in a previous TR
that I had had a Caesar (to drink)
Friends, Romans, fellow Dis-ers;
I’ve come to drink Creaser, not to praise him.
The evil that these drinks do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their celery sticks;
So let it be with Caesar.
And she was too scared to try it! 
Probably more due to the wariness over the presenter of the gift in question rather than the gift itself.
It's a variation of the Bloody Mary using
clamato juice instead of tomato.
Ahhhh, not a big fan of tomato juice
Pretty sure clamato juice shan’t be much of an improvement.
For those of you that I tagged earlier…
You’re still “It”!
Don’t y’all know how this game is played?
I shamelessly stole this photo
from Liesa's TR.
Nice bit of shamlessness…
Once our drinks were drunk,
and we drank our drinks,
I’ll bet you think we’re under the al-fluence of inc-ohol …
Kids these days.
They don't know what's what.
Said our parents…
And their parents…
And their parents before them…
And…
It's called the Crap Pot.
Or as some Brits might refer to it…
The Loo.
(hey, you’re the one that wrote it that way)
Then the waitress came
with our food.
As she walked towards us,
she must've stumbled or something
because the next thing I knew...
A variation of a Low Country Boil.
Just spread out on a California table.
Here, it’s generally done outdoors and spread out on a board resting across a couple of saw horses.
The real benefit of that method is that once the kicking, stabbing and mallet cracking commences, the action can naturally devolve into a full on tag-team mud wrestling bout just as nature intended it to.
And everyone wants to see that, right?
I'm quite convinced that if you
put two warring leaders together
and asked them to pose for a photo,
wars could be prevented... or stopped.
It's a theory.
Assuming that one of them hadn’t just purposely insulted his closest allies beforehand.
And it was gooooooood.
Yum!
I'd do that again in a heartbeat.
(Minus the bruising.)
Probably ought to try the mud wrestling aspect of it before making a final decision.
Could be worth the scars.
Eventually, the evening came to a close
and we left for our respective domiciles.
Or cages, as the case may be…
Yesterday's dinner extravaganza…
Oh, is that what you call it?
An extravaganza?
So…
The Bloody Saturday Extravaganza
The Watts Extravaganza
The Stonewall Extravaganza
I get it.
Live and learn.
the Melting Pot;
specializing in fondue.
Well, I’ll be…
We actually have one of those critters near where I live.
And here I though Cali was so much more sophisticated.
(oh, and the bill-of-fare is quite good at that one too).
We dodged blow darts and
a giant rolling boulder,
but eventually arrived intact
at our table.
But what about the snakes?
You didn’t step on Reggie did you?
We do fondue at home occasionally,
but always meats in a broth.
I've also done chocolate a couple times,
but never had cheese.
Cheese fondue has become a Christmas Eve tradition at our house.
(and it’s more affordable if you make it yourself
)
The cheese courses came with
breads and vegetables.
The latter took me by surprise.
I hadn't considered anything but
breads for a cheese fondue.
Yep, the Veggies are particularly good (not that my son would know).
For a real mind bender, dip a piece of a good hard cheese into the melted cheese
Things started out peacefully enough,
we all began dipping and eating.
Until, that is, I decided to try the
pot closest to Fran.
I reached over and...
Oh dear, not again…
We just can’t take y’all anywhere, can we?
Oh, no! Fire!!!
Luckily, I figured this might
be a possibility at a fondue
restaurant and had already
scoped out the locations of
the fire extinguishers.
I grabbed the nearest one,
pulled the pin, and doused the flames.
Good thing you were in a restaurant rather than a theater.
Otherwise we might have been dealing with a serious moral dilemma.
I can't talk about the Melting Pot
and not talk about the bus boy.
I have never seen anyone clear
a table with as much alacrity
as this gentleman did!
Oh, you mean an actual scullery type bus boy.
Never mind, carry on…
By the time dinner was done,
we all may have felt
slightly (and when I say slightly,
I mean extremely) full.
Yeah, The Pot has a tendency to result in that condition
Qualifying isn't racing,
but it's still fun to watch.
Well.... for me.
I'm sure for you, it's the
equivalent of watching
paint drying.
So long as it’s an interesting shade of paint.
Then, I suppose it might be doable.
If you ever want to see
an Indy race, the purchase
of a paddock pass is a fun
(if moderately pricey) investment.
Somewhat like attending an NHRA event.
Except, entry to the pit area is generally included there.
Watching a crew completely tear down and rebuild an eight-liter supercharged V8 in between heats can be quite entertaining. Kind’a like watching a precision hurricane; arms, bodies, tools, parts, all flailing about frenetically in every direction.
Similar to what that mud wrestling scenario could be…
(but with less precision in that case)
A crew member removed the
steering wheel (they detach)
and handed it to the boy.
The look of awe on his face
was priceless.
That’s a cool story.
I love when folks are able (as well as willing) to go out of their way to make someone else’s day.
I wandered over to the
inspection site.
There they ensure all the cars
meet stringent height, weight,
angle and other criteria.
It was really quite fascinating
to watch.
(Yeah, yeah... paint drying. I know.)
It was fascinating for me.
Ehhh, I’ve got’s me my own instances of being fascinated by paint drying (and likely worse instances at that). I ain’t going to call you out on yours
The champion always gets
to have the number one on the car.
Like having “The Yellow Jersey”.
Or painting a target on your back…
same concept.
And was almost the last thing
I did that day.
Scary…
That would probably have broken me in half.
Bad that you ended up impersonating a circus net; good that it wasn’t more serious.
At least it was a shirt cannon and not a Hot Dog Cannon or someone might have really gotten hurt.
https://www.today.com/food/woman-hit-face-hot-dog-cannon-phillie-phanatic-t131547
Okay!
I will now provide you with a lap by lap
(85 laps in all!)
and a turn by turn (11 turns!)
rundown of the entire race!
Just out of curiosity?
How many of you just
actually shuddered?
Well…
All of us I assume, but you know what they say about assuming…
I won't bore you
(well, not bore you more)
with race details.
You’re too kind.
I’d likely have gone ahead and bored everyone (being vindictive as I am).
To the left is what appears
to be a roller coaster.
And that's what I thought it was.
Only later, did I find out
it's a bridge, designed to look like
the roller coaster that once
stood there.
That…
Is a really cool, idea.
Good job on the city’s part, there.
You’re alter ego: once at least.
You’re business logo: not this time.
(but the resolution on my monitor is a mite suspect)
If you bring Betty, you might hear her say turn left on one of the 200 Peachtrees in 100 yards. I am exaggerating, but not too much. Just a bit north of Atlanta and you start getting into the foothills of the Appalachians.[/QUOTE]
Lu - cky…
to the TR! 
