Demolition Derby 2014

Last night was the demolition derby at the Sacramento county fair.  We look forward to it all year, and even though it is 77 miles away, it's still worth it.  I popped a huge bag of popcorn and added sugar, since last time, I had to buy a little bag for $5 which ended up getting spilled anyway.  Well, the popcorn was a hit and there was even some left over!  

We also brought bagels and fruit, so we were set with food.

The nursery needs a family photo and this is the one I want to put up:  Us as we really are.  The demolition derby is my kind of crowd:  People there to have a good time and not stress over what the Joneses are doing.

Lately these two have been into getting their picture taken.  They can be so cute when they're together. After a while, Kira started pinching Tyler, so Tyler would respond by hitting Kira and we had to separate them.

Blakey was kneeling through most of the derby and I thought it would fall asleep like this, but no.  

A guy in a front-wheel drive 1983 Buick got hit so hard that it threw his car about 12 feet and then another car hit him from the side. He motioned that he was injured and the derby shut down while the emergency crew took him to the hospital.  They reported that he had a leg injury but was stable.  The announcer said it was the only time he had seen an injury shut down the derby, but I bet all of these guys have neck and back problems for at least a week.

Once the derby resumed, the four cars went at each other for a long time and they just continue to function.  One guy lost his right rear wheel but kept hitting cars.

Kira was in good spirits and jumped all over the grand stands.

The smoke is a combination of steam and oil.

On the way home, on 12 west, I could see someone two cars behind me in a gosh dang hurry.  Over a double yellow, he passed up the car in front and got behind us.  I knew he would try to pass again on a double yellow and I wasn't sure whether to create space for him or get close to the diesel so he could pass us both.  Well, he started passing again on a blind double yellow and I saw a car coming.  So did the diesel, but the guy passing didn't see it.  The diesel started to move into the shoulder.   Suddenly, the  passer veered into our lane and would have clipped us had I not stomped on the brake and swerved into the shoulder.  I honked and put on my brights.

I think I would be irreversibly traumatized to have witnessed a head-on collision.  The passer and I ended up at the same light and I wanted to roll down the window and say, "Hey man, your foolish driving is not just risking your own life.  You're risking ours, too."

We stayed behind him for another 10 miles and then he passed up two more cars on a double yellow.  We could see that he was about 30 seconds ahead of us when we got back into town.  He was either drunk or high, and it's not my responsibility to try to teach right from wrong.  It's best to just avoid those people.

When I pass people on my VFR, I make sure that it's going to make a significant difference, that it's in a legal passing zone and that it's safe.  If it makes less than a minute of difference, I usually won't do it.

Anyway, the demolition derby was great and the kids enjoyed it.  I want to enter a car in it for subsequent years but I don't want to drive it.  Maybe I'll do LeMons with Miles.