My wife was feeling well health-wise so we planned a weekend away, especially now that our girls are a little older than they used to be and entertain themselves a bit more. About a month ago I had had the 1800 head machined and I was a little trepidatious about an out-of-town trip after putting everything back together. I had driven it around town enough, plus some short highway jaunts, to know it wasn't leaking anything, but hadn't done any long trip running 4000rpm for a couple of hours straight. Nor had I spend a lot of time at highway speed on my new wheels and tires.
We started with a racing event at Mt. Tremblant (about two hours away) on Saturday that included a vintage class. It was the first time my wife had ever been to a race track. She was thrilled by the sights, sounds, and smells. She asked why didn't I race my car and I mentioned that I had entertained auto-crossing it, but then explained the cost of getting a car truly race-prepped and to run in events (cage, fire suppression system, trailer, event entry and hotel costs). She shrugged her shoulders and smiled. We'll see what happens over the next few years, but that almost sounds like an invitation to get a track car.
Here's a vid of the cars heading out on track to get a sense of the marques:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1974_fiat ... ateposted/
And here's a vid of her glee when some were coming back to the paddock:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1974_fiat ... ateposted/
We spent the night at the resort after enjoying a good dinner. We headed to Raduno Montebello on Sunday morning, an Italian car event at another resort about an hour drive's back towards home, right on the Ottawa River. We met some good friends in their Spiders, plus I introduced her to DeTomaso Panteras, some choice Alfas, more Ferraris than you could shake a stick at, and some top end Maseratis. No Lambos this year, which is unusual. It was as hot as Hades, but it was a good time.
A vid of some of the drive there:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/1974_fiat ... ateposted/
A great weekend, and now she really appreciates car stuff.
My wife is amazing. I am one lucky bastige! We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but this weekend was great!
Cheers,
phaetn
