Speedy Gonzalez

Seriously...Today, I did the COOLEST. THING. EVER!

***Disclaimer, this post is rated PG-13 due to some comments made during my time doing the COOLEST. THING. EVER!

So...today...I went to the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving (it's at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler) for some live TV hits with Channel 3's Bruce Haffner and the Health & Wealth Raffle. One of the prizes this Raffle is a four day racing package for two (where you learn how to race the car...how awesome is that?!?) Several of my colleagues have gone to meetings at the Bondurant School and they were all taken on hotlaps.

What's a hotlap you ask? A hotlap, my friends is: a motorsport in which vehicles are driven around a race track without actually competing for a position or any other recording of performance - basically really fast practice.

I was SO jealous that my friends at work got to go on hotlaps, and I SO wanted to go on one myself.

So...today...I went to the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving with high, high hopes that I would get to go on a hotlap. Just when I thought my chance had passed and I was considering if it was unprofessional to ask for a hotlap, I had a chance to chat with Bob Bondurant.

Who is Bob Bondurant you ask? Bob Bondurant is a 76-year-old retired racecar driver who founded the Bondurant School after an accident left him unable to return to racing. You can learn more about Bob Bondurant here on Wikipedia. In addition to being a retired racecar driver, he was a driving instructor to Paul Newman and Tom Cruise.

He was so cute, in a grandpa sort of way. He drove up in his smart car with his dog Rusty. Anyway, back to my story. I was chatting with Bob about how he loved to race and how he used to be a helicopter pilot and would follow his students (who were driving cars) with his helicopter (can you imagine looking in your rearview mirror and seeing a helicopter?). It was then, when I was saying nice to meet you (and sort of dragging it out because I really wanted to go on a hotlap) that he offered to take me on a hotlap. YES! I was SO EXCITED!!! :-)

We got in the car and another man helped buckle me in (there are two shoulder straps and two sides of the lap belt that all go into this middle round connector buckle). Then, a retired race car driver drove me around a race track! It was awesome! The windows were open and my hair was blowing all around and I giggled the WHOLE WAY because it was SO COOL and SO MUCH FUN!!

I've been told the cars go about 150 miles per hour on the race track. He was taking the turns (like 90 and 180 degree turns) at 70 and 80 miles per hour and even turned off the traction control so we got to slide around the curves a bit. AWESOME (please read in a sing songy voice!). But the most amazing part was that he was in such control of the car (going around a 90 degree turn at 80 miles an hour with the back of the car sliding because the traction control was off) that he could go right through the middle of two orange cones that were spaced just a little more than a car width apart without touching either of them! Seriously, it was the COOLEST EXPERIENCE! (Have I mentioned that I LOVED it?)

I had a blast. Only when we were done and completely stopped back in the pit area so I could get out of the car, did I realize that I was shaking. I think the adrenaline from going so fast got to me because my hands and legs were a bit shaky and weird feeling as I got out of the car! SO COOL!!! :-)

Bob Bondurant told me that he thought driving in a racecar was almost as good as sex (we'll call it better-than-almost-anything-driving), only sometimes it lasts longer. OK, funny because the 76-year-old man that you could tell loved racing so much said it. It definitely made me laugh.

And that my friends is a full account of how I became known as Speedy Gonzalez ;-) and of one of the coolest experiences I have ever had.

Bucket list...check!

A Lemon

Wil is out fixing his car...for the third time since we've been married and for the second time in the past month and a half. I keep joking that Toyotas are better than Hondas and that his car is a lemon. If I were you, I would steer clear of telling him his car is a lemon - he's not a huge fan! :-)

I thought I would take this time to blog about our cars, and the milestones I was unable to write about because we did not have this blog at the time.

Wil has a 1998 Honda Accord. It is WAY nicer than my car (I'm talking leather seats, sun roof, remote keyless entry, climate control nicer!), but unfortunately will die long before my car too (because it's a lemon :-)...shhhh, don't tell!). About a year and a half ago, while we were engaged, Wil's car hit a very important milestone - 100,000 miles!


I'm sure you will think we're totally dorky, but we bought party horns (a suggestion that I was only kidding about at the time, but that Wil seemed to like) and drove around until it hit 100,000 miles!


We blew our horns and cheered and then pulled into a parking lot to take photos with Wil's car when it turned 100,000...that's a BIG deal in the life of a car! :-)


His car now has 140,000 miles - probably thanks to the many road trips we've taken and the fact that he drives to work, home from work, to school and home from school almost every day. If it makes it to 200,000 miles we might have to invite people over for a party!

I own a 1996, manual transmission Toyota Corolla. I bought it from my aunt when I turned 16 and I have had it ever since. My car is great, and rarely has any problems except for regular maintenance. My car turned 100,000 miles shortly after Wil and I got married, and it still only has 117,000 miles (thanks to the fact that I drive it long distances for work, but it sits parked in the driveway anytime we can choose between Wil's car and mine). So we got out our trusty horns, that we saved from his car's milestone, and went for a drive. We ended up by Lake Pleasant and pulled over to the side of the road to throw our little party.

Unfortunately, the camera battery on my camera died the night we celebrated my car's milestone...imagine pictures like the ones above, only with me and my car in them instead of Wil and his car.

Laugh all you want, but our milestone parties were great fun! I think they will become a tradition in our family.

Payson Rodeo

The real purpose of our trip to Payson was to go to the Payson Rodeo. Wil and I went once when we were first dating and it was great fun, so we decided to go again! I think the bull riding is my favorite, but it's definitely all cool to watch.

This is not the clearest picture, but you can kind of make out the man mid-air flying off of the bull!


This one's kind of cool, too! I had lots of fun playing with my camera during the bull riding!

Tonto Natural Bridge

Wil and I at Tonto Natural Bridge.

We took a trip to Payson yesterday - apparently our mission this summer is to be home in the heat as few weekends as humanly possible. It was SO much fun!

First, we went to Tonto Natural Bridge. It was awesome! I've never been there before, and it was SO cool! We did the loop, so we got to go all the way under the bridge and out the other side. I have NO idea how something like that forms, but it was amazing!

If you look closely, you can see the back side of the waterfall. There were parts under the bridge that it felt like it was raining!

I should mention at this point that there was one part when we were under the bridge where the rock was completely slick. They had carved small footholes in the rock so you could climb up. At which point you were on a ledge and had to put your feet in the little footholes on the side of the rock in front of you that were not large enough to hold more than your toes and the balls of your feet and then you had to walk across and not fall to your death off the edge of the ledge - at least that's what it felt like.

I had a little nervous breakdown on the ledge. Wil usually helps me or gives me a hand when it gets difficult and I get nervous, but there was only room for one at a time in the footholes and I needed both hands to hold on the rock in front of me. There was nothing he could do, I had to do it on my own. Literally - I think I stood on the ledge trying to figure out where to move my feet for at least ten minutes! I was so scared I couldn't move - it was a weird feeling! Finally, I got brave enough to move my feet. Wil pushed me against the ledge so I wouldn't lose my balance (my problem is that I'm clumsy and I know it...falling off a ledge does not seem like a far fetched thing for me to do). Happily, I made it and lived to tell you the tale on this very blog! A little embarassed that I got so scared, but I was brave and did it...and I would probably still be scared if I had to do it again!

It was at the very moment that I was having a nervous breakdown on the edge of the cliff that we ran into a family from our ward. What are the chances? They probably think I'm a complete wimp (and they quite possibly could be right).

This is way before the freaky ledge...I'm not THAT much of a wimp!

Besides going through the bridge, we had a picnic at the park, picked wild blackberries and even saw this little guy - I don't think I've ever been so close to a javelina before! It was great fun!

Community Giving

One of our contacts at Walmart asked me to pull photos from community giving and service projects Walmart has participated in recently. I was amazed at all of the organizations I've had the chance to work with and all of the community giving projects I've been able to work on for Walmart.

Following are a few of the photos I pulled for them. All of these have taken place in the past year, and there are so many other projects that have happened that I don't have photos of. I'm currently working on announcements for another $345,000 in grants to community organizations. I know Walmart does a lot for the community and gives a lot back, but it was an eye opening moment for me to line them all up yesterday.

Westland Charter School in Phoenix going green.

Special Olympics Arizona healthy athletes clinics.

Seeds of Hope groundbreaking for a new, larger facility.

Walmart Santa Kids shopping spree for nonprofit organizations serving children.

Fresh Start Women's Foundation to help women going through significant changes in their lives.

Tempe Police K9 donation to replace a K9 lost in the line of duty.

Earned Income Tax Credit event to help low income families file their taxes for free.

Boys and Girls Club for computers and supplies in three new clubs.

1,000 filled backpacks for underprivileged Gilbert students.

Piestewa Peak

We hiked Piestewa Peak early Saturday morning. It was a tough hike, but the view was definitely worth it!

Overlooking dowtown Phoenix

High: 102

Today's weather forecast:

High: 102
Low: 82
Right now: 91

There's a funny thing about people that live in Phoenix. In the dead heat of the summer, when it feels like you live through weeks of 110+ weather, there comes a day or two of respite. That's right, today, it only reached 102.

Now, for most normal people 102 degrees seems rather hot...but not for Phoenicians. Nope, for us 102 means you see more people outside walking around. Today, was a beautiful day! We even ate dinner on the patio at Oregano's (granted they had an outside air conditioning unit blowing at us, but last weekend we would never have even dreamed of eating outside. AND, we drove part of the way home with the car windows open.

On tomorrow's to do list: an early morning hike. We have to take advantage of the cool weather while it lasts!