Birmingham

Just to warn those who may still read this blog. I've been lacking some serious blog motivation but that's all changed! (It may or may not have something to do with the fact that the display on our tv is acting up and it will take a couple days to get the part to fix it) We've had quite a few eventful months and I'm going to have to backtrack to get it all.

 

One of the perks my Dad has at his job, is to plan a trip for the top 10 Managers his company has. He gets to pick a location and plan the activities the Managers and their spouses will participate in. They've taken surfing lessons in Hawaii, golfing in Cabo, white water rafting in Oregon...you get the picture. Whatever location he picks, he scouts it out a couple of months beforehand, checks out the hotel, tries different restaurants, etc.  A couple of years ago he decided to take the group to Birmingham, Alabama and have them attend the Porsche Sport Driving School. He was going to take my brother Jonathan and me, but I was pregnant with Briella and wouldn't be able to drive, something about the G-forces being unhealthy for the baby :) My Dad, Jonathan and I have always shared a love of driving, and I was really bummed to have missed out on the experience. Flash forward to last summer, when my awesome family informed me that I would be going to Birmingham that year! My parents had paid for one day at the Porsche Driving School, (with my siblings chipping in for hotel and rental car) and I had a year to use it. I was super nervous about taking a trip 100% by myself but super excited at the same time.

I decided to go in April and could not have picked a better month. The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold. I felt like such a grown up, getting a rental car all by myself, finding my hotel and checking in, it was amazing! I thought I would be really lonely, but it wasn't too bad! I LOVED the fact that I could do whatever I wanted and not worry about anybody but myself.

I flew in on a Thursday and had to be at the school bright and early Friday morning. One of my major anxieties was that I would be the only girl at the school. It was so bad that I actually called them and asked how many girls were registered. Out of the 30 students there were 4 girls, which wasn't the best news but it was better than nothing. 

We started the day with a bunch of safety information in the classroom. The track we would be driving on is the hardest in North America because it has a lot of hills and blind turns. They walked us through the track practically inch by inch. They mark the track with certain colored cones that indicate entry and exit parts of a turn, and where you want to use the brake. It was all very confusing, until they took us out on the track and drove a loop. 

They split us up into groups of 4 and we went to different "stations". My group started off on the track and that was nerve wracking. I thought our first time on the track would be with an instructor, but no, I was on my own. 

The lovely track

All the pretty cars, just waiting to be driven

My first car of the day

The track works like this. The instructor goes first in his car and the four others line up, single file behind him. There was a speaker in our seats that was hooked up to a mic in his car. He started off slow, telling us when to brake, when to speed up, what cone to be lined up with, etc. Once we finished one lap the person in second position would pull to the far left, the other three would pull up behind the instructor and the one in second position would bring up the rear. We drove the track probably 30 times throughout the course of the day and I got stuck with the people who could not grasp this simple concept. We'd pull into the straightaway to change order and they would all move to the left, or not speed up, or not move over at all. It was the most frustrating thing. Plus, the instructor would only go as fast as we could keep up with him. I can't even tell you how many times we had to be passed because the other guys would go too slow. Or, on the rare chance I got to be in second position and get to start picking up speed, we'd have to slow down because they couldn't keep up. My only regret, the entire day was that I didn't ask to change race track groups. But, it was still amazing. My confidence grew with each lap. I had complete control of the car and felt like I could manage the course at pretty fast speeds. Fortunately they had cameras in the car that recorded some of our laps.

 

Another "station" we had was the skid pad. This was a blast. The track is intentionally wet and slippery so it's relatively easy to skid. The whole point was to teach us what to do in case of understeer/oversteer, but I was having way too much fun spinning out to remember what to do. I wish I had given someone my phone to take a video of me driving, but I didn't. Here's the person that went before me.

 When it was my turn, I did a couple 360s and was laughing so hard I had to completely stop.

Another station was weaving through cones with the Caymans. This was my favorite car to drive.

It's just so pretty

The last station was this course through the cones with the Boxster. In the morning we just drove it, but in the afternoon we had a competition. We had a relay race where everyone would have 1 lap. The team with the fastest combined time would win. And guess who won...us!! When they were getting ready to announce the times the instructors asked if any team felt they won it for sure and one team in particular raised their hands. Imagine their surprise when my team did it 30 seconds faster! And with two girls!!

We ended the day with instructor hot laps. We got to ride with an instructor while they did a lap as fast as they could. It was such an adrenaline rush, I wish I could have gone more. 

It was an amazing day that I will never forget and I am so grateful for my family giving it to me. The whole weekend was such a recharge for me, something I was desperately needing.