Little Blue is an excellent co-pilot
Saturday Pink, Little Blue and I were bit by the lazy bug, so instead of firing up the grill for some pineapple burgers, we headed to Red Robin.
This week, it's been hard to tell the Nextel Cup boys were in town with the increased traffic with varying license plates and a lot of show cars (read: real race car bodies, but a non-adjustable setup race care with a low end engine and exhaust to make it sound like a real race car), so I didn't surprise me there was a Nextel Race trailer at one of the new stores in Olathe.
So, I told Pink Little Blue and I were going to go play. :) Lunch first though.
Pink got her Hawaiian burger and I had an A1 Peppercorn sandwich while Little Blue wolfed down some mac n' cheese and cantelope. Then, we all headed over for some fun.
Well, more fun for Little Blue and I, Pink did her best to be entertained, but then saw a SuperClips close and dashed in to go have her hair washed and a little trim.
Little Blue and I took a look at the show car and waited 10 or so minutes to ride the NASCAR simulator. Inside the trailer are two mini cars facing away from each other with a digital projector over each car. The image is displayed on a 3 panel "windshield" just over the nose of the car. Inside each car is a realistic car setup, with a co-pilot's seat.
Since Little Blue and I were the first to enter, he got to pick which car we'd be in. I knew it was either and orange Home Depot sponsored Tony Stewart car or a red Budweiser sponsored Dale Earnhardt Jr. car. (for the record, one of Pink's boyfriends is Dale Earnhardt Jr.). Little Blue picked orange, so in we climbed.
I had intended for me to mash the gas and for Little Blue to drive, but Little Blue was just happy to get in the front seat so he got in on the passenger side. It took a little coaxing to get him in, so I dashed around the car and got into the driver's seat, and once he saw I was in there, he leapt into the seat. He put on his seatbelt, I strapped in, and we were ready to go.
I prepped him outside that it might be a little noise and the car would shake a lot, but I don't think it was enough.
The screen turned on, and the announcer said to start the engines. As I flipped the switch to get the engine started, the shocks that made the "ride" into a simulator lifted the car 8-10 inches off of the ground, then raised the passenger side of the car up to simulate the banking. As soon as the car began to lift, Little Blue's hands instantly went to either side of his seat in the white-knuckle/this-is-going-to-be-scarey-fun position.
I hollered over the rumble, "You okay buddy?"
"Yeah Daddy! I'm ready!"
I saw the emergency stop button in case we needed it. If I needed to press it, the shocks would reseat the car so we could get out.
I looked over and he was doing okay, so we decided to go for broke.
I put the gas down and we ended up being the car in the lead right off the bat.
After a half lap, I realized we started in one long line, not the typical two row start, so I nearly lost the lead in the first turn because I took the turn high so a car almost snuck in underneath us.
I got in front of him just in time down the backstretch and we maxed out the engine at 192 miles per hour. Since I was in the lead, I was pushing against the wall of air and all the cars behind me were taking advantage of it and nudging our rear.
The second corner came up and the car tried to sneak in below us again, but I got down low enough to make sure there wasn't any room to get by. Came up towards the start finishline for two laps to go and the guy finally got ticked off enough and tapped me hard enough to get the car loose and the entire car wiggled. SO much better than any forcefeedback controller. :)
Once we got back into turn 1, the other simulator competetor decided to have a little fun and spin us out. The car rocked pretty violently and gave the feeling of spinning out, but the actual car didn't spin.
"Daddy! What happened?!"
"We crashed buddy! We spun out?!"
"Go get em Daddy! Get the bad guys!"
I laughed and got the car facing the right way and we finshed the race 19th out of 20th. The computer competetors kicked our butts, but we beat the other people racing with us. :)
The car doors automatically opened once the ride was over. I popped our seatbelts loose and Little Blue gave the attendant a high-five as he climbed out of the car.
We went and met Pink in while she was getting her hair done. Little Blue was all excited and told Mommy about it.
"Did you have fun driving the car Little Blue."
"I was a little scared."
"Was Daddy a good driver?"
"No, he crashed. I was a little scared."
Ah, good fun.
This week, it's been hard to tell the Nextel Cup boys were in town with the increased traffic with varying license plates and a lot of show cars (read: real race car bodies, but a non-adjustable setup race care with a low end engine and exhaust to make it sound like a real race car), so I didn't surprise me there was a Nextel Race trailer at one of the new stores in Olathe.
So, I told Pink Little Blue and I were going to go play. :) Lunch first though.
Pink got her Hawaiian burger and I had an A1 Peppercorn sandwich while Little Blue wolfed down some mac n' cheese and cantelope. Then, we all headed over for some fun.
Well, more fun for Little Blue and I, Pink did her best to be entertained, but then saw a SuperClips close and dashed in to go have her hair washed and a little trim.
Little Blue and I took a look at the show car and waited 10 or so minutes to ride the NASCAR simulator. Inside the trailer are two mini cars facing away from each other with a digital projector over each car. The image is displayed on a 3 panel "windshield" just over the nose of the car. Inside each car is a realistic car setup, with a co-pilot's seat.
Since Little Blue and I were the first to enter, he got to pick which car we'd be in. I knew it was either and orange Home Depot sponsored Tony Stewart car or a red Budweiser sponsored Dale Earnhardt Jr. car. (for the record, one of Pink's boyfriends is Dale Earnhardt Jr.). Little Blue picked orange, so in we climbed.
I had intended for me to mash the gas and for Little Blue to drive, but Little Blue was just happy to get in the front seat so he got in on the passenger side. It took a little coaxing to get him in, so I dashed around the car and got into the driver's seat, and once he saw I was in there, he leapt into the seat. He put on his seatbelt, I strapped in, and we were ready to go.
I prepped him outside that it might be a little noise and the car would shake a lot, but I don't think it was enough.
The screen turned on, and the announcer said to start the engines. As I flipped the switch to get the engine started, the shocks that made the "ride" into a simulator lifted the car 8-10 inches off of the ground, then raised the passenger side of the car up to simulate the banking. As soon as the car began to lift, Little Blue's hands instantly went to either side of his seat in the white-knuckle/this-is-going-to-be-scarey-fun position.
I hollered over the rumble, "You okay buddy?"
"Yeah Daddy! I'm ready!"
I saw the emergency stop button in case we needed it. If I needed to press it, the shocks would reseat the car so we could get out.
I looked over and he was doing okay, so we decided to go for broke.
I put the gas down and we ended up being the car in the lead right off the bat.
After a half lap, I realized we started in one long line, not the typical two row start, so I nearly lost the lead in the first turn because I took the turn high so a car almost snuck in underneath us.
I got in front of him just in time down the backstretch and we maxed out the engine at 192 miles per hour. Since I was in the lead, I was pushing against the wall of air and all the cars behind me were taking advantage of it and nudging our rear.
The second corner came up and the car tried to sneak in below us again, but I got down low enough to make sure there wasn't any room to get by. Came up towards the start finishline for two laps to go and the guy finally got ticked off enough and tapped me hard enough to get the car loose and the entire car wiggled. SO much better than any forcefeedback controller. :)
Once we got back into turn 1, the other simulator competetor decided to have a little fun and spin us out. The car rocked pretty violently and gave the feeling of spinning out, but the actual car didn't spin.
"Daddy! What happened?!"
"We crashed buddy! We spun out?!"
"Go get em Daddy! Get the bad guys!"
I laughed and got the car facing the right way and we finshed the race 19th out of 20th. The computer competetors kicked our butts, but we beat the other people racing with us. :)
The car doors automatically opened once the ride was over. I popped our seatbelts loose and Little Blue gave the attendant a high-five as he climbed out of the car.
We went and met Pink in while she was getting her hair done. Little Blue was all excited and told Mommy about it.
"Did you have fun driving the car Little Blue."
"I was a little scared."
"Was Daddy a good driver?"
"No, he crashed. I was a little scared."
Ah, good fun.
posted by DaddyMan at
4:17 PM
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