Baja Part 3

This track is so big, it's really hard to get good pictures.  No matter where you are, you can only see small sections of the track.  I try to move to a different section for each moto but that still leaves big gaps of time where you are just standing and counting seconds until you can see you boy again.

This is near the front the track and a rather unexciting place to be once they are off the starting gate.

This is along the front too - a place where my boy did a belly smacker a few years ago sending us to the hospital thinking he had internal injuries.  The medics saw bruising on his stomach.  It was just dirt.

This is more towards the middle of the track and I was shooting into the sun so we've got some creative liberties with color in this one!

This is also more in the middle where they keep disappearing behind trees.  It's funny how many times I have taken a picture of a tree with a kid behind it.  I guess I don't even see the tree...weird.

Ah - free advertising.

Watching this stuff from behind the camera is sooooo much better.

Looking all mean and dangerous!

This is that new thing they call a "wall".  They can't jump it, must go over very slow because there's a sharp turn at the bottom.

You can get a sense of how sharp the drop is in this picture.

Looking down and out over some of the camping areas.  Where I'm standing is about 3/4 of a mile from the road and there are campers all the way out to it.  Then a road takes you to the back of the track where there's more camping and where we were.  It's a little quieter up here.

Jumping into the wild blue yonder!

And going down, down, down.  Gulp.

Did anyone notice the leaves starting to turn in some of the other pictures!  Fall is on the way.

Baja Brawl part 2

There are always lots of riders at the Brawl - you can see from these starting line shots how many were in one of Motocross Boy/Man's mottos....doesn't look that bad here.

 Or even here.

 Here you can see a few more riders coming in from the outside.

 And now they are starting to pile up.

 Holy moly!  And all going into a very tight turn!

Starting to spread out a little again.

And the leaders pull ahead leaving the rest in the dust.

More space between the front of the pack and those in the rear.

And the leaders are off and heading out fast!

The 2012 Baja Brawl

I'm way behind in posting pictures of the Baja Brawl this year - it was Labor Day weekend!!

As always, the brawl is as much about partying as racing but the kids love it.  It might have something to do with the free cans of Monster Energy drink...

It was a beautiful weekend with blue skies and mild temps.

Motocross Boy/Man was in fine frame and jumping everything in sight.

 And he was faster in his corners.

Love this picture!

This side of the track has a huge drop in elevation - you can kind of get a sense of it here.

Or here.  This is only showing a very small section of the camping.  There were over 3000 people at this race!

This "wall" was a new feature - it has a very steep drop off on the other side and goes right into a left turn.

To be continued!

The Detroit River

A couple of week ago there was a big event on the Detroit River that included this replica ship from the War of 1812.  It was cool seeing it sailing off down the river.  Soon after I took this picture, it turned around and then shot off a canon!  Scared the crap out of all of us in that big ol' high rise as the sound was like a bomb!

And because I can't pass up an opportunity to shoot a great sunrise.  

Stanley

ME:  I see you looking at my cup. Don't you dare touch it!

Stanley:  Huh?

Stanley:  I'm not looking at it, really!

Stanley:  And I'm not going to touch it either.  But this other stuff looks interesting!!

Evening at the Barn

On the River

There was an exhibit on the Detroit River last week that included a replica of a Navy ship from the war of 1812.  I thought I could get a decent picture of it from the Atrium in the RenCen but that didn't quite work out so well.

I did get this freighter floating by but I was pretty much shooting into the sun with my cell phone so it's kind of dark.  I do love watching them and this time of year there seems to be quite a few.  Maybe getting the last runs in before winter?

Braces!

Motocross Boy/Man just had his last 2 baby teeth pulled (at 15 years old!) and will soon be getting his braces.  He's so excited about it and asked to get those two teeth pulled today even though the dentist thought it would be easier to do it the same day as he got the spacers so it would be only one "set" of pain rather than spread out over two days.  

Not long after he got the teeth pulled, he ended up riding his bike about 7 miles after I told him to take a right on 11 Mile instead of a left.  Oops.  Good thing I was following in the car to realize the mistake or he might have ended up in Farmington instead of South Lyon.

School is Back in Session!

Love this!  And soooooo true. Except for Equestrian Girl when she has school at the co-op.  Those high school text books are ridiculously heavy.  

We have a mix of stuff going on for this school year.  EG will take biology and bio lab at the co-op along with Spanish and a writing class.  English and history will be with Switched on School house as we've done in the past and Geometry may be SOS or possibly through the Thinkwell School. We are doing a trial with Thinkwell this week to make a decision.

Motocross Boy/Man is doing everything with SOS except for some electives - a studies skills class using SOAR and his metal working/welding with neighbor Jeff.  He's pretty energized so far - he's gotten all A's in Algebra!!

Salsa

Before we had kids and when they were little, I had a huge garden.  I grew lots and lots of veggies and herbs and one of the highlights of late summer was making big batches of fresh salsa.  I would make enough that I could can dozens of quarts and give it away like it was free. 

I haven't made much in the past few years because late summer seemed to be a time when we were crazy busy with horse shows and motocross races along with starting back up with school work.  But last night Equestrian Girl and I hit the farm market and bought the "fixin's" to make salsa.  We didn't make a huge amount but we made enough to make our tummies very happy!

Little on Big

LOVE this little guy with his chaps and his big horse!  And what a wonderful horse it must be to go along so willingly.  Love it!

Yeah, I just love this picture because of the sunset and the water and the reflection.  It doesn't fit the little on big theme - I just liked it.

This is little on little but this one is so awesome with the lime green coordinating!

This one is SERIOUSLY little on BIG.

New Kitty

My friend Sheri has a new barn kitty.  She came to climb up the door as we were getting ready to leave last weekend.

She's a tiny little thing!

She has one green eye and one blue eye - her name is Pixie!

A great idea

I can't quite claim this idea as my own but it's still a good one.

I saw someone had saved their empty Coffee-mate bottles to use for other stuff.  I used one for my home-made laundry soap and have been saving the rest for something - just wasn't sure what.  Yesterday I pulled out a bag of brown rice.  You know the bags - about a pound or so of rice in a plastic bag that can't be resealed.  I hate those darn things because you are forced to put the whole bag in a ziplock or something and it's still VERY difficult to pour out into a measuring cup.  Thus my idea.  Put the rice in one of my empty Coffee-mate bottles that has a nice pour spout!  I cut off out the label and the directions from the bag and used clear packing tape to stick them to the bottle.  Voila!