John Michael is totally committed to becoming a professional racing driver. He really wants to race F1!

He spends the majority of his free time at home driving a race simulator. He has a nice screen, great wheel and pedal set, and a makeshift cockpit.

He has raced at K1 Speed many times now. K1 Speed is an indoor race track with electric karts. Up until three weeks ago he only was able to race the Junior Karts, which was frustrating for him, even though he won most of the sessions in which he competed.

A few weeks ago he was able to race the Adult Karts – quite a bit faster – and became proficient in short order. He actually did a teen race the day before CalSpeed and qualified and finished very well.

But…. we had found CalSpeed Karting up at the Fontana Speedway a few weeks ago (after leaving a chaotic parkour competition early). kc wangled his way into eligibility (he’s not yet 12) and on a day-off school we drove up for him to drive in three sessions.

Despite getting into a crash (no fault of his) and getting injured, he has a great time. The adults he was racing against were both impressed and addled that this kid was out there pushing them.

On April 9, kc, John Michael and Rod (John Michael’s schoolmate friend) went to the Long Beach Grand Prix. We saw the the Porsche Cup race, Indycar qualifying, the IMSA race and the nutty and fun Stadium Truck show.

On October 16, John Michael competed with his teammates in the Apex “Zombie Comp.”

There are three competitions at each Parkour “Comp”:
Skills, Speed, and Freestyle. John Michael only intended to enter the Freestyle competition, but decided on the day to do all three.

For Skills, there are numerous challenges designated, for each one completed successfully, a point is earned. Some are easy for kids, some are quite difficult.

In Speed, a course is made and each competitor is timed to successful completion of the course. Any slip on an individual obstacle and the competitor is disqualified. Two trials are allowed.

In Freestyle, each competitor creates a “line” which allows him or her to show their skills and style. It is judged by creativity, style and difficulty.

John Michael did great, particularly in the Freestyle competition.

Freestyle video:

Speed video:

And here are some photos from the morning:

After a week of Woodward parkour for John Michael and mountain bike rides for kc and Tim (photos and video coming), the three of us went whitewater rafting on the Truckee river with Tahoe Whitewater Tours.

We were in our own boat with Emily, our guide, but were in a group of seven other rafts. It was a very fun day with some long stretches of easy drifting on this cool water and then fun Class II rapids and three exhilarating Class III rapids. Three of the rafts following us overturned in the most challenging stretch and we did a bit of rescue work. No one was injured, but they got more excitement than most of them were ready for.

Emily kept us on the correct lines and John Michael did some great paddling to drive the raft forward.

The Truckee river is quite beautiful, flowing from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake in Nevada. Emily told us that it is the second cleanest river in the U.S.

Here’s a short video from the trip

Here’s a gallery of photos from the tour photographer.

On Monday the 5th of April, kc, John Michael, Mary Pat and I drove out to Ocotillo Wells to try renting and riding ATVs. It was a very windy day there, not unusual, but also clear and warm.

The owner of the rental company, Josh, acted as our guide and instructor. We first drove out into the desert to the windmill farm, then to a berm track where John Michael had some great fun.

It was really a fun day.

On the day before Thanksgiving, kc, John Michael, Billy, Katie and I drove to Cuyamaca State Park, east of San Diego, to hike up Stonewall Peak. It was a terrific day for a strenuous hike, cool and clear.

John Michael has taken an interest in photography and videography and did a lot of shooting on the way up and on the top. I’ll make another post of his work.

In the morning, this bird perches where the hawks perch later in the day. This one does not like the drone!

Our last two full days at the lake. We really spent most of our time in the water, either swimming near the dock or out on the boat and jet ski. The most daring of the kids had mastered the art of staying on the raft while the boat driver tried (at the kids request) to eject them at speed. It was a marvel and joy to see them hit a wake and fly three to four feet in the air, and land with smiles on their faces.

Billy and Katie joined us the previous night and added to the fun both days out. Katie was great to accommodate Kristen and her friend by accompanying them on the jet ski as the adult and going off for long periods of thrill and boy seeking.

At the last minute, we decided that kc and John Michael would squeeze into the cars and travel back to Bluffton so that she could see Kevin’s new house and John Michael could be with the cousins for the week they are with their dad for his birthday. Kevin had the pleasure of packing a rental Yukon with tons of stuff and seven kids for the drive. John Michael had a blast and experienced his first fine cuisine from a Mc Donalds drive through. kc squeezed into Angela’s car to drive back with Angela and Mary Pat. Billy and Katie drove me to Atlanta early Sunday morning for a flight back to San Diego.

All in all, another fantastic family vacation. Thank you, Mary Pat!

The jet ski ran nearly all day. John Michael accommodated to the time-change after a day in Georgia, so he’d wake by 6:00. He’d eat an enormous bowl of Froot Loops and we’d go for a long drive on the calm lake with him driving. He’s a very responsible operator, watching for traffic and giving fishing boats as big a separation as reasonable. However, when conditions were good, he’d open that throttle and see how fast that machine would go!

In the evenings, we’d often play a highly contested game of Mexican Train. Keri and Kaley joined the competition and learned it quickly. The adults were impressed.

Ann joined us again, in time for another beautiful sunset.