Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!
Steve picked up a rental van and we drove to Nürburg. No, not NurEMburg – that’s a whole other city, and we went there after Nürburg.
Nürburg is home of the Nürburgring, of course. Don’t feel bad, I didn’t know what it was, either, until my boys enlightened me. From Wikipedia:
Nürburgring is a large motorsports complex that features a Grand Prix race track and a much longer Nordschleife “North loop” track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. The north loop is 20.8 km (12.9 mi) long and has more than 300 metres (1,000 feet) of elevation change from its lowest to highest points.
It’s legendary, and it’s dangerous. The topography of the region is hilly. Here are some of the related search terms that come up when you Google it:
So naturally, I spent a bunch of money to strap my three little babies into a tin can with a motor and wheels and allowed them to drive that tin can on an actual racetrack. Seth and Ross each drove one lap with an instructor and one lap solo, with Eli in the back seat for all of it. They topped out at 183 kph (around 120 mph) on the straightaway.
Please be sure to include this on the form when you nominate me for Mother of the Year, and put it above the part where I let the 14 year old have a beer at dinner. But if you ask my boys, in all seriousness, they would nominate me for making this possible. They all said it was by far the coolest thing they’ve ever done. And I guarantee, not only would Bammy Rose have been curious and even envious, so would have their Pappy McCormick.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
Shortly after the boys finished their laps, we learned the track had closed. It was only open this weekend because the weather was OK – it was a week before the season opener. So the fact that we were able to make this happen was pure luck and completely remarkable. We went for lunch and enjoyed pizza at a nearby restaurant, then had dinner at the restaurant near the castle on the hill. It snowed while we were inside, which made it feel rather magical. We stayed at the Dorint hotel, right alongside the track.
Soup Is Not A Finger Food 