Buses

I am slowly coming to the realization that the trip is quickly approaching. I got a stack of dollar bills today from the bank. I need to figure out how to hide it all from pickpockets.

I stumbled upon this Japanese guy's wonderful travel videos. They give you a flavor of his journeys. The first is the chicken bus station in Antigua, Guatemala. The second is from a luxury bus in Peru.

Exotics Racing photo dump

I will post a more detailed write-up on Hooniverse. In fact, I'm trying to finish writing multiple posts for Crasstalk and Hooniverse as I won't have regular access to the internet for a few weeks. Soon, my posts will be more sporadic. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram, as I will try to communicate more there.

The cars were parked under a tent because of the bright Las Vegas sun. Thus, the photos turned out sorta crappy. Participants can sit in all of the cars without supervision, except the Aventador and the McLaren. Here is the Turbo S.

Here's my ride, the 430 Scuderia.

McLaren.

Aventador.

Scud again.

I literally looked at the gauges twice during my entire driving experience. Thankfully, there were little red lights on the steering wheel telling me when to shift.

This was my drifting ride, a Z06 Corvette. Rudy Ibanez was the driver. They go through two to three sets of tires every day.

Here I am, not crapping in my pants.

Before we drove, we got to ride in a Cayenne for two laps to familiarize ourselves. They had a Cayenne and a Cayenne GTS. I rode in the regular Cayenne and it was fun. We all thought we were going to roll over because the SUV was so top heavy. There were five of us in it and we weighed on average 200+ pounds.

The place was fairly packed. I was surprised by how many people there were. And there were a lot of Brazilian tourists.

I drove "home" in this, my mom's Beetle. I had the urge to just floor it in the parking lot.

Young Richard Hammond photo

I'm reading Richard Hammond's memoir On the Edge. It's pretty interesting and he seems like a down-to-earth guy.

Peng Liyuan at Tiananmen Square

Here is the Chinese First Lady singing to the troops at Tiananmen, right after the massacre. How patriotic.

My power progression

2010: Acura TSX (200 hp).

2011: VW Phaeton (330 hp).

2012: Aston Martin Vantage S (430 hp).

2013: Ferrari 430 Scuderia (508 hp). By the way, I just watched the video of my drive with on-board telemetry data. I took it up to 112 miles per hour on the 5th/final lap.

At this rate, I will be driving a Veyron in 2018.

Carspotting: BMW E9 3.0CS

Saw this on the way home today.

Carspotting: Mercedes W203 wagon

What do you think about this wagon? I thought I would never get a Mercedes, especially a C-class. But this looks pretty sharp, especially in red. It's easy on fuel and is utilitarian. Are they reliable? Any fun to drive at all? RWD and AWD versions seem to sell locally from $8,500 to $14,000. I assume they were all equipped with slushboxes in America.

Mission accomplished

5 laps in a Ferrari 430 Scuderia. I have a video but I will burn it as I sucked. Alonso and Massa have nothing to worry about.

There were a lot of Brazilians there.

2 laps with Rudy Ibanez drifting in this Corvette Z06. I was just like this girl, except with more cursing.

Tomorrow

Drug store run

Number 1 goal: Reaching the Darien Gap.
Number 2 goal: Avoiding filthy Central American public squat toilets at all costs.