Midtown ATL & Emory University

Here is what we have been doing since I arrived a while ago (this is over the course of three trips to midtown and a trip to the University):

Walking around Olympic Park (from the 1996 games)

My sister and niece in the CNN building (the atrium inside is larger than the atrium at school)

In front of the Coke store. Gotta love Coca-Cola.

Owen and Greta in the World of Coca-Cola (showing a moment of lovingness)

Greta has a shirt that a couple of us bought from the Nike store in town. This is a custom shirt from the Nike store. You can pick out the size, color, and the graphic. This particular graphic is a limited edition graphic of a Georgia peach with the wording of "Atlanta" to the side. Pretty sweet, huh?



Here is a sign for David out in Vietnam

Greta and the Coke Polar Bear

Henry, Greta, and Owen standing in front of the different coke bottles

(the one with the beads is from South Africa).

Emmi with the shirt that describes her life

Katie and I tried to be classy and go to the museum at Emory University.

Too bad the blooming place is not open on Mondays.

I had to force a frown since I really did not want to go to the museum.

BMW DRIVING SCHOOL!!

As a way to celebrate my graduation, my brother-in-law and I went to the BMW Performance Driving School in South Carolina. IT WAS AWESOME!! Jake and I drove out to Greenville area for an entire day of driving 135i and 335i's. We drove the cars like we stole them. I don't think that I have ever driven a BMW (cough--just kidding Dad) nor have I driven a car as hard as we did.  

The day started off at 8:30 am with some classroom time. The instructors went through the basics and reassured us that this entire event was extremely safe (don't worry Mom). After that we jumped into the cars: 3 brand new 135i's and 3 brand new 335i's. Jake and I were paired up in one car (we switched back and forth between the 135i and 335i all day). Each car was equipped with a walkie-talkie so the instructors could tell us what we are supposed to be doing at all times. Man, they had more trust in us than we did!!

We started the day on the slalom. Having Jake in the car really got me fired up since he kept pushing me to drive faster and to turn quicker. The instructors reminded us to keep our eyes up and to be looking ahead as we repeated the exercise. After the slalom was the braking exercise and learned that it takes four times as long to stop when the speed is only doubled. Our exercise involved stopping on a slick surface while turning (ABS makes that all possible). I don't think that I have ever really stomped on my brakes as hard as we did. We had to get the car up to 55 mph and then slam on the brakes. That was really fun! My heart was really pounding. 

They set up short race obstacle course (should take someone 25 to 28 seconds to drive). The course involved slalom, a tight corner, an s curve, acceleration through a curve, and a slight incline. We practiced running through this course in the morning and then competed for time in the afternoon. 

Another thing that we worked on involved a skid pad. This skid pad was made of polished concrete and the sprinklers kept the surface nice and slick (check out the video on the links below). The instructor would sit in the passenger seat and pull the E-brake to invoke a slide and it was up to us to correct the slide through steering the car! That was really hard work! After we could keep the car from spinning out (although letting the car do a 360 was pretty fun), the instructor turned on the stability control. That made a huge difference since the car's computer could keep the car from sliding out without much input from the driver. 

We also worked on an abrupt lane change. Our lane on the track ended abruptely with a line of cones to block our path and there was a small opening to the left in the next lane. After switching lanes, we had to slam on our brakes. INTENSE! The instructors had us go through the exercise at 30 mph, 35 mph, 40 mph, and 45 mph. As the speed increased, the exercise became harder to perform since the lane change had to be quicker but smoother otherwise we would nick the edge of the cone on either side of the small opening. 

Jake and I had a really good time at this school (so much so that we are making plans to go back when he graduates!). Well worth the money and the time spent! Not to make this any more of a commercial, but check out these websites for pictures and videos: http://www.bmwtransact.com/microsite/performancecenter/index.html or http://www.bmwusa.com/standard/content/experience/events/pds/default.aspx

Hotlanta!

After loafing in Utah for a couple of days (more like a couple of weeks--thanks Jay and Kathi!) I drove home to California to unpack my car and boxes. I had decided that I should ship a lot of my junk instead of carefully overpacking my little car. My plan somewhat worked minus the fact that my little car was still overpacked. But I made it safety to California with 11 Fedex'd boxes and 1 carload. 

I unpacked everything and then repacked my duffle bag to catch a plane ride out to Atlanta, GA. I had four days in California to "go through" my things which turned out to be a rearranging activity =D. After catching the plane ride and enjoying 4.5 hours of watching some movies on my iPod, I made it to Hotlanta. I didn't realize that sweating all day long was a normal thing. My sister told me that it was raining out here so I brought jeans and sweatshirts. I wore jeans the first day and sandals are frequently the shoe of choice. I had to make a stop to buy some shorts to show the world my Utah-white legs. I guess I didn't realize that there is difference between Utah rain and Georgia rain.