Summary of bizarre and unexpected.

So another ten day testing trip to the US is over. It has been a trip of much randomness, and where the normal off-track stuff is usually limited to travelling or laundry trips, this time threw up some entirely unexpected bonuses. Here are some things that I didn't expect to happen, but did:

1: Staying in a Huge house/Mansion that is so big, you can see it on Google Earth without even trying. While the town it is in is still all in the frame.

2: I got to shoot 3 handguns. Proper ones.

3: I saw a 3 hour old calf.

4: I went to dinner at a Judge's house.

5: Went to a motorbike museum and was far from bored. I'd even go back.

6: Been within 10 miles of a Tornado (even if I didn't see it).

7: We found the worst food in america (this is actually a trick one. We find this every time we go. But Tulsa, Oklahoma has the current crown. I thought I'd throw this one in, as I'd already typed '7' before thinking of one).

8: Shockingly, there are still people in this world mind-crashingly stupid enough to think that 'being 15 minutes late landing' is a good enough reason to try and make a phone call to the person picking them up at the airport. While still at 30,000 feet. I mean, it's not like they have any constantly updated information services at airports, is it? How would they ever find out about the delay? Best risk crashing the damn plane, then...

Here are some, less random, ones that are also of note:

1: Hotels with 'Econo' anywhere in the title are fucking awful. You will not get any sleep during your stay. Also of no surprise is that this was easily predicted, and could have been easily headed off at the pass.

2: Racing circuits are no fun at all when there is frost on the ground. Especially when you thought it was going to be about 15 degrees or so warmer when you packed your stuff. It's at times like that, I miss my long johns...

3: American food/coffee/beer either tastes of nothing at all, or of mouldy arse scrapings. Middle ground is very hard to find.

4: Italian home cooked food, however, is to.... die.....for. We ate so much we nearly exploded. We also got pretty larupped on wine, liqueurs and the like, too.

5: 0700 is a fucking stupid time to catch a flight. Getting up at just before 5 is all the proof you will ever need.

I have photo's and video of a lot of this. When I get organised, I'll post some. I bet you all can't wait.