A few days worth (Part Two)

After much time, effort, stress and money, we (no, I) completed Gabe's Pinewood Derby car in the nick of time to turn it in on Thursday night, so that it could be weighed and measured.

For a little over a month now, we've been planning on just how we were going to accomplish building a winning car without Phillip's expertise in wood cutting etc.

When you first get the kit, all you have is a block of wood, 4 wheels and axles, and some guidelines that have to be met. As for the wood cutting, I purchased a hacksaw from Walmart and with Sarah watching me on a very cold day, I put a layer of towels on my kitchen table and hacked away for about an hour and a half to get our car looking like SOMETHING worth racing.

At a few of our Boy Scout meetings, we were able to get together with others to work on our cars; the parents did most of the work, while our young Tiger Cubs played games of chase and "raptor". I'm thankful for the tips and advice that some of the father's handed down to me, and Gabe's soccer coach from last year is a Saint for putting those darn wheels on for me. (after we got the wheels on, we glued coins to the bottom of the car for extra weight needed for speed...I forgot my weight strips at home and I WAS NOT going back for them!)

working away on a Saturday...

Mike, an Eagle Scout

Our car, before...

and during.

I have to admit that after all of the worry (I didn't want to fail Gabe on making a car not worth being proud of) and stress, I did learn something. Number One, hacksaws are cool! Number Two, I have lots of tricks up my sleeve for next year! Number Three, I accomplished something that I didn't think I would!

It turns out that our car was not really a winner, but it did cross the finish line and for me, that's all that counts. Gabe was an awesome little sport in being happy for his friends that did cross to win 1st Place.

Thanks to cousin Adrian, we have lots of tools and goodies to work with for next year's car!

Best friends, Gabe and Tyler

Handing his car over...

his is the score all the way to the right.

Another race (we raced 3 times, once on each slot of the track)

The track (which I hear is worth thousand's!)