Every once in a while I get to feel like I get to go and do cool things…. This is definitely one of those cool things. We found out about it just early enough to RSVP and get to attend! Was a lucky day I suppose.

Meeting the 991

I was pretty excited — Ever since I knew about the new 911 I couldn’t wait to meet her and see her in person. I also managed to latch onto the new reference, the 991, pretty early on…. Thankfully my 911 knowledge came in handy and it was easily remembered.

For one, I was excited to see the line up of 911s that they had — one from 1970 up to a recent 997 model. Pretty nice. I was a little sad that there wasn’t a 3.2 Carrera there like what I’m looking for though.

Instead, just to torture me, there was a 997 GT3 Cup Car! And, funny enough, it was actually a car that had participated in this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona! Like wow. I was pretty much in love. (It was funny, since I was more interested in her than the 991 that I was there to see! Ooops.)

As always, the Porsche dealership did not disappoint. I’m glad we were there a bit early, because I got some photos taken before people started to show up and I spent most of the time chatting with people than worrying about photos. Bad of the photographer in me, but good for the budding socialite.

On Thursday I’ll be treating you to a short clip of the actual reveal of the 991 911, so stay tuned for that!

For now, I’ll share some photos.

Photos!

She was kept under cover until the big reveal.

All of the previous 911 generations lined up.

I had to capture the nice reflection of this yellow 993 in the window.

My love....!!!

I was excited to find out that she did, in fact, race at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona this year! Amazing.

The pretty race car from the front.

I'm definitely keeping this bottle.... My husband also got a very nice looking 911 poster, signed by a Le Mans winning driver who was there!, that we now have to get framed.

By the time I got to see the 991 911, I wasn't really in a position to wield my dSLR.... So instead, I got this pretty nice iPhone snaps. Here she is!!

This winter has been pretty blah. Last year by now we had had a few feet, resulting in the impromptu purchase of the Legacy that we had. Ever since we bought the STi right before summer, we couldn’t help but look forward to finally driving her in the snow.

Well, irony had it that it’s barely snowed at all. I guess it’s a bit weird that it has barely snowed here and yet this was also the year we’ve been snowboarding/skiing every week since right before Christmas….. Figures!

Thankfully, it FINALLY decided to snow here! Our usual haunt at Mt. Spokane now has more fresh powder and where we live is now covered in a good few inches. It means that the STi and her snow tires seem like a fantastic idea again!! We were beginning to wonder if they’d be useful at all besides going to Mt. Spokane.

As with all things, I can’t help but have photos around to document it. ^-^;

Funny enough, this seems to be a pretty popular photo of mine.... Hehe. Just my S2000 buried in snow. She's effectively grounded until further notice. (Though, compared to last year, we've been mobile for much longer than I imagined we would be!)

Then, of course, there's the STi buried in snow before she got cleaned up and finally had a really good chance to put that turbo AWD on snow tires to good use! She's really, really fun in the snow..... =D

I can't talk about winter without sharing a photo of my snowboard! Now sporting an awesome What Monsters Do vinyl sticker. I'm definitely hoping to add more stickers to my board soon.

The year after I got my Nikon D3000 for Christmas, I attempted my first Project 365. That was in 2010, and I made it to about October before I ended up quitting. It’s kinda sad now that I really think about it, because I was much closer to the end…. But I quit because I felt that my photos weren’t of the quality I wanted.

I was tired of the boring days where I was sitting at home at eight in the evening wondering WTF I could photograph for the day. Yeah, it wasn’t fun and my photos had become rather sucky. I quit because I was tired of the mediocre photos just to continue with the project.

Project 52

Not too long after I started my Project 365, I heard about the Project 52. Instead of one photo every day for a year, it’s one photo every week for a year. Still a pretty intensive project if you ask me, but not quite as rough as the 365.

The idea popped into my head a few days before the new year, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it or not. I finally decided to just quit thinking about it and just do it. Even if I fail, I’ll still have used my camera more than I am right now. (Damn you iPhone for being so awesome and handy….)

My Project 52

Well, mine is going to be somewhat basic…. Of course, the end goal is to have 52 photos at the end of the year, one from every week.

I want the majority of my photos to be of cars, like I started with my 365 project. I think one a week will be much more manageable!

The whole idea is to be using my SLR, since the poor thing doesn’t get out much anymore. :/ I won’t be opposed to using my iPhone as the second camera in the project though, because I may not always want to bring my SLR with me. (Snowboarding trips come to mind, as well as autocross days where I can’t always keep track of my camera when I’m racing.)

I might require myself to edit the photos, but I’m not sure if I can keep that up. My husband bought me Photoshop Elements for my birthday last year and I’ve sadly not touched it… I’m determined to put it to good use finally. My iPhone photos are almost always edited on my phone, so no worries there. But it’s really about time that I learn how to do it with the photos I take on my SLR.

Really, if I can keep up with the project I’ll be happy, no matter what I manage to get done. I’m afraid if I make it too strict for myself I’ll get frustrated if life gets in the way again.

Sharing the Project

Of course, I’ll be posting the entire project to my Flickr, which could really use the attention I’m sure, ha. I’m thinking of either sharing the photo from every week on here, but not sure how often I will. I might just do a monthly recap, since it’s not that many photos every month.

Unless, of course, I have nothing else to share…. Then it’s kinda like backup content. Since, you know, winter is pretty boring here car-wise!

So, anyone else have plans for a big project in 2012, photo or otherwise?

No, it’s not quite the end of 2011 yet… But I’m certainly ready for 2012 to get here. 2011 wasn’t the worst, but it wasn’t my favorite year either.

I figured it’d be worth looking back at some of the high points, though.

Highlights

For one, we brought home our STi. She’s been a dream to have since we picked her up at the end of April. She got even better when we added the little exhaust system and made her sound as she should!

The Miata and I managed to snag a little 3rd Place trophy autocrossing. Definitely a great moment. It was fun with the GoPro, too.

I got to enjoy driving around in my 240SX with her pretty Bride seat, even got her out to her first car meet!

At that same car meet, there happened to be these two together… Something I never thought I would see in the States!

I got to go to Canada with the Porsche Club, where I got to ride in a 996 911 Turbo. I have always, always, always had this thing for the 911 Turbo…. After riding in this one, there is NO doubt that I will have one some day. I LOVE them.

Of course, shortly after returning from Canada there was this red 997 Turbo that made me think it’s just fate and that I need to get one eventually…

I got to hang out at SOVREN and see two RUFs in one year! (After never seeing any!)

I got to see this beautiful 911 GT2 RS in the showroom along with the Carrera GT.

There was the video here of hearing the Carrera GT before she was shipped to California for the winter…

Oh, and the stop at the Ferrari dealership in Seattle. And seeing an F40 in person!

More Thoughts

Not everything was a high point, I’m afraid.

There was the fact that my husband was deployed, and between that and the runway being redone here he was gone for roughly six months this year. Yuck.

The other sad part was deciding to sell both my 240SX and Miata. Having four cars to myself and nobody to dictate which I drove when or where showed me that I just don’t drive them enough… My preference is really with the S2000. I’m hoping to sell them and put the money towards a third car that I don’t mind keeping hidden in the garage for the most part — a 911 SC.

I also kinda feel bad that there weren’t any great special moments with the S2000…. That will definitely be changing in 2012.

How will 2012 be different? Well…. That’s my next post.

Yup, this past Saturday it was that time again…. Time to go and say hi to the Porsches at the dealership.

With it being winter, most of them aren’t out. Even without the snow, it has been cold and icy and I don’t blame anyone for hiding their Porsches in the garage at this point.

Thankfully, the cold doesn’t keep people away, and there are always cars around the dealership to see!

Photos

Not my favorite BBS wheels, but not bad... (Needs more dish I think, but the 996 is nice!)

Nice Targa that was out.

I've been told these old Targas like to leak.... Definitely makes me feel better about my decision to look for a coupe only!

Another gorgeous red 911 with a whale tail....

This pretty 911 was more my style -- Not quite as old, and a coupe. Basically the car I want right here!

This very nice 2012 Boxster S Black Edition caught my eye... Gotta love how the Porsches inside were all wearing bows for Christmas!

This and the next photo were just me playing with the positioning between the Boxster S Black Edition and a black 911 Cabriolet in the showroom.

Not sure which I like better, the Boxster in focus with the 911 lurking in the background, or making the Cabriolet the main focus?

Edit: Well, I tried to get these photos into the post with the captions I had added… Clearly, I’m still trying to figure out how to get posts to go up and look normal with the iPad. Sorry, I’ll keep trying to get it right! For now, there are captions up, even if the pictures aren’t big like they should be. :/

Since winter here is really blah for car stuff, I don’t usually do much…. But I still manage to accumulate random photos of things every now and then.

Most of these are totally random and they don’t really have anything to do with each other. So I figured I’d take all these random photos and compile them into some sort of just random post…. So here’s some odds and ends, and Iimagine I’ll do more of these until something else comes along. (Or just in between other things I find, go to, or come up with!)

The Odds & Ends….

Perhaps the most amusing comment people make about our STi is how great she looks in red. It amuses me because I have always thought that STi’s look good in red…. They’re just so prolific in World Rally Blue that nobody pays much attention to red. (Funny enough, I’ve seen none of the new sedans in WRB…. In person I mean. They do exist.)

So, after Enkei posted a photo of an older WRX with STi trim dressed in red and wearing RPF1′s, I figured I could spend some time hunting down more red WRX’s and STi’s and sharing just how well these ladies look in red!

The Cars

Enkei posted this photo of this WRX with STi aero and RPF1's and it made me wonder.... Why was there no stock red STi until 2008?!?!

Seriously, they look fantastic in red...

Another WRX. I believe the WRX had two different color Reds, while the STi didn't get a red from Subaru until Lightning Red.

*Like*

One for the hatchback fans....

 My STi

Of course, the biggest requirement for our STi was that she was red... So when this one popped up in our area, it was little question she'd come home with us.

I couldn't post up red WRX's and STi's without having mine included. This is back when she was stock, and she's not now, but not too crazy either.

Last Saturday I was able to finally venture back out to the Porsche dealership to hang out with the Porsche Club again. It had been way, way, way too long since I saw everybody and I was excited, despite the less than stellar weather.

At least everything was inside, and there was a pretty nice breakfast buffet spread there for everyone. Yum! (What do I love almost as much as cars? Food, of course.)

Other than saying hi to many of my friends, my only goal for my time there was to finally get my D3000 out of hibernation. It’s sat, pretty neglected, for quite some time. It kinda got use at the end of September for the track day visit we did and a little bit in October for our Seattle trip, but otherwise pretty neglected.

So, without rambling on too much, I’ll get to the photos….

Porsches!

This is the second time I've gotten to see this beautiful Carrera GTS.

What's not to love??

Always a head turner, this is my third encounter with this Carrera GT. And she amazes me every time.

With all the carbon fiber on the outside of the Carrera GT, it's no surprise how much carbon fiber is in her engine bay, is it?

Sadly, YouTube doesn't seem to have a way for me to upload video directly from my iPhone, or I have to see about doing that... They were nice enough to start her up for us. Now, I've heard Carrera GT's in videos before, but in person?!? It was amazing. I had goosebumps and felt all weird! Great sound!!

The photos I took of this Turbo are easily my favorite from the day. The one I snapped on my phone is actually my new screen saver/background. I just LOVE 911 Turbos.

While there were two 911's driven to the dealership that day, this was not one of them. She's actually for sale. (Do you have any idea how badly I wanted to take her home with me?!?!)

These are the parts from a partially broken down Porsche flat 6.

The rest of the broken down engine -- This one suffered from IMS failure..... Toast. Sad.

This 997 Carrera 4S was one of two cars on the lifts during the tech session. The other was a Boxster.

Instead of boring you with a bunch of words, I figured I’d just share a few photos I have and really liked.

I debated on whether or not they were enough for their own post, and I decided why not??

I got to go and see the Gulf Blue RUF R Turbo while she's apart and having some work done at the Porsche dealership. Really cool to see, of course the engine & transmission were out. (This was back there, plus a couple of 911 Turbo S's that were having some work done.)

While at the Porsche dealership, this beautiful Guard's Red 997 Turbo pulled up. She caused instant flashbacks to the way the 996 Turbo felt, as well as the biggest smile I can have while my hubby is gone.

Soooooooooooo pretty, no?? I think I've developed a full-blown obsession with the 911 Turbo... So seeing this one was a real treat. Hopefully the guy didn't think I was too much of a creep taking photos of his car, but I couldn't help it -- She was stunning.

Are you ready to hear about the second day of the CanAm drive? I hope so, because it’s pretty cool.

Day two was entirely spent driving around British Columbia and mostly sightseeing. But for me, it was all about one thing…

My ride in a 996 Turbo.

Yup…

A 996 Turbo. A real 911 Turbo. One of the cars I would name as in my top five dream cars. I have loved them for longer than I’ve owned my own turbo car.

I’ve heard a lot about them and the way they drive. I know how it should have been. But it was completely different actually being in the passenger seat of that car.

This is the amazing 996 911 Turbo that I got to ride in. ^_^

She belonged to an awesome guy who lives up in Nelson and recently retired after 29 years in the police force there. He led the group on an awesome little road to New Denver, and I got to be the passenger in the Turbo leading the way. (Huge thanks to his wife who graciously gave up her seat for me! It was a life-changing ride!)

And really, it was life-changing. I had my desire to own a 911 Turbo before. Afterwards, I knew I had to make sure that at some point in my life I own one of these beautiful and amazing cars.

I don’t care if I could get better performance with a GTR or something. I want a 911 Turbo. I want to know what it’s like to drive that much power — and not useless power, completely controlled power. It was an amazing ride and I will find a way to have one. Mark my words: Some day, I will own a 911 Turbo.

Of course, the ride came with some warning, which was mostly to not get one for my first 911. Get a regular 911, learn how to drive the car properly, and when I’m ready for the toy that is the 911 Turbo then get one. But not before — I must learn to drive a 911 properly first.

Which is okay with me, honestly. I’m looking forward to getting that first 911 and learning how to drive one fast and smooth. And then that wonderful day where I can call a 911 Turbo “mine.”

The Rest of the Day…

To be honest, the rest of the day just couldn’t compare to that ride. It was fun, relaxing and dinner was great. But I kept remembering that ride in the Turbo.

It’s not really describable with words. It’s a feeling you get. The way that car hits boost is similar to other boosted cars but at the same time it’s not. It’s more. It’s wicked, wicked fast.

I feel incredibly lucky to have gotten to ride in the car, let alone on a beautifully twisty road by a driver who knows the road like the back of his hand.

You couldn’t wipe the grin off my face, that’s for sure. And no photo could capture that feeling it gave me. (Thankfully, it’s a feeling that was so strong that I kept it with me. There’s now a fire inside me — it reminds me to work hard and I will have my Turbo too.)

Oh, there were a few photos though too.

This is one of the Canadian Porsches that joined us; leaving Ainsworth on the second day.

Another photo of the same 911 -- I really liked the paint scheme. I also laughed when he told me he had an S2000 before and called it his "gateway drug" to sports cars. Too perfect, because they are!!

I have this weird thing for foreign signs, but I don't indulge nearly as often as I should with photographs. This sign I couldn't resist snapping a photo of.

Another somewhat successful driving snap. I like how I managed to catch the sign in it -- km/h instead of the miles/hour I'm used to.

Needless to say, the entire trip was well worth it for those 30 minutes of pure bliss. If I didn’t think I wanted one before, I now know I need to have my own 911 Turbo. That’s the only way I can put the experience into words.

That and, well, I think I need to find a way to pay for one of those super car experiences. Long before I can have one, I want to try driving one… Just to have that feeling again. To remind me what I’m working towards.

Yeah, I feel like my (working) life finally has a purpose, and that is a 911 Turbo.