Mille Miglia Adventure: Happy ending!!

Maybe next year?... but , feels right

This was absolutely one of the most exhilarating and fun adventures that I have ever experienced in my lifetime! Literally, we were racing a brand new Ferrari California through the most picturesque Italian countryside speeding down winding back roads and slowing only when we went through some of the 177 towns we paraded through. In the major cities, they closed the main road and had police escorts. The sidewalks were lined and packed with thousands of Italians cheering, waving flags and constantly swinging their arms encouraging you to rev your engines [“more gas”]. Many of the towns we would drive up red carpet onto a podium located in the main square. The town officials would announce our names and our car number, beautiful young women would come up to the car to give us some memento distinctive of the town- it wasn’t all white knuckled driving!

This was no ordinary driving tour- we hit speeds over 150MPH and 90% of the driving was on winding back roads downshifting, braking hard and redlining the tach- trying to stay on the tail of a million dollar Ferrari F40 hitting the apex of the next turn. If you relaxed for a minute there was another Ferrari inches from your tail pipe drifting across the double line to pass! We of course were one of the few in a leased Ferrari that we had only driven a few miles, in a foreign country on roads we never seen before, trying to do what we could do to push the pace. It was intense, exhilarating, at times a little scary- but a total blast!. I am still SHOCKED that the police not only didn’t pull us over but often encouraged us to pass them and cheered us as we passed them over a double yellow line going 2-3 times the speed limit.

What made the trip exceptionally special was the company. We were in tears nearly every night at dinner laughing and drinking too much great wine. We made what we hope will be some lifelong friends that alone made the trip worth it! This trip was only possible because of our good friend Mark Gessler. He, aside from being a leading competitor (2010- 2^nd place, 2011- 3^rd and 4^th), got us the highly coveted entry spot in a rented Ferrari (ahead of hundreds of lifetime multiple Ferrari owners were not accepted), organized our teams 40 members in 15 cars, wine dinners and training, etc..- YOU ARE REMARKABLE! The entire trip was all first class and well planned. We were honored to be included and realize you had a lot of other choices. We have truly been given the gift of a close friend and great experience. We are incredibly grateful, thank you!!

You learn a lot about someone when you spend 3 days, drive 35 hours in a small car, at high speeds, in a foreign country, on unknown roads in a rented car with a $15,000 deductible! I learned that I am truly fortunate to have an incredibly close a dear friend who I deeply admire - Rick Weidinger. We have experienced a lot together and each time we become better friends. Very little drama and a lot of belly aching laughs- the way it should be! Truly my brother from another mother

The trip had a perfect ending- 3 days in Florence and Rome- capped off with an audience with the Pope! That makes 2 checked off the list! Thank you all for keeping up with this Blog and asking so many great questions and allowing us to share this experience with you!