Sam's Visit - Part 3

On Monday evening we arrived home from Barcelona.
Tuesday was extremely hot (for Germany) and for the most part we just hung out. Wednesday was also warm and Sam slept in. We went into Mannheim again for lunch at Maredo (Air conditioning). After lunch we went to a Go-Kart track in Mannheim. I knew that this was not going to be the same kind of carts we have driven in Wildwood, first of all, the track is over .5 mile long. We purchased 30 mintues and we had 10 minutes of safety instruction before starting. We got in the cars and headed out on the track. These cars are fast, top speed being nearly 40MPH.
Sam handled herself pretty well with these cars. She had me pass her so that she could chase me. I drove fast enough to keep in front of her, but slow enough so that she had something to chase and keep it interesting. After about 10 minutes they brought us in to see if we needed a break…..we decided to keep going. Another 10 minutes or so went by and we were stopped again. This time other drivers were starting also. We got something to drink while they went through their safety speech. There were 5 of us on the track. Driving these carts is a lot of work, the turns are tight and the speeds are relatively high. My forearms and shoulders were getting fatigued and I was soaked in sweat. I saw Sam pull off into the pit lane and they bought us all in as there were other drivers joining again. They told me that Sam was taking a break. It seemed like a long time we had been out on the track (I do not wear a watch) and I asked how much more time we had and they told me that a racing club starts in 90 minutes and we had until then. Well…with Sam being already on a break, I decided to get out take a break also. After speaking with Sam, we decided to just head home, we were both a pretty tired. Her hands were tired and she did not feel safe driving anymore. We both really enjoyed ourselves.
Thursday morning Sam packed her things and we headed north up the A5 to Frankfurt to the airport. Sam had a great time in Germany with us. As much as she was looking forward to going home and seeing her Nana, she was a little sad about leaving us.