The Go-Cart Diaries

Danny and Max

Several centuries ago, Scott's grandpa made this soap box derby car for his grandchildren. They spent hours on it, taking it to the high end of the town, piling as many cousins on it as possible, and cruising down the street, through town until the car came to a stop, 

sometimes over a mile from where they began. 

As you can see, there are no brakes on this baby, which was part of the thrill.

While we were in Utah last week Scott and his dad decided to resurrect the go-cart for a new generation of cousins.

They spent two days fixing the steering column, improving the seat, replacing the cotter pins and greasing the wheels.

When it was ready they took it to a long stretch of road north of town to for some test runs. Scott drove first, and after reaching speeds of 25 mph he decided that maybe they needed a gentler slope.

A new route was chosen and once the road was deemed safe they piled the cousins on.

(Thanks, Sam, for the photo)

The kids had a blast.  The adults were in nostalgic heaven. 

It was an evening of smiles and laughter and joy . . . 

 . . . until one fateful run. 

Since we didn't get any photos of the actual crash, the kids reenacted it later. 

Syrena was at the wheel. Naomi, Max and Abby were passengers.

They cruised down the road, and all looked well. 

But then, something went wrong. 

No one knows exactly what happened, but the go-cart swerved one way, then the other way 

and cousins spilled out on to the road. 

There were screams, tears, blood, carnage!

Bodies were everywhere!

When the dust cleared there were five scraped knees, two scraped bellies, two cut up ankles, one scraped elbow, one bloody shoulder, one skinned-up back and one trip to the emergency room for what we thought might be a broken ankle.

The Injured

Luckily Naomi's ankle was just sprained.



Meanwhile, back at Grandmas, it took several hours, two bowls of ice cream and one Disney movie before the kids realized they weren't going to die.

When Naomi got back from the ER her uncle Darren asked her, "What do you do when a horse bucks you off?" 

"I don't know." Naomi said.

"You get right back on."

Naomi paused and then replied, "but not for at least a year." 

The next day, with the nightmare behind them, they decided to paint the go-cart.

They all helped.

They insisted the go-cart needed flames. 

For years to come when they get together they will tell their versions and compare their scars. The legacy of the go-cart has literally been etched into their skin.

Uncle Darren told the kids they should name the go-cart "The Bruiser." But they decided on "The Cousin Mobile." Then they all put their hands in paint and put their hand print on the cart to commemorate their  historic crash that will be told to the next generation of go-cart racing Dyrengs.