Originally Posted by
saoutchik 
I have done a runner from the office and driven down to a place called Goodwood on the South Downs for the annual Festival of Speed.
So envious Sao!
Goodwood Festival of Speed is another bucket list item for me. I have to go someday, and it should be easier to manage than a trip to LeMans. I would make that part of a trip to the UK; I became something of an Anglophile in my 20s through watching old British sitcoms that were shown on US public television ('Are You Being Served?', 'Keeping Up Appearances', and such) so I really want to visit 'Blighty.'
I live in the Phoenix, AZ area. At ~1.6 million people, we recently surpassed Philadelphia as the 5th largest city in the US. However, most of the rest of Arizona is very sparsely populated -- almost desolate. The city is known for a desert climate, which features long, brutally hot summers, short mild, sunny winters, and very little rain. Also, it seems that most people here are originally from somewhere else. The area is ringed by mountains, which provide plenty of opportunity for recreation. During Feb-March, many baseball teams have spring training here. A lot of people complain that the city and its inhabitants aren't as sophisticated as LA, Boston, or Washington, DC. There is probably some truth to that, but I feel my quality of life here is much better than it would be in one of those cities.