The crafty & curious souls in my household are geared toward experimenting, building and having fun. One event in particular in SoCal epitomizes all three – The Annual Kinetic Sculpture Race in Ventura Harbor. It is a fabulous event to witness and even more fabulous I would assume to enter and compete.
The history of Kinectic Sculpture Races, goes back to 1969, when artist Hobart Brown tricked-out his son’s tricycle into a “Pentacycle.” Brown and his five -wheeled sculpture were challenged to a race by another artist who modified a bicycle. By the time the starting gun was fired, ten other contestants were flanked side-by-side on Eureka’s Main street, including the soon-to-be winner “the Kinectic Turtle” that actually laid eggs. Since then, many more races have spurred the creative and ingenious to new heights (and lows). Today there are about ten races that occur annually around the world, such as Baltimore’s East Coast Championship and Western Australia’s event. But the World’s Kinetic Grand Championship event happens every May where it all started in Humboldt County, California. The one at Ventura Harbor (50 minute drive going west of LA on 101 Interstate) is the only one held in Southern California. 
And the twist to their version is that the vehicles created or “modified” must traverse in water, on sand, on road and finally through mud before crossing the finish line.
"Go Giraffe, Go Giraffe!" Esme cheers on her favorite entry.
"The Tiki Lounge" had a fully stocked bar upfront.
And how fun it was! With seconds to spare, my daughter and I made it to the launch site to witness the first contestant roll into the harbor’s waters. Most entries rely on big tires filled with air for flotation, while others utilize a motley collection of styrofoam, rafts or my favorite ~ pink and blue inflated dolphins that conjure images of Roman steeds & chariots.
Some riders must not have tried their creations in the water, as some oars were not long enough to propel the vehicles. The paddle boat concept was common, but that didn’t include proper steering. And if you needed assistance it came in the form of cheering fans in kayaks or harbor patrol who gave a tow to one entry that just couldn’t get past the dock.
My daughter’s favorite was the Giraffe, whose driver was disguised as a bearded park ranger. He was returning contestant, who told us the only change from last year was that he added two horns and a fresh layer of paint to last year’s “Horse.” It wasn’t long after he launched into the water that he over took a few other vehicles attempting to make it to the end of the harbor and back. One such Kinectic sculpture was Whirled Peas, emblazoned with both green peas and rainbow peace symbols. The crowd was alive with cheer after each launch.
After all the contestants were wet and en route the crowd parted, some to follow the race on foot and others, like us, to hop into our cars and go get a bite to eat at the Harbor Village. After a bowl of chowder at Andria’s Seafood and a ride on the Harbor’s Indoor Carousel, be-ghouled in the Halloween spirit, we walked over to the finish line on the beach for the Sand portion of the race.
Everyone’s spirits were still very high at the finish line, however some people, especially those who were doing it with out a partner seemed a bit weary. The one that started out as a wheel that worked like a gerbil wheel with all the dolphins had lost everything except the wheel. His friends, teacher and family were helping push him along. Group Efforts were evident everywhere!
Sitting high and dry in his colorful creation, many of us felt that he had been teleported in time from Burning Man just two months back!
To see the Road or Mud portions of the race here is a great little story that has a few shots of what we missed.
“Why not start your very own Kinetic Sculpture race?”
Do it in your neighborhood or with your friends and family? Make it Recycle-conscious and have a rule that you CAN NOT BUY anything that you use in your sculpture. If you can’t reuse or recycle something, borrow it from a neighbor!
And the creations don’t have to be ride-able, they could be small. Have a Kinetic Sculpture race that the vehicles only need to be pushed or rolled down a hill. The point as I see it is to
A. Inspire our children, friends and selves.
B. Enjoy creating something with no financial gain.
C. Acknowledge the ideas and work ethic of all involved!
D. Celebrate A, B & C while making a memory that might become a legacy.
Events like the Kinetic Sculpture Race inspire our family to do things JUST BECAUSE.
Her are some hints they give on how to build a Kinetic Vehicle.
And click here if want to enter or volunteer with next year’s 13th Annual Kinetic Sculpture Race at Ventura Harbor.
Another family had started their adventure two days before we arrived and had already staked out a great group of sites for us to pitch our tents. Two families camped in their vehicles while the rest of us did it in tents.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Aran gave a tutorial on whittling sticks with a pocket knife. First cut away from your body. Stay clear of other people and if it’s stuck, don’t force it – just start your cut over.
This MudPies & Butterflies was all about Outerspace, for in less than a week about nine of the families would be going to Joshua Tree National Park to camp overnight and witness the night sky unencumbered with the inordinate amount of light pollution from Los Angeles. So after lunch I started off with letting the kids who wanted to play Solar System pick the ball of their choice. As I read to them from the book the Planets, they sat before me clutching the littlest blue bouncy ball that came out of the candy machine to the larger hot pink ball that had a belly button like Jupiter. By page 5, I had them all standing up imagining I was the Sun, the center of their Solar System. They described the sun as Hot and Bright and all sorts of colors. Some knew I was not just the sun, but a Star. And they helped me explain that I was a ball of gas that was exploding constantly with chemical reactions and those reactions were the energy source of my heat and brightness.
Then with the center fold out of the book as our lead, I let them choose whose ball best represented the planets from smallest orbit to longest from the sun. One by one, they identified their ball and planet and they walked in elliptical orbits about me. They tried to remember not to bump into any other planets, and as each planet was added they all learned how many Moons they possessed (Mercury and Venus are the only two that do not have any moons). We spoke of the tragedy that poor Pluto had recently gone through, being demoted to a celestial object with too small of a mass to warrant Planet status. And Pluto was so nifty as it was renamed in 1930 by a 
……………………………………………………………………….Have you ever wanted to be an Astronaut? Some lucky astronausts have had the luck to get to LIVE up to 6 months in outerspace aboard the International Space Station (ISS). It has been orbiting the Earth since 1998. Over 6 countries have been building giant parts to add to it and living there to observe Earth and Outerspace. Take a look at this one minute page to see just how
