Atlanta NASCAR Race Weekend

Last week at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon Rudy and I were on the road to Atlanta, arriving at 8:30 p.m., getting all set up and settled in our camping spot at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and then "HOT-LANTA" became "WET-LANTA". It started raining and the wind was blowing so hard that at 2:30 a.m. we got up and took the awning down. We were RV-bound until around 1 p.m. on Friday (it was very relaxing) - So glad I brought a good book to read!! After the rain stopped we walked over to the Vendor area to see if there was any action, stopped at the SPEED Stage for a while, got a few souvenirs and then was heading up the hill to see if they were going to have CUP Practice and/or Qualifying and on our way we were approached by two cute blonde girls and GIVEN tickets to the Office Depot Infield Hospitality Tent for lunch, drawing and to see Carl Edwards. Also included was two free tickets to Qualifying. :-)

We made our way into the infield, wandered around and then headed to the Hospitality area which was on the backstretch of the Track and found the Office Depot Tent where they had a Simulator and a 99 Show Car, great food, and door prizes. I won an autographed 1/24 Scale # 99 Office Depot Car in the drawing. Before it all ended, Rudy left and shared his pass with GJ who joined me indulging in some food and gifts and then we walked around and took some pictures of the 8 minutes of Practice until the Rains came again! :-(

On our way back to the Coach we heard that Carl was going to be on the SPEED Stage, so we hung around in the misty rain until he got there so I could get some pictures.

Cully showed up around 10:30 p.m. and after chatting awhile, we all hit the beds.

Saturday:

I was registered to Walk on Sunday morning around the Track for the NASCAR Foundation Fund Raiser and was the top fund-raiser so I was given passes for a Garage Tour and Suite Tickets in the Champion Suite high above the track, which just happened to be right next to the SPEED's broadcast booth. We saw Larry McReynolds, Jeff Hammond and Steve Byrnes and later when the Truck Race started, Mikey Waltrip and his crew. They all waived and posed for pictures for us through the glass walls. It was amazing up there overlooking the Track and the food was excellent. What a privilege and experience. (While on the Garage Tour, I chased down Jeff Burton and got his autograph) The Cup guys were getting ready for Practice and the Trucks were on and off the Track, too!

Sunday:

Janine and I got up early and took our personal photographer (Rudy) with us to the Track Walk. It was perfect walking weather and we got autographs from several drivers and even walked and talked with Travis Kvapil as we walked beside him. It was all for a good cause!

The Race was amazing, too! That Carl Edwards pulled off a good Win over Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin in the last few laps. I got great pictures of Carl doing his signature flip off the car for his Victory celebration on the Start-Finish Line before picking up the Checkered Flag and heading to Victory Circle. Jeff finished 9th, which moved him up to 6th in Chase. He really had a good run all day, staying in the top 5 most of the day, until that last pit stop....... can't talk about it anymore....... :-( He drove a Nicorette Car with primary colors of blue and yellow.

Monday:

We left the Track around 7:30 a.m. and headed south to home, arriving around 4:30 p.m.

Today (Thursday- October 30) we are leaving for Mrytle Beach, SC for a Gaither Fest of three concerts in two days. Staying on the beach this weekend - We'll be on the road - maybe we will see you - Travel Safe

More coming soon......

See ya on the Road!

Elani's Train Ride

October 21, 2008

Last weekend we took Elani to Mt. Dora for a REAL train ride. The Inland Express departs Mt. Dora for a 1 1/2 hour round-trip rail excursion to Tavares and back to Mt. Dora. The windows are all open on in the passenger cars so you get a full view of the surroundings and the landscape. When we reached Tavares, we did a three-point turn and made the return trip back to Mt. Dora. The first part of the trip we are traveling between 5 and 10 miles per hour between Lake Dora and old 441. Elani has wanted to ride on a real train for a long time and we finally decided it was time to take her. We had a great time and it was quite relaxing too!

We are hoping to go back and do the Christmas Express from Eustis to go see Santa Claus.

Thursday we depart with the RV for Atlanta for another NASCAR race. With only 4 races to go before Homestead (the final race of the season), I think that # 48 Jimmie Johnson has the Championship in the bag, so to speak. But then again, anything can happen in the last 4 races and we could see a major mix-up.

See ya on the Road!

Another Fall Tradition

October 10, 2008

Each year since Elani was born we've take her to our favorite photographer at JC Penney's and had her pictures taken in Halloween garb! This year is no exception. These pictures show you how much she has grown over the past 4 years, 3 months. She is quite the little "ham-bone".

October Weekend - Fall in Florida

Friday, October 10, 2008

It has become a tradition for us to take our grand-daughter Elani to Celebration, FL for their Fall Festival/OctoberFest and to the Pumpkin Patch, so we headed that way this afternoon for the fourth year. He attitude to the Pumpkin Patch, Scarecrows and the falling leaves was so different from last year. She loved it all. She had so much fun running around through the pumpkins and picking out her very own. She definitely had her own idea of what kind of pumpkin she wanted, too. After some pictures there we walked to the Main Street and got a piece of pizza from a sidewalk vendor and listened to some german music. Elani played in the straw that was in the streets while we waited for the first "falling leaves". When they started to fall, she had a blast chasing them and collecting as many as she could in her bag. She laughed and giggled and was having such a great time.

We painted our pumpkins this year instead of carving (a lot less mess) the next day. What fun! She is quite the little artist.

It was a great weekend and I hated for it to end when we had to take her home on Sunday.

(Can't wait to scrapbook the pictures I took).

Until next time...... be safe and always keep smiling!

Talladega Race Day -Weekend

What a Race! What else can you say? It was a typical Talladega Super Speedway Race with mini-"big-ones" and the "Big One", wreck that is.... Of the twelve Chase Drivers, only three were in the final laps. The Standings got shook up a little, but Jimmie Johnson is still the # 1 leader after 4 of the last 10 races. This week they head to Charlotte. It should be interesting as well.

We had a great time! We camped in Family Camp D - spot # 46, (new to us) under a little shade tree. Our seats were in the Tri-Oval Tower, Row 60. Yep, it was a hike up there! But what a view!! We could see the whole track and all of the Pit Road action. We were straight across from Gatorade Victory Circle, too.

Rudy and I went to Practice on Friday at Noon and Cully arrived Friday night. We had a great time and have pictures to prove it.

The drive home was long. Road construction on I-75 was awful and there were several wrecks that had us stopping and slowing down a couple of times. Then it rained just as we crossed over the Florida state line so hard that you couldn't see the road in front of you. We arrived home around 7:30 p.m., set up, took showers and was in bed by 9:30 prepared for another work week.

We've got lots of stuff going on this month. Something every weekend with Falling Leaves at Celebration and the Pumpkin patch this weekend, BiketOberfest in Daytona next, Atlanta Race the third weekend and then we head to Myrtle Beach, SC for the Gaither FanFest at the end of the month.

We will see you on the road, I am sure! Have fun! More later.

Friday, October 3, 2008

We arrived at the Track at 7:30 CT after spending the night in the Alabama Welcome Center rest area.  It is a beautiful day with blue skies and temps to be in the low 80's and cool breeze.  Just right for a day at the track.

We set up our campsite and headed over to the track to look around at the exhibits and watch Cup Practice.  We decided not to stay for the Speed Stage or for final practice.  As I look back, I wish we would have stayed now, as Jr. crashed his car big time when a right rear tire blew up and he has to go to a backup car along with a couple of other guys.  Not a good day for the 88 team.

Oh well........

Got some great shots of the # 24 and others while they practiced and ran in the draft pack.  And we got a couple pictures of us doing some fun stuff too.

We are back at the Campsite waiting on Cully to arrive and Rudy is starting to fix dinner.

I'm hungry and ready to relax.

Tomorrow is another day of fun and exciting times.

More to follow from Talladega Super Speedway.

Thursday, October 2, 2008 - 8:24 p.m.

We are on the Road Again - YES!!!  

We left this afternoon at 3:30 pm heading north to Talladega, Alabama for the 3rd NASCAR RACE of the CHASE!!  The last time we were on the road to a NASCAR race was in May - Far too long of a stretch between actually being at the track.  I am definitely looking forward to being there in person, smelling the gas fumes as they start their engines and run this 2.66 mile super speedway.  We crossed into Georgia at 6:30 p.m., stopped at the Welcome Center for a pit stop and a quick sandwich and then we were back on the road.  There is a lot of road construction on I-75 with barricades and bumping roads, narrow lanes, and it is really dark too!

One good thing about going in this direction is that we gain an hour when we cross over the Alabama state line and move into Central Time Zone, so we will stop somewhere once we get on the north side of Atlanta and get few hours of shut-eye.  I am sure I will be awake bright and early and we will be on the road again so that we can get to our specific camp spot and get all settled in before heading to the Track for Practice.  We can sit anywhere we want to for Practice so I like to be at the starting point of Pit Road to watch and get pictures of the Cars coming on the Track.

Cully will be coming to meet and stay with us too.  He will arrive sometime Friday evening, flying in from Oklahoma City into Birmingham and then driving to the Track.

It is a great day/evening for traveling.  We can feel a cool breeze, the skies are clear and the promise of sunshine for the entire weekend is just what we wanted to here.

I'll have pictures to post after we arrive and get set up.

Have a great evening - More tomorrow.