Wednesday, March 18, 5:45 p.m.
We pulled out in the RV heading north for our final destination of Bristol Tennessee, for the 5th race of NASCAR season. We drove until around 10:00 where we stopped at the SC Welcome Center and got some shut-eye.
Thursday, March 19: I woke up at 5:45 a.m. and we were on the road by 6:15 heading north again. We only stopped for fuel, breakfast and a short while at a Scenic Pull-Over in TN before arriving at the Track campground - Pole Position. We got all set up and Rudy was fixing some supper when it started to rain and the wind began to blow. We watched several movies while waiting for Cully to arrive. He got there around 11:30 p.m. and we all were tucked into bed by 12:30 a.m.
Friday, March 20: After showers and breakfast we put on our heavy jackets because it was very chilly, but there was lots of sun before we hiked over to the Track to watch Practice and Qualifying of the Sprint Cup cars. We sat directly in front of Jeff Gordon's pit stall so that I could get some pictures of him and his crew working on the # 24 Car. I also pictures of some of the other drivers, too.
After Qualifying we roamed around the outside of the track checking out all the merchandise trailers and across the street to the flea market tents to find some bargains. Rudy still hasn't found a # 14 Tony Stewart shirt that he likes and we need a new large decal for the rear of the RV. We then watched a little of 2nd practice before heading back to the RV for a snack, since we told GJ that we would wait for him to arrive before eating supper. GJ got there around 7 p.m., but Cully & I had run into town for some supplies while Rudy cooked our Friday Night Special - pasta, two kinds of sauces, garlic toast and salad. It was delicious!! It was very chilly during the night, everyone had as many blankets on as we could muster up.
Saturday, March 21: We woke up to sunny blue skies and very cold temps in the mid 20's...Too cold for this Florida girl!
Sunday, March 22 - Race Day @ Bristol: With the racing activities not beginning until 1:30 with Driver Intros we went up the hill to take some pictures overlooking the Track. What a sight..... the drag-strip was full of RV's, and there were campers and cars everywhere around the track. With the mountains in the background and lots of hills, it was a beautiful sight to behold. The Race was very interesting with # 18 Kyle Busch winning, Jeff Gordon finished 4th and there were only 15 cars on the lead lap. We actually saw 4-wide racing down the backstretch at one time and 3-wide several times. It is a very quick .533 mile track so the 500 miles was complete at 5:15 p.m. and we took our time walking back down the hill and up the hills to our RV spot (about 1 1/2 miles) 160,000 people pack there way into this stadium-style race track, and all or most all of them are wanting to get out and head home after the race. It is like a sea of people walking to the main gate!
GJ left right after the race, Rudy grilled us a great dinner and we enjoyed the cool evening under the awning until the sun went down.
Monday, March 23, 6:00 a.m. I woke up and got Rudy up and we got ready to hit the road. Cully was flying out, but was leaving too and we were all packed up and ready to leave at 7:00 a.m. We travel through 5 states to get to this Race, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee. The Blue Ridge Mountains are gorgeous, but a little stressful to drive through in the RV. We saw dogwood trees and daffodils in bloom along the way, to.
4:50 p.m. and we just crossed over the Florida state line from Georgia, and it is raining, overcast and a little chilly. ETA at home is 7:45 p.m. Just in time to unpack and got to bed. We had a great time with our friends and can't wait to do it again real soon.
Next planned RV Road Trip is in April to the Talladega Race in Alabama, unless something comes up before that. At any rate, we will see you on the road! Buckle those belts and hang on tight!!
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