Charlotte, NC Race Weekend

May 20 - 26, 2009

Wednesday, May 20: We picked up Janine and Ashley at the dorm and left heading north to our final destination of Charlotte, NC for the Coca-Cola 600 to be run on Sunday, May 24th at 7:15 p.m. We drove all night (Rudy & Ashley drove all night) and arrived at Roush Racing at 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 21st. We were about the 75th, 76th, 77th & 78th persons in line to get Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and David Ragan's autograph tickets for a signing later that morning. It was a very long 4 hours on the hard concrete and rocky area where we waited with another 200 people or more, only to have to return at 10:00 a.m. to actually get our items autographed. Some even had blankets, pillows, mattresses & chairs because they had been there since 9:00 p.m. the night before. After receiving our tickets we went to a nearby Cracker Barrel for breakfast and some caffeine. Returning to Roush we joined others in another line to wait for our turn to chat with the drivers and get their autograph. Carl was super nice and chatted awhile with us about his experience last December with Elani at the ESPN Club. From Roush we headed to Stewart-Haas Racing to see the new shop and get Rudy a # 14 Tony Stewart shirt or two! By this time we were all ready to check into our hotel and get a hot shower and a change of clothes before heading to the Track for Qualifying. After Qualifying we found a good place for another hot meal.

Friday, May 22, 2009: Rudy and I had a Meet & Greet Fan Event with JEFF GORDON at Hendrick Motor Sports, so we let the girls take the car with free rein to do as they pleased. Rudy and I had a great time and met some new friends, had some lunch, tasted some new Schwan's ice cream and finally got to get up close with JEFF GORDON. Rudy got my Pepsi replica Hood personalized and autographed by JEFF for me and I had a scrapbook page from last year for JEFF to autograph. I told him that it was now tradition and we couldn't break tradition for me to give him a kiss on the cheek when I see him at these events and he willingly obliged.

We had a great time. It was in my eyes the perfect place to spend a Friday afternoon. We had scheduled an "inside" tour of Joe Gibbs Racing with the receptionist that we met there last year for 4 p.m., so we made our way there. Paige was great and we saw a lot of behind the scenes areas at JGR. We also found out that Joey Lagano was going to be at a local Home Depot so we made our way there and waited in line for 1 1/2 hours to get his and Matt Kenseth's autographs and pictures. By the time we made it to Michael Waltrip Racing it was 5 p.m. and closed. That place will definitely be on the agenda for next year.

Saturday, May 23, 2009: We all slept in a little and then spent some quality time relaxing by the pool. We did a fun thing while down at the pool. Each of us girls had our iPods with our favorite Christian music, so we each picked out a song that we wanted the others to hear and after listening to them, we told each other why that was one of our favorite songs and what it meant to us personally. It was a great sharing experience and I am sure we will do it again on our next trip. Later that afternoon we took a drive to Lexington, NC where we found the Childress Winery. Janine and Ashley had never been so we took a tour and learned how they harvest the grapes and make their wine. We then had lunch in the Bistro overlooking the vineyards. It was a perfect afternoon. The Nationwide Race was that night, so we went for a little while, but it got rained out and we got soaking wet.

Sunday, May 24 - RACE DAY: We took our time getting ready and just kind of hung out at the hotel until Noon because the Race wouldn't start until 3 p.m. We got to the Track and the skies were not looking good. It was hot and muggy, so we didn't spend much time around the merchandise trailers or vendor areas, just went straight to our seats. I was glad we did, because the rain held off and we saw a great pre-race show honoring all the veterans and those currently serving in the Armed Forces.

After several attempts to start and run the race, it was called due to rain and more rain coming for the evening. It was announced that it would run on Monday at 11:00 a.m.

Monday, May 25, 2009: The Race started without much pre-race happenings and it wasn't long before you could see the rain moving in over Turn 2. It rained hard, too. Then it quit and the sun tried to shine, then it would rain again. Fortunately for the #00 Aaron's Dream Machine car of David Reuttiman the Race was stopped after 227 laps in intervals of 30-40 laps which made it past 1/2 way and he just happened to be leading at the time. We left at 4:00 p.m. before it was officially announced that # 00 was the winner and the Race was considered complete. We are happy that we left when we did, we missed a lot of bad traffic this way. Again Rudy & Ashley drove all night and we arrived at home at 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 26th. where we unloaded the car and crashed and called it an early night.

We had a great time despite the continued rain and we were happy to return home to the sunny blue skies of Florida.

Another NASCAR Race under our belts with lots of great experiences and stories to tell by all

See ya on the Road. . . . .

More fishing pics - May 9, 2009

The waiting Game

"I can do this all day"

"Let's find a new place to fish"

"I did it all myself"

May 10 - Mother's Day Weekend

We planned sometime ago to go to my mom's house in Venice, FL for Mother's Day, so Thursday we picked up Elani after work and headed over. Friday we got up and went to the beach arriving around 10 a.m. It was a beautiful day, lots of sun, the Gulf water temperature was around 80 degrees so it was quite pleasant to be in the water. Elani was in the water most of the 3 hours that we were there. Swimming and diving and rolling with the waves. Later that afternoon upon our return to the house and after a light lunch we did a little shopping. By 9:30 p.m. everyone was totally tuckered out and we called it a day! We did a repeat day on Saturday, except no shopping. Instead we took Elani to the Jetty to let her use her new fishing pole. Rudy gave her some quick casting lessons and she tried really hard. Grandpa Higel even put artificial bait and a bobber on her line. Unfortunately, the fish weren't biting. Elani was disappointed and told everyone that we walked past as we left the Jetty Park.

Sunday was just a day of relaxing at the house and some pictures in the backyard. Mom loved all her gifts and Elani loved giving them to her. We had a great dinner before heading back home in the afternoon.

May 20th - Wednesday, we will be heading north to Charlotte, NC for the Coca-Cola 600 with two of our friends for a nice long Race weekend, visiting race shops. Rudy and I will be attending a Jeff Gordon Fan Event at Hendrick Motor Sports, too. I am really looking forward to this trip and to having a great time.

See ya on the road!!

More Talladega Race Pictures

Bobby Labonte

Carl Edwards
# 99 - Carl Edward's car
# 24  Jeff Gordon's car
# 14 Tony Stewart's car

Talladega Spring NASCAR Race

April 27, 2009

We are making our return trip home from a great relaxing weekend at the Family Camp D on the backside of Talladega Super Speedway.  We arrived early Thursday morning, set up and then sat back and relaxed and watched other Race Fans pull in and set up.  Friday we got up and walked to the track to check out the merchandise trailers and Vendor exhibits.  After, we made our way to find the perfect seats to watch some Cup Series Practice.  It was a very warm day in Alabama and the sun was extremely hot reflecting off the asphalt 2.5+ mile track.  We watched first practice and decided we were too warm to stay for the 2nd practice, so we went back to the cool of the awning shade at our campsite and relaxed a little more.  Cully arrived around 11:30 p.m.   Saturday we got up with the sun and decided to go find the drivers that would be signing autographs and get some pictures.  It was going to be another very warm and sunny day.

On Race Day there was a little more breeze and by the time we found our seats in O.V. Hill North Tower the clouds were coming in to give us a little relief from the hot sun.  On lap 7 there was a BIG crash that took out a lot of the top 10 contenders including Jeff Gordon the points leader and others.  They worked hard to get that Car back on the track and did so after about 67 laps.  This was a typical Talladega restrictor plate race with a large amount of lead changes and 4-wide racing for position.  There was another crash that damaged several more cars and then the last lap was the thriller of the day.  Carl Edwards was being pushed by Brad Keslowski and gaining on Ryan Newman who was getting a large push from Dale, Jr.  The crowd was on their feet and then it happened. Keslowski went to pass Edwards and Edwards blocked and was hit and spun.  Edwards went in the air, flipping and hitting the catch-fence and bouncing off again.  All of this happened just a short jog from the finish line and checkered flag.  Edwards emerged from the car and jogged to the finish line to make sure he finished the race.  A few fans were injured, but none seriously.  What an exciting ending, although not the driver I would have liked to see win.  

We had a great time and it was a good time with Cully,too.

Not sure what the early part of May holds for us, but I am sure we will see you on the road somewhere.

Travel Safe!

More Pics from Easter

Easter Weekend- April 2009

What a great weekend we had with our extended family in Avon Park. We left early Friday morning with Elani in tow to get haircuts and on the way Elani decided that she needed "a little trim, too". This time when it was her turn, she left Diane wash her hair in the european-style sink. Elani thoroughly enjoyed the wash and the famous Diane head massage that we always get with a wash. Diane is the best! After her trim, Diane gave her some curls, but they didn't last long.

After haircuts we went to Aunt Judy & Uncle Don's where we visited and Elani played with her 3rd cousin Khali all afternoon. After supper we gave them baths and the little girls got their hair done in rags. They were so cute! Then they colored eggs together that Aunt Judy prepared for them.

We all got up for church on Saturday and the little girls loved their long curls. We had a nice dinner and more visiting time and then headed home around 4:30 p.m.

Sunday morning we got up early and went to New Smyrna Beach to soak up some rays and enjoy the beach. Upon our return and after a little time in the pool, too (since we were dressed for it). . . Elani went on her Easter Egg Hunt and found 14 eggs that the Easter Bunny hid for her outside and then found an Easter basket, too.

It was a wonderful relaxing, refreshing weekend.

We are on the road again on Thursday heading to Venice, FL for a weekend at my mom's house and more beach, sun, and sand time. Looking forward to more relax time!!

See ya on the road!