Hump Day

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Wednesday was another busy day, with all kinds of different activity.  We ventured out  to get Spot some dog food, and we could see the traffic getting much heavier. The RV’s are still pouring in, and the check-in process is much more stringent than when we came in. They had dogs sniffing around compartments, and used mirrors to check underneath the rv’s.  There are an unbelievable number of motorhomes, trailers, and vehicles…all shapes and sizes.  There are even a few semi-cabs, that folks are using for their space at the track.  One group near us reserved two parking spaces…one for their motorhome and one for two complete sets of wicker lawn furniture, set up as a nice patio, complete with tropical plants!

We visited Tom again, and were treated like VIP’s, invited into his office in front of the hauler.  This is a shot of the engineers at work before practice.

It’s amazing what is inside of the haulers…very organized, neat and compact.  We got to see where they store the cars while they travel…it’s in the “attic” of the hauler.  What a great use of space!

 

The garage area was very quiet before practice, but became very busy later, when there was another big crash that took out 7 cars.  Unfortunately, there were several of the low budget teams involved, and one even had to pack up and go home because they do not have a backup car. 

There are always interesting sights in the garage area, like these tire covers that look like beer cans which made me smile. (the car is sponsored by Budweiser—pretty clever). 

We also watched them decal a car, putting on the “skin” of advertisers…very interesting to see how they do it

There is a $400 million renovation going on at the Speedway…called Daytona Rising.  They are rebuilding the front stretch grandstands…you can see it “rising” already, but will not be completed until 2016.  …65 million pounds of concrete have been poured to support the foundation!  It looks like it will be quite impressive when finished. 

 

 

We met a new friend last night…this Great Dane named Alex.  She was very friendly, and almost as big as her owner.  We spent the evening visiting with Alaska friends, Talladega friends and Daytona friends, stayed out too late, but enjoyed the great company.

Market Days

Monday-Tuesday, February 17-18, 2014
The weather the past few days has been drop dead gorgeous!  There was very little track activity on Monday and Tuesday, so we branched out and visited a flea market, a meat market and a fish market!
There is a HUGE farmers and flea market near the track.  It is a series of hundreds of booths lined up under canvas tents.  We visited Monday afternoon, and got lost wandering the aisles.  Last year we discovered “strawberry onions” at this market, and found them again this year.  These onions are grown in between the rows of strawberries, and take on a sweet flavor from the strawberries.  We bought a couple of them, along with “candy corn” (bi-color corn..not quite as good as Indiana corn, but couldn’t pass up fresh corn at this time of year.) Also at this market were plenty of race souvenirs, but we passed, and got a soft-serve ice cream cone instead!
We were treated to a lunch of Cajun jambalaya, cooked up by a neighboring rv from Louisiana.  He had a huge iron pot, and stirred all morning with a paddle that looked like an oar.  He invited neighbors to bring their own bowls and join.  It was very tasty!  He called it something different, because it had spaghetti in it, but I can’t remember the name.
This afternoon, we drove south of Daytona to Ponce Inlet, a dog-friendly beach, with a beautiful lighthouse. 

We sat at a little restaurant on the bay and watched the fishing boats come in.  Even Spot had a ringside seat!  They provided a water bowl, and brought him a special treat.


The restaurant had a dress code…the sign explains it!
On the dock, they unloaded the fish which were very different from those we caught in Alaska.  These looked to be tuna, shark, and some smaller fish.

Spot found a personalized seat on the dock:
We went down to the ocean, and Spot frolicked in the surf. He’s going to be worn out tonight!
Two Goodyear blimps were circling the area, reminding everyone it is race week in Daytona!.
On the way home we stopped at Gaff’s Meat Market…an annual stop for us.  It is an old-time meat market that Jim remembers from the 70’s when he came down for the race.  We got some yummy things for grilling dinners this week….beef kabobs, cranberry stuffed pork chops, pecan crusted tilapia, herb crusted cod, and twice baked potatoes.  Dinners always are better grilled at the track—I’m getting hungry just writing about it!
As we returned to the track, we met up with two more couples from our Alaska caravan who are here with a caravan put on by the same company.  It’s their first time at this race, and we enjoy getting everyone excited. We have more visiting to do this evening—we are really having a great time just getting together with new and old friends!

Wonderful Weekend!

Saturday-Sunday, February 15, 16, 2014

It was a wonderful weekend as we packed in a lot of activity.  We met up with Duane and Marlene, the wagonmaster from our Alaska caravan!  It was fun to see them again.  We last saw them 3,700 miles and 6 months ago, when the Alaska caravan ended. They are here hosting another caravan group of 20 which will arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday.

There were two races on Saturday night…the ARCA race which we watched from the top of the motorhome, and the Sprint Unlimited—a non-points race to kick of the season.  There was a full moon over the Speedway which added to the excitement of the season opener.  There were 18 drivers in this race…past winners, past champions and past pole winners, and they were introduced with a flair.

There was a big wreck in the second segment which took out 1/2 the field (including Jeff Gordon), and then the pace car caught on fire (another crazy happening).  People were saying it was the full moon taking charge!

Sunday was qualifying day, and more laid back than the last couple of days, so we were able to spend more time with Tom, and talk with some of his teammates.  As a mom, it’s always great to hear good stories about your kids and observe them in action.  Tom is always so gracious to share his time and take good care of us at the track—sometimes we forget--he’s at work!

The cars went through inspection, and then qualifications began.

 

 

…it took almost two hours to get 43 cars qualified.  Jeff qualified 8th…not too bad, but the starting lineup will be determined by the Dual races on Thursday.   We sat at a picnic table by Lake Lloyd and watched quals (there really is a car on the track in this picture!) 

The pole sitter is young Austin Dillon, who is driving the #3 car (Dale Earnhardt’s old number).  Having #3 back on the track will also add to the excitement of race weekend.

Another bit of excitement yesterday was an rv fire near us.  It was so sad…the owners were not there…the motorhome next to it discovered smoke on the top, and called 911.  He tried spraying water from the top of his motorhome,but realized it was going fast, so he pulled his motorhome away from the fire (slides out and all).  The fire department came and took care of it, but it is a total loss.  I keep wondering if their race tickets survived??  The owners pulled it away last night.

Spot and Jim had a relaxing day..Spot loves to sit outside in the sun and watch people go by. 

We ended the evening with mass at St. Paul’s Basilica, and dinner at Milano’s on the beach. 

Fun Day Friday

Friday, February 14, 2014
Happy Valentines Day everyone!  We celebrated valentines day this morning with Hazelnut coffee and whipped cream!  We took a short walk around the campground (really to scope out the best way to exit).  As you can see, there were lots of trees…pretty, but rv’s don’t normally like low-hanging trees.

We headed to Daytona, which is only about 80 miles away.  It was great to travel through another tunnel, and see the track on the other side. 
We are parked in the infield right by Lake Lloyd on the backstretch.  What a great view!



Some friends we met here 4 years ago stopped by to say hello…we see them once a year, here at the track.  They are a fun bunch. 

We had to pick up credentials which allow pit and garage access (thank you to Tom—it sure makes our track experience unforgettable).
And, we were able to sneak in a quick visit with Tom...he was hard at work…getting ready for practice.  It is always fun to go through the garages and see the activity.  There is so much going on to prepare the cars; everyone has a job to do.   There is a purpose and routine for everything. 

We watched the cars leave for the first practice….they leave their garage one by one…led by last years’ champion, followed by the cars in the order they finished the season.  It is very exciting to be right there, and quite a show to watch.  Jim was able to capture a video of the cars pulling out.
 

And, here is the garage after the cars were gone.... We're looking forward to more action tomorrow!

Miles and Smiles

Thursday, February 13

We got an early start (glad to leave the Walmart parking lot).  As we were driving through Mobile, Alabama, we encountered a tunnel that went under the downtown area, helping to avoid rush hour…kinda cool! 

Then, we saw the gulf in the distance…what a welcome sight…we have driven from the desert to the gulf on I-10 in just a few days.  We watched the sun rise over the water, and then smiled and cheered as we finally hit Florida!

The sun finally came out and stayed bringing a little bit of warmth along, but it was also very windy which provided plenty of challenge as we drove across I-10. We saw several Indiana license plates going across I-10, and we figured they took an alternate route, avoiding 65 through Atlanta.

It was still chilly all day.  We decided to go south and cut across, and took the turnpike which is a toll road.  The toll was a hefty $9!! We ended up at Winter Garden RV Park in Winter Garden Florida for the night. (near Orlando). The park is full—lots of snowbirds and a few full-timers.  We got one of the last available spaces, but unfortunately there are lots of hanging cypress trees, which Jim had to dodge as we tried to get parked.  Those trees also play havoc with the satellite dish (translation:  limited tv shows tonight!)

It’s been a long trip…We have covered 2,100 miles since we left Arizona on Sunday!  Daytona is only 65 miles from here, and the track doesn’t open to motorhomes until noon on Friday, so we will be able to sleep in, and still have time to wash the vehicles, do laundry and get ready to enter the track.

The Lundcruiser is purring along, but we are more than ready to get to Daytona and stay parked for the next 10 days!

Don’t mess with Texas!

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

After a wild and crazy day yesterday in West Texas, we arrived in east Texas about 7:30 pm, where the weather was cold, but not freezing.  We traveled 600 miles and it took us more than 14 hours!  The average speed was 40 mph!  Unfortunately we hit Houston right in the heart of rush hour…which was a white knuckle ride.  We were so happy just to get to Beaumont, and it didn’t take long to get to sleep last night. 

It is almost 1,000 miles from one side of Texas to the other…Alaska is the only state bigger, and it’s fun to think that we’ve driven through both states in the past 6 months!

Our relatives are so thoughtful, they came to the RV park to pick us up so that we didn’t have to detach the tow vehicle.  They claimed we brought Indiana weather to Texas!  We were treated to a wonderful breakfast of Texas waffles, Texas coffee and Texas bacon, along with great company and a fun visit!  thanks Uncle James, Aunt Barbara and Aunt Marie!

We said goodbye to Texas and hit the road headed east, keeping an eye on the awful weather that is hitting Atlanta and Charlotte.  We are lucky we didn’t leave from Indiana to travel to Daytona, as we surely would have been stuck in the middle of the snowstorm. Our route took us south of there, and all we saw was just a little rain…we were glad we missed the weather event! 

We travelled 380 miles today to Mobile, Alabama, and are staying in a Walmart parking lot again.  This one is one of the busiest Walmarts we’ve seen.  We did our “courtesy shopping”…and are trying to unwind and get ready for another day of driving tomorrow. 

Daytona, here we come….

Lundcruiser Adventures–Part 2

Tuesday - February 11, 2014
It’s hard to believe that it was exactly 5 months ago that we ended Part 1 of the Lundcruiser Adventures.  Since the Alaska trip, the Lundcruiser has been a “snowbird” in Arizona at an RV Storage facility, and appreciated not having to be winterized this season!  Finally, the Lundcruiser is making its way back to Indianapolis, via the Daytona 500. 
About a week before we left Arizona, there was a mini-Alaska reunion.  Five couples from the Alaska caravan travel to Arizona in their RV’s, and spend the winter, so we were able to arrange an AZ get-together.  It was really fun seeing everyone.   Here is a picture of the gang (minus one couple that got away before we took the picture).

We left Scottsdale on Sunday afternoon, and loaded up at the RV storage facility.  When we hooked up our truck (our tow vehicle) to the RV, we found the Alaska trip had taken quite a toll on the wiring harness—those bumpy roads shook the wires loose! In doing our standard pre-travel check, we found the lights on the truck weren’t working.  Jim was able to diagnose the problem with his volt meter, and do a repair on the loose wires to get us on our way. 

Then we made the 2 hour trip to Tucson where we spent the night at an RV park, and saw a beautiful sunset as we got to Tucson.  We had planned this short drive on Sunday, just to make sure we didn’t have any major issues before taking off on the 2100 mile journey to Daytona. 

We got up early on Monday and drove almost 600 miles to Fort Stockton, Texas.  It was a beautiful day, and interesting, as we passed very close to the Mexican border.  You could actually see the wall between the countries, and the Mexican village on the other side.   We had to stop at one border patrol post, near Juarez, but were asked just a few questions and sent on our way.


We found out Texas is a BIG state, and West Texas is a remote area.  We chose Fort Stockton as our stopping point because there isn’t really much in the area, and they have a Walmart, which allows RV’s in their lot overnight.   We walked to a nice local steakhouse about a block away, and had a good dinner, did a little Walmart shopping (a courtesy-- if you use their lot, it’s only appropriate to go spend money in their store!)  There were about 15 RV’s that stayed overnight.
When we woke up it was 26 degrees!  We haven’t been that cold since leaving Indy on January 9.  We got an early start, but ran into problem about 120 miles down the road.  There was sleet and snow and the roads became very icy.  A truck jack-knifed and shut down the highway.  We were stopped for 2 hours, but finally got rolling again, and laughed about our popsicles on the wipers and icicles on the wheels!

There were quite a few trucks parked along with us on the side of the road, and one actually almost slid into us as he tried to leave.  Thank goodness everyone seemed to make it out ok…just took a little longer than expected.
Spot found a cozy place under an electric blanket and missed most of the excitement all day. 
We are still travelling…(I brought my own hotspot).  We have about 100 miles to go..destination Gulf Coast RV Resort in Beaumont, Texas, where we will meet up with some relatives!
….and the Lundcruiser Adventures continue….stay tuned for Part 2!