Well, that sucked

Yesterday... kind of a bust.

The Red Bull event... kind of sucked. BELIEVE ME when I say I will give the full details on that later. For now, we got in last night at 10:00 p.m. and it's now nearly 6:30 a.m., and we need to get going.

The World of Outlaws race... kind of rained out.

Pics from Thursday are here (the motel's internet wasn't working Thursday night, so I couldn't blog, and there wasn't enough time Friday morning). Unedited, uncaptioned. Pics from NNS practice, NSCS practice, another NNS practice session, and then NSCS quals.

Pics from last night are here. They ARE edited and captioned.

Enjoy!

CMS Day Three: The All-Star Race

As I Twittered, Mom and I decided not to go to the track for the driver introductions. When we read the instructions for the "Mosh Pit," it said to be sure to bring your Sprint FanView to the driver intro because you would be watching the Showdown from the Nationwide garages. So we went back to the Sprint Experience to ask them for more information. We would have to meet at the Sprint Experience before the Showdown started, be held in the NNS garages during the Showdown, brought on to the track for the All-Star driver intros, the taken off after the intros and around to the grandstands after, and we might miss the very beginning of the All-Star Show.

We were also concerned that there would be a mad mob rush to the stage (I mean, it was called "Mosh Pit" for a reason). And with Mom's Sjogren's Syndrome and my torn hip cartilage, we were worried about our ability to beat a crowd. And if we couldn't beat a crowd, we'd be sunk. Because I'm 4'6" and Mom is 5'4". And if we were mired in the back of the crowd, we might as well be in out seats, which were actually pretty decent. Why miss the Showdown and the first part of the All-Star race to get pics of the backs of people's heads?

The most amazing part of the night was that weather.com had us at a 30% chance of isolated thunderstorms from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. and it NEVER RAINED.

Okay, now let me back up. We started the day getting Robby Gordon's autograph. When Mom stepped up to his souvenir hauler, the step-stool was a few inches away from the hauler, and she managed to somehow get her foot in those few inches and stumbled. Robby said, "Are you gonna fall into me, here?" When Mom said that she fell because of the step-stool, Robby immediately asked the two men in line behind me please move the steps as soon as Mom got off of them. I heart Robby.

Speaking of the two men behind us in line... I've always tried to impress on people who aren't NASCAR fans that NASCAR events aren't just sports events - they're social events. You people watch, you meet people, you socialise with people who like your drivers, you trash-talk with people who like drivers who are rivals with your drivers... even though you know you will never meet them again. It's just one big party, which happens to have a race at the end. Anyway, these guys in line behind us at Robby's autograph line were IN. THE. KNOW. about various fan appreciation events going on this week. In fact, they are responsible for one of the most agonising decisions I have ever had to make.

I've been campaigning all week to go to the Red Bull Racing Team Fan Appreciation event this Friday from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m., which Mom keeps telling me might be difficult since we have the World of Outlaws race Friday at 6:00 p.m. But the two men in line told us about the Kyle Busch fan appreciation event. You have to get there at 11:00 a.m. to get a wristband to be eligible to get an autograph. But he won't be signing until 1:00 p.m. Which means that getting to the Red Bull event will be difficult. Blech.

The thing is, Scott appears pretty much every race weekend at every track. But Kyle is really hard to get to. But they're expecting a LOT of people, so to be GUARANTEED a wristband, we'd have to get there REALLY early. And then stay until at least 1:00 p.m. But if we get Scott, it might be tight getting to the World of Outlaws race. Blech again.

My pics from last night are here. Again, massive spoilers if you haven't seen last night's race yet. Again, unedited and uncaptioned. And in case you missed the memo on who my favourite drivers are, just check out the pics.

The Truck Race (mostly)

We left the motel at 8:30 a.m. and headed for the track. We got back at 2:00 a.m. So if I blogged about the entire day, it'd be an even longer post than usual. So I'll TRY to stick to the highlights (I said TRY).

First, the most pressing question on everyone's mind seems to be, "What did the designer mean by SSK?" It is, "Slip one stitch to the right needle as if to knit. Slip that stitch back to the left needle. Knit the next two stitches through the back loop." That'll teach me not to read directions first, assumptions being what they are.

So, the highlights of the day. Well, if you know anything about my mom and I and I our track record at NASCAR (no pun intended - really), you KNEW it was going to rain. And, boy, did it ever. We managed to see the trucks final practice, the practice for the showdown cars, then left for the All-Stars practice, but came back in time for the showdown qualifying. Until the rain started. First it was a light sprinkle. Then a drizzle. Then a steady rain. Then a DELUGE. Then Mom and I regaled the folks around us with the tales of last year and her tales of the tornado and the hail that she's experienced at recent truck races. Then we wondered why no one wanted to sit with us. Which is when we got bored and started taking pics like this:

Another highlight, as a Sprint customer, I always make sure to visit "The Sprint Experience" to get my "free" goodies. I put free in quotation marks since I pay every month for my goodies. But boy did my loyalty pay off this year! I won two passes to Driver Intros at the All-Star race tonight!!!!! I had a choice between garage passes, driver intro passes, or victory lane passes, and I could take one guest (sorry, Dale). I didn't know what to do so I decided to consult with my guest, and then panicked when I couldn't find her. Found her, and then we decided. AND we found out that my prize also came with Sprint FanView for the entire weekend (okay, that part only makes sense to people who have been to the track before; sorry - and the alarm for Mom and Dale is going off as I type which means we're leaving soon so I don't time to explain).

Highlight #2 (for the Idol Knitters): We're sitting in the parking lot eating lunch (between practice and quals). I tell Mom (in no uncertain terms): I AM NOT ROOTING FOR BRETT BUTLER TONIGHT.

Mom: But I thought you decided three weeks ago he was your new favourite truck driver?
Me: I AM NOT ROOTING FOR HIM. You can't make me.
Mom: OH. Because every time you root for someone, they wreck out?
Me: That's right. So I'm NOT rooting for him.
Dale: Well, he'd probably say, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
Mom: What the hell are you talking about?
Dale: Because Rhett Butler was the main guy in "Gone With the Wind."
Mom: We're talking about the TRUCK DRIVER BRETT Butler.
Dale: Oh.
Mom: God, we're dysfunctional.
Me: And you people wonder why I blog you.

Highlight #3: Meeting these guys: This is Scott (on the left) and his friend Rick. They're from Hendersonville, NC (and I do believe I've heard of that place!). They sat right in front of us the entire day. Scott is a Kasey Kahne fan, and Rick is a Tony Stewart fan. I'm not sure if yesterday was Rick's 54th birthday or if this was just his birthday week, but he was celebrating his birthday with his friends Scott and Jeff (not pictured because Jeff is not talkative). Scott, Rick, and Jeff all hate Kyle Busch. Rick likes Ron Hornaday but also likes Todd Bodine. So we had a LOT of good-natured trash talking going on all evening long. It was SO much fun, especially at the end with Hornaday, Bodine, and Busch all doing well. I won't spoil since the race ended in the wee hours and you may not have seen it yet, but we were all screaming and yelling. My voice is still froggy, and I don't regret a minute of it.

Highlight #4: During a particularly long caution: The announcer starts talking about the track walk to benefit charity on Friday morning. After the walk, you can get free hot dogs and hamburgers cooked on a quarter mile-long grill (yes, you read that correctly). I start telling Scott and Rick all about how Mom was SWEARING the night before that she'd read about it somewhere and we thought she was nuts. So I turn to her and ask if she wants to do it, but she says it will make for a long day since we have the World of Outlaws race Friday night. "And," I point out, "We have Scott Speed Fan Appreciation Day Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m."

Mom: I NEVER said we would definitely go to that. I said we MIGHT.
Me: YOU SAID WE WOULD. I got the flyer for it! You put it in your bag!
Mom: Putting it in my bag does not mean I'm going!
Me: We're going to Scott Speed Appreciation Day!!! We appreciate Scott Speed!!
Mom: No. YOU appreciate Scott Speed. And if you make me go to that, then YOU have to go roller skating with Joey Logano. [Note: That's Joey's fan appreciation event - roller skating.]
Me: I am NOT roller skating with that man.
Mom: That's because you forgot how to roller skate!
Me: No, I didn't! Besides, I would PAY to see YOU roller skate!

At this point, I lean up to Rick. "Enjoying your birthday?" "Oh hell yeah! I love me a good family fight!" I told him, "I told her that when you pick a 10-year-old kid as your favourite driver, OF COURSE you have to go to roller skating rinks to see them."

And just for good measure, a pic of my mom gazing adoringly at Joey:

If you want to see all of my pics from yesterday, they are here. But be warned: they are not edited, they are not captioned, they may not make sense to you, and there ARE spoilers (of various kinds) from last night's/this morning's race.

CMS Take Two: Day One

Posting this a day late (as many of my posts probably will be) because when one gets up at 4:30 a.m. to catch an airplane and one is not accustomed to doing so, things get messy and who knows what this post may have looked like last night. Actually, that might have been more fun.

If you read my Twitter, you know that when I got to the Philadelphia airport at 6:00 a.m. (compliments of the Lady Liberty shuttle - on-time and economical at ten bucks!), it was the MOST crowded I have EVER seen the airport, including during the holidays. They weren't even letting people cut the line in their flight time was approaching because that was, uh... EVERYONE. It was CRAZY.

Then, in Detroit (yes, you read that correctly, Delta routed me from Philly to Charlotte, NC, via Detroit), I got locked in the jetway. I was talking to a flight attendant about something a former friend of mine (a former flight attendant herself) had said to me once about not bringing overhead carry-ons because attendants are not obligated to help me with it. She told me this was FALSE, and gave me options for how to deal with this, since I can't reach the overhead compartments. Thus, I was, by far, the last one off the airplane. When I got to the top of the jetway, the door was closed, but as it was one of those doors with the bar across it, I assumed I'd hit the bar and keep on going. Instead, I hit the bar and smacked into the door. I knocked on the door. I banged on the door. I banged harder. I saw a button next to the door marked "EMERGENCY." I thought "No way. Not in an airport." I banged again. Someone banged back. Huh???? I banged back, back. She opened the door. It was ghost town on that side of the door. Apparently, no one was getting ready to board my plane after we de-planed. I'm glad she happened by, or I'd have missed my connection.

Then I RUN to make my connection. Man, I had NO idea just how MASSIVE the Detroit airport is. I need to go again when I have more time. They have a TRAM! Oh wait, I DO again in two weeks. And I have a three-hour layover. Yay me! (Btw, ever try to run with a heavy carryon with you have a hip with a torn cartilage?)

I get to Charlotte (sitting by the CUTEST. GUY. EVER) with no problems (except discovering that the pattern I've been working on was using "SSK" but not to mean "slip slip knit." Grr. Twenty minutes in the car with Mom and Dale, and they have a car fight. So that was exciting. Apparently, he has yet to master the art of shutting up with the GPS talks. In fact, he takes her speaking as his cue to START speaking.

We finally get to the motel to discover... we have no reservation. Despite Mom pulling out the information/rates the woman wrote down for us when we were here for us in December (that's my mom, ladies and gentlemen), despite my Mom having called last week to confirm, despite my Mom giving them alternate spellings of her last name - nope, no reservation. Cue flashbacks to last year's Race That Never Was with the endless rain and the lost keys and crying for weeks about the botched "I'm going to give my mom a Mother's Day vacation" treat..... Min mini-meltdown.

Finally, Mom keeps insisting, "Sir, this IS our confirmation number. PLEASE, just try again. PLEASE. I KNOW we have a room." And we do. It's just that we arrive tomorrow (now today). So Mom asks if we can arrive today. And we can. We each take as much as we can from the van to the room... to find that the card keys don't work. So we're assigned another room.

We go eat, we ask locals for the back route to the track (which takes about 15 minutes from our motel on a non-race day), we do a test run. While we're at the track, I say, "Hey, let's go to Hendrick while we're here!" So we do. Mom has a GREAT time going, "There's Chad" every five minutes (for those who don't know, he's a crew chief I LOVE and I refer to Jimmie Johnson as "The Guy Who Drives Chad's Car"). And Dale (who HATES Jack Roush) would say, "There's a Roush spy" every time he say someone driving a Ford.

We come back to discover I've left my camera battery charger at home. Cue Min mini-meltdown #2. (Note, this isn't helped by the whole getting-up-at-4:30 a.m.-and-travelling-on-five-hours-of-sleep thing.) After several calls, we find a Best Buy who has the Sony charger I need. We trek out to get it.

Finally, around 10:00 p.m., I climb into bed... to find that my sheets are stained with blood. It was one stain that started at the blanket and went right through to the flat sheet and the fitted sheet. Mom (bless her) changes back into clothes, goes to the front desk, and about ten minutes later, comes back with the clerk, who was PISSED (not at us, at the staff). We have a new room. So we move everything, which is a considerable amount of things - three people taking over a room for two weeks. I finally got to sleep around 11:30 p.m.

Today, we're off to the truck practices, the showdown practice, the All-Star practice, quals, and the truck race is tonight!

The Race That Wasn't: Part III

As promised, some of the pics of the people I met during Non-Race Day.

Here's Taz. I met him waiting for Scott Speed's autograph. He's a Junior fan. His wife is a Kyle fan. Their 14-year-old son is a Scott fan. (I like how James' trailer is in the reflection.)


Here's a Martin Truex, Jr., impersonator. I thought it was very gracious of him to decline to sign a boy's hat. After Not-Truex went into the trailer, several of us argued (in a friendly manner) about whether it was or was not Truex. We said that if it WAS, he had CLEARLY lost a lot of weight. And then Taz reminded us that the camera adds ten pounds. Then we decided it was NOT him when we sent a scout to the front of Truex's trailer where he saw of pic of Truex with Not-Truex. So, I present to you... Not Truex:

We also saw someone who likes Kyle WAAAAAAY more than I do:

During the rain delay, there was a ton of people watching to do. I present to you Dancing Cowboy. Mom and I first spotted him when he made his way to his seat whilst drinking his can o' beer. Yes, we're walking down the row to the seat, but Must. Drink. Beer. They played songs for a bit, and he and his brew had a little dance going on. Mom and I agreed that he seemed attractive... at least from the back. From the back, he reminded me of Hank Williams, Jr. Anyway, here he is:





At the end of our row and then in the seat in front of him were the two Tattoo Guys. Mom and I refer to each of them as Tattoo Guy; I guess they're interchangeable in our minds. I wasn't able to get a picture of them that showed everything. The guy with the suspenders had multiple piercings and a tattoo that spanned the entirety of his sizeable belly. I will say that these guys were extremely nice and polite. When Mom was making her way out of the seats with her bags, Tattoo Guy asked her if she needed help. When I came down the stairs and was making my way back to the seats one time (carrying at least three bags), he asked if he could help me. There were also people during the rain delay who asked to take their picture, and both Tattoo Guys were very good-natured about the whole thing. They posed for pics, they took pics, etc. I didn't realise this at the time, or I'd have gotten in line (Mom told me later). I was busy feeling clever about kinnearing everyone.





























And Fred Flintstone was at the race:

And, finally... Drunk Guy. I met Drunk Guy when we came back to our seats when we THOUGHT the race was going to get started. FOOLS! I looked under my seat to find my French fries (they were in a baggie), but no fries. I was annoyed - I mean, who steals FRIES??? And Drunk Guy in a slow Southern accent. "Oh hey - I stole your fries." The guys he was with (in the row behind Drunk Guy and me) are going, "Give her her fries back, man!" I told Drunk Guy he could have the fries, and he said, "No, really? Are you sure?" I said, "Who's your favourite driver?" "Tony Stewart." And I snatched the fries back. The guys all laughed, I took a fry and ate it, then I sealed the bag back up, and told the guy he could have them. He said, "No - they're yours. Well played. But can I defend my choice?"

I gave him the raised eyebrow look. He explained that when he started following NASCAR, he was told he needed a favourite driver. He didn't know who to choose, but said that his favourite colour is orange and his favourite number is 20. So he was told to pick Tony as his favourite. In the end, I let him have the fries. But, for posterity's sake, I got a pic of what his friends did to his back. Note to self: never let drunk people draw on me with a Sharpie.

The Race That Wasn't: Part II

Okay, I know this is a one long-ass post, but stick with it. The end is pretty good. :)

Sunday: We got to the track shortly after 10:00 a.m. Mom was psyched that we got to park between the drag strip and the dirt track. She isn’t much for the dragsters, but she LOVES her some dirt track racing. Since the gates opened at 11:00 a.m., and they were handing out grab bags to the first 50,000 in the gates, I campaigned for walking straight to the gates and waiting in line, then checking out Souvenir Alley and the hospitality village. We decided to leave some of the stuff in the car (scanners, headsets, evening clothing such as jackets, etc.), which we would pick up later when we dropped off our buys and free samples.

We got to the gates and only had to wait about 20 minutes for them to open. We got our bags, then hit Souvenir Alley. People bought things. I’m sure you’ll be SHOCKED to hear that I bought something at Robby’s trailer and at James’ trailer. Sara was kind enough to buy me something at Kyle’s trailer. I bought Mom for Christmas a Mikey hooded sweatshirt that she picked out. I told her she could wear it that night, but then it had to go home to get wrapped for Christmas [cue more foreshadowing music].

As per usual, while strolling through Souvenir Alley, we saw the notices for the autograph sessions: Robby Gordon at 2:00 p.m., Scott Speed at 2:00 p.m., Toast at 2:00 p.m., David Ragan from 2:25-2:45. I planned my course of action: Scott Speed at 2:00 p.m., then a mad dash to Robby. Much as a I adore David, I only had my hat for him to sign, and he’d already signed it last year. And I didn’t feel like buying something at his trailer just for him to sign. Mom and Sara had exhausted Souvenir Alley, so I sent them on ahead to Hospitality Village and we agreed to meet up later after I was done being an autograph hound.

While I was in line for Scott, Sara texted me that Kyle was making an appearance at the Toyota exhibit at 3:00 p.m. By this time, the guy in front of me in Scott’s line and I were fast friends. Taz explained to me that his 14-year-old’s favourite driver is Scott, his favourite driver is Junior, and my favourite driver is KyleCarlJamesRobbyToddScott. So when Sara texted me, I called Mom, we came up with new meet-up plans, and I told Taz about Kyle’s appearance. He and I planned to sprint over to the Toyota exhibit together, but he later got a call from his wife, and he had to go somewhere else. Clearly, his wife is not as dedicated of a Kyle fan as I am! :P

I got Scott autograph on my hat and on a hero card. Taz took a pic of the two of us, and Scott was gracious enough to stand up and lean over the tall counter as much as possible to get both of us in the same shot. I thanked Taz, grabbed my camera from him, and literally ran to the street to cross to Hospitality Village. As I was crossing the street, I had my hat in my hand (no time to put it in the bag!) and several people commented on “what a busy girl [I’d] been.” Ha!

I got to the Toyota exhibit at 2:18 (sorry, Robby - sacrifices have to be made!). I asked Lisa, the nice exhibit lady where Kyle would be and if he would be signing autographs or if this was just a photo op. She said he MIGHT sign some stuff on the way in/out, but it wasn’t an autograph session. She also told me where to camp out to wait for him. Unfortunately, I had to wait through Denny Hamlin’s appearance, but it was relatively painless as he used the race simulators to race against fans - and he only won one of the two heats. *snicker*

Finally, Kyle’s timeslot arrived and we waited... and waited... and waited. (Note: next time Toyota people tell you Kyle may appear a few minutes early, remember the key word “MAY.”) Unfortunately, instead of Kyle, we got the rain. So the place I had painstakingly staked out for over 45 minutes was useless as they decided to move where Kyle would speak. The woman standing next to me and I got Lisa’s attention and made a big to-do about how we’d been there for over an hour waiting. She went to see what she could do for us, but came back and said that he wouldn’t be signing any autographs for anyone.

At that point, I decided to abandon the “And what about pictures since the people who have been dutifully waiting here in the back of the exhibit area to see him are now the furthest away from the staging area in the front” argument in lieu of using my petite size to wiggle my way into the audience. As several of you have seen from my Picasa album, I managed to get nearly 20 pics of him. It’s also nice to know that when you’re short and you’re literally doing the “if I jump and click at just the right moment, maybe I’ll get a decent shot” thing, people around you will offer to take pics for you. Yay for friendly, nice, tall, Kyle fans!

After that, we headed in to the track area to eat. We then found our seats (well, first we found someone else’s seat), which happened to seat me next to two people from Philly! And the woman’s family is from Wichita, Kansas! Small world, eh? I also met two nice people behind us from Mississippi. It’s one of the things I adore about NASCAR events - you meet all these wonderful people. True, you’ll probably NEVER see them again, but who cares.

We then sat through nearly TWO HOURS of pre-race festivities, exhibiting military... things. Mom and I were not happy that LMS ganked part of their stuff from last fall’s Kansas race, such as the aircraft carrier delivering the pace car, but whatev. And, as the NASCAR fans know, that was all we got to see. We never saw pace laps, we never saw a green flag, and we certainly saw no pit stops.

At 8:30 p.m. EDT, the race was called with a noon start on Monday. Mom and I both flew out on Monday. We talked and decided to go ahead and go home and file the event insurance claim to try to recoup some our money, rather than spend more money to change our flights. Getting money back trumps spending more money, see?

But the day ended with the discovery that the car keys had been lost along the way. When we got to the car, Mom called AAA, and they sent someone out to rekey Sara’s car. Locksmith got there at 2:00 a.m. Now, scroll back up to see what time they called the race. Go ahead; I’ll wait. Yep, that’s right - from the time the race was called to the time we got in a car - 5.5 hours.

In the interim, we sought shelter in a small hallway leading to a women’s restroom. Mostly we entertained ourselves, but we also inherited the duty of telling people, “Sorry, the bathroom’s locked,” which was generally followed by “Yes, we’re serious.”

Those of you who know me or who have spoken on the phone with me since then know I’ve spent some time crying about this trip. If it could go wrong, it did. Awesome Mother’s Day present, Min; well done.

Mom and I did get to sit in the airport together for awhile after we both checked in (different airlines, different terminals). And we concocted The Plan (with apologies to Brook and Alex). Mom even called Dale (her husband) to explain The Plan. (Small bit of background before I tell you about The Plan - once I told Mom her Mother’s Day present from me was a ticket to the Coca-Cola 600, Dale paid for her flight down and back as her birthday present.)

Mom called Dale and got the answering machine.
Mom to machine: Hi Dale, it’s me. Just wanted to make sure you’re coming to get me tonight. We didn’t change our flight so I’ll be at the airport tonight at 11:15 p.m. But Min and I have a plan for next year. We think you should take us to the All-Star Race and the 600 next year and we’ll spend the week in between going to the garages and touring the area, since I got robbed of my birthday present AND my Mother’s Day present this year..
Me whispering to Mom: And your daughter won’t stop crying
Mom to machine: And my daughter won’t stop crying. And you probably won’t even get this message until you’re home from the airport with me, so BYE!

Here’s where the story gets even better. I get to work on Tuesday, and my boss wants to know what’s wrong. I start to cry and she has me come in her office, close the door, and tell her the story of the Worst Mother’s Day Gift ever. She hugs me, tells me that as a mom, she knows that it meant more to my mom to see me for a few days than whether she got to see the race. She asks me when I’ll see my mom again. I tell her, “In October, for the Kansas race.” Boss gets weird look on her face. I say, “What?”

Well, it seems that because the nurses’ and techs’ contracts expire at the end of September, the hospital is planning for the event of a strike. Therefore, NO vacation days are being granted between 15 September and somewhere in the middle of November. If the unions approve new contracts before then, people can take vacation. I explained to the boss that I already had plane tickets, and she said that should be okay. SHOULD be okay. I explain to my boss that if I get screwed out of ALL THREE races in one year, I’m going to be one unhappy camper.

Then I pulled it together, explained The Plan for next year, and asked for a week and a half off to go to Charlotte. And she approved it. WIN!!!!

Next blog post: The more colourful people I met at LMS.

The Race That Wasn't: Part I

Friday: I worked slightly more than half a day, then went home to pack. I’d been amassing a Pile o’ Stuff to pack this weekend, but had yet to do important things like, say, retrieve my luggage from basement storage. Things packed, I then settled in to wait for my ride to the airport. The flight itself was uneventful, although there was a scare while I was waiting to board when I went to pull out my laptop, only to discover that I’d left it at security. I ran back and got it from a TSA agent who was only slightly appalled that I was so grateful I (a) started crying as soon as I saw it, and (b) offered her a tip for noticing it was left on the belt and safely storing it for me. This would be the first of several crying jags during this three-day mini-vacation. [cue scary foreshadowing music]

I arrived at the airport a bit early, although we took off exactly on time and had no delays in the air. How is this possible you ask? Because the Philadelphia airport is SO notorious for its late departures that some airlines are now scheduling waiting-on-tarmac time INTO their flight time. Since my flight had no waiting-on-tarmac time, we got to the destination about 25 minutes early.

It was nice to see Sara, who was kind enough to make the 90 minute trip to the airport (yes, there are closer airports, but this one was cheaper BY FAR to fly into than the closer ones). We went straight from the airport to a sushi restaurant, where good sushi was enjoyed. While I was tempted by the notion of sake infused with pineapple and ginger, I resisted since it was served warm, rather than cold.

When we got to her place, I declared myself exhausted (it was past midnight at this point, and I had woken up at 5:30 a.m. for work). So to relax before going to bed, I worked on some calculus problems. Go derivatives!!!!

Saturday: I slept in (until 7:30 a.m.). We went to two different LYSes. One of them, I bought nothing but roving (some for a gift for Brook; although if she doesn’t want, I’ll be FORCED to keep it for myself - ha!). I bought three skeins of yarn at the other one, after delivering a mini-lecture on how H1N1 flu virus is NOT a deadly evil.

Then back to the airport to pick up my mom. There was some confusion when she was told to meet us at baggage claim, and was waiting for us at the bag check station, but when I spotted a woman wandering around in Michael Waltrip blue and yellow, I broke into a run and damn near tackled the poor woman! I hadn’t seen my mom since Christmas break, and it was SOOOO good to see her - especially for something as exciting at the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway!!!! Whooo!

Then to a grocery store for tailgating stuffs, except Mom decided to not take a bunch of stuff, and she would buy us food at the track. With her Sjogren’s, it’s sometimes easier for her to just pay for the convenience than to do a lot of walking and expend a lot of energy. And, although we’ve never been to an LMS race, we have done SEVERAL years at Kansas Speedway, and we knew a lot of walking would be involved. And, if you’re me, sometimes some running and sometimes some jumping up and down (my inner four-year-old tends to come out at the mention of harem members - it’s endearing. No, really, it is.)

Next, we arrived at Sara’s place to settle in for the evening - supper, watching the Nationwide race, and programming the scanners. Mom was bitterly disappointed when Mike Bliss won the rain-shortened NNS race. [cue more scary foreshadowing music] “I don’t want Mike Bliss to win because then I’ll have to listen to his squeaky voice during the interview.”

We debate about what time to go to the race. Mom and I are used to waking up somewhere in the neighbourhood of 4:30-5:00 a.m. and leaving no later than 5:30 a.m. for race day. Sara didn’t want to get up that early, and since she was the one hosting us and driving, we deferred to her and decided to shoot for an 8:00 a.m. leaving, with leaving no later than 8:30 a.m.

Will post about Sunday later when I'm not supposed to be finishing supper and going to bed.