Well. What Next?

I need to write a post about Lightning McQueen's 4-H presentation.

I would like to write about something very bittersweet, but worry that it's too personal.

But right now I'm kind of stuck.  I have no idea what to write!

I don't have a husband to write about, good OR bad.  My kids are, well, kind of ordinary, and I don't want to write too often about how aggravated I get with them sometimes for fear I will get the reputation of "horrible mommy blogger". Plus there are only so many times you can post about sibling bickering before it starts wearing thin. I could write about work, but really my work is 99% really boring pants and suits, and only 1% gorgeous designer gowns and opportunities for me to work my creative magic.

I could write about the hens, but I have decided NO MORE HEN POSTS until Oregano and Barbecue start laying.

I could also write about the realities about being a single parent. You really have no idea.  All those single moms who do interesting things like shop with friends, and date, and go to dinner?  That is not me.  I have a completely different life.

I do plan to put in the garden tomorrow, so there's that.  I'll try to remember to take pictures.

What do YOU want to read?

"Back Home Again in Indiana", Part Seven - Race Day!

Race Day 2011 dawned overcast and a bit chilly, but with the promise of sun behind the clouds.  Saturday night we had a bit of a thunderstorm, but it never rained very hard, and it seemed to clear the air a bit.  I made sure we had our sunscreen when we packed up our stuff to head over to the American Legion for a delicious, hot, all-you-can-eat breakfast.  For $7 you get eggs, bacon, sausage (except not this year as they were out), biscuits and gravy, hash browns, coffee, milk and juice.  (No cereal this year either, wonder what's up with that).  Anyway, it's a perfect start to the day and it's a lot of fun to sit and have breakfast with other race fans.

Pace cars on the parade lap

 By the time we finished our breakfast and got to the track the sun was starting to come out.  We got our tickets ripped and headed through the now-familiar tunnel on our way to the infield.

We had no idea where to pick for a vantage point (but we know more now than we did; this will take some refining but I'm sure that we'll have a better spot in future years), so we walked in the direction of the backstretch, across the golf course.  At first we'd chosen a place on one of the Family Viewing Mounds, but after noticing the sign that said "no alcoholic beverages allowed" we moved up further into Turn 2 towards the South Short Chute to a regular mound - I didn't want to have to go stand somewhere else in case I decided I wanted a beer during the race.  We were lucky to be surrounded by a bunch of really nice people, and were also near a restroom AND a food stand that sold tenderloins!

Pace lap

 At this stage of the game I am experimenting with the "sports" setting on my camera........you would be astonished to see how much I cropped these photos!  But I think I didn't do too badly, considering the sun was in my eyes AND the cars were going over a hundred miles an hour.

Pace lap, second shot

Third pace lap shot

Every time one of the kids got within spraying distance I got them with the spray sunscreen, and no one got any serious sunburn (I got a little on my nose and a couple of places on my back where I couldn't reach, but it's all tan now - PLEASE refrain from lectures in the combox about how I will probably get skin cancer.  I have pale Irish skin and prefer to look healthy in the summer, not as if I have spent the winter shut up in a box).

There's a building on the outside of the track at the exit of Turn 2 with I guess a series of lights on it, and when the yellow light is on that means there's a caution........I took to glancing over my shoulder at the light every so often and a couple of times the cars would come into 2 absolutely flying, then catch sight of the light and lift to slow down to caution speed.  It was neat.

We were MUCH closer to the cars (although still behind two rows of very substantial catchfence) this year, but the noise wasn't as bad because we weren't under cover.  It was exciting to FEEL the cars coming, then flying by almost too fast to see - fortunately the drivers I really like have easily-identifiable cars, and the numbers on the rear wing plates help a LOT).  I am mostly happy with the spot we chose, although  think we will try over at the exit of Turn 4 next time (I think we might be able to see a Jumbotron from over there).

At the last lap we were cheering J.R. Hildebrand on to an amazing victory (and I was thrilled that it didn't seem the race would end under yellow; I may be in the minority but I think there ought to be RACING to the checkered flag......but that does NOT mean I'm an advocate of Green-White-Checker!  It just means I don't like races that end under yellow), when he CRASHED and Dan Wheldon got by him for the win.  It's Wheldon's 2nd win at Indy.

Afterwards we hung around for a while to let the crowds begin to thin a bit, then I tried one more time to call one friend and text another (phone service was basically nonexistent much of the day), and after no results on either effort we packed up our things and headed back across the street to pack up the campsite and see about getting on the road - the plan was to get to Richmond, Indiana and find a hotel room.

Just as we got the car loaded I got a call from Jimmy (remember him?  He took us to the race last year) and turned out he got caught up in traffic and was already on his way home.  He invited us to crash at his place that night to save the hotel $, so I told him we'd stop and get some dinner and then come up to his house.

We watched the replay of the race on tv at Jimmy's, then the kids went to bed and he and I sat and chatted for a bit.  A most enjoyable evening!  I really love spending time with people who mostly understand me, and who don't expect me to be anything other than who I am.

Monday morning I got a shower and we got on our way home.  We stopped in Columbus to see my friend at the yarn store where she works (I bought yarn!), and also stopped at the Cabela's store near Wheeling to look at tents and other equipment (we camp in such odd places and conditions that I think we need to stay away from Wal-Mart outdoor equipment from now on; it just doesn't last).

I'm blessed to have such great friends!

One more Indy-related photo, and the next post will be all about something more usual and appealing to the general public, like how wonderful and amazing my kids are, how Eli is such a great dog, how Winston (the dog we are dogsitting this week) SHEDS, to the tune of enough to make another whole dog by now!!!!!1!!!!eleventy!!!!), or something about school, or work, or bread, or knitting.  Thanks for sticking with me while I rehash our trip and preserve it for posterity, lol!

MWAH!

"Back Home Again in Indiana", Part Six - Drivers' Meeting

Starting Field, 2011 Indianapolis 500

Between autograph sessions on Saturday, we attended the public Drivers' Meeting in Tower Terrace.  Before the drivers came out and took their seats on the portable grandstand, the Firestone Firehawk was shooting t-shirts up into the stands......people were falling all over themselves trying to get one!  

Each of the drivers was presented with a starter's ring, there were other awards presented and announcements made, and when the schedule for the next day's pre-race was announced, it turned out that they'd just copied last year's schedule!  Last year the race started at 1 and this year it was at noon.  Everyone got a laugh out of that.

I continue to be amazed at the fan-friendliness of the Indy 500.  All the events on Saturday were FREE, you just had to know where and when.  A FREE Drivers' Meeting invitation can be used as a garage pass on Carb Day after track activities are done, and also on Saturday.  You can also get, FREE for the asking, a garage pass for after the race on Race Day.  Our camping permit was extremely reasonably priced, considering that one of the first things we saw every morning when we got up was the Pagoda.  Food and beverages are in plentiful supply both inside and outside the gates, but you are also permitted to bring in your own food and drinks (no glass, but that's easy enough to do).  We saw folks in the infield near where we sat who had full-size canopies and screen houses, lawn chairs, big rolling coolers and even one group with a grill!

I know there are people who have had grandstand seats for several generations, and this was only my second race to attend in person, but it was, and continues to be, one of the most amazing things to think back on - that my kids and I have been to the biggest single-day sporting event in the world not once, but TWICE.

Next post is Race Day and the aftermath, and then I guess I'll have to take the camping permit off the car windshield and go back to blogging about more mundane things.

Is this a better shot than the one above?  I can't tell.  

"Back Home Again in Indiana", Part Five

Mostly I'm just going to let the photos speak for themselves this time.  I used my Driver's Meeting Invitation (pictures of that coming tomorrow, because I have to do some editing; most of the time I'm really lazy and just post the pictures just as they come off the camera) to get access to the garage area and had a bunch of those gawking moments.

                                      

The car that won the race!

One of the Foyt Racing garages

4-time "500" winner A.J. Foyt

 The photo above completes my collection of photos of all three four-time Indy 500 winners.  Maybe someday I'll get the autographs to go with them, but for now I'm happy I got to SEE them all.

Think this is Janet; Pork Chop was over getting fueled up.  :)

Pippa Mann's car (got her autograph)

Marco Andretti's #26 machine

Is this Hinchcliffe's car? 

Takuma Sato's garage

I have a jar of Marmite for T. Scheck.......

NOT zoomed in, I was really this close to Simona's race car.  I touched the tire.  ;)

And up close and personal with Ed Carpenter's ride too!

All in all, the entire weekend was perfectly stupendous (I'm trying to stop using the word AWESOME, lol).....Amazing to be able to just walk around and take photos of all the cars, Important Racing Personalities and the surroundings.  Kind of like getting to a U2 concert a few hours early and being allowed to wander up on stage and take a good close-up look at the instruments that Bono, The Edge and the rest of the band actually play.

I started to say that I might be able to finish this up in one more post, but I think it really needs to be two more (I need a post for Race Day all by itself).  So tomorrow I will hopefully have my Driver's Meeting photos edited and I can blather on about that.

"Back Home Again in Indiana", Part Four

2012 Dallara concept car, oval config

After we stopped in the Trackside cafe to get drinks, we had our lunch and then headed back over to the Tower Terrace stands for the Indy Lights race.  Once we got to the back of the grandstand we stopped to take a look at the show cars on display that we'll hopefully get to see on the track next year.

The more I look at these cars the more I like them, although I think the extension on the sidepod there at the rear wheel is AWFULLY close to being a fender, and the wraparound in the back looks a bit too much like a bumper for my taste, but these are only concept vehicles and I'll reserve judgment until I see them on the track, at speed, in 2012 .  
 I looked at my phone to see what time it was and noticed that I needed to be back over at the Penske merchandise trailer soon, so the kids and I agreed to meet in an hour, at the back of Victory Lane, and I sent them up into Tower Terrace to find seats and watch the Indy Lights race, and I started back past the Plaza toward the Penske trailer.

On the way to the museum that morning I'd picked up one of 100 tickets for a Rick Mears autograph, and since he's one of the drivers on my all-time favorites list, I didn't want to miss this opportunity.  I stood in line with a bunch of other fans and we chatted about all sorts of things while we waited.

Rick Mears, 4-time 500 winner, signs my t-shirt

It turned out that I don't think there were 100 people in line, and there was a really relaxed feel to the whole thing; Mr. Mears was taking the time to briefly chat with each fan (squee! I've talked to Rick Mears!), and when I got up to the front of the line he was gracious enough to sign his name nice and slowly so I could get this photo.  I thanked him for being there and he said to me "Thank YOU for coming out."  A real gentleman, and thrilling to have met him! (I'm so thankful I didn't go all fangirl on him, but I do admit I wanted to reach up there and give him a big smooch.  He's really a handsome guy.)
Afterwards I made sure to secure my Sharpie and t-shirt in my tote bag again, then I headed back over towards Tower Terrace and Victory Lane to catch the end of the Indy Lights race and meet up with the kids. I was able to walk right up to the fence that separates the walkway at the bottom of the stands (that runs in front of Victory Lane and the Pagoda) and watch from there - I was about halfway watching the race and halfway watching the people around me, both on my side of the fence and in the pit lane area.

I'd been standing there about 10 minutes when I noticed a man in a leather jacket standing just on the other side of the fence from where I was standing; he looked really familiar but I couldn't immediately place the face, until he turned around and was fully facing me for a couple of seconds.  John Force!  I'd been standing practically right next to John Force for I don't know how long! I didn't manage to get his autograph, though; just as I realized who he was someone came up to him on the other side of the fence and they went off towards Gasoline Alley together.

Well.......Josef Newgarden won the Indy Lights race, the kids and met up behind Victory Lane, and decided not to stick around for the Pit Stop Challenge as it was still chilly and breezy, our feet were tired, and we thought it might be nice to just chill out at our campsite for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

What a nice group of people we ended up camping near!  There were several families with kids of a similar age to mine, and they got Frisbees, a Nerf football and a bunch of other stuff and had a regular field day over in the space between two campsites on the other side of the road.  I mostly puttered around the campsite, walked around a bit, and read my Office in the screen house but was interrupted a bunch of times by people just walking by who stopped to say hi, find out where we were from, how many years we'd been coming to Indy, all that kind of stuff.  The families cattycorner behind us were really nice, we played some Corn Hole with them and another game where you try to fling a thing like a bolo around a ladder doodad (not very good at that, lol).  Directly behind us was a group of friends who have been camping in Lot 2 for about 10 years; they're from all over the place and this is like a reunion weekend for them.  I shared a Fat Tire craft beer with them and some good conversation.

I'm still happy and amazed at how very friendly everyone was.  Most of the time when we camp it's almost like we're in our own little universe, but here if felt like everyone was almost family.

We had yummy grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, and after we cleaned up and put the stove away, I told the kids they could play but to stay in sight of our campsite, and I walked back down to Camp & Brew for about an hour to see what was up.  Met a few more TrackForum folks, ate some awesome ribs and then ran the gauntlet of Georgetown Road back to Lot 2 for some much needed rest.

"Back Home Again in Indiana", Part Three - Carb Day continued

Centennial Socks with pattern on The Bricks

 Sometimes I get a bit fidgety standing in line, and when we were standing in line at the Speedway Museum I did feel the need to occupy my time with something other than looking around......so, since I'd had the good fortune to find some pretty red sock yarn at the Knit Stop (owned by a daughter of Mari Hulman George, which is one reason I stopped there on our way to the Speedway on Thursday), I pulled out the yarn (KPPPM, yummy) and started a sock.

There was a couple in line in front of me, all decked out in IndyCar gear - jackets, hats and shirts - and just as I got about half the stitches cast on, the woman turned around and noticed what I was doing.  Which led to this:

Lady Fan:  "Are you starting a sock?  Good on you for bringing something to do.  What's the pattern?"

Me:  "The name is Centennial, and it commemorates the Speedway.  Here, let me show you the pattern." (I get the pattern out of my tote and hand it to her; she looks through it and really likes the pictures. I describe how the stitch patterns are connected to the track and the race, which she thinks is pretty cool)

LF:  "My niece and I both knit, and so does my sister.  I don't think either of them have ever knit socks before, but this one would be a good one!  This is really neat! Where can I buy the pattern?"

Me:  "You can purchase it at KnitPicks.com!  It's only $1.99, and you can buy the yarn at the same time.  It's a relatively easy pattern once you get them started."

LF:  "What's the website again?"  (Goes to KnitPicks' website on her smartphone and BUYS THE PATTERN.) "Thanks! I think I'll enjoy knitting them!"

(squee!)

Al Unser, Sr. smiles for my camera

 As you can see, I didn't get to get any of the winning drivers' autographs at the Museum; we got about 10 people from the head of the line and time ran out......so I edged down the rope and got this lucky shot of 4-time winner Al Unser, Sr.  He saw out of the corner of his eye that I had the camera up, and looked up and smiled so I could get a picture.





I just realized that I was able to take pictures of ALL THREE of the four-time winners.  You'll see the pictures of the other two in the next post or so. All in all, it was a good day (and I'm not done, but I want to string you along some so I can really savor remembering the weekend).

Stop back for the story of how I managed NOT to make a complete fool of myself when I met one of my biggest childhood heroes, how I turned my kids LOOSE at the Speedway to go watch the Indy Lights race, another motorsports celebrity sighting, and a couple of stories of life in Lot 2.  :)

Johnny Rutherford

Gordon Piper in the Trackside Cafe

"Back Home Again in Indiana", Part Two - Carb Day

Friday morning (the 27th) I got up and made myself a cup of instant flavored coffee (I have a camping percolator, but it takes a LONG time to make a pot of coffee, and for this trip I just needed one or two cups in the morning to get a jump start to make it across the street), prayed my Office, then waited for the kids to get moving so we could go over to the track for Carb Day - the final day of IndyCar practice before the race. We walked through the tunnel, and the cars were on the track right then.  Silly us, we stopped in the middle for a moment until several cars had gone by (so now we can say we've been run over by IndyCars - the goofy things you think of to do, eh?).  We jumped up and touched the ceiling of the tunnel as the cars were passing too; we could see fingerprints where lots of others had done the same thing!

 This is the back side of the Pagoda as seen from the infield side of the tunnel.

I had one of those moments when I took this photo, of thinking "wow, I sure never thought I would ever in my life be standing right here!" (In actual fact the entire weekend was full of those moments).

Having never been so close to the Pagoda before, I was surprised at how HUGE it is!  I'm sure all four of us were gawking all day, since the vast majority of stuff we saw and did was completely new to us, and we wanted to take it all in.

 Here's the tunnel we came through.  On the other side of the railing there on the right are two lanes for vehicles to drive through; if you go straight on out of the tunnel you end up on the road course portion of the track and can connect to several parking areas, the Garage Area (more about that later) or drive all the way over to the museum.

I should mention now that once I got the car wedged into our camping spot, we walked everywhere, even to Mass on Saturday evening!

 Here are the kids on Pagoda Plaza.  It was a chilly morning with the threat of drizzle just about all day.  I'd say the Plaza is a bit larger than a football field (but if anyone reading this knows different please comment and let me and my other readers know; I'm not such a great estimator of sizes).

We had some time before the Indy Lights race, so we decided to walk over to the Museum and try to get some autographs, since a group of winning veteran drivers was to be there.  I also wanted to see the collection of winning cars, and the kids wanted to see the car you could sit in.

 On the way to the museum we passed by this lot, at the far end of which is Gasoline Alley!

Quite an experience to see that sign for real instead of just on television.

Somehow I got the feeling that I needed to keep my eyes peeled for Important Racing Personalities, so I perked up my eyeballs, made sure my Sharpie and white t-shirt were easily accessible at the top of my tote bag, and we walked by the lot where the teams have their trailers.

 About two seconds after I took this photo, a golf cart came scooting out from between the Honda trailer at the far right and the one in front of it, which is out of the frame.  In it was a "yellow shirt" and......Roger Penske.

Next time I will be bold and adventurous and yell "hey Mr. Penske!  May I have your autograph?" but this time I just discreetly pointed him out to the kids.

We continued on to the Museum without making any more celebrity sightings.  

 Here's the Marmon "Wasp", the winning car of the 1911 Indy 500.  It was driven by Ray Harroun, and was thought to be very unusual in that there was no second seat for a riding mechanic/spotter.  If you look closely at the photo you can see a contraption poking up there above the dash on metal rods - that's a rear view mirror, so Mr. Harroun could keep an eye on traffic to his rear.

Something that astonished me about there early cars - there is no firewall between the driver's cockpit and the engine compartment; you can look under the steering wheel and see the rear of the engine!

 The winning car display was arranged in chronological order; there were a few missing cars but for the most part I got to see all the cars I wanted most to see.

Along the far wall of this room are displays of memorabilia from the various eras of Speedway history.

The display in the next photo was especially interesting to Birdman; it's the one that tells about the period when the Speedway was owned by WWI pilot (and former Indy 500 driver) Eddie Rickenbacker. I wish I'd taken a picture of his face when he saw this case.

He turned to me and said "Eddie Rickenbacker is the name of one of the Civil Air Patrol awards!  I didn't know he used to OWN the Speedway!"

Me: "Yep, he did.  And now you have your personal connection to this amazing place, so it is your racetrack now too."

Don't tell anyone, but I think he might have had a bit of leaky eye right then.

Here's a replica of the car in which Mario Andretti got his only Indy 500 win.  The photo does not do the color justice at all; it is the most brilliant tomato-orange!  It almost GLOWS it's so bright.

Stay tuned for the next post, in which I tell you just how small a world it really is and show you places I REALLY thought I'd never get to.