February 17-19, time off from the bike

I had originally thought that I would be able to get out for a short ride on Sunday morning, but both the temperature and our schedule convinced me otherwise. The temperature was in the 30's and we planned to leave for the race (much more on this later) around 9:30 a.m.

We had dinner at our place on the evening of the 16th after everyone arrived so it was a late evening -- especially for me, long after my bedtime !

On Saturday the 17th Steve, Leonas and I went up to Kmart after breakfast to pick up a few things -- regulation-sized coolers for the race and Steve and Leonas had a couple of things to pick up that had not made it into their suitcases. Regulation-size is no larger than 6x6x12 -- and my camera case is larger than that, so my objective was to find a couple of small six-pack sized coolers for camera and lenses, which we did. They will come in handy for other events and travels in the boat.

We then went for a cruise up US 1 with the gang -- in Steve's rental SUV that would seat 6 people -- which really worked out well. We drove up US 1 then onto A1a at Port Orange to see the sights and to find where we would be parking for race day -- the recommended parking lot being north of Daytona in farmers fields that are organized for the event. We then drove back over to US 92 / Speedway Blvd, to cruise by the activity -- what a busy place during race week !

We then had a quick lunch at home and then went out for the 2 pm marine discovery tour in the inland waterway. It boards at the New Smyrna Beach north causeway and lasts 2 hours. The very enthusiastic lady knew her stuff and we learned a lot about the birds, mammals (dolphins) and shellfish of the Indian River estuary. We also learned, for instance, that the estuary is too salty for aligators, so we don't have to worry about Abby in our back yard. She also shared a number of details of local history.

It was cold and breezy out there -- as interesting as it was we were all frozen by the time we got back into the car for the short ride home. Sandy then tackled dinner, which was planned for around 7 pm. Patty and Norm Himes, formerly in the Newcomers Club with Sandy now call NSB their home and joined us for a very enjoyable evening. Norm, Steve and Leonas follow Nascar racing and the TV was on most of the time showing what was happening at the park, covering events from earlier in the week and the usual sports commentators' predictions for the next day.

Daytona 500 Race day -- our plan was to leave around 9:30 and we did reasonably well on that score -- headed up I95 to LPGA Blvd, the exit north of US 92, parked, took the shuttle to the bus, and the bus to the speedway. Interestingly enough the steady stream of busses took a sandy path through the hydro-tower right-of-way to the others side of US 92 so the busses were never in traffic -- it was very well organized. We probably made it into the grounds around 10:30. Steve had purchased the Nextel Fan Zone tickets as well so we spent the next few hours walking on the track itself, looking at car inspections, having lunch, taking pictures, whatever -- with race time being at 3:15.

We had very good seats -- Weatherly J / 5 -- about the beginning of pit row -- after the pre-race festivities and Nicholas Cage doing the "gentlemen start your engines" -- and a couple of warm up laps behind the pace car, the race got underway. Wind, dust, noise -- what can I say -- all part of the experience. There were a number of crashes, more than usual, which dramatically changed the predicted outcome as many of the favorites were eliminated having lost some body parts (from their cars, of course). Our vantage point was also excellent for the jumbo-tron, or whatever it's called, so we could follow the race reasonably well even without a birds-eye view.

We were cold though -- and by the time the race was over, ready to leave. Poor Abby had been left alone all day so we were anxious to get back and let her out. The process of getting us back to our car was incredibly well organized, the only odd thing was that they did not allow us to turn left onto LPGA Blvd so we ended up getting onto I95 at Ormond Beach after playing around with the Nav system for a bit.

After taking care of Abby we went out for dinner at the local Sushi place. Since it was late we had the place to ourselves -- another enjoyable dinner.

Monday 19th -- after breakfast Pam and Steve left for Ocala to do some visiting and take a few days break. They go back north on Sunday. Mariadella and Leonas have gone to the beach for a walk. Sandy is re-stocking for dinner. I rotated the tires on my bike -- another slow leak -- grrr. I could not find anything embedded in the tire so I hope that it was just a coincidence. We'll see when I get out tomorrow.

Our plan is to have lunch at the beach today and then go into the Canavaral National Seashore park to look around. Although I could probably go out for a short ride we'll enjoy the time with our guests and I'll ride another day.