Hendrick Motorsports & Family time

Barbara and Henry dropped by the motorhome Saturday morning for a visit and we wound up spending the day with them.  Lots of catching up and chatter.

We went to the Harrisburg Family House Restaurant for lunch a little after 1:00pm and it the parking lot was almost full and there were cars in the overflow parking.  Oh, Oh!  Not a good sign for getting a table, but we walked in and were seated quickly.  That was a relief since neither Henry nor I have much patience waiting for seating in restaurants.  We had a very nice meal and wound up with the same waitress from our trips there last summer.   No pictures of the food or people though.  Maybe next time.


After lunch we wound up at Hendrick Motorsports Museum and Team Store so Henry could pick up something.  They have a number of cars in there that were owned by Hendrick and many of them were retired to the museum.

As soon as you walk in the door, there are a number of cars on the left and we took advantage of them to get a couple photos of the group. 

Henry & Barbara

Gerry and Me.

Barbara & Henry are really into the NASCAR races and spent some time with us in Tucson last spring inbetween going to the races in Phoenix and Las Vegas.   They are working on attending every track where NASCAR races are held and are well along the way to seeing all of them.  Another "bucket list" for them.

They have the actual wrecked car of Ken Schrader at the museum where he flipped the car end over end and it became airborne.  Due to the construction of the roll cage and other safety features, Schrader walked away unhurt, but shaken up.  How would you like to have been along for the ride in this? 

My sister-in-law, Darlene Mc is a big Jimmy Johnson fan and a devoted follower of him.  I don't know if it's because he is handsome or just a good driver, but I have to include a picture of the car in which he won the 2007 NASCAR points series.  This one's for you Darlene.

At the present time Hendrick employs Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon.  Barbara likes Kasey Kahne now since Ricky Rudd retired.

Jeff Gordon race car

One of Barbara's favorite drivers was Ricky Rudd and he drove the Number 17 car that was sponsored by Tide.  It always stood out due to it's bright colors on the paint job.  Ricky retired and others drove the car after him, but Tide dropped the sponsorship a few years ago.  Considering it costs $5-35 million to sponsor a car in NASCAR, it's no wonder they dropped out.


 

After visiting the Hendrick store we split up and Gerry & Barbara went grocery shopping,

while Henry and I went to their house and had a few brews.  The girls finally returned and we sat and talked out on the patio for hours.  Henry prepared some ribs on his new grill and we sat on the their patio enjoying some adult beverages and chatting the whole time.  As a matter of fact, Henry brought up the issue of gun control and we had to educate him on the issue.  Not sure we convinced him of anything, but we had some spirited conversation and still left as friends.  At least I think we are still friends!  After spending the day with them we returned to the motorhome  after midnight.  

Grant's Birthday, great grandchild & Tornados

Grant, our grandson, had a birthday party on Friday and we got here just in time to attend the celebration.  I should have timed it better, because this is a task they assigned to me.  Next to snow, this is the last thing I want to be associated with.

I managed to finish the job and not break the lawn tractor, so it all worked out well.  Gerry, Grant & Larry Jr were inside preparing for the big event.

Laser tag was on tap for the celebration and as expected the girls vs boys split came about.  The girls all stayed behind one stand and didn't spread out like the boys did, with the boys being the aggressors.  Typical for 12 year olds.

Grant attacking the girls fort.

One brave girl being chased by the guys.

The girls tired of the game first and then it was every man for himself.

It was time for the birthday cakes (2, chocolate & white ) and all the kids and parents gathered on the porch to cut the cakes. 

12th birthday

 
Later in the evening Ryan & Dee brought our great grandson over to the party and that was it for Gerry.  She hugged Ryan & Dee and took Griffin away from them.  Other than to feed him, he was held by a succession of grandmother, aunts, uncles and even some stragglers from the party.  Gerry hogged him most of the time and didn't want to give him up.  Since I don't do well with holding children before they are 2 years old, I relinquished my time to her.  Also, I didn't want to fight over him with Gerry.  He never cried and seemed to love the attention.

Dee, Jane, Griffin, Gerry & Barbara

Barb, Dee, Gerry, Griffin, Henry, Ryan & Larry Sr.

Jane, Dee, Griffin, Gerry, Me, Grant, yours truly, Larry Jr. & Ryan

We all stayed and visited way too late and finally everyone sort of crashed and we decided it was time to leave and go back to the motorhome.  Before we left we took a few more pictures and gave Grant his birthday card.

Barb & Henry

Grandson Sean & Taylor

Grant - I think he liked his handmade card.

 We had a great time seeing everyone and meeting some of Larry Jr & Jane's friends and the nice part was that we left all the kids behind with their parents.  Life is good.

 I was watching the severe weather heading for St. Louis and into Illinois since my brother and his family live in Gillespie, IL and it was right in the path of tornados.  I called my brother and then my niece Saturday morning to check on them.   Everyone was well, but my nephew who lives near Edwardsville, IL,  house was struck and he lost a barn.  No injuries so that was good.

There was one casualty in my hometown of Gillespie.  The roof of the high school gym was blown off and much of a side was demolished.  I think the gym was built in the 1920s and has been remodeled a couple times over the years, including a new floor installed a few years ago.  They have the worst luck with schools back there.  A few years ago the new elementary school was demolished when the mines beneath it collapsed.  The new school was built about a block from the HS gym, and suffered minor damage.  It hasn't been turned over from the contractors, so it is their problem to repair it.  If they didn't have bad luck with the schools back there, they wouldn't have any luck at all.

  
There were some homes damaged in Gillespie, along with a number of trees blown down, but no serious injuries reported as of now.  It's tough out there, the people are resilent and will get through this like they have in the past.  Hang in there guys.

Sweet Potato Lasagna

We took our time this morning and left Greenville, SC around 11:00 am for the final leg of our trip to Concord, NC.  Once again, I-85 was heavy with truck traffic, but it moved along smoothly and it took us less than 2 hours to make the 110 mile trip.  Nothing much exciting to report about that except that our outside TV door came open just as we hit Charlotte, NC and their 6 lanes of traffic going one way.  I managed to find a shoulder and get off the highway enough for Gerry to go out and close the door.  It also happened as we left Tucson earlier this month.  Guess I will have to spend some time working on this problem.

We've stayed at a small Trailer/RV Park across the road from the Charlotte Motor Speedway in the past.  During the NASCAR race the park is full and it costs a bundle to stay here.  That is why we didn't mind arriving when we did, to avoid the high cost and the race fans.  We pulled into a spot we've had before and set up the MH for the next month.  That is, if they will let us stay here that long.  We shall see in the morning how it goes when we talk to the owner of the park.

Larry Jr. called as soon as we got here and invited us over for Sweet Potato Lasagna and we accepted his invitation.  I thought he was pulling our legs when he said what he was preparing.  Wrong!  He and Jane were working on the meal when we got there and we watched them prepare it.  I had my doubts, but it turned out to be very tasty and filling.  It was a nice evening and we ate out on their back porch.

Jane has a number of food allergies and they prepare a lot of plant source meals now.  They both say they feel much better and also healthier.  Now I am worried that Gerry will put me on the food regimen.  Not that I don't need to lose weight and eat healthier, but we shall see how it goes.

We had a nice welcome from Grant as we pulled in the driveway.  He was cleaning the front door windows and saw us pull up.  It was a surprise for him and he showed it.  He ran out, gave each of us a big hug and was excited to see us.  He has grown a lot since we last saw him in August of last year and is going to be a tall young man very soon.  We are going back over there on Friday to help him celebrate his birthday which was a few weeks ago, but they wanted us there to help celebrate the big event.

All in all, it turned out to be a real peach of a day.

 

Catch a Tiger

For some reason I woke up at 6:15 am this morning.  Now for a lot of you, that's no big deal.  But, for us it is.  I made some coffee and checked my email and computer stuff and prepared to hit the road.  

Yesterday we had trouble with our brake buddy and since we would be driving in mountains, I went out to see what the problem was.  It wouldn't fill up with air and seemed to be dead.  At first I thought it was the cigarette lighter that was bad, but I checked it out and it was fine.  So, it had to be the brake buddy and a fuse.  Not only that, but the end of the electrical plug had fallen off and was lying on the floor in the backseat.  Easy repair once I figured out what it was.

We really enjoyed the campground where we spent the night and would have loved to stay a few days longer and explore the area, but we had some social commitments to attend to in Charlotte, NC

I had mapped out a route over the mountains since it was the more direct shot at Atlanta where we had to catch I-85 north.  A local guy said it was good road for a car, but not so good for a motor home.  Right off the bat we would have a long climb on a 13% grade and then a couple more just like it.  Plus, it was narrow two lane road with no place to turn off.  Change of plans.

Marina at Campground

And then the road worsened.

It looked closer than the sign

A decision was made to avoid the bad roads and take a roundabout route that avoided the bad road and steep climbs.  We drove up to Chattanooga and then down I-75 south toward Atlanta, GA.  Did I tell you that I-75 is a heavily travelled road by trucks?   Well, it is.  We were almost in a convoy all the way down to Atlanta and the cars were playing dodge 'em in and out of the traffic.  What a re-introduction to traffic on the east coast!

We hit Atlanta just before rush hour, but traffic was very heavy and congested.  It did move fairly well and we sort of cruised through the area and finally left most of it behind.

 If you are a computer Geek, then you've heard of Tiger Direct.  They have a large outlet store east of Atlanta and I decided to stop and check it out.  It wasn't as large as I thought and would compare it to a large CompUSA Store of old.  They did have a lot of nice toys there, but I didn't really see anything I wanted to buy, except for some odds and ends.

Then it was back on the road toward South Carolina where we stopped and fueled up at $3.34/gallon.  We took on 110 gallons and I'll let you do the math.  Ouch!  Of course the last time we filled the tank, we were west of Ft. Worth, TX.  I did take on about 25 gallons to make sure I didn't run out since starting diesel engines after you run out of fuel is a real pain.

We are in a so so campground south of Greenville, SC for the night and then on into Concord, NC in the morning.  It's been a long haul since we left Tucson almost a month ago and we are looking forward to relaxing in NC for 3-4 weeks.

BTW:  We were in Alabama, Tennessee,  Georgia, Tennessee, Georgia and finally South Carolina today.  Does that count as 6 states or only 4 for the trip?

Jail Break from Red Bay

We had planned on leaving Camp Red Bay early this morning, but when we went out and did the pre-departure checklist we noticed some of the rubber molding didn't look right.  I notified the service department about the concern and about an hour or so later a technician arrived.  He assured us that it was fine, but agreed to put a patch in the area.  In reality it probably wasn't needed, but any help in sealing the slides is appreciated.

Randy Warner came by to tell us good bye and we had a nice chat with him.  They were waiting for service and weren't sure when they would get the call to come to bay XX.  While we were waiting for the tech to show up, they were moved to a bay, so we didn't get a chance to tell them goodbye.

Sharon & Don also were in a bay getting their repairs finished, so we didn't see them either before we drove out of the campground.  We will see them down the road in the future, so maybe a good bye isn't needed.

It was well after noon when we made the break from the campground and I had planned on taking on some fuel, but the service station nearby only had pumps on one side and it was narrow, so we just hooked up the car and were on our way.  Just as we were exiting town this tractor trailer drove by in the opposite direction taking mh chassises to the Tiffin factory.  Maybe one of them will be under your new 2014 Tiffin motorhome.

We had to drive through Huntsville, AL and drove by the space center and got some nice photos of the missiles on display there.  They also had a space shuttle and a SR-71 Blackbird on display.  We hope to return there and check out the place more thoroughly.  

Missile poised for launch

SR-71 Blackbird

Space Shuttle

Our first stop of the day was Scottsboro, AL to check out the unclaimed baggage store there.  Due to a lot of construction along the way and a few wrong turns we didn't get there until 4:15 and then had to find the place.  Gerry went in to scope it out to see if she wanted to spend any more time there, but decided there weren't any bargains to speak of and left a few minutes before 5.

Since it was so late, we decided to call it a day and get a campsite at the Jackson County Park campground.  Jackson County Park     They have a number of sites along the side of Lake Guntersville.  It is a beautiful spot and we have a nice view of the lake.  The lake is about 50 miles long and somewhat narrow.  It reminds me of some of the Finger Lakes in New York.

 They have a restaurant, marina, swimming area, boat ramps, large grassy fields and it is quite the place for a county park.  We both commented that we'd like to come back and spend a week or so camping at the park.  Especially, if we can get site 64 again since it is so huge and is an end site with a full hookup.  

We have a long drive on Wednesday and hope to make it to Concord, NC by the end of the day.  Gerry doesn't like to drive that far, so we may make it a two day trip.  For those of you who travel all the time out west, 390 miles isn't that far, but in Eastern US with all the traffic and two lane roads, it can be quite a haul.  Driving through Atlanta isn't my favorite place to drive either, but since we are coming in from the northwest, it won't be as bad.  We can skirt around the north side and avoid a lot of traffic.