Our NC adventures continue...

Thursday--May 21--I awoke from very little sleep at 4:48 a.m. and woke Ray so we could get on the road from NY to NC. We arrived in NC to Bob greeting us with a drink in hand as he opened the doors at 5:30 p.m. We had a delicious meal of chops and potatoes on the grill and a salad prepared by Bob & Rae Ann.

Friday--May 22--Rae Ann & Bob had to work, so Ray took me out to Five Guys for burgers and fresh homemade fries. Then we went golfing at the Mooresville public course. We golfed with a couple of other guys and enjoyed our day.

Saturday--Bob had to work, so Rae Ann & I went out and did a little shopping. When we got home, we picked up Ray and the three of us went to Carolina Blond Brewery for their $5 sampling. Mmmmm--good beer. Rae Ann was content to sit and watch us and those around us enjoy the delicious brews. Dinner was ribs and BBQ pork at Lancaster's once again. I didn't hesitate when asked where we wanted to go. Rae Ann & I love their fried dill pickle rounds and Bob & Ray love their hushpuppies. Good food and good company!!!

Sunday--We went to Toast Cafe in Davidson for breakfast. We went there when we were in NC in March, and--OMG--do they ever have delicious meals!!! And again, we were treated to more delicious menu specialties. The 50th Anniversary Coca Cola 600 Nascar race was to start at 5:45 p.m. We arrived before 3:30 p.m. because I wanted to make sure I had time to find the program guide and a souveniour T-shirt before the race began--and I didn't want to miss the beginning of the race. Little did I know that it would rain on and off the entire day so that for the first time in the history of the race, it was postponed until Memorial Day. Of course, they did not officially call the race until 8:26 p.m. Long uneventful day--good thing we had good company!!!

Monday--Memorial Day--The race was scheduled to begin at 12:00 noon. We arrived after 11 a.m. and made it to our seats. The race began and around lap 76, we had our first yellow caution. From that point on, it was race, rain, race, rain, until finally at 227 laps, they called the standings official and gave the win to David Reutimann in the #00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota from team--Michael Waltrip Racing. He had the unique position of taking a win without actually having the lead for a single lap during the race. The combination of rain and the yellow caution and no pit stop put him in front when that decision to call the race was made.

We were not very far off the track in turn two--14 rows.

The ominous clouds spoke of the pending rains, and much of the infield area had cleared since Sunday's attempt to run the race.

Emergency vehicles and jet dryers made almost as many laps as the racers, trying to dry the track.

Even more infield spectators called it a day!

The field of cars following a yellow caution and a restart.

And they have green once again as they round the third turn, lets see how long this wil go???

They're heading into turn four, and beginning to stretch out once again.

Here's a bit of a video clip I took toward the end of the actual laps run. Kyle Busch was in the lead in his M & M car--Rae Ann's favorite.

We headed to Hickory Tavern for dinner and spent the evening quietly with the kids before our early retreat to bed and an early wake-up call.

Tuesday--we left Rae Ann & Bob's around 5:15 a.m. for our drive back home. What a nice time we had with them. We arrived home approximately 11 hours of driving time later and were eager to make it an early night. Man--it's tough being retired.