Tuesday September 13

8:00am - We slept in a little bit today. Our planned outings didn't open until 10am so we had time to get going. Breakfast at McD's. That's it. I think I am going to buy stock. lol And we are on the road to our first destination in Charlotte, NC. Do you hear it? The thunder? I do! Boogity, boogity, boogity! Let's go racing, boys!!! Our first stop was the new NASCAR Hall of Fame. Opened within the last year, there has only been one class of drivers inducted, of which the late, great Dale Earnhardt was one. Everyone on the track was afraid when they say the black #3 of The Intimidator coming up behind them! They have announced the class of 2012 to be inducted early next year. This will be a great place to preserve the history of this great sport as it changes. On to our next destination, Hendrick Motorsports. Here we visited the musuem and the shop. They have cars that were driven in races, trophys, uniforms worn by drivers when they won a certain race, everything you can thing of. There is also a wall of 1:24 scale model cars of the current drivers that is probably 10 feet high and maybe 30 feet long. Every variation made. It's crazy. They also had the remains of Ricky Craven's Daytona 500 car that he wrecked and flipped about 20 times in 1995 (I think, it was around then). In the shop you could see them building the teams cars for upcoming races. They were in various stages, from almost complete to just a shell with no paint on it. They had about eight cars for each team in the shop being built. Incredible set up! Hendrick is right down the road from Charlotte Motor Speedway and I wanted to stop by, but we were pressed for time so I could only wave at it as we drove by. Next we visited Richard Childress Racing. We went through the museum where they have preserved lots of Dale Earnhardt's cars. It's incredible how small the cockpit of the car is, even more so now, because of all the safety equipment in them. There were lots of trophys here as well! Located here was Harvick's Daytona 500 winning car. That was a great race. (Go Harvick!) We actually did not visit the shop here, because I forgot. Yea, I forgot. So we got on the road to our last destination of the day, Kevin Harvick, Inc. Here we just visited the shop, where they were making both cars and trucks. KHI participates in Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series. This shop will be closing at the end of this racing year as KHI will be moving into the RCR shop. I am glad I had to chance to see if before that happened! Having filled our day with NASCAR, we hit the road to get close to our next destination. We stopped to have dinner at a little roadside diner. Price was about average for us, but C was feeling generous and gave the waitress a very nice tip. When he handed it to her, she said, "Are you sure?", we nodded. She said "Y'all made my day!" The service was good and the food was good. I'm glad she was happy!

Weather - Sun and fog (late day)

Monday September 12 Pics

Grande Ole Opry


Outside the Grande Ole Opry

Parthenon

Parthenon

Parthenon

Parthenon

Monday September 12

7:30am - The day started around the normal time. Breakfast at McD's. This one had sausage bagel, wow! So yummy! Usually on vacay we get a soda and an iced coffee with breakfast but neither of us has gotten an iced coffee yet. Bizarre. Well, we didn't have much scheduled for today because we had to make it into North Carolina by the end of the day. We originally wanted to do the Music City Trolley tour in Nashville, but we didn't make our reservation 24 hours in advance so we couldn't do that. Turned out to be a good thing. We weren't really interested in any of the things that were on the stops except the Parthenon. Neither of us are country music fans so most things music are wasted on us. We ended up doing a two cent tour of the city and doing only the Grand Ole Opry (that's the closest I will ever be to country music!) and the Parthenon. The Parthenon is a full sized replica of the one in Europe. We wanted to go inside, but just our luck, they are closed on Mondays. So after we saw those two things, we hit the road and headed for NC. It was a nice drive, but long. We lost another hour so we are now on East Coast time. We stopped just outside Charlotte so we are close to what we have planned for tomorrow. We called it a night at a Days Inn in Gastonia, NC. It's a hotel. I don't recommend it. Anyway, it will do for the night and that's all that matters (at least it's clean [I'm looking at you Super 8 two nights ago...]).

Weather - Sun (yay!)

Sunday September 11 Pics

Orpheum Theatre


Half Mast


Memphis Riverboats


BB Kings Blues Club


Elmwood Cemetary

Sunday September 11

7:00am - First, a moment of silence.

The day starts around the normal time. Even though the room wasn't that great, we both still got some pretty good sleep. That's always a good thing. Both of us are fully recovered from our headaches and it's off to McD's for breakfast. Yes! We are in bagel sandwich land! Finally. Why, oh why, must AZ hate the bagel sandwich and not carry it?? It's so delicious! So what if it has like 9 million calories. That's minor. You know what you're getting yourself into when you eat out anyway. Our destination today is Memphis, TN. We have a full afternoon planned and we are about three or so hours away. Our first stop was at the famous Elmwood Cemetary. The cemetary is very old and some very famous people are buried there. There is even a section for Confederate soldiers. The place is enormous and there are some very ornate mausoleums and obelisks. It is definately worth checking out if you're in Memphis. Next we did the Memphis Riverboats. We went up and down the Mississippi River and learned some of the history of the area and about the river. Very scenic and an enjoyable time a paddle boat! The last thing we did was the Main Street Trolley. This takes you around some of the more popular sections of the city. Such as Beale Street, where all the jazz clubs are located. By the Peabody Hotel, where they loose the ducks at 4:30pm. We didn't get to see that, maybe another time. And along the Mississippi River. A lot of stuff crammed into a very short period of time! We had a good time but had to head out of town. We wanted to get as close to Nashville as possible. We drove for quite awhile and stopped about 40 miles outside Nashville. All in all, it was a long day, more than 12 hours!! Whew, no wonder I am tired.

Weather - Sun and rain

Saturday September 10

9:00am - The day dawns a little late so we could sleep in from our late night. Both of us woke up with headaches. Not so good! Breakfast at McDonald's. Too bad I don't own stock! Last year we ate almost exclusively at McD's for breakfast! We had another long day of driving, with nothing else planned. Around 600 miles or something crazy! All the way to Little Rock, AR. We didn't make it. We stopped in Clarksville, AR. It's about an hour and a half outside Little Rock. Another Super 8. C loves the '8'. We should get stock in the '8'! Some are good, some not so good. This one, not so good. So if you ever find yourself in Clarksville, AR, please do not stay at this '8'. We had some rain today. Please rain, make a visit in TX to help with the wildfires.

Weather - Sun and rain

Friday September 9

3:30pm - The trip begins!!! C picked me up from work and we headed straight out of town. We had a lot of driving to do as our destination was about eight hours away in Santa Rosa, NM. The trip was pretty uneventful. We had some rain leaving town and saw what looked like some hail on the ground in the mountains. We pulled into the hotel, Super 8, about 1:30-2am. Both of us were just exhausted and fell asleep almost as quickly as our heads hit the pillows. That is a beautiful thing!

Weather - Sun and rain