Another day in Knoxville (8/08)

Look at this sunshine and blue sky, I can't believe my eyes as I wake up.  Of course it doesn't last long an the rainy skies are back, with one difference it is not raining just looks like it is going to.  We keep our fingers crossed hoping it won't.

We have a lazy morning just relaxing before the day begins in earnest.  I know tonight is going to be another long night. After going to the grocery store and a few other errands, we are back at the park grilling burgers. After lunch I took a much needed nap.  By the time I get up it is almost time for dinner, grilled burgers again. Off to the races at 6:30.  With a quick stop by one of the vendors, I get my Got Dirt shirt.





 We stop an listen to the band they have playing, only caught the last two songs, pretty good we should of come sooner.  Then off to our seats.  We are in section M roll 16 seats 1 and 2.  Perfect seats.  We have the same seats for all the races.


A few of our favorite cars.  The number 5 of Brad Loyet, the 41 of Jason Johnson, Kiernan's favorite driver, and the 15 of Donny Schatz.  He has one so many of these champion races fans don't want to see him win again this year. He is really fast!

The rack is pretty slippery tonight and the cars a little slower.  Last night they were turning 14 second laps, tonight they are turning 15 second laps with a few 14 second ones.  Time trials seem to take longer tonight and I am glad when they are over.  A short intermission before the heat races begin.  Down to the bar I am able to get my favorite drink, Fireball with Pepsi, YUM!!  Cheers Tracy!!!!!  Just what I needed to get me going.  The heat races are quick with only a few yellow flags.  A couple of nasty flips.  Now we are on to the C, B and A mains.  In between they announce the 50/50, tonight it is $10,000, and they draw two numbers and split the proceeds.  Of course we didn't have the right number.  Last nights 50/50 was$7000 and went to just one person.  Saturday's 50/50 I am sure will be huge.
The mains go by fast.  Some of the best racing I have seen in a long time.  It is all over before midnight. Back at the park we are to wound up to sleep so sit outside for awhile and have a beer.  It doesn't take long before we are cold and back in we go.  I listen to all the people returning from the track, everyone is in high spirits.  There will be a lot of partying tonight.

First day of racing (8/07)

The races for Wed were canceled.  The new schedule is Wed race at 7 pm tonight, then clear the stands and prepare the track then do Thurs. show.  This will be one long night, hope I can handle it!!  But wait just got a message for the raceway, tonight will just be the Thursday show, Friday night will be the Wednesday show and Saturday afternoon will be the Friday show.  Saturday night show will stay the same.  Did you get all that?  LOL.  Very confusing but I am glad for the change.

We spend the morning finding a Barber for Joe and a chiropractor for me, then back to the park for lunch.  A little nap then walk over to the Hall of fame to see Kyle Larson, Rico Abreu (a up and coming star, he maybe 4 ft tall if that) he is so fun to watch race.  Shane Carson a sprint car driver from the early years and Bob Trostle a one time sprint car frame builder that everyone used in the 60's, 70's and 80's.
Going through the hall of fame brought back many fond memories of Manzanita Raceway in Phoenix.  We use to drive there from Albuquerque NM to watch the World of Outlaws race back in the 70's.  Seeing a picture or Buddy Taylor hanging there, I clearly remembered the night he lost his life racing at Manzanita Raceway in 1078, not a very happy memory but it is nice to see him remembered in the Sprint Car Hall of Fame.  He was very famous in Albuquerque NM where I grew up.

On a lighter note there were some of our other favorites, The Tempe Tornado Lealand McSpadden and Ron Shuman better known as the Shoe.  Both AZ drivers.  It was nice to see AZ drivers represented here.


We enjoyed ourselves touring the hall of fame.  Getting Kyle Larsen's autograph and Rico Abreu's.  We went in there gift shop in hopes of finding a Doug Wolfgang t-shirt.  We have seen several people wearing them this week.  He was another of our favorites in the World of Outlaws sprint cars.

On to the Raceway to see what other souvenirs they have to offer.  I was very pleased to find a booth selling Kyle Larson sprint car t-shirts, Joe and I both got one.  Now all I want is the Got Dirt shirt.

We went back to the park for dinner and to get ready for tonight's race.  It is still raining off and on but has been dry for a few hours now.  The race is still on.  We eat and walk back to the track.

As we arrive at the track it starts to mist a little and then a soft rain.  We were worried that the race would be canceled again.  After about a 30 min rain delay it has stopped raining and the hot laps begin again.  It is well after 8 pm when time trial start.  I usually dread these because it takes so long to time 52 cars.  But they are really fast with the timing one car after another with no delays between.  Once these are complete the first heat starts.  There are 5 heat races then the C, B, and A main.  The racing was superb and quick.  The night flew by and it was over.  I looked at the time and it was 12 am.   Now for the walk back to the park, it is only about a half mile.  This is how we find our park. They call this the sprint on a stick, and it is at the beginning of the park we are staying at.
We are off to bed, hopefully a good nights sleep.  Everyone is partying so again with the ear plugs.

Sioux Falls then Knoxville (8/3-4)

We had another 500 day ahead of us, so an early 6:30 start again.  Really getting used to having everything done the night before except for pulling in the slides and hooking the fifth wheel up.We have finally managed to work out a manageable system. We take the 94 all the way to Sioux Falls.  It is much better than the two lane highway from Montana to Dickinson.  Lots of rolling hills and farm fields.  Very few mountains to see, could use one right now.  Didn't know how much I would miss seeing them. We drive through historic Jamestown.  I would like to spend some time here and see the white buffalo they have.  They are suppose to be rare and they have two of them.
From Jamestown we head towards Fargo.  Thought about the movie, Fargo, as we were driving through here.  This is where we leave the 94 and head down the 29.  We go through Watertown, Bookings then finally Sioux Falls.
We manage to find the KOA pretty easily.  Glad we had reservation, the place was packed.  Lot's of motorcycles go to Sturgis.  We had a nice pull through site right by the exit so it would be easy to pull out in the morning.  We got set up and Joe hurried off to the races.  I know that once we hit Knoxville there will be at least 5 nights of racing so I stay behind and worked some on the blog.
Joe got back about 11, so again quick races no messing around.  That is nice.  Didn't get to see much of Sioux Falls, would like to come back so we can really see the area.

We are up by 6:30 and on the road by 7:30, only about 350 miles to drive today.  I am really getting tired of flat farm land.  I read a lot today and have a hard time staying awake.  I am anxious to get to Knoxville.
We arrived here after 1 pm. Rigs were lining up to get into the park.  They park them in here like sardines.

 We were very glad that the space behind us was empty so we could pull through.  We managed to get the electric hooked up, but where is the water facet?  It is 6 sites down, good thing we have two long hoses. We were able to put the awing half way out before touching the rig next to us.
We drive to Main St. looking for a place to eat.  We ate at a stake house, it was all right but I like my own cooking better.  By the time we stop and get groceries it is time to drive to Oskaloosa for tonight's races.  It is about a 25 mile drive one way.  The races were worth it, we had a great time.  Tony Stewart showed up at intermission. The Knoxville track is where he broke his leg very badly racing his sprint car here last year.  He is not racing at the Nationals this year as he has a NASCAR race this weekend.
It is 11:30 before we get home and everyone is still up partying.  We sat outside and had a beer before turning in.  Our neighbors were partying pretty good.  Thank goodness for ear plugs.  I woke up at 2:30 and they were still going.  I hear it gets even worse once the racing starts. The whole park is one big party.
Tues. is spent doing laundry.  It took all morning so after a quick lunch we went to walk around.  We are staying just a few blocks from the track, good walking distance.  We went to all the booths that were set up and finally decided on a couple of Knoxville National 2014 T-shirts.  Back home for a nice home cooked meal of Swiss steak, asparagus, rice for Joe and potatoes for me.  Once dishes are done Joe is back to catching up on his pages for the blog.  He was further behind than I was.
I finally talked him into going for a walk around the park.  Met some nice people.  One guy makes bean bag toss games with pictures of sprint cars on them.  I would really like to have one but $150 price tag changes my mind.

Now for bed, neighbors partying again, ear plugs are my best friend.  It starts raining about 2:30 and is still pouring when we get up this morning.  It has rained most of the day.  We were hoping they would still be able to race tonight but it is still raining.  Bummer!!!!  It is 6:30 and the races start at 8.  We will see, but it doesn't look good for opening night.  Sure hope tomorrows better, but rain is predicted for the rest of the week.  I understand this is normal for the Nationals.
Tomorrow at 1, Kyle Larson is suppose to be at the Hall of Fame signing autographs.  He is a rookie with NASCAR this year, but used to be a big sprint car racer.  I see great thing happening for him with NASCAR, he is off to a good start.

Knoxville here we come, slowly (8/1)

We again were up early and on the road by 6:30.  This will be a very long, long day.  We are not sure where we are going to stay, no reservations made for tonight. This will be the first time we will take it as it comes.

We went through so many towns that were pretty small.  We had a hard time finding a place to eat.  Wed finally stopped at an Native Indian restaurant., I can't even remember the name of the town.  We both ordered an Indian taco.  Expecting a Navajo taco, will that is not what we got.  The fry bread was a thick bread kind of like fry bread with meat lettuce and tomato.  It was alright, but Cocopah raceway taco.

On we go hoping to find a place for the night in Glendive. We see one advertisement but never could find it.
So on we go.  The drive out of Montana is still nice rolling hills and mountains, and into North Dakota looks a little like the bad lands.  We decide to try for Dickinson.  It is a bigger city.  We drove it finding nothing, so stopped for gas and asked. We were directed to the North Park RV park.  We got there at 2 minutes to 8 and they closed at 8.  They were really nice and took us to see the spot that they had left, she wasn't sure we would fit but it was plenty big.  Back to the office to sign in.  Once we drove to our spot and got the walkie talkies working, I was able to get Joe backed in pretty quick.  The ground was quite uneven so it took a bit to get everything leveled.  We had planned to just spend on night her then on to James town.  We found out that because of the oil boom there all the parks are filled with oil workers so it is very hard to find a place with overnight space.
 
We laid around for awhile in the morning then went to breakfast at Perkins.  WOW what a breakfast, they don't skimp on the food here.  From there to Walmart to pick up some essentials. Then back to the park where Joe left me while he went to wash the very, very dirty truck.  The fifth wheel is even dirtier.  We have not found a park that will allow us to wash it in the park.  In Yuma they have RV washers that come to the park and was you  rig plus you vehicle for you.

When he came back he wanted to go to a Verizon store to see what it would cost to get on phone with Verizon so we would have at least one phone that had reception.  We ended buying two new phones and moving our service to Verizon.  It was a big hit on the pocket book, but it is so nice to have reception everywhere we go.  I got the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Joe go the Samsung Convoy 3 flip phone.  We had our number ported so they are he same.  So far so good with them.

Well we didn't get out of Dickinson until 8/3.  Joe went to their race track Sunday night.  They are quick in running their races and he was back home a little after 10.  Tomorrow will be another long day.  We are going to Sioux Falls North Dakota.  This time we made sure we made a reservation at the KOA there.  Good thing we did.  This is Sturgis week and bikes everywhere, the KOA was half filled with bikes.

Tomorrow on to Sioux City then to Knoxville.

Two Medicine (7/31)

Today is our last day in Glacier National Park.  We have decided to drive over to Two Medicine and do a hike there.  This is the Eastern end of the park.  It isn't to long of a drive.  You again get some awesome views as it is pretty wide open here among the trees and rolling hills.

Our first stop was at Running Eagle Falls.  This is just a short walk to the river, this falls is quite unique.  Running Eagle was one of the very few female chiefs of the Blackfoot tribe. Her story was very interesting. The falls was named after her.

Once we get parked and get ready to hike, I again realize that I forgot my hiking shoes.  I am in sandals that won't work for hiking.  Joe looked so disappointed.  I told him I was still a little tired from yesterday and my knee was hurting anyway, so he should go by himself and I would wait at Two Medicine Lake for him.  He didn't take much persuading.  He hiked the Two Medicine S Shore Tr to Aster Park Overlook.  His pictures are beautiful, especially the one of the Moose and it's baby.



I stayed behind and enjoyed by day relaxing by the lake.  Except for the biting flies it was perfect.  I am reading the Outlanders series and am on book to and very involved.

I did take a walk along the lake to the store to see if they had anything I might like.  The visitor center at Logan was much better.
Three hours later Joe finally returned.  When he told me about the moose and baby I was very disappointed I hadn't gone.  But from the sounds of it, it was a strenuous hike so I was ultimately glad I didn't go.

Tomorrow on our way toward Knoxville Iowa, first stop Dickinson.

Highline trial to Granite Park Chalet (07/30)

Another beautiful day.  After all the rain and cold in Canada it is nice to have blue skies and sunshine.
We need to be at the shuttle stop by 8 am.  There is a lot of road construction on the road to Logan Pass Visitor Center so it is easier to take the shuttle than drive.  Once everyone is on board we take off.  There are many stops picking up people or letting them off.  Then the road construction, the first stop delayed us 30 min, the second one wasn't so bad about 10 or 15 min.  They are resurfacing the road and are limited on good weather time to complete it before winter hits.

We finally make Logan Pass where the highline trail starts about 9:15 and get back about 3:30. It is 7.6 miles to the Granite Park Chalet.  The scenery is breath taking.  We walk along a ridge that over looks the Going to the Sun Rd.

 We had an unexpected trail guide along this route.

 He was so cute and just walked in front of us for quiet a ways before he found a spot he felt comfortable moving off the trail to let us by.  This is a small mt goat.  We have seen bigger ones on another trip to Glacier.
What a great trail and beautiful vistas.

Not sure what this is, looks a little
like a cross between a squirrel and
a chipmunk

 There are two snow crossings, after the first we have some switchbacks to the second one. Again the scenery is spectacular.

   
You can see how steep the switchback           became.

We still have about 3 miles to go to the Chalet.  The trail continues along ridges with great views it is mostly flat with some up and one fairly long down hill.  Iwas looking at the down hill and thinking uphill on the way back. Thank goodness we are not coming back the same way.
There are a lot of Marmots in the area.  This one is a gray one, I have never seen a gray one they are usually red or brown.

Isn't he cute!

Finally we can see the Chalet in the distance, about two miles away.  I will be glad when we get there.  We are getting hungry and ready for lunch.

You can actually book a room here if you want to spend the night an explore the area.


Time to head back it is 4 miles down to the shuttle stop.  That is right down, I was worried about how steep it was going to be, but it wasn't to bad mostly gentle slope with a few steep spots,  it is a 2300 elevation loss going down the trail.

Finally the shuttle stop and a little bit of a wait.  They only have small vans on this side as the road is limited to vehicles 21 ft or less.  For a mere $90 you can book a ride on this shuttle.  We opted for the free one.

We are finally back at Logan Pass, bought some souvenirs at the visitor center and now on the bus back to the St Mary's KOA.  What a great day, all in all we did about 11 miles.  I am really tired but happy.                

Tomorrow we will go to Two Medicine to see what is on the Eastern side of the park.