Daytona International Speedway

It was a nice way to end September today with a visit to the Daytona International Speedway.  We've been talking about heading over here each time we come to visit, and today was one of those days where Daddy just figured we'd bite the bullet and go check it out.  So off we went a little later on in the afternoon, this after a visit to the grocery store to grab some butternut squash and a few other items, including some milk for our Count Chocula.  Yes, we found Count Chocula down here, and we'll be having a luxurious breakfast fairly soon!  

But after that, we went over to the Daytona International Speedway, and there we were greeted by St. Earnhardt.

Golly, it seems like not too long ago when we lost Dale - but it was 2001, the same year as 9-11, of course.  I remember that Daytona 500 very well, although we don't actively watch the race each year like many other true fans, we still thought this would be a great destination to go check out.  I mean, the condo is literally about five miles away.  You can actually see our condo - and visa versa - from the track itself.  So yeah, we should probably check it out.  

First, the track itself.  We got on a tram with a few others and were zooming down the track at speeds of well over twenty miles per hour!  Okay, that might be an exaggeration.  You'll see in a moment though how we got out onto the actual track.  We went through the tunnel underneath, and were out in the middle, on hallowed ground to so many NASCAR FANS.

You can see the seating there.  The colorful seats are in that arrangement to look as if - when the camera is zooming by - the seats are full of spectators.  The flags were up and the weather overcast and breezy.  There was a rainstorm moving in, but as usual, it didn't really affect us in the slightest, except to cool things off for us while we were out there.

Here we are on the backstretch, and you can see the steep angle of the track to the left there, an amazing thirty-one degrees.  Daddy thinks it would be amazing if we had a few trams out there lined up, all filled with tourists, and all raced a lap or two.

We sat in the back of the tram, which was perfect because we could take pictures like this one above. It looks like we've got the track all to ourselves out there, which we pretty much did.  There was another tour group later on that we spotted, but we largely had the place to ourselves, outside of occasional workers doing various tasks.

We were riding around the track as the host was telling us fun facts about the lake there, the airport, and the history of the speedway.  By the end of the day, you really got a sense of certain races and how they inspired the movie "Cars" and "Cars 3."  We might have to watch those soon!

Here's another shot of the track as we get closer to the audience area.  The embankment is pretty steep here as the cars zoom in.  We'll have to watch the Daytona 500 next year now, won't we?

Here's a big moment.  I wasn't expecting this, but we got to get out of the tram, and pose for pictures on the start/finish line.  It's a steep incline there, something I didn't realize.  You sort of climb uphill to get across the track, but there we are, both of us on the famous line.  We got to spend a good deal of time here, just looking around from this famous spot.

Across the way you can see the pitstop area - notice above how they are superstitious, and don't have the number 13.  Again, the number 13 is not bad luck - Joshua was told by God to do 13 laps around Jericho in order to have victory.  All that aside, there is no area 13 there, but instead it is called 12A.  Although whoever is at 12A surely knows that it's supposed to be 13, right?  So technically, it's the thirteenth slot, just labeled something else?

Anyway, moving on.  I really like this shot of Madison on the line, with the racetrack moving on beyond her.  She's all by herself on the track, ready to hop in a car and race for the checkered flag!

It would have to be a photo finish!  Obviously, she won this particular race.  But next time, Madison! Next time we'll see who wins!  Until then, I suppose she's earned a right to chill out right there by the finish line.

Like I said, we got to spend a little time there, and took a few more pictures there than I expected!  After this, we went over to Victory Lane!

That lightning bolt there ... everyone knows it is Lightning McQueen's.  We were touring the inside area a bit, checking out the garage spots as you can see here.

And of course Victory Lane was a big deal.  We got to step up to the place where all the champions do.  

We had a few photos taken there.  This is the spot where people celebrate victories, and also get doused with gallons of Gatorade that is sticky and chafes for hours! 

This photo was taken by a professional there, one that was part of our package.  You'll see more of those photos later on here, but this was the best of the lot, a picture of us at Victory Lane.  Just in case you don't know where this picture was taken, the word "Daytona" is written at least six times above.

Afterwards, we went to the area where the media sit and watch the race.  We saw a few videos, and places where the racers sat after the race, answering questions and making statements.  Madison went up there to that very spot, but we'll hold all questions until later, please.

Afterwards, we rode back out to the outer area of the stadium, and took some elevators way up to the top portions of the stadium seating.  Madison is seen here overlooking the track, Daytona, and even the Atlantic Ocean.  

You could even see Nana and Ba-Ba's condo from the stadium, fourth from the left.  And you can see the stadium from their condo, which is interesting during the race itself - you can't see the cars, but you can see the stadium and all the related commotion.

At the base of the elevators are several displays, including this one we snuck over to, with all kinds of cars avoiding the long lines at the escalators.  

Madison looks ready to do the "Start your engines" bit here, posing for one last shot just outside the speedway.  After this, we were off to the museum there, which had a whole lot of amazing vehicles and history on display.

Yes, this one here is the actual Hudson Hornet, which of course is a prominent character in the "Cars" movies.  It's Doc Hudson!

But there's also a spot for the winning car of the previous Daytona 500.  This is the car in the exact condition it was in when it left the track on Sunday, February 17th.  It even has all the confetti on it.  Here's another famous car:

It's the Intimidator!  These cars were on a sloped display, which of course gave the museum another chance to show the thirty one degree angle of the track itself.  This made it convenient to display things so they can be seen easier.  

And here's Madison on a slope that is set up so people can experience thirty-one degrees for themselves.  That's one degree below freezing!

I think our favorite car in the museum was the Hudson Hornet, and of course for the reason that it played such a prominent role in the "Cars" movies.  Along those lines - or track - there was a fairly large section of the museum dedicated to the old track that ran along Ponce Inlet.  It was along the beach, and then this stretch of road that we drive on all the time in order to get to the Marine Science Center.  In fact, you can see the lighthouse in the picture below, along with the track along the beach.

Right there at the base of the picture where there's a structure to hold people - that's where Beach Street is, and where we've been to see the release of a few sea turtles back to the ocean.  Pretty amazing history here!

Oh look!  It's Big Daddy's car!  There were all kinds of vehicles and boats there, all dedicated to the sport of racing.  This above is Don Garlits' vehicle, and below, you can see what Madison would look like if she were a car.

Okay, not really.  It's a mug with her name on it.  We found that in the souvenir shop.  And we also saw our photos from the collection for the first time, including those that were taken in front of a green screen.  Here's one:

They turned out well. We didn't see them all until we got home and found the access number, because I wasn't up for spending another $20 for the prints.  But they turned out pretty well.

For this shot, we were instructed to give a "we're number 1" look in front of the green screen.  Little did we realize that Denny Hamlin's car would be put behind us, and now we look like some of his fans.  I have no idea who Denny Hamlin is, although he's got FedEx on his car, which is probably good news for those who want to get their packages as quickly as possible.

Ah, and here's the shot of us celebrating ... something.  We were put in front of Victory Lane, which we got pictures of earlier.  But these were nice too, and fun. 

We had a great time there, but it was certainly time to get home after about an hour and a half.  We shared a drink at their cafeteria by the track, and then were on our way home for spaghetti dinner.  Mommy and Daddy went for a walk along the beach after that, and surprisingly, a storm came up so soon that we didn't see it coming up behind us.  We made it back to the condo just in time!  But it was a relaxing walk until then, a nice stroll down on a perfect day with perfect breezes and temperatures.

Tonight, we played Dominoes - Mommy won three times, and that was it for the rest of us.  It was a good day, ended with reading and prayers.  Madison and the grandparents watched "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune," and we did some reading and playing games.  It was a nice day today, and tomorrow should be nice too.

The Drive In Church and Nautical Pumpkins

This morning started out with church - but not at KidPak.  This  morning included a visit to the Drive In Church here in Daytona Shores, which is literally less than five minutes from Nana and Ba-Ba's condo.  Daddy has been wanting to visit this church for a long time, just because it is such an unusual format.  People literally show up in cars and park, just like you would at a drive in theater.  Instead of a screen, there's a pastor who preaches from a balcony there, and everyone stays in their cars listening to the sermon on a radio channel, 88.5.  It's a college radio station back and home, but here in Daytona, you can use it to listen to the local church messages.  Whenever the pastor said anything people agreed with, or if there was any moment for applause, you could hear cars honking all over the place!  It was hilarious.  The pastor was talking about Jesus coming back from the dead, and suddenly there were car horns going off left and right!

I wish I got there earlier so I could spend more time in a greeting area that is outside the car.  That's where I went indoors to get the program for the day, along with the Communion elements.

It was fun.  It's not for everyone, of course, and isn't necessarily a church that we would go to all the time.  Jesus called us fishers of men, and there are different types of fish and different types of lures.  This is a pretty unusual lure, and if there's fruit, it's hard to argue with the results, as long as it communicates the gospel and Jesus' message of salvation.

Anyway, today was a relaxing day at the beach afterwards.  We had a nice walk along the beach and the weather was overcast and beautiful, actually.  Dark looming clouds added a colorful texture to things, the weather warm with a slight ocean breeze to keep things cool.  The ocean water was amazingly warmer than the the pool water indoors - we walked through the waves, wading in the water, and letting the waves splash up against us.  Hardly any shells were there, and there were hardly any other people out there either.

We did go swimming inside afterwards, heading to the pool for a while indoors.  We played "Yes or No" as is our pool custom - I have no idea why or where that started.  We were swimming laps a bit, and splashing each other, of course.  And after that, Madison wanted to sit in the jacuzzi for a bit too.

Back in the condo, we were playing the board game "Sorry" a few times, and we also spent some time reading on the balcony.  Daddy finished his book on Billy the Kid, while Madison was working on her new book she got from the library, yet another Star Wars book.

We went to Wal-Mart for a bit of shopping for the week, and Ba-Ba wanted to drive us there and go along for the journey.  He's motivated, and that's great to see.  He's weaker and he's certainly thinner.  Mommy was cooking a good deal today, and working on strategies to get him to gain a little weight.  But the battle in the mind is going well, as he seems to be ready to get all this over with.  He's certainly not looking forward to it, but he's far from giving up.  Mommy has been super helpful, and Madison has been super sweet, sitting next to them on the couch.

Tonight after dinner, we did a little seasonal fun:  we carved pumpkins!

We had the movie "Race to Witch Mountain" on, and spent some time carving pumpkins.  You can see Madison's nautical theme - that was the challenge for us.  We were supposed to do an ocean theme, so Madison carved a dolphin and a half moon, with a shell.  And the word "LIFE" on it...

It turned out pretty good!  These pumpkins came from the store today, and they were pretty nice looking.

Yes, it's not even October yet, but we were thinking it would be fun to do this while in Florida, as Ba-Ba and Nana won't be here for the pumpkin carving party later on next month.

And here's Daddy's pumpkin, something that worked out really well.  Again, a nautical theme and a picture of the lighthouse, perhaps at sunrise?

I carved deeper where the light is to make it brighter, and in a "happy accident," I carved a little deeper at one place nearby, which added a little bit of variation to the brightness, as if the sun were back there and glimmering through the lighthouse.  Anyway, this was fun.  I love carving pumpkins, actually.

Help us, Captain Citrus!

It was a quick and easy drive today, the only traffic being in Atlanta.  Go figure.  But surprisingly, we drove right through Henry County without any incident.  It was Saturday, so that may have a lot to do with the ease of our travels today.  We left at noon, and arrived at the Florida Welcome Center at 4:45, and then at the condo in Daytona at 8:00.

One problem:  there was no orange juice at the Florida Welcome Center.  When pressed, the workers there told us that there were "state budget cuts."  This is a devastating turn of events!  No orange juice at the Florida Welcome Center?  What's that about?  I mean, really!  I remember getting free orange juice at the welcome center when I was a kid, and that was quite some time ago.  What I'm saying is that this is a tradition that goes back years!  In fact, today we were racing against time just to get to the Florida Welcome Center before it closed at 5:00, just so we could get that little Dixie cup with orange juice in it.

But alas, all we got was a mouthful of disappointment.  Friends, if anything, this looks like a job for Captain Citrus!

Obviously, it's not "budget cuts," but in fact a desperate plan by that despicable villain The Leader, a gamma-enhanced evil genius!  If Captain Citrus sees this, I know he'll agree:  this madness stops here!

There is orange injustice going on right now, I tell you.  If these theme parks charge $110 per ticket just to get in for one day - and that's the low price on an off season day - then they can all unite and to help the Florida tourism board afford to give us a small cup of orange juice.  Think of how this is harming some local orange groves anyway - there are farmers out there that had a good thing going, supplying oranges to the welcome centers.  Now they're suffering too.  Who's idea was this?

Obviously, it was not the idea of local politicians, because it is too nefarious and evil!  Therefore, it must be the work of the Leader, gamma-enhanced evil genius.  I don't know what he's up to here, but I do know this:  Captain Citrus stopped him once, and he can do it again.  So if you're reading this, Captain Citrus, we need your help desperately!

Our trip to Florida was pretty uneventful today.  We were listening to Riders Radio, catching up a little on that podcast (and a few others), and Madison was spending her time listening to music, watching "Star Wars Rebels" and drawing pictures in the back seat of the car.  We stopped at Cordelle's Chick-Fil-A again, but only briefly this time, as Mommy had packed some great lunches for us on the way down.

We spent some time watering plants and getting the house in shape before leaving this morning, also packing a lot of items.  It was a relaxing exit, and a relaxing drive down with nothing really going on.  That's what we prayed for as we left, and we felt a great deal of favor as we moved south.  Expect for the orange juice thing.

The weather is windy down here, but that's the beach for you.  It's warm and the waves are crashing up on the shore pretty hard.  There are storms way out there, but nothing will affect us this week, at least it's not being forecast to do so.  It was a warm greeting here, and everyone is doing well.  Obviously, we're here for Ba-Ba, who is not doing well.  His spirits are up and he's certainly thinner.  There is concern, but there is more hope than anything else.  He is upbeat and he is a fighter and he is not going to put up with cancer trying to ruin his life.  We will help him through this as best we can, particularly Mommy.  She's been already busy, bringing things down to help Ba-Ba gain some weight and help him through this season.  We prayed tonight for Ba-Ba once again, and prayed for a quick process and a quick recovery.  We were thankful for the safe trip down and the happy reunion.  Now we focus on Ba-Ba, and we focus on helping him see healthy days again.

Apple Cinnamon Doughnuts

So Mommy makes these insanely good apple cinnamon doughnuts, ones that are just incredible.  They're gluten-free, and they almost immediately disappear.  They were inspired by the free doughnuts that we get over at the Red Apple Barn, only those are not gluten-free, so Mommy can't eat any of those.  She can eat the ones she makes though, and we all eat them as well.  The fresh ones are so amazing, and something to look forward to this time of year.  Madison loves them as well, first in line to get her taste of fall.

The girls had a night off tonight, over at a friend's house.  Mommy was with their mother, and Madison was with the daughters, and everyone was having a great time.  Daddy was proofing a booklet at home, one for "Game On," which we'll be revisiting shortly.  Also, we were looking at a script for "Holly," a Christmas play we'll also be revisiting.  It was a fun play, and looking at the script again, we're already imagining who could play which part.  We'll have an audition process, but a lot of the time, Daddy writes things with certain people in mind ahead of time.  Of course, he's hoping Madison can have a part as well.

We were at the library today, returning books and picking up one for Madison for the vacation.  It's her last day before the school break, and she's doing well.  She's got an A average, and she's done well on a few recent tests.  We're waiting on some grading for her ELA material, but there's been a significant change with that class: her teacher has been retired.  I used that phrasing exactly as we've heard it.  So she's getting a new teacher over time, so there's a lot here that is in flux.  We'll see how it goes, but as of the moment, all is well with straight A's and a fairly bright little student.

Along those lines, Madison was at school an hour earlier this morning for a special study session.  She's only missed one of these, this due to a field trip.  But she's been to every other one, setting the alarm early and making sure we're able to get her there an hour early.  She studies the night before, but she also continues to study beforehand too.

We had a later night tonight.  Daddy was packing a bit, and of course the girls were out having a fun time.  Daddy was also working on some more paper craft, a small hobby of late.  But we went to bed at a reasonable hour, reading and praying.  Tomorrow we'll be off again, but in no hurry.  We won't set the alarm, and we'll have a good night's rest.

Murals and Blue Belts

There's a mural in Cumming, right near the fairgrounds.  In fact, you can see the arena at the top of this picture where we just saw the rodeo last month.  The mural in the foreground is new, and along the wall you can see quite a few people painting that mural.  One of those people is Madison - she's the one wearing white directly under the sun.  And during this sunny day, Madison and a few other students from the art club got to go over and participate in this community project.  She was pretty warm as the sun was out with some record temperatures and they were out there on the concrete.  But they had cool drinks, and they had some pizza for lunch too.  They were over there for a good part of the day, returning for only two class periods at the end, so it was a super fun day for the kids that got to go.  Madison had a great time.  

A few weeks later from this post, we visited the mural, and took a few pictures of Madison in front of the mural she helped paint.  

Here she is pointing out where she painted, along the horizon line, including the trees there.  And below, you can see where she signed her name:

It was a great opportunity, and an honor.  I have to say... I'm kind of jealous! 

When she got home, she was gearing up for something else altogether different:

This is a great picture of Madison doing her testing for the rank of Blue Belt Decided.  She's gone next week while all the other kids are testing, so her instructors agreed that she's met all the requirements thus far and could go ahead and test.  You see her above, all by herself testing in front of the class.  Typically, the class as a whole tests together when it comes to form, or at least in smaller sized groups where the instructors can keep a watchful eye on everyone to see if they've mastered their techniques.  But in this case, Madison was all by herself with the whole dojo watching, including parents and fellow students.  Nevertheless, she bravely stepped up and did a fantastic job, with her audience cheering and clapping at the end.

The rest of the class was a normal training for everyone, although at one point there were several kids that would come up to spar with Madison, one after the other.  Madison was there alone, and one at a time, different opponents would come up and spar with her for about thirty seconds, only to be replaced by a new challenger.  Madison was worn out by the end of that, but she held up her end really well against a lot of higher rank belt students.

We're pretty proud of her, and she is loving this.  She practiced at home with her form quite a bit, prepping in her mind and going through her form time and again.  And then, during the regular class itself, of course, the students were practicing as well.  You can see Madison was dressed in her complete uniform for this class, as it was a special occasion.

It was a regular night otherwise, but both Mommy and Daddy were on hand, as we always are for these events.  We haven't missed a single belt rank advance yet, and despite the busy schedule of late, we weren't going to miss this one either.

Madison looked good sparring tonight.  Look how she was paired with this much larger student here. Nevertheless, she kept charging forward, and doing her best to evade his longer reach.  She actually did pretty well there.

Look at her diving down, but still lunging forward for a strike.  She's very confident, moving forward no matter who her opponent is.

She did really well tonight, and at the end of the class, there was the big moment where all eyes were on Madison.  You can see her instructors looking on proudly.  Tucker has been fantastic, as you can see here he's pleased she got her form down.  He's been encouraging, educating, and inspiring.

At the end of the night, the announcement was made:  she passed the testing.  She did well, earning her blue belt decided.  We are super proud of her!

We got home tonight, and there was some studying tonight.  Madison has a presentation to deliver on Lebanon, and also a math quiz as well.  She got to that right away, and we had enough time to watch something shorter this evening as well - the Shrek 3-D movie from Universal Studios.  We read afterwards, moving forward with our story from the Star Wars universe.  We said our prayers, and it was quickly time to get to sleep after that.  It was a good day today, one filled with murals and blue belts...!