Christmas in May

The Indy 500 Qualifications were an unforgettable experience. I have never been into Nascar or racing but now I’m hooked and would love to go to a real race someday. We stayed in the camper in a grass lot at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, just outside the race track. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is like a city of it’s own. The stands hold 350,000 and on race day there are more than 1/2 million people there. We met some wonderful people, some were quite the characters-including “Dan the man” from Hannibal, Missouri. He was camping right next to us (he was in the Blue Van below) and had plenty of stories to tell us about past Indy 500 races, as he had been to about 40. The kids made new friends that they hung out with over the 3 days we were there. They were seasoned fans and showed us the ropes.

As far as the racing goes, we saw cars go up to 240 mph which is faster than they will go on race day. They are going so fast, it’s hard to believe they can hang on around the corners.The racers did 4 laps and were ranked according to their times. We were rooting for Alex Palou #10. He didn’t do as well as we were hoping despite the signs made by the kids but will still start in the #6 position on race day. A rookie, Robert Schwartzman, won the #1 pole position for the race next weekend which is a first since the 1980s. We did see a few wrecks which was terrifying and exciting, thankfully everyone was okay. It was amazing to me that after these pretty intense wrecks, the drivers would get in their back up cars and be back on the track racing within a few hours. Eek! I hope Maddie and Ben never want to be racecar drivers!

We got to watch the race cars come out from their garages and through ‘Gasoline Alley’ on Sunday, it was fun to see the cars up close. There was a “Kid Zone” that we spent a lot of time at and a lot of the activities were sponsored by the Indianapolis Colts. The first night we were there, there was a tornado warning and the skies were eerie. There was lots of wind and rain but no tornado, fortunately. We were also able to spend some time with a good friend from MT who is from Indianapolis originally and flew out for the races. It was so nice to see a familiar face! Today we headed northwest and are staying in a suburb outside Chicago. Tonight, we got to try some Chicago style deep dish pizza at Giordano’s. So delicious! Tomorrow we will head up to Wisconsin and meet up with some new friends we met in the Great Smoky Mountains. We are all looking forward to it! That being said, we are so ready to be home. To have access to a full kitchen, laundry, our own bedrooms, our family and friends, etc, will be heaven!