So the two flew first class to Atlanta, where they were staying at a nice Hilton. The first night they just tried to adjust to the time change and calm their excitement. Jason called me at 1am their time and couldn't sleep. Allen was headed for the gift shop to find some NyQuil to help him fall asleep. The next day they were picked up by a motor coach and taken 200 miles to the race track, where they got to tour the pits and walk around on the speedway (I think that is the right terminology). The weather was sunny and humid, of which I was jealous. They had a great time exploring around seeing all the action up close.
The next day was the big race, so they set out again for the 200 mile drive in on the motor coach. I never realized how big these races were, but I guess over 200,000 people attend, so you can only imagine the traffic in and out on the small Alabama roads leading to it. Well, to solve that problem, their motor coach had a police escort, so people pulled over for them and let them through! Talk about the royal treatment! It was a great race day: nice and warm, seats right in the middle of everything, and an endless sea of rednecks for Jason to gawk at and joke about. I mean, these are true rednecks. Jeff Gordon won that day, and all was well. As they drove back out to the hotel, they passed miles and miles of people camping just right off the road for this big event. Monday morning they flew home, and though very exhausted, Jason had the time of his life
While he was gone, Taylor and I had the weekend to our self. I had been working a lot up to that weekend, so I was very excited to spend some time with him. Saturday we went with Sandy to Salmon Days in Issaquah, an annual celebration of the salmon migration upstream to spawn. (For those who didn't grow up in the northwest, this means they swim miles up stream back to where they were hatched, lay and fertilize their eggs, and then die). We had a fabulous time wandering the booths, watching the salmon try and jump up the latter to the spawning area, and eating a foot long corn dog (which I regretted later). We also grooved to the tunes of a fun 4 man singing group. They had everyone up and dancing, and as they sang, "Sing a song, and you will make it rain", it began to rain!Then that night Taylor and I went to our new parent playgroup, where we had a great time singing songs, playing on the floor, and enjoying a great potluck.
It was a great weekend for all of us, but we were very excited to be reunited on Monday.
