Have you been out in the sun?

WOW! What a great few days in Indy! So much happened, but I'll do my best to recap all the high points. As you can imagine, bloggin wasn't high on my list of priorites while on vacation so this roll-up will have to do.

Woke up early Friday morning and ate some breakfast at the hotel then headed to the BMW Corral. Once we got there, I picked up my car plackard that would allow me through the police barriers on race day. Also, Bernie and I got our armbands/nametags/meal tickets so that we could take part in all the corral stuff - food, drinks, facilites, etc. Got to the track and positioned ourselves on the stands next to the pit row exit so we could see the cars take off and also watch them practice their starts. Got some excellent photos there! Took some video also that I can't wait to pull off the camcorder. Got to hear the glorious sounds of the F1 V10's running wide-open! Between practice sessions, we moved over to a different set of stands to watch. Also, I stayed true to my plan - I would do my souvenir shopping on Friday while they had my size in stock. Picked up BAR Honda shirt first. Next on my list was to get a tobacco Renault shirt; Bernie spotted one and was joking about the price. I think I surprised him when my face lit up and I bought it. I also got a couple of hats and a Mercedes shirt as well. I pretty much got everything I was looking for.

We stopped at the plaza to have lunch and met up with three older guys from San Diego. Tom was an ex-drag car racer. This other guy was a current formula Ford racer and the oldest of the group raced in the past but now apparently collected cars. They seemed like a fun bunch especially after hearing about their strip-club escapades the previous night. After all the F1 events were over on Friday, we headed back to the corral for dinner. Met up with some F1 fans from Missouri - Ron and his son Randy. Great guys! Randy had just traded in his BMW M5 for a mini-Cooper Sport which they drove in. Ironically, the guy who bought his M5 ALSO drove in which was a tremendous coincidence! That guy would be Ken, an architect. After a fun time, BH and I headed for the hotel. It was still early so we ended up going to go see the latest Harry Potter movie. It was pretty good. I got lost a little in the story but BH had read the books so he filled me in on everything.

Saturday morning was an even earlier start. Headed to the corral for some food then met up with Ron and Randy. Made our way to the track to watch the practice and qualifying. Did a little more shopping between sessions then decided to take in the events from the covered stands at turn 13, the area where the cars have left the twisty infield and were flying down the front straight. FROZE OUR BUTTS OFF!

After that was all over with it was nice to get back into the sun! Went back to the corral for a late lunch. Spent the rest of the day there and had dinner then a raffle followed by an auction. I got a hat in the raffle and Bernie got a bag of goodies... including a very pink shirt. Heh. Left the auction early and it was back to the hotel to crash.

Sunday morning was a little easier. Loaded up the car and headed for the track. As expected, our pass got us through the police barricades so we got to our parking space in just a few minutes.

More in a bit.