How I met Michael Waltrip

See the tall guy standing in the background? That's Michael Waltrip. I took this with my phone after having just talked to him while standing in that line. He patted me on the back.

It happened thanks to Twitter.

It was Friday evening and we were camping the weekend at Martinsville Speedway for the NASCAR race. Court and I had been hunkered down in the tent most of the day thanks to cold and rain. We were bored and getting hungry. The rain kept us from setting up our cooking area so we decided to hit a restaurant in town.

Just then, Michael Waltrip and Denny Hamlin (who won the race, BTW) had a conversation on Twitter about where to go for dinner. We looked up the place on our phones/GPS and off we went.

And sure enough, while we were there waiting on our pizza, in came Michael Waltrip. I was in line for a beer refill, and he got in line behind me. I turned and said to him, "I offered to deliver for you. Had you taken me up on it, you'd have your food by now." He said "You did? Oh you mean on Twitter?" And he patted me on the back.

The empty table in the picture wasn't empty for long. Jamie McMurray and some of his crew sat there. This was both exciting and disheartening, because well, he's this year's Daytona 500 winner, but then again, when they sat down, they blocked our view of the two women seated in the next booth.

The woman with her back to us is Wendy Venturini, of NASCAR RaceDay on SPEED. That's the show where I've managed to get a sign on air in the past. The woman facing her in the picture is Becky Blankenship, her producer. Becky's tweets are really funny.

It was a major score to see Wendy and Becky for two reasons. First, Syd has a crush on Wendy. I sent this picture to Syd and got to gloat and make her jealous. Second, as it turns out, Becky was the object of my RaceDay sign for this year. Of course, our chance meeting coupled with my premeditated sign (I did it in Publisher and printed it at our Fed Ex/Kinko's Wednesday night) made everything seem quite stalkerish.

Becky, we were not stalking you. We were stalking Michael Waltrip.

Right now I can hear Courtney saying "What's with this "we" business?"

The sign was to show our appreciation for how funny Becky is and hopefully drive up her Twitter follower count. A month ago she produced a piece about Twitter in NASCAR, and Wendy and everyone in front of the camera at SPEED got a good spike in their follower counts. Becky, being behind the scenes, didn't see the same spike. We just wanted to help things along.

Well, turns out we caused a bit of a Twitter stir. When show host Kenny Wallace saw our sign (just minutes before the show went live), he pulled out his phone, took a picture, and sent it to Becky. And that hasn't been the last of it.

Sorry Becky. I meant it to be fun. I hope for the most part it has been.

Despite some awful and at times scary weather, we had so much fun. Then again it may have been way too much excitement for me.

I think I will do something a lot less over-the-top next time.

The rest of the weekend (except for Saturday) was a weather nightmare that got really scary on Sunday, late in the afternoon. In one weekend we had temperatures dipping to 29 (frost on tent), to bone chilling heavy rain and flooding, to violent wind gusts & tornadoes. It was not a time to be in a tent, but there we were. Actually, at one point we got in the car during the storm.

Pictures, with comments, are here.

We're back

Got home late yesterday afternoon. We weren't the last to leave the Martinsville Speedway campground, but just by nine campsites. We had a great time.

I'll write about it soon, but right now I am SWAMPED with work. And the church newsletter needs to get to the printer by noon. So here are some pictures. I think I captioned most of them.

We're back

We had a great time. I'm exhausted and have two models due tomorrow. Full story and more pictures later.

Have a great weekend everyone

We're going off the grid for a weekend of camping with friends.

I know I'll be camping with good people when they say things like

"I think this would be convenient to have at camp..."

Gas Powered La-Z-Boy At Oshkosh Flyin 2005 from Hafast on Vimeo.

Getting ready for the weekend

We're spending this week getting ready for next weekend, when we'll be camping with two other families: all dykes except for our kids and a male housemate. We'll be near Natural Bridge, in Buchanan, VA.

My task today was to clean out the trailer.

Since we're at the beginning of camping season, I thought it wise to review the basics.

I didn't burn all of them

Unlike the disasters I posted on Fickr, this one turned out just about right.

We're camping

in the back yard.


ETA: Photos here.

The weather man can BITE ME!

So much for splendid weather. It rained almost the entire time we camped.

The rain looked like it might finally stop, so I built a camp fire. The PERFECT camp fire. And just as we were about to enjoy the flames and make some camp fire pies, it began to rain.

So much for that.

Though we have a tent big enough to accommodate the entire Walton family, Amanda prefers to sleep in her own tent. Except when it is the middle of the night and lightning is striking trees so close by you can hear them pop.

"Mom, will you come sleep with me."

I had to leave the warm comfort of our tent, brave the driving rain and 50-degree midnight chill, and dash over to Amanda's tent. And of course the zipper on her tent door got stuck. So much for a good night's sleep.

I love a good thunderstorm, I really do. But this one even had me a wee bit on edge.

Amanda's soccer coaches can BITE ME too. Not only did they spring a mandatory Saturday morning practice on us at the last minute, they also failed to show up for that practice. You can bet I'll be having words with them today. Bitches.

A few pictures from the weekend are here.

How to eat fruit

Gone camping

Well, the romantic beach getaway isn't going to happen.

I couldn't bear the thought of spending what is to be a splendid weekend at home. So we hitched up the cargo trailer, picked up Amanda after her soccer game last night, and headed for the great outdoors.

This is a picture of us setting up our tents. There's nothing like doing this task in the dark, particularly when setting up a brand new tent for the first time. Thank god for a full moon, because none of our lights were working. I think all the condensation at the Lesbian NASCAR Orgy Camping Weekend fried their inner workings. We have a propane lamp, but it had to be assembled, a task better done in good light. Oh well. We managed.

I slept like a baby last night.

Amanda had a mandatory soccer practice this morning, so we are back in East Jesus for a few hours. Court and I are hanging out at Barnes & Noble while we wait. I needed to download data for some consulting work I have to do, so it works out for everyone.

Camping jones

I'm having a major camping jones this week. The weather has been perfect and the wilderness is calling me. This is especially the case now that everything is packed and ready to go in our cargo trailer.

I picked up some new gear that I am eager to use, including this gas grill and this privacy tent.

Unfortunately, with soccer season and some scheduled trips (anniversary getaway to Virginia Beach, my sister's graduation in PA, and a consulting trip to Kansas City), we are unlikely to camp before Memorial Day weekend.

~sigh.

Thank god there wasn't a camera on hand

Almost a year after the fact, we are finally completing all the pieces of our move.

To recap, last May we moved out of a 1,200 sq ft three- bedroom apartment with a large outside storage room, to a less than 750 sq ft two-bedroom house with no storage at all (we barely have closets). Among other things, that presented us with the problem of where to store all of our camping gear.

One option was to keep it at a storage rental place for a monthly fee. We decided instead to invest in a cargo trailer that would allow us to store and transport our equipment. We have so much gear that we've had to rent a U-Haul any time we've gone camping. When you camp as often as we do, that gets expensive.

It turns out that cargo trailers aren't cheap, even if you buy a used one. It has taken us until now to finally get the money together for the trailer we wanted. We brought it home today, and that's when the fun started.

The first time I ever pulled a trailer was when I hitched a U-Haul to my Jeep and drove it from Pittsburgh to San Diego. Another time was our trip last summer through Alabama and Mississippi to Arkansas for a camping vacation. And of course there have been our many camping weekends here in Virginia.

As long as I'm going forward, pulling a trailer isn't a big deal. It's when I have to back up that things get complicated. My solution has been to avoid any situation where backing up is required. I've gotten away with it so far.

That wasn't an option today. Although it wasn't pretty, I'm proud to say that I managed to back that sucker into our driveway. And I did it without hitting a tree or our other vehicle.

Now that we have the trailer, we can move all our camping gear out of our sun room. The plan is to turn the sun room into a dining room. We'll accomplish that when we can buy a dining table.

I missed it

Damn. Can you believe it? I missed the game last night.

I crashed early. My sleep has been messed up for days.

It got out-of-whack beginning Friday night in the camper.

It had been a long day. We visited with Tina, then drove over to my parents for lunch. My brother was home and he was actually sociable. It was good to talk to him. We took my mother to the movies to see Enchanted (I just LOVE Amy Adams). After the movies Court, Amanda and I went to my sister's to help prep dinner. I made the mashed potatoes. At 6:00 we enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with my parents, sisters, brothers-in-law, and nephews. We watched the LSU game. It was so much fun. We also exchanged birthday presents for the year.

At 10:00 we left my sister's house and drove to Johnstown for a cookie exchange baking party, where we hooked up with our friends from Philadelphia, Jim & Sue and their kids and with Tina again.

The cookie party was so much fun... except for the TMI revelation by Tina that she doesn't ever wear under pants. THAT was a shocker. Her daughter Johnnie was mortified! We got so silly. We baked seven dozen cookies. I had coffee. [big mistake.]

At what had to be after 1:00am, we left Jim & Sue's and drove all the way back to Tina's (about 40 miles).

Court and I got over to the camper (in Tina's back yard) at about 2:00. It was 20 degrees and dropping. Everything was frozen. We had an electric blanket and a space heater, but the camper never did warm up. And I was wound from the coffee and that last drive... it's through mountains, it was windy, and there was ice (it had my adrenaline going). I couldn't sleep, and didn't until about 5:30.

Everything froze. I have trouble falling asleep as it is, and I've trained myself to sleep with talk radio (I listen to BBC World and those lullaby British voices put me right out). But my radio froze. I tried a podcast from my Zen, but it quit after 20 minutes in 20 degrees. Just stopped. I was like a crybaby without her binky.

So dumbass me got out of bed, bundled up in fleece and blankets and my cap, and turned on my laptop [we can pick up Tina's WAN in the camper]. Yep, I fried it in the cold too after about an hour of blogging.

We drove back to East Jesus Saturday, after pizza for lunch in Portage (it's the best pizza ever). Court did most of the driving. I snored. 81 was bunched up in spots... it was difficult driving. We cross over the mountains on 64 through Waynesboro to eventually find our way to 29. It's an exhausting drive and Court did it masterfully.

Amanda's friend Alexis, who moved to SC a year ago, was visiting her grandmother in East Jesus, so we invited her to spend the night. The kids went to the movies. It was another late night.

Sunday night Amanda had a bad night. I didn't get much sleep. No one got much sleep. And because she had two appointments on Monday, I decided to keep her home from school. That is an issue in and of itself right now. It was the right decision, as she was able to have good visits with her doctors.

We got home from Amanda's second appointment at 8:30 last night and I had nothing left. I tried to watch the game but I passed out the minute my head hit the pillow.


Finally, if I had any say in it, the Steelers would wear these uniforms ALL the time.

NASCAR essentials

I'll definitely procure one of these before my next NASCAR camping weekend.

We woke up Monday morning of race weekend to discover that the porta-potties, disgusting as they can be, were gone. What's a girl to do?

I won't be caught with my pants down ever again.

Lesbian NASCAR Orgy/Camping Weekend

Click on the picture to see all of my photos from the weekend...

Gone Camping, NASCAR Style

The "To Do" List

Friday

• Kiss wife goodbye, leave East Jesus
• Listen to NASCAR radio during two-hour drive to M'ville
  
• Meet Syd & K at track
  
• Drink beer
• Set up camp
• Drink beer
• Find out what Syd packs
  
• Watch cup qualifying
  
• Drink beer, smoke cigar
• Welcome wife and kid (arriving after school)
• Behave
  

Saturday

• Watch morning cup practice
  
• Stalk Ashley Judd
• Drink beer
• Stalk Ashley Judd some more
• Watch truck race and drink beer
• Take pictures for new blog: "NASCAR Poon"
  
• Drink beer, smoke cigar
• Drink more beer
  
• Pass out
  

Sunday

• Mimosas and coffee (breakfast of champions)
• Avoid getting beat up for wearing a Tony Stewart do-rag
• Make an ass of myself trying to be seen on SPEED Channel
• Drink beer
• Eat a bologna burger
• Drink beer
• Regret eating bologna burger
• Drink Maalox
• Watch cup race
• Cry tears of joy when Tony Stewart takes checkered flag
• Drink beer, smoke cigar
• Kiss goodbye wife/kid (they return to EJ for school)
  
• Syd, K, & Trop drunken threesome in camper
  

Monday

• Complain of hangover
• Drink LOTS of coffee
• Pack up
• Avoid teary-eyed, mushy goodbye with Syd & K
  
• Return to East Jesus

Tuesday

• Start planning for Talladega!

Care to place a bet?

A month from now, the Trop family will be camping in a pop-up camper (a rental) for a weekend of NASCAR at Martinsville Speedway.
Syd & K will be joining us.



What are the odds of this happening?

Don't laugh, I ruined a screen room in similar fashion a couple of years ago.