The Truck Race

Here are some of the scenes I saw at the Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 held at Martinsville Speedway a week ago. It was a fun time for me to be there (we only live two miles from the track), the weather was perfect, the crowd was great, and the race itself was full of twists and turns, no pun intended. Ron Hornaday (33 truck) won the race and took a victory lap afterwards (see him waving the checkered flag at the end of the series of photos), but he was challenged throughout especially by Todd Bodine (30 truck), Kyle Busch (18 truck) and Kevin Harvick (2 truck). Busch took second, Bodine was third and Harvick wrecked toward the end. From start to finish, here we go.

UNTIL NEXT YEAR...

Martinsville Race Weekend Part 2

This year I elected not to attend the Sprint Cup race on Sunday, preferring to spend all day Saturday at the track first photographing the cup driver's Happy Hour practice session and then the Camping World 200 truck race. I wanted to get some practice myself photographing speeding cars from various positions in the open fan section, where I could not easily go during the Sprint Cup race on Sunday, due to crowds and other fan restrictions. One drawback was that for some of my close ups during practice, I had to stand behind a high protective wire fence. Let me tell you even with that fence between me and the cars, it was quite a sensation as they zoomed past with high horsepower engines roaring. Here's some of what I saw for your enjoyment.

Next up in Part 3 will be the Camping World Truck Race itself. Stand by.

Race week draws crowds

Campers from all across the U.S come to Martinsville, Virginia to enjoy NASCAR racing at its best.

Lots to see besides the actual race, plus numerous opportunities to spend your hard earned dollars. Noteworthy is the fact that the number of private vendors who come to all NASCAR races has declined significantly over the past several years.

T-shirts, hats, jackets, flags, cups, model cars, doo-dads, you name it...all for sale at the race track, mostly by private vendors.

And then there's FOOD! Like these BBQ jumbo turkey wings...which when eaten make you smile.

What would the weekend be without pizza and nachos, sold out of highly decorated trailers like this one.

And, what would racing be without cars...and people. Up next, just that. Stay tuned to this blog.

NASCAR Fans Arrive in Martinsville

Fans of NASCAR are arriving in Martinsville for this weekend's races...trucks on Saturday and Sprint Cup cars on Sunday. The campground is filling, and firewood is on sale...given the cold nights ahead.

I'm always impressed with just how prepared fans are when they camp out. Hardly roughing it...especially with all the cold beverages around.

Race Week in Martinsville

This is race week here in Martinsville, Virginia. Twice each year, NASCAR fans from wide and far come to this rural part of Virginia to watch some of the best racing around...and I do mean "around" like "around and round they go."

I'm going to be a part of it again, but this time more so with my camera and less so as a watching fan. I'm headed to the track for qualifying this Friday, and then back on Saturday for the truck race. I'm not going to the Sprint Cup race on Sunday this Fall, mainly because I'm locked to my seat during that very crowded event, and can't get the sort of photos I want...crowds and position make it difficult to get much action from high up where I typically sit. During the truck race, however, it's general admission and I can wander all over the place, seeing the action from many angles. I took the photo you see above last October.

I also want to get into the "fan thing" this year, and to capture many of the things they do, while having so much fun. Weather is predicted to be nice too, and that makes it even better. Last Spring the weather was horrible and I elected not to attend...wasting my hard earned bucks on tickets I never used. So, stand by here on this blog next week for some pics of what I saw, and some words to go along with it.

One-Click

Since I bought my new Kindle eBook reader from Amazon.com a month or so ago, I've been enjoying a more pleasurable reading experience, than when I had a heavy, thick bound, 750 page behemoth resting on my stomach, while laying in bed reading at night. The downside to this is "one-click." What's that you say?

Well, Amazon sells many items as you may know, and not just books...many items having a magnetic attraction to my credit card, causing it to vibrate in my wallet, telling me to "buy now!" In my pre-Kindle days, I rarely bought anything from Amazon, other than an occasional hard to find book, or electronic gadget. What prevented me most of the time from buying on Amazon, was a need to have to walk upstairs from my home office where I was online, to retrieve my wallet and credit card to complete any purchase I might be contemplating. I usually decided to consider the purchase at some other time when I might have my credit card handy.

With the Kindle came an introduction for me to Amazon's electronic bookstore. Also, Amazon realizing there are many people like me who are too lazy to go and retrieve their credit card to make an immediate purchase, cleverly created the "one-click" buy button on their webpage. Enter your credit card information securely one time, and presto from that point forward you never need to have your card handy again. Talk about instant gratification, and since you never have to actually get your credit card out to enter all the digits, it's almost like you're not spending any money...almost.

I recently got my first credit card bill since I bought the Kindle. I was surprised at first when I saw the balance. Then, I remembered "one-click". That neat little Canon desk top photo scanner I saw on Amazon on day while looking for an ebook was on my bill, as were several other non-book items...like a new pair of 5.11 tactical pants. And then of course, I had purchased several eBooks for the Kindle, since I needed something to read. 

Got to give Amazon credit, they sure know how to sell stuff...at least to me. And, all with "one click". 

Welcome to my home

A normal start to my day

This is what I have to deal with on a typical day, right after I return from my morning walk, and after I read the paper at our kitchen table. I then usually get my laptop out to take care of reading my favorite blogs and websites, plus upload items like here, and on my photoblog. It's then that I am "visited" by the furry ones.

I stopped laying my laptop bag on the table, because Lucy (on top of it in this photo) and Boots try to crowd each other off. Lucy won the battle this day.

Boots, our kinda fat calico cat, also likes to lay on my arm while I'm using the laptop, and that makes typing difficult, but I have managed to get used to it.

I'm not really complaining about any of this—I enjoy the company. But, it makes for a somewhat crowded table at times.  All in all, not a bad way to start the day.

10-10-10

Paying little attention to these sorts of trivia, I was reminded today on a local weather blog I read daily, that today is ten-ten-ten. OK, that's all I'll say about that.

Meanwhile, all of you in the Army reading this who have the luxury of enjoying a long holiday weekend, I say I envy you. Being semi-retired now, holiday weekends don't mean as much as they once did. I recall a time when I enjoyed them the most...and that was when we were assigned to Germany.

Talk about having fun things to do on a long weekend! We took day trips to various locations in Bavaria and France, ate great food, drank a few German draft beers, sampled some wonderful wine, bought pottery, crystal ware, coo-coo clocks, and other original "Made in Germany" treasures.

Speaking of German treasures, I remember the many times we heard a knock on our government quarters door, to be greeted by a well dressed German, selling original oil paintings out of the back of his car. If we said, OK, he'd carry in arm loads of paintings, large and small, lay them out all over the place and then start his sales pitch. His main selling point was always that they would some day be worth thousands of dollars. We fell for this strong sales pitch, still have the paintings we bought hanging in our house today...and even if they are worth more than we paid for them, no one would buy them in this sad economy even if we offered them for sale...which we won't...because they are family "treasures".

So there. See what one can do on a long holiday weekend? You just have to be in Germany!

Mars and what "man" might do with it

Here's an interesting video, with sort of a simplistic animation view of how "man" might respond to exploration of the red planet. Environmentalists will clearly get the point.

So much to read, so little time

I discovered this site, ALLTOP, which lists news topics of interest, in various categories. I am finding it a good way to use one site to view many headlines that might make me want to read the underlying story. Less bookmarks and favorites on my web browser makes my morning routine much easier and less time consuming. Check it out.

Been a long time since...

...early last spring when I was actually "cold". Today as I sit here typing this, I stop to curve my fingers around my hot coffee cup, to warm up. The house heat's definitely NOT on and it's sure not winter yet, and it's really not that cold inside the house (70), but 50 degrees outside is a far cry from the upper 90s we had just over a week ago. Like it!

Anyone beside me fall asleep watching the previously undefeated and apparently also asleep Chicago Bears tally up around 20 yards total offense in the first half of their game last night with the Giants? Giants won the game 17-3 but were not all that spectacular themselves.

Technology

I am reminded daily, through numerous examples, how much "technology" impacts our lives. Example: Facebook. I see people interacting in many ways on their Facebook pages, with texts, videos and photos...many being posted using their cell phone from some remote location all over the world...one I read recently was uploaded while the poster was out camping with his wife! Say what you want, we're hooked on all this stuff.

Not me you say? Well, if you're reading this now over a wireless internet connection, or while out and about using your personal cell phone, then I say you lie.