Daytona 500

When we left Vancouver Washington in September, we knew that we needed to be in Florida by the end of March, so we arrived a few weeks early.  We were looking at the map the other evening, when the realization of just how far we have traveled became apparent.  It is a long way across the USA.

 



 

When we left Panama City Beach we made it as far as Lake City, Florida, where we decided to just kick back for a few days, do some laundry, get some groceries, give the old RV and truck a bath, and recover from the colds we had acquired.  Panama City Beach is a gulf coast beach town, but we don't think it will be one of those places we plan to return to.  Don't take that wrong.  It was nice to see, but it was just another beach town.  Very pretty white sand for as far as you could see.

 

We would have to guess that this is a huge Spring Break PARTY area for the college scene.  Many hotels on the beach, and lots of fun and crazy things to see and do.

Somebody even built an upside down building.

So we said goodbye to Panama City Beach, and pointed the truck east, toward the Atlantic Ocean.

We found a place to park the old wheelhouse in Daytona Beach, just a few miles from the Daytona Speedway race track. We had originally plan to stay in the Orlando area, and drive up for the race on Sunday, but this worked out so much better. We arrived in Daytona early Friday afternoon, and went out exploring. We headed down to the beach to get our first glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean, and hopefully find something to eat. The first beach area we found you were able to drive on, park and spend the day if you wanted. We found a nice beach Bar and Grill to quench our thirst and feed our bellies.

We bet that this beach is CRAZY during Spring Break

The weather here in Daytona is very warm and muggy during the day, but the evenings a perfect to sit outside, or go for a walk.  Saturday was our day to check out the Daytona Speedway, and figure out where we were going to park on Sunday for the race.  Daytona has this race business under control.  There is a free parking area, about 2 miles from the track, and they run school bus shuttles all day long back and forth.  We didn't have to wait at all for a shuttle.  The raceway grandstands are enormous, and when we first arrived, they were pretty much empty.
 

But just a short time later, when the cars first came out of the pit area, it was packed.
Not a seat in sight.

So we must say that our NASCAR experience was very COOL.  The weather guessers were all predicting rain for the race, but not a drop showed up.  The cloud cover helped to keep the temperature pleasant, and Roberta didn't have to lather all up with sunscreen.  We were able to bring a small cooler in with us, so we loaded it up with some beer and water, and didn't have to spend 6 bucks for a beer, or 3 bucks for a water. And to top off a perfect day, Jimmie Johnson, Roberta's favorite driver, crossed the finish line first, to win the Daytona 500 . We are thinking about attending another race, later this year, maybe Talladega, Alabama, if our timing works out.  We'll have to see.............

Tomorrow we are moving down to Orlando, about 60 miles South, for six days.  We aren't sure what our plans are for there, but we figure we will be able to find something to do.......  ;-)

Thanks for looking in on us.

Till Next Post,

Roberta and Steve