ROAD TRIP TO THE DIRT TRACK WORLD FINALS IN CHARLOTTE AND BEYOND (PART TWO)

On Wednesday (26 Oct) I had joined my buddies Ron Morin and his grandson Gage, for a road trip down to the Dirt Track World Finals in Charlotte , North Carolina. We traveled down in Ron’s big Lincoln Town Car .

The World Finals were all over before mid-night on Saturday  (29 Oct).

Gage had to be back at work in Cornwall, Ontario  on Monday , so he would be traveling back with Doug Young , his racing crew chief.

Ron and I were in no hurry to return to the cold north and had planned to stay down south a little bit longer , and visit my daughter Carla, in Austin ,Texas.

On Sunday (30 Oct) we left Charlotte and drove down through North Carolina, via South Carolina, Atlanta , Georgia, to Mobile , Alabama, where we stopped for the night at another Motel 6 .

Monday (31 Oct) we left Mobile, and drove along I10 and across the state line in to Mississippi , where we toured along the Gulf Coast.

The weather was still hot and sunny as we cruised down the coast road.

As we drove along , there were still signs of the destruction caused by  Hurricane Katrina that brought disaster to the area in 2005. Some houses were still damaged but most of the plots had been leveled , with just the driveways remaining.

Most of the new replacement houses were being built on stilts.

From the State of Mississippi we crossed over into Louisiana, and headed into New Orleans.

Once in the city, we toured the down town area and checked out the Levy that burst it’s banks when the flooding took place during Katrina.

After spending the afternoon in New Orleans, we got back on the road , in the direction of Baton Rouge.  A bit further down I10 , and we parked up for the night at Lake Charles. Louisiana.

Tuesday morning, (1 Nov) we left Lake Charles, and were soon crossing over from Louisiana into Texas.

Instead of taking the direct route to Austin , through Houston, we chose to detour around the city and visit a couple of race tracks along the way.

First port of call was the Gater Motorplex, a dirt speedway, I’d visited in April 2015.

After a quick look from the outside, we carried on to the Cotton Bowl Speedway, at Paige, where I attended their season opener in March of this year.

Paige is just over an hours drive from Austin , and by 7-00 pm the big Lincoln was pulling up out-side Carla’s place in Leander, a Suburb in the north of the city.

Within minutes of arriving, Carla, Alex, Benji , Ron and me, all took off for a supper at a local restaurant.

Our plan was to stay for a couple of days in Austin.

Carla  is expecting my second grandchild next month and had various medical appointments while we were there,  so during the day on Wednesday (2 Nov) , I took Ron on a short trip to see the Circuit of the Americas, the Grand Prix track that is located just outside Austin. I was also there earlier in the year for the Pirelli Sports Car race.

Late , Wednesday afternoon we all met up , and in the evening we chose a Chinese buffet for supper .

Just before mid day  on Thursday ( 2 Nov) , I said my goodbyes to Carla, Alex and Benji, when it was time to hit the road once again.

We left Austin on 1 35 northbound and our first stop was the Heart of Texas Speedway at Waco.

This was a Dirt Track that runs Modifieds similar to the Cotton Bowl, and it’s a place I have on my list for a future visit.

Once we’d taken a look at the place from the outside, we were back on the road , and crossed into Arkansas at Texarkana.

Texarkana became our base for the night as we parked up at the Motel 6 , located on the State Line. Conveniently , just across the road  (in Texas), there was a Hooters, so I couldn’t resist paying a visit.

Next morning , (Friday 3 Nov) ,  we set off and our fist stop was at the local 67 Speedway ( what a great name for a track ! )

The grounds were open, so we went in and had a good look around. It was another dirt oval similar to what we are used to back home.

Like I said, the place was ‘open’ and unattended, so we were able to take a pretty good look.

Back on the road again , and the next stop was at Little Rock , Arkanasas, where we dropped in on the I 30 Speedway, another dirt oval.

By now it was about 3-30 pm in the afternoon , and to our surprise , the pits were full of Sprint Cars . There was a three day ‘weekend’ event taking place, and it being  Friday, they were getting ready for some evening racing.

Unfortunately, Sprint Cars were the only division on the program. There were no Modifieds or Late Models, so, as Ron and me , are not  big Sprint Cars fans , we decided not to stay for the evening show. Had Modifieds been on the program, I’m pretty sure we would of stayed.

 

This was an unexpected event, and we had an agenda. Stopping here   would have put us back half a day.

So we got back on the road , and it wasn’t too long before we were rolling into Tennessee.

Our destination was Memphis.

I’ve been a fan of real rock n roll music for most of my life, and one place on my ‘bucket list’,  has been been Gracelands, the home of the ‘Late’  Elvis Presley.

                                                                                                                                                   We were lucky and were able to book in to the Days Inn, right next door to Gracelands on Elvis Presley Boulevard.

We had supper in an excellent eatery called Marlowes, situated in the same road, and I can honestly say, the barbecued Beef Brisket, Beans and Fries was the best meal I’ve had in a restaurant for many, many years.

After breakfast at the Motel, it was just a short walk to Gracelands to board the small guided tour bus.

The first part of the tour, dropped us off at the house, to take a look around .

Various photography regulations prohibit me showing most of my pictures taken inside the house, but as you can guess, what I saw was very impressive.

From the house tour , we went to the rear gardens, swimming pool, and sports hall where many of his gold discs and other artifacts were displayed.

Beside the pool, there is a small family cemetery  where the King of Rock n Roll is buried. After looking around the gardens,  we got back on the bus , to begin part two and three of our tour .

First of all we checked out Elvis’s two airplanes ,

Then his automobile collection which was very impressive .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              By lunch time, we were done, and I’d ticked off one of the things on my ‘bucket list’.

Our Motel was right next to the automobile collection  , so before too long we were heading out of Memphis in Ron’s big Lincoln.

On the road again !  and heading through Tennessee towards Nashville.

Neither of us are big Country Music fans , so had no reason to head into town for all the ‘Old Oprey” stuff,  and instead chose to  give it a miss, and take the ring road.

Just north of the city we got off  I 75 at Ridgetop to check out the Highland Rim Speedway. A small paved oval.

 

 

From Ridgetop, we got back on I 65 and crossed the state line into Kentucky.

From the  Welcome Center, we took I 65 north up to Louisville then branched off on the I71 in the direction of Ohio.

We parked up later than normal that night, ( about 9-00 pm) at a Super 8 Motel at Carrolton, Kentucky. We had to make do with the Waffle House for supper that night.

Sunday (6 Nov) morning we were back on I71 heading towards, Ohio, but before going too far, we exited a few miles up the Interstate to check out the Kentucky Speedway.

This is a big ‘Nasscar style’ track where I believe they hold a few of the truck series races. Sorry Folks, I can’t tell you much more, without ‘googling it’,  as Nascar events or Truck Racing just don’t interest me,  much these days.

The place looked very nice, I must admit.

Once on the road , we continued up I71 where it met the I75 which we crossed into Cincinnati , Ohio.

 

 

There was quite a good view , as we drove down the hill into the city.

We continued up I75 to Toledo, Ohio, where we passed the Jeep Factory.

Just after Toledo , we crossed the state line into Michigan and then drove the short distance up to Detroit.

Approaching Motown , we traveled up the I75 and it wasn’t long before we saw the signs to CANADA, then after following the directions, we joined the line of traffic to cross the Ambassador Bridge.

After being used to paying around three bucks toll money to cross at our local Cornwall bridge it was a bit of a shock to be charged five bucks. The line up for Canada customs only took about 20 minutes and we were soon in Windsor, Ontario.

Almost home , and just another 8 hours of driving up Hwy 401.

Within ten minutes of being back in our own country, we found a Tim Hortons, and were drinking our regular brand of coffee.

It was now about 8-00 pm so we booked into the Comfort Inn , at Chatham. Ontario .

Supper was had at the Arby’s , next door.

Monday (7 Nov) we left Chatham on the final leg of the road trip, and after several stops for ‘Timmies’ along the 401, we arrived home in Cornwall, Ontario at around 6-30 pm.

What an adventure it was !  and a big thanks to my buddy Ron Morin, for being my chauffeur.