Author: Mary-Ann Knight

1110a weather looking great.  Hot, humid, sunny.  Helicopter circulating.

Took a stroll to the outfield, pit and paddock.  Crazy nuts today, people everywhere.  There are 250 Corvettes on display. I believe Vettes should be driven not continually polished for show but that’s just me.

Sights and sounds galore.

My favourite all time racer, now IndyCar announcer @paultracy3

RACE time!  Perfect conditions, perfect weather, perfect BEER!   

Lined up nicely…

Scary incident in corner 2, first lap   Crash took out both Allan’s driver and mine.  That’s Felix caught up on the fence and then on the hook. He was taken to hospital for testing and released.  Happy there were no injuries.

Clean up complete, race restarts.  More like parade laps, but hey it’s still so much fun being here. To quote Allan …

530p Thunder & Lightening, helicopter grounded We know what that means, 

537p Cars being confiscated (yes that was what the Indy Officials said) to the garage area

546p Race checkered flagged.   Will Power the winner.

Poop! Felix is again behind Alexander.

It got dark so quickly with heavy rain RainStorm

Allan Traegered anyways. 

First photo when he came in from putting the meat on the grill, second when cooked.  Deliciously moist!!

 Who has more fun than people?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Practice 930a and qualifying 1230p day. Yippee will be a fun day. 

We go outside and meet the new neighbours.  Turns out they are Sue & Larry Veach the super cool grandparents of Zach Veach driver of the 26 car.

There is a sever weather forecasted for about practice time, we naively think we’ll be good because the sun is shining.  On our radios, we hear the ambulance helicopter is caught in the weather.  Practice, regardless of weather, can not begin until the helicopter arrives.

We wait, 930 fast approaching no rain but still no helicopter.  We hear track events are postponed for 2 hours due to the pending rain. 

We venture over to the pits cause while the cars are not on the track the action should be in the pits. Still no rain or helicopter.  The skies are now beginning to look threatening. As we approach the cars are being returned to the paddock.  They finally announce the practice is cancelled. 

The drivers are leaving the pits, we snap a photo or Hinch & Hunter-Ray

None as famous however as this guy! 

In the paddock we see our cars,  Allan’s Alexander Rossi, mine Felix Rosenqvist

On our way back to Bailey it begins to pour, photo does not do it justice It slows down and we make it back relatively dry.  What’s that in the air!

This is the view from the stands Announce finally, qualifying cancelled as well but there will be a 2 hour practice beginning at 2.  Back to Bailey to watch but first we’ve decided to start a magnet collection for every track.  Pocono is the first…

 

 

 

Practice begins.

Click for the roar of the engines

 

A bit disappointed there are no scheduled track events today so use today to familiarize ourselves with the track.  Looks like there is a cruise ship on top of the stands We meet our neighbours Kim, Wayne & their grand daughter Kallie, puppy Fox and hang with them.  Fun hearing other’s race stories.

Contrary to the schedule, there are some things happening on the track like vintage cars so at least something.  Also the 2 seater but sadly we didn’t get an invitation to ride.

 

 

Pocono Tricky Triangle’s claim to fame

We acquaint ourselves with (black tank emptying)Just in case we are too full of Tomorrow should bring more excitement.

 

 

Today is the drive to Pocono Speedway. It starts off kind of like heaven. Sunshine, humid, hot – my kind of weather. km 53,817.  I should start an excel mileage sheet.

Say goodbye to the KOA and our new cool friend. Off we go 1015a.

Today’s drive should have been 228 miles, 3.3h not including a fuel stop. Goal is to fuel up as close to the track as possible to keep the diesel generator happy. Our go to is Love’s, there is one on our route so we head there.

As we approach Binghamton, we see horrendous traffic going the other way. We thank our lucky stars we are not going that way. Our Exit 3 is fast approaching, we see the Love’s – they are sometimes tricky to get into there is a tractor trailer directly in front of us who is going to the Love’s so blindly we follow him.

NOPE, he’s going to another highway so we must find our way back. We’ll get back on the highway and head the other direction because we know that is heavy traffic, 3 lanes merging into 1, starts just past Exit 3. Smart if we don’t say so, ourselves!! 

Back on the highway, there is no Exit 3 coming this way. We are stuck in that traffic, worse than this photo depicts 🙁

Finally make it back to Love’s. Allan says “remember we are building memories” LOL

We head on to Pocono, no more misadventures. We pass a friend’s village.

 

 

 

Getting closer..

We excitedly arrive and get checked in. Go to Gate 1, off we go. Oh my, can things get any tighter?  We use the left tunnel.

We make it safely through 🙂 and are greeted by…

We find our site #31 same site number as in Birmingham

We get ready for a massive thunder, lighting, rain storm. One bolt of thunder was so loud Allan thought our generated exploded.

 

After the storm there is calm and rainbows

 

 

Woohoo! Starting km 53442 leave Sutton at 903a.

This trip includes 2 Indy races, first race Pocono Raceway, Long Pond PA, second race Gateway Motorsports in St Louis, IL.

Traffic, traffic! Why oh why. We’ll see how long it will take to get to Farmington.

Our schedule

Border crossing this time is Queenston Lewiston, another first for us.  Arrive at noon, cross at noon 20.  🙂

Smooth sailing.

Next stop Tops Friendly Market

WHAT!!! No Off to the spirits store.

All set now for the KOA for the night,

Next up 4 days boondocking at the race.

 

 

 

 

 

New signage on the back of Bailey, compliments of Tom @Call them for all your sign requirement (905) 967-1323

Next up paint the chrome piece on the front of Bailey, where we ran over an mud flap on a highway during our last US trip.  We found a Rust-Oleum product called Bright Coat Metallic Finish who’s cap matched perfectly, excited to get it done.

Allan hard at work…

Many coats later, Oh no 🙁  It does not match, more matt than shiny

Now what????  Sent an email to @RustOleum so far no response. Just want it to look like the cap.

Maybe Bailey has to be renamed as One eyed wonder.

Very excited, only 4 more sleeps till we are on our way to POCONO GRAND PRIX Tricky Triangle.

 

 

 

Our home town race!  Allan’s been going since it’s inception in 1986.  I’ve been going since I’ve had Allan.  Try as hard as Allan did we could not gain permission to bring Bailey so we stayed at the Delta Hotel Toronto. This year’s room was the nicest ever.  Bathroom was floor to ceiling windows. Love the view!

Pre-race activity… James Hinchcliffe @Hinchtown insisted on taking photos with us prior to the race. How could we refuse???

So glad the Stadium Super Trucks were back.  They are such fun!! Certainly a must see!!  Thanks @RobbyGordon

Next up Nascar Pinty’s  Series.

Everyone’s hero!  @robertwikens drove an Arrow-modified Acura NSX in the pre-race ceremonies.  He also gave the command for the 22 IndyCar drivers to start their engines.

 

 

 

The highlight of the weekend IndyCar  (Whoops too busy enjoying the race to take photos)

 

 

We are settled into the park.  We’ll be using Bailey as a cottage for the summer.  Next trip is August when we will be attending 2 Indy races.

Today is a do nothing, much deserved day.  Allan built us a fire.

Dinner and of course the Traeger smoke never gets old for Allan

For those of you who know Allan well, his relaxation includes reading Bailey manuals.

My relaxation includes sitting by the fire

Not our plate but love it!

 

Finally! Bailey pick up day! Sicards claim the repairs are all complete. We doubt it but are so anxious to get Bailey to the park.

Uber picks us up at 6am. It’s amazing how we normally get their worst drivers. This guy thought it was appropriate to drive at or below the speed limit in the fast lane.  While crossing the Burlington Skyway Bridge a pissed off driver decided he should let the Uber know the error of his way and cut us off so close we thought this was it.

Now at Sicards and of course everything is not done. To avoid another meltdown, I won’t recount the issues but we didn’t leave until 12:45 with still not everything done, 53267km.

We head to Newmarket through all the traffic, traffic, traffic…

Make it to Newmarket to load Bailey up, get fuel. Side story:  I’m parked off to the side in my vehicle waiting for Allan to fuel and decide to take a photo of Bailey.  The black tow truck had just pulled in to wait at the side for his next tow.  He sees me taking the photo and pulls up to me and asks “Why are you taking my picture?” Guilty of being more than a

Arrive in Sutton 430ish.  Our spot is very tight to back in to, a few wiggles and we’re in. This is one of the warmest days so far. The heat makes setting up a bit slower, but we get it done.

Final setup…the flag 😊

Now chillin and campfire time.

We have a leisurely breakfast and leave 10.

The turn 3 gate is now open but so narrow.  Allan paces it and determines we’ll make it.

Another race weekend over!