September 2014 – Home to Fort Worth, Texas
Well, we’re off on our travels again, spending a month in the good old US of A so that we can get our annual fix of Nitro (we’re taking in two NHRA drag racing meetings whilst we’re here).
We were picked up at silly o’clock (05:15) this morning and had a good run down to Heathrow arriving just in time for our check-in to open. We’d booked assistance for Graham and all was well until we discovered that they had had to change aircrafts and the one we were using was parked up somewhere obscure so we had to be bussed out to it, or at least I was, Graham had to wait with the others who needed wheelchairs and they were finally boarded around 20 minutes after we should have left ! Once everyone was aboard we left for a pleasantly uneventful flight.
We had pre-booked a rental car and a hotel so, although it took a bit longer than it should have we collected our car and found our hotel with only one minor hiccup caused by road works and a missing road sign. Once we’d checked in we used the hotel’s free shuttle bus to take us in to town to a pretty good barbeque restaurant, once we’d eaten and got the shuttle back it was time to call it a night as we’d been up for just about 24 hours by then.
5th September 2014 – Fort Worth, Texas
We spent today taking a good look around Forth Worth which, it turns out, is a very pleasant city. There are a number of distinct areas to the city, two of which are more geared up for tourists, the Stockyard area which is exactly what the name suggests i.e. where the livestock markets are and where they run a small group of Texas Longhorn cattle through the street twice per day to try to give a feel for what it would have been like a hundred years or so ago when this was the main trade in town. The other area is Sundance Square which is in Downtown proper and is full of bars and restaurants. After a pleasant few hours playing tourist in the 97f (36c) heat we returned to the hotel for a bit of a rest before we head out again maybe to try to find some music.
We did find some music at a bar called Filthy McNasty’s (having visited them I’d guess it was named after its restrooms – UGHH!) but we only managed to sit through one number as it turned out to be a country meets heavy rock set delivered via a rubbish microphone – not our scene at all.
6th September 2014 – Fort Worth to Texarkana, Texas
When we first arrived in Dallas we discovered that the SatNav we’d brought over wasn’t working properly which is why we got mislaid getting to our first nights hotel. We rather assumed that it just needed to work out where it was but when we went to try to use it again today it still wouldn’t play and kept telling us that the USA couldn’t be found which is odd as we’d used it over here in 2012 when we were here with Pete & Ann. After numerous attempts to get it to work we gave up and resorted to the old fashioned way of using a map/asking for directions and made our way to the nearest Bass Pro shop to see if their experts could help but, unfortunately, they couldn’t. In the end we called in at a Walmart store and bought ourselves a (relatively) cheap replacement.
Our original plan for today had been to head for Oklahoma City but the weather forecast was showing torrential rain in that area so we changed our plans and headed North and East up here to Texarkana. There wasn’t a great deal to see on the way (unless you count a car on its roof) but it’s now placed us on the Arkansas border and we intend driving through the Ouachita National Forest tomorrow and then, possibly, on a roundabout route to Little Rock. Luckily for us the weather was both hot (93f) and dry for most of the way, we only had a few showers towards the end of the trip.
7th September 2014 - Texarkana to Hot Springs, Arkansas
It started off cloudy this morning but gradually improved throughout the day with the temperature again reaching the high 80’s. We had another slow start this morning, initially calling in at the Arkansas Welcome Centre to collect a map and some tourist information. The staff there were very helpful and provided a heap of pamphlets and a state map which, unfortunately, turned out to be very difficult to read so we made a number of stops along the way before we managed to acquire a decent one. We also stopped for lunch at what was very much a local’s café (they didn’t quite all turn and stare as we walked in but it was close) which I suspect would have fallen foul of some of the UK hygiene rules but the food was good and cheap. We eventually reached the prettier roads in the Ouachita National Forest by mid-afternoon and we’re now on the outskirts of a lakeside tourist town and we’ve just been across the way to a very good ‘Mom & Pop’ style restaurant for dinner. It’s now time for us to sit down with our better map and work out where we’re going tomorrow.
8th September 2014 – Hot Springs to Mountain View, Arkansas
We’ve definitely been in small town USA today. Our chosen route took us through parts of the Ozark National Forest, along some pretty country lanes and through a number of small town (mostly less than 600 residents), although it’s been quite a pretty drive there hasn’t really been that much to see along the way, still, we know that now. We’ve now booked in to a motel close to the Missouri state line, not sure where we’re going to head from here, we’ll have to take a look at the maps and the weather forecast before we decide. It's been hot & mostly sunny again today.
9th September 2014 – Mountain View to Tahlequah, Oklahoma
As you can see, we went west rather than north into Missouri as there is some pretty grotty weather about in places with massive flash flooding in the South West (Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Texas) and severe thunderstorms and Tornado warnings to the North of us so that’s dictated our movements to some extent.
We had a pleasant drive through the Ozarks today with lots of twisty roads (which would have been better on a bike) but I can’t say there was anything spectacular to see along the way. Motorcyclists in this area do seem to be particularly well catered for with ‘Bikers Welcome’ signs everywhere and we’ve even seen two ‘Biker only’ resorts during the day. We’re now staying in a town we visited in 2007 when we were here for a motorcycle rally, not surprisingly, it’s changed quite a lot in seven years. One of the reasons for coming here was to visit the Cherokee Heritage Centre and we intend doing that tomorrow before moving on to Muskogee to the ‘Five civilized Tribes’ museum so we won’t have many miles to do tomorrow.
10th September 2014 – Tahlequah to Muskogee, Oklahoma
It was wet when we started out today but it soon dried up and became very hot & humid as the day went on. As planned we went to the Cherokee Heritage centre which consists of a museum telling the story of the ‘Trail of Tears’ (the enforced movement of the Native Americans back in the 1800’s) and a living museum showing the homes they lived in and with demonstrations of some of the crafts e.g. flint knapping/arrow making and basket weaving; well worth the visit. By the time we came away it was lunchtime so we decided to turn slightly north so that we could visit one of the Bass Pro shops (Hunting/Shooting/Fishing etc. etc.). We stopped en-route to have some lunch at Boomerang’s Diner in Coweta and whilst there noticed a couple wearing GWRRA (Goldwing Road Riders Association) hats so went and had a brief chat with them whilst waiting for our food to arrive. They said that, if we were still going to be in the area, we should go along to meet some of the other members at their Monthly meeting at the Cowboy BBQ in Muskogee tomorrow evening; we said we might well do that if we were still nearby. When we got up to leave and went to pay our bill we discovered that it had been ‘taken care of’ by our new friends. Very unexpected and much appreciated.
From there we did visit Bass Pro and bought some lightweight travel clothing whilst we were there. We then got ever so slightly mislaid, despite the SatNav, as there are a number of toll roads in the area and we were trying to avoid using them as the notices at the beginning say ‘exact coins only’ but don’t tell you how much it costs! We finally reached Muskogee after the Five Civilized Nations museum had closed so decided we might as well stay over, visit that tomorrow and go along to the GWRRA meeting in the evening.
11th September 2014 – Muskogee, Oklahoma
This morning dawned cloudy, breezy and cool (a full 25f cooler than it has been) as we’ve been caught up by the tail end of the weather front which has caused so much trouble elsewhere in the country but at least it stayed dry.
As we were staying put in Muskogee we decided to start the day by taking advantage of the hotel laundry which meant we had a slightly later start than usual. Once we did get moving our first port of call was the museum we missed yesterday, not as large or informative as the Heritage centre but still worth the visit. We then spent a bit of time shopping the end of season sales that are on (it’s hard to pass up sleeveless shirts for me that are $3.44 each). Our next stop took us back across to Tahlequah as we discovered that we’d missed seeing the original old town which consisted of one fairly large street of original buildings and boutique type stores including a very good bakery that’s been there since 1948 and which seems to be the local after-school hang out. It was then back to the hotel for a quick wash and brush up before finding our way to ‘Cowboys’ and the GWRRA meeting.
We arrived at just before 6pm and met up with Mike and June (the couple we’d met yesterday) and a number of others who couldn’t have been more friendly. We were, once again, not allowed to pay for our food as we were considered special guests and we’re treated to dinner by the GWRRA chapter. We were also included in their prize draw (members are allocated one ticket for each piece of regalia they’re wearing and they counted the membership cards we had with us) and were also presented with a plaque to bring home with us. As I said, they couldn’t have been friendlier.
12th September 2014 – Muskogee to El Reno, Oklahoma
It was even colder this morning (60f) and we encountered drizzle and then rain for most of the day which didn’t make for a particularly pleasant drive. The start of our journey took us through wide open farmland punctuated by some huge ranches, we then joined part of the original Route 66 where we stopped at a diner for lunch and then a motorcycle museum which was free to get in to. Whilst on the road we were surprised to see a coyote run out across the road in front of us, most unexpected. We then jumped on the interstate to find our next stop which was just 20 miles or so from our hotel at an Outlet Mall where I managed to buy a pair of shoes so save my feet freezing! It turns out that the Holiday Inn we’re staying in has only been here for a short while so despite having a SatNav I had to resort to asking for directions at a Gas Station as the GPS kept trying to send us into an industrial area, not helpful!
13th September 2014 – El Reno to Lawton, Oklahoma
It was still cold and cloudy this morning but by lunchtime it had brightened up and the warmth had started to return (and not a moment too soon!). We had decided we wouldn’t travel too far today as there were a number of Native American sites to visit along the way. Unfortunately, it turns out that a number of them were closed as there is a big tribal meeting scheduled for today, still never mind. Instead we visited two fort /museums the first being Fort Reno which used to be a Cavalry site where they bred, raised and trained horses right up until the second world war when it was also used as a POW camp for German prisoners who were used to work the fields. We later visited Fort Sill which we were surprised to find is still a (very) active Army base. Once we’d had our ID checked we were allowed in to a huge area which included a massive artillery museum (both indoors and out) and some of the original Fort buildings from the 1860’s some of which are still occupied, very interesting and free to get in to (as was Fort Reno). We’re now staying in Lawton, very close to the base, at a Candlewood suites motel which is part of the Holiday Inn franchise and which is largely designed for ‘extended stay’ guests. As a result, the rooms are all fitted with kitchenettes, DVD players and usable office desks. The hotel also provides a free guest laundry (I wish I’d known before I did ours the other day), a gym and has a small ‘honour system’ shop where you can pick up the essentials and pay for them later. All this and it’s cheaper than most of the hotels we’ve stayed in until now. We’ve both said we would definitely use them again given the opportunity.
14th September 2014 – Lawton to Wichita Falls, Texas
It was a little warmer and brighter this morning and we decided to keep with plan A and visit the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge which borders Fort Sill. We weren’t expecting too much but were pleasantly surprised when we arrived to find a very large area of open grazing where they maintain a herd of c650 Bison, c750 Elk and lots of Texas Longhorn cattle. We called in at what turned out to be a very well laid out and informative visitors centre and were told the best routes to take through the refuge. We followed the suggested routes and saw quite a few Bison, some Longhorn cattle and lots of Prairie dogs but no Elk. We also drove to the top of Mount Scott which, although not particularly high, offered some great views. From there we drove out of the park to a small town (if you can call it that) to take lunch at a locally famous store/restaurant that we were told about by the young lady on reception at last night’s hotel. She told us that it was very old, didn’t look much and had rickety floors but served great food and she was right! It also turns out that the owners had, some years ago, made a failed attempt to brew their own beer and had since done a deal with a local brewer to provide a wheat beer ‘Meers Gold’ exclusively for them so we decided we should try it (it was only around 3.5% ABV but we still shared one as we were driving).
Our next planned stop had been at the Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum about 25 miles north of Wichita Falls and we arrived there in plenty of time to look around before it’s advertised closing time of 5pm but it looks as though we were maybe a year or two too late !!!! As a result we arrived at our hotel quite early which in this case isn’t a particularly good thing as we’ve discovered that Wichita Falls is rather bigger and more built up than we’d thought and having negotiated our way through their version of spaghetti junction once we don’t plan on going too far whilst we’re here (getting out of here during Monday morning’s rush hour could be fun too!!).
15th September 2014 – Wichita Falls to Abilene, Texas
It rained quite a lot overnight and we left this morning under heavy cloud, It’s improved somewhat over the day and the temperature and humidity have certainly increased; it’s now around 87f. My fears of hitting lots of Monday morning rush hour traffic proved unfounded and we drove right through Wichita Falls unhindered, in fact it was rather like a ghost town. As we didn’t have too far to go today we did our usual trick of taking the back roads and ended up on what seemed like the road to nowhere. It had got to around 11:00 and we decided we’d stop at the next town to get something to drink but when we arrived there didn’t seem to be anywhere to get a drink so I switched the SatNav on to see what eateries where around and found that the nearest one was 28 miles ahead!! That 28 miles brought us to Albany a quaint little town with a really good old-fashioned soda fountain/drug store (c1920’s) which is where we stopped for an early lunch, we also took a brief stroll around the town as there were a number of historical buildings/markers around. We then drove on another 40 miles or so to Abilene, in total we drove for around 3 hours with very little to see except the odd huge ranch and a few ghastly looking wind farms. Once we reached Abilene we visited the Frontier Texas museum which is quite interactive and has some really good hologram characters explaining much of the frontier story. There was also a 360 degree cinema with a short show relating some real life stories. All in all it was well worth the visit. We’re now ensconced in our hotel trying to decide where to head to tomorrow.
16th September 2014 – Abilene to Waco, Texas
Our first stop this morning was a really long drive away, it must have been all of 500 metres before we stopped at the Harley/Honda/Suzuki dealers that shared the parking with our hotel and a restaurant. We had intended on stopping at a Honda dealers somewhere to pick up some spray cleaner/polish that we can’t get at home so we took this opportunity to shop for that and to take a look at the Trike that Harley are now producing. We got talking to one of the staff (Larry) and he very kindly said we could take the trike around the parking lot to see what we thought. It’s very different to the Goldwing and a very compact package overall, certainly food for thought. From there we drove around 10 miles south to visit the Buffalo Gap Historic Museum which is a group of preserved buildings that have been brought together to provide a history of the area. There was a self-guided audio tour with options to choose from at each location and if we’d tried to listen to all of them we would have been there all day.
Once we’d had our fill there we started our drive to Waco and stopped along the way for a coffee. Unusually for us we chose a McDonalds for our break and once we’d ordered we were told that McDonalds are currently running a promotion (until September 29th) offering free coffee so it cost us nothing. Whilst we were enjoying our free coffee we spotted a Motortrike dealership across the road and decided to pay them a visit. Whilst there we were able to see one of the new Motortrike bodies on a Goldwing and we’ve both said we’re not sure we like the shape of it but it was worth a look.
As we weren’t sure exactly where we wanted to stay this evening we hadn’t booked ahead but pitched up at a Holiday Inn Express on the outskirts of Waco only to be quoted $150 for a room. We declined their not so generous offer and moved on to a Quality Inn which isn’t perhaps quite so nice but its $65 cheaper and within walking distance of a number of eateries including a ‘Hooters’ (remember those Pete & Ann?).
The main reason for this visit to the USA was to get our annual fix of Nitro and from here we’ll be heading over to our base for the next 5 nights. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the next few days isn’t looking too promising as we’re supposed to be getting the tail end of Hurricane Odile which devastated parts of Mexico a few days ago. We’re committed to going anyway so we’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed. They had been forecasting possible thunderstorms for today and although we did see a little lightening en-route and drive through a couple of showers it has been largely dry and very warm (87f).
17th September 2014 – Waco to Mansfield, Texas
As we didn’t have far to go today we decided to visit a couple of sights on the way and firstly went along to the Waco Mammoth site where a variety of skeletons have been uncovered. Unfortunately, when we arrive at 09:30 we discovered it didn’t open until 11:00 so we went back on ourselves to visit the Texas Rangers Museum which was open. The museum itself was interesting but had far too much reading to do for us to be able to see everything, there was also a 45 minute film presentation which gave the story of the Rangers (and told one or two tall stories too including one about the Texas Rangers helping the Brits to win World War two !!). We then headed back to the Mammoth site which was interesting to see although not as far developed as the Mammoth site we saw in South Dakota in 2007 (up there they’ve apparently just identified their 61st Mammoth skeleton).
After a quick lunch stop we started heading north towards our ‘home’ for the next 5 nights and took the more circuitous route arriving at around 4pm. We’ll be going out soon to see what the area has to offer as far as dining options are concerned as there isn’t likely to be any real food on offer at the drag strip and, having driven past it today, there doesn’t seem to be much close to it either. Fingers crossed (for the weather) we’ll be at the strip for the next 4 days.
18th September 2014 – Texas Motorplex, Ennis, Texas
The weather today turned out to be good for racing but not quite so good for spectating as it was very humid and over 90f as we sat out on the metal stands that just soaked up the heat. It didn’t help that I’d woken with a headache this morning so a drag strip wasn’t the best place to be really but I wasn’t going to pass on the day, I just went to sit it out under the stands from time to time. The other thing that didn’t help is this particular drag strips rule which prevents you taking in your own food and drink so having paid $5 for one lemonade we relied on water from the water fountain that we found and the water wasn’t exactly cold. We did buy other drinks but with the amount we were needing, buying a fresh one each time would have cost a small fortune.
Today it was the Sportsman classes racing i.e. the non-professional drivers/teams which is generally not so popular which meant there were very few people around. The Nitro cars start running tomorrow so it will undoubtedly be a lot busier from now on.
19th September 2014 – Texas Motorplex, Ennis, Texas
It’s been a really long day today, a good day but definitely a long one. We left our hotel at just after 9 this morning and it was (according to the TV) 75f with 92% humidity and during our 30 minute drive to the strip we encountered a few patches of very damp fog but by the time we arrived it had dried up and they were already running the Sportsman cars. The day warmed up considerably but felt less hot and humid than yesterday as there was a bit of a breeze. We also had a few very short showers early afternoon so the racing was delayed slightly by that. The Sportsman cars were the first the run with the professional classes taking to the track mid-afternoon. The last cars went down the track at 8:15 this evening in the dark so there was a good display of flames.
Once we’d left the track we headed back to a restaurant quite close to the hotel and have just returned (10:15pm) so, as I said, it’s been a long day sat out in the heat but it was worth it and we get to do it all again tomorrow.
20th September 2014 – Texas Motorplex, Ennis, Texas
Phew, that was a hot one ! It was hot, sunny and very humid when we left this morning and it still is now at 7:40pm. I’m not sure what the air temperature was at the track but a good number of the cars were having trouble making useful runs today as the track temperature reached 137f and they just couldn’t get the grip. It turned in to a slightly longer day than expected too as the races at Charlotte last weekend were interrupted by rain and were being completed here today so we left after the Charlotte Nitro finals were run and before the Alcohol cars finished off as we’d had enough of the searing heat by then.
21st September 2014 – Texas Motorplex, Ennis, Texas
We were up early this morning in an effort to beat the traffic and it was already hot by the time we reached the strip at 9am (and, by the way we had an update on yesterday’s track temperature, it actually reached 143f). According to the weather channel the air temperature locally reached 95f today but it felt like a lot more than that in the confines of a concrete drag strip, sitting on metal bleachers surrounded by hordes of other people. Despite the heat it was a good days racing and some good runs were made although no records were set today (unlike Friday). Next year they have moved the date of this meeting to October in an attempt to make things a bit more comfortable for everyone and to get better racing. We’re now back at our hotel and the extremely mucky clothing we’ve been wearing over the past few days is in the washer and I shall be having a nice cooling shower very soon. It will be nice to feel properly clean.
22nd September 2014 – Mansfield, Texas to Shawnee, Oklahoma
We were a little later than usual leaving this morning as we had a fair bit of packing up to do after 5 days and two lots of laundry and we’ve started out by heading straight north through north Texas and back into Oklahoma. As we had to get through the middle of the Dallas/Fort Worth area had no real choice but to join one of the many Interstates to get us through the clag (and there was some real clag as there are major road works underway) but we were soon on the more rural roads passing some very nice, enormous ranches and some equally enormous horse farms/studs. The road we chose to use was, for the most part, a dead straight line only veering off-course to pass through some small settlements.
Earlier in our trip we had discovered a chain of ice-cream parlours (Braums) who also sell real food and we stopped at one this lunchtime. As we didn’t want too much to eat we went for a bowl of chilli each figuring that at $2.49 (+40 cents for cheese) they couldn’t be too big – huh! It wasn’t until the bowls arrived that we discovered they were 1 pint each!! After lunch we crossed into Oklahoma and continued in a straight line all the way to Shawnee and once we’d checked in to our hotel we went out for a walk (yes, that’s right a walk) as there is a Walmart and a small Shopping Mall next door. Not sure exactly where we’re heading tomorrow, we’ve still got to sort that one out but in the meantime we need to go and get some (more) food.
23rd September 2014 – Shawnee, Oklahoma to Joplin, Missouri
After some deliberations last night we finally decided that we would make our way over in to Missouri as we haven’t seen much of that State in the past and there appear, on the map at least, to be some pretty bits to see. As Oklahoma seems to have a proliferation of Turnpikes (Toll roads) and Interstates this meant us retracing part of a route we covered a few weeks ago but in reverse. There are some really really long straight roads in this area one, according to the map is around 40 miles long, there are plenty of undulations and one or two small kinks as you pass through settlements but no real bends to speak of (see pictures). Lunch today was a little different to yesterdays as we happened to spot an Amish restaurant and Bakery and stopped there which made a pleasant change as this group really seem to know how to cook. We shared a (very) large chicken salad wrap, a pot of potato salad and a drink and still had change from a $10 bill. Part of our journey also took us along a small part of the original route 66 that we haven’t been on before and there are still a number of original looking diners etc., we then crossed the State Line into Missouri where everything suddenly seemed to become greener and a bit more bumpy so we’re quite impressed so far. Tomorrow we plan on heading East towards what the map shows as pretty bits so, fingers crossed. By the way, I know it’s only September 23rd but we saw our first proper Christmas TV ad. today – only in America !!
24th September 2014 – Joplin to West Plains, Missouri
Today was rather like one of the best summer days we get at home sunny, blue skies and 80f with no wind (rather like it’s been for the past two days) and we had a really pretty ride through the Missouri countryside. Our chosen route took us through part of the Mark Twain National Forest on a twisty, undulating road with little traffic, very pleasant. We slowly meandered our way West then a little North to pick up another pretty road, our only hiccup was trying to find the right road in one particular small town. We drove in both directions and still couldn’t find the route we wanted so called in at a McDonalds had a free coffee and asked for directions and it turns out we were only around ¼ mile off-course and the road we wanted wasn’t sign-posted from the main road – really helpful !
25th September 2014 – West Plains, Missouri to Pontoon Beach, Illinois
It’s been another glorious day for weather, sunny and 85f all the way. It seems that our new SatNav is determined to get us lost as it turned us right out of our hotel this morning, then left, then left again to about 100yds from where we’d started – if we’d just gone straight over at the junction we’d have ended up in the same place ! Shortly after we left we came across a Railroad crossing with the traffic stopped and we had to wait whilst a really, really long train full of coal went through. Once we were back on our way we took a road not marked on the maps as a pretty route but which turned out to be just that, very pretty and a pleasant drive and rather like a rollercoaster in places (some people pay to take a rides like this one). Most of the rest of the journey was also on pretty roads through lots of small settlements and our first stop was for lunch at a very small and equally pleasant Diner just off of the main road and we went through the usual routine of explaining where we came from and how we found ourselves in their small town. We later made a further unscheduled stop when we saw a ‘coffee shop’ sign in the old town of Caladonia, this turned out to be in a really fabulously original mercantile store dating back to 1909, they even still use the original Coke refrigerator. Some little while later we joined the Interstate system around St Louis (ugh!) and reminded ourselves very quickly why we don’t like driving in cities (and this one more than most), it didn’t help that we arrived there just in time for rush hour – ugh.
We already had our Drag racing tickets booked but, as usual, we needed to collect them from the ‘Will Call’ office as they don’t post them overseas. We found the office and went in only to find that they didn’t have our tickets or those of another lady who was in the queue in front of us. We were told that we would need to go to the Main office across the road at the racetrack and, luckily for us the other lady knew where we needed to go so we followed her across and after a short delay our tickets were handed over and we started out towards our hotel. Once again, our SatNav decided to try to take us in what was obviously a rather odd route so we ignored her and found our own way through some really quite grotty areas past a very smelly coal-fired steel works to our home for the next 4 nights.
26th September 2014 – Gateway Park Raceway, Madison, Illinois
When we collected our tickets yesterday we were also given tickets for the parking as we had pre-paid the $20 daily fee (This is the only strip we’ve been to where we’ve had to pay separately for parking). We arrived at the drag strip this morning and tried to get in to the parking area only to be told that they had issued us with last year’s parking tickets so we had to pay another $20 before we could get in. I then left Graham at our seats and went across (again) to the Main office to try to sort things out. I initially saw the lady we’d seen at the Will Call office yesterday so she remembered me which was useful, what wasn’t so useful was her inability to get hold of anyone with any authority to deal with my query (i.e. to get me the right parking passes and refund my $20), it took my best assertiveness skills to not lose my temper but to get what I needed (effectively I let them know I wasn’t going away until it was sorted). Once I got back to where Graham was waiting I discovered that the organisers had cocked up again by actually selling us wheelchair spaces rather than seats –ARRRGGG ! There were a few (but only a few) stewards on duty so we collared one of them and after discussions with 3 different people we were issued seats 2 rows further back which isn’t ideal as there is no handrail in front of us so Graham is a bit more vulnerable but it was the best we were going to get so we’ve had to settle for it.
The racing itself has been pretty good and with the track temperature being a more manageable 115f the run times were much better than last week, our only real issue has been seeing around all of the numpties that insist on standing right in your way when you’re trying to watch. It was a long day again today with the racing finishing around 7:30pm under the floodlights. After a quick meal in a nearby Diner we’re about to collapse in front of the TV and get ready to do it all again tomorrow.
27th September 2014 – Gateway Park Raceway, Madison, Illinois
It’s been another long hot sunny day and we’ve seen some more good racing too. We’ve been talking to a number of people throughout the day and have discovered that we weren’t the only one’s who’s tickets were screwed up, it seems that they’ve sold a lot/all of the wheelchair spaces as seats! One couple who were moved to seats in front of ours also found that the new tickets they’d been given were already allocated to someone else – they really are a shower here !
The other thing we’ve noticed is that there seems to be an entirely different attitude to life in this area. Last week in Dallas everyone was pretty good at not standing in front of you and very good at throwing their trash into a bin here they seems to be happy to just throw it on the ground and let someone else clear up after them (this also surprised another couple we were speaking to who have recently moved to the area). There are also a lot more people smoking around here and, unlike many of the other drag strips, there is nothing to stop them smoking in the grandstands. I now all this sounds a bit negative but we have been enjoying the racing but not as much as we would have somewhere else and we certainly wouldn’t come back here.
28th September 2014 - Gateway Park Raceway, Madison, Illinois
We were up early this morning in an attempt to get to the track before the rush which we did, in fact we were away from the hotel before most of the NHRA Safety Safari who have been staying here (as the name suggests they are the folks who look after track safety etc.). The racing today has been really good with some real upsets along the way i.e. favourites/championship leaders being knocked out first round and with some of our own favourites winning. There also seemed to be a different attitude amongst the spectators today with most taking care not to get in other peoples way. It’s been another hot, sunny day so once the racing finished it was back to the hotel for a shower before going out to eat.
This evening has been unusual on two counts the first being that the service in the nearby Dennys Diner was absolutely rubbish. It wasn’t only slow (which in itself is really unusual over here, if anything they’re usually too quick off the mark) but when they finally delivered our food we didn’t get everything we’d ordered. Generally speaking when you order a non-alcoholic drink over here you get free refills and very often you get more refills than you need/want but on this occasion I eventually had to go and ask for coffee refills and when they came over to refill our cups they discovered they’d run out. We weren’t the only people to have problems either, the people on the next table actually got up and left before their food arrived.
The second unusual thing was that, as we were getting ready to leave, our waitress came across to tell us that we had no bill to pay (not because of the poor service) because someone else had ‘paid it forward’ for us. Apparently the idea is that someone pays it forward for you and you do the same for someone else another time. The unfortunate thing about this was that whoever they were they paid the full tab and we were going to insist on a discount but, either way it was a really nice gesture on their part. Part of the deal with this scheme is that the restaurant doesn’t reveal who paid for you but we think it was a very sweet older lady who thought she recognised me from somewhere and when she realised we were Brits kept coming back over for a chat. It’s just a shame that the awful service put a bit of a damper on the evening.
29th September 2014 – Pontoon Beach, Illinois to McAlester, Oklahoma.
We were up early again this morning (despite our alarm clock giving up the ghost!) as we knew we had a lot of miles to cover – 492 to be precise. Rather than do battle with the traffic around St Louis again we took a slightly longer but easier route on the outer ring road and we’ve spent the vast majority of the day sitting on Interstates, it’s fairly tedious but it gets the miles done. The journey itself was pretty uneventful but we have seen one or two masterpieces of bad driving, in particular the wazzock who decided he should squeeze in between the hoofing great oversized load and the escort car that was following it !!! Not surprisingly the escort driver wasn’t impressed.
Before we left home we pre-booked a hotel for tonight (we usually book somewhere for our last night so that we can guarantee we’re not too far from the airport) it looked good on the internet and we weren’t disappointed when we arrived. It’s called the Happy Days Hotel and is entirely decorated in 1950’s style (see photos) and they have a 1950’s Diner in the parking lot too. It’s proving to be a nice place to spend our last night in the U.S.
30th September 2014 – McAlester, Oklahoma to Dallas/Fort Worth International
We had another fairly long drive this morning, c180 miles, so left reasonably early just to be sure we didn’t hit any problems and it was as well we did. The first 130 miles were fine although bumpy as this section of highway is one of the old concrete slab roads so it felt and sounded like we were driving along a railway line for most of it. Once we reached the outskirts of Dallas everything came to a halt amongst the mass of road works that seems to be surrounding the city. We also discovered that Highway 121 which takes you towards the airport is now a Toll road and there is no way of pay a toll in cash; there are no toll booths just pre-paid in-car readers and what seemed to be electronic number plate readers at the tollgates so we’ve just had to chance it, use the road and see if we get a bill from the rental company. It didn’t help that the road is so new that there are no permanent signs erected yet so you can’t tell where there are services and/or food stops so we spent a good half-hour driving up and down a busy side street trying to find somewhere to get some decent food before our long flight. It was then on to the rental return (Total mileage for the trip 4222) and the airport to start the usual hanging around.
1st October 2014 – London Heathrow to Home
After an uneventful flight (just how I like them) we arrived at Heathrow at around 09:30 and, for once, the wheelchair service worked pretty well so we were through customs/baggage claim etc. by around 10:15. We had booked a private car service to pick us up and the driver (Dave) arrived to collect us shortly after we got through to the main hall so we were on the road pretty quickly. The journey home was slightly disrupted by an oversized load on the A1 which was taking up both lanes and causing a tailback as far as the eye could see so Dave decided to cut across country and get us home that way. We were arrived home at around 13:30 to a nice big pile of post but also to find that our friend Bob had left us a ½ dozen eggs, thanks Bob – lunch sorted !