Willie & Bob ~ Ft Lauderdale

Hillbillies & Hippies Unite

Often on the road I miss the opportunity to do much other than race from one city to the next. Ft. Lauderdale was an exception, I was able to catch Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan tonight. They are touring minor league ball parks for the summer. What a show! Things didn't get off to a great start in the rain complete with lightning but the clouds parted, sun came out and there was the musical Messiah Willie. I hadn't seen him live since 91 when the Highwaymen played Halifax and I got to meet a very cooked Mr. Nelson outside the Metro Centre. I've been a huge Willie fan for a long time and while I can't understand what Bob's saying I like his music. The crowd was VERY eclectic as the title indicates all types were present. Folks in Florida are a bit different anyway. I mean that in a nice way. I meet folks and they say why they are here and so on. Generally it's a story of always wanting to be there etc. Anyway there were some real deal hippies at this show. I'm sure concession sales weren't limited to the concession stands. I saw what appeared to be a grandmother, mother and daughter trio enjoying what looked to be a very large cigarette. Anyway that's it till next week. Cheers!

Racing Career Put on Hold

Due to circumstances beyond my control my racing career is being delayed due to the crappy weather we have been enjoying. Details will follow. GRR

Holy Crap! Robbie Mac's Goin' Racin'

Everybody loves Raymond ends Monday night. Great show sad to see it go. But the "Holy crap" is for something I found out about today. A group of us here at work were given certificate to go to racing school next weekend. Again, I say "Holy crap", I have wanted to do this forever and next weekend I will be strapped into a pro-stock race car and a race truck. Given instructions and sent out on the track. GIDDYUP GO DADDY! Stay tuned and you can be sure there will be pics upon pics and maybe a story or two. Have a great weekend!

Stones baby stones

Can you believe it? The Stones are playing in Moncton. THE ROLLING FREAKIN' STONES. Show of hands, who has roadtripped to see them? I saw them a few years back in T.O, I went with low expectations and they rocked. So I'm hearing people whine on the radio about $99 tickets. It's the Stones, people will bitch and moan that nobody decent comes here. We get the Stones and people complain. Oy! Take my advice. Go! Who knows what you'll see etc. Expect to get gouged on prices everywhere you turn and consider sleeping in your car in someone's yard you paid $50 to park in and look forward to the $5 bottle of water you drank in line for the $10 flat beer after the cold inedible $15 pizza. You joys of a good festival. Things are different in NASCAR, bring your cooler in with you, yes with beer. No problem. Tickets go on sale May 27th.

Happy Mothers Day

I hope you had a great weekend. Mine was busy in a non-traditional busy sense. A friend's grandfather had passed away on Thursday so I had planned on going to the funeral on Saturday. We thought it might be a better idea if I went to the wake Friday night instead. Much like in Cape Breton there is a post-wake social, I didn't expect it would go all night. So, as I got home Saturday morning I realized it was going to be a long weekend. Had a work social on Saturday night bowling, a "sport" I never really excelled at.

Mothers Day was nice, my ma was in Florida so I gave her a call and called my Nan. Jen got brekkie in bed, a spa getaway and I made Thai for supper. Had company over for the night and a few drinks followed.

Today I'm a little slow and will be entertaining tonight at the hockey game.

I need to go back on the road to get a rest.

Just kidding. Home for the month. Kinda nice.

Peekacho Peak ~ Arizona 

The Sabino Canyon ~ TUCSON, AZ 

Phoenix Int'l Raceway ~ PHOENIX, AZ

On the way to Phoenix Intl Raceway ~ PHOENIX , AZ

WOW WOW WOW

Now the West is done!

Monday and time for another trip. This should be the end of the tour as I’ve known it, the North East, Mid Atlantic, South East, Mid West and now the South West. It’s been a very interesting three months. So how do we wrap it all up? Phoenix here we come. I was told to rent a convertible if I was going to the desert and I did.

Arriving at 1PM I had a free afternoon to explore the city. In a planning blunder I missed the Cup race here last weekend. How did I manage to do that? Anyway I still shot out to the track to take a peak. Remember this is my first trip to the desert so to be out there near the mountains and at the track was pretty cool. I climbed up the side of the mountain where you can watch the race for $30 with the snakes and scorpions. Anything for a photo opp. Time for supper and research lead me to the TexAz grill, apparently famous for chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes. Well, the ambience was pretty cool, not every night that I have dinner with a signed picture of Willie beside me but it didn’t help the steak out. Oh well, not every night is a home run. Back to the hotel after a tour around the city. Pretty cool here. Tuesday AM brought the show and after, a run to Tucson.

Here comes the first wow. Top down, 85 degrees, rolling thru the desert. Wide open spaces with mountains in the distance. Hard to pay attention to the drive. Stopped at a tourist trap near a state park took some pics, rolled past a huge airplane boneyard and on to Tucson. If you’ve been there, you know it’s amazing with the mountains and stuff. Dinner with friends and the four hour time change starting to take effect on me. Shopping to be done for the family and then the next show. Well with that out of the way it’s time to head for a desert dinner. Lil Abner’s is a cantina in the desert where you dine under the stars or inside. Not too fancy we’re talking picnic tables inside or out. But the bar-b-q over the mesquite fire. Good stuff. Lots of laughs and on the way home it’s time for the next wow.

About half a mile from our exit and then it happened first a squeal, then a smash next thing I know there are two sets of headlights coming right for us. Did I mention we were doing 75 mph and we were in a convertible on a bridge. Holy shit might be better than wow but anyway. I squeeze over to the right as far as I can, and I could have picked the bugs off the front of the jeep. I made it thru a little hole and the rest of the guys freaked. Two cars became four and soon it was a six car pileup. Un-freaking-believable. As I pulled off the highway and stopped at the light the adrenalin wore off. In the blink of an eye it can be all done. Big shout out to the big guy for sure!

Thursday was a free day as I had to fly late in the afternoon. That left most of the day and I spent it well. I toured the Sabino Canyon and hiked thru the state park for a few miles. Not a lot of canyons home to tour so I made the best of my time. After that I realized that my park pass also allowed me to visit Mt Lemmon as well. It rises up 10,000 feet above the desert floor and if you follow a very twisty road you can climb it. I thought the Sebring was going to die climbing it but I made it. Put those events together and you get a big wow.
Time to hop on a jet to Albuquerque for the last show. Had dinner at a great Mexican place. Did you know that honey will put fire out in your mouth? It’s true. Well, time check it’s 1:30 AM Halifax time and I’m here in Phoenix. I’m flying all night on a red-eye to NYC and then get to sit for 5 hours before I fly home to Halifax. Serenity Now!
Time to go. I hope you all had a great sleep. Cheers