Good Morning from Road America!
Good morning from a cool, sunny and energetic Road America. We actually got here around 7:30 this morning, because Susan decided she wanted a photo vest for the weekend. That will give her access to photo holes, pit lane and victory lane. But we had to be here at 7:30 when they give away the photo vests for the weekend. Surprisingly, there was a lot of energy here at that hour.
We’ve already picked up our golf cart for the weekend, and checked into the media center. The folks in the media center took a liking to us (for whatever reason) the very first year we were here in 2016. They are all still in place ten years later and they treat us well. We have had the same seats here since the beginning; right up against the window across the track from the pits, just south of the start/finish line. It’s early enough that the teams have not put up their pit signage yet.
As you can see from the photo, it is an absolutely beautiful day here in central Wisconsin. It was 56° when we woke up in our Sheboygan hotel room. It is currently 63°, which is perfect – especially considering the hot & sticky weather we left behind in Nashville.
That was not the case last night. After we settled into our hotel room, we drove to Elkhart Lake for the Pre-Race Weekend Welcome Party at the famous Siebkens Resort. It was a free fundraiser to attend with celebrity bartenders who were to donate their tips to charity. Kevin Lee, Jack Harvey and Dario Franchitti were just some of those scheduled to work the bars. Within ten minutes of our arrival, it started raining. We made the wise decision to go back to the car. Within thirty seconds after we got in the car, the bottom fell out. Everyone started making a mad dash to their respective cars, pretty much bringing the party to a premature end.
We were hungry, so Susan got online and found some obscure place for pizza. We followed the directions and it turned out to be somewhat of a hole-in-the-wall apool hall called Frank’s Place that also specialized in great pizza. The place was great, because we like old spots with character, and there was a lot of character at Frank’s. We were the only non-regulars in there, but the crowd was very friendly and we struck up a good conversation with the bartender, while we waited on our pizza. I also had my first spotted cow of the weekend there.
Now that we are all settled in and it is still early, we are going to go out and about for the day. IndyCar practice is not until 2:00 (local time), so we can play around until then. I will have a recap here later today, with probably lots of photos. Please check back later today.
George Phillips
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