it's Bristol, Baby!

last weekend we took our second trip to Bristol, TN for the NASCAR race. along with us for the trip was my brother Eric (etmckay) and my friend Tammy (tc121). we grabbed a few caches in Indiana and one in Kentucky where Kailey (bme22) got her 400th find, and finally arrived in Bristol around 8 am Friday after driving through the night. Once we set up camp, we got about 3 hours of sleep before it was time to head out for some caches and other fun. we stopped for a few caches before making our way to mini golf, followed by dinner at Fatz Cafe. We grabbed s'more supplies and firewood to get us ready for the night.

Saturday before the Nationwide race, we checked out all of the tents around the track filled with souvenirs, food, and freebies. got a few free hats and cinch bags, plus a few other items I can use to stock geocaches. the grandstands were only half full (180,000 max. cap.), but it was definitely a great race. immediately following, there was a legends race with 13 drivers from the 60's and 70's. last year they did a similar thing and it was pretty entertaining. this year, the drivers in the race were quite a bit older, so the race wasn't as exciting until about 4 laps left when one car hit the wall and started to slide down the track. the second driver couldn't slow down in time and T-boned the first car. one driver ended up with a broken arm, pelvis, and ankle, and both were taken to the hospital.

Sunday, we packed up before the race so that we could make a quick exit, then headed to the track. we stood behind the stage of RaceDay on SpeedTV and watched the show live. during commercial breaks, they would come back and throw hats and things to the crowd. we were in the perfect location, because each of us ended up with a hat, home depot hard hat, and various other things. after another great race, we caught the first shuttle we could back to the campsite and hit the road back to Wisconsin. we finally pulled in at 5am after another long night of driving. we would have stayed another day, but I had to get back in time for a new job.