First Catch-up post, for Feb 2006

I'm hoping I can post a few "catch-up" posts of major events since I stopped blogging, in an attempt to fill in some gaps. No, I don't intend to cover every day since Feb 2006, but just some stuff that I'd like to write about. I left the Daytona trip hanging right in the middle, so I'll start there. Robin and I went to the Daytona 500 in Feb 2006, our first trip to a Nascar race. These pics are from race day. Even if you aren't a Nascar fan (I wasn't particularly), the Daytona 500 is an amazing event. A quick run-down on these pictures, Robin standing in the infield of the track, Robin signing the start/finish line on the track before the start of the race, Robin with some of the untold number of Goodyear tires used on race day, and the cars just after crossing the finish line (Jimmy Johnson #48 won that day). Jay Leno drove the Z06 Corvette pace car for the race, what a cool gig. There is nothing quite like standing near the fence as those cars go by at 180 mph. It's even louder than those Honda's you enounter at a stoplight (the ones with the massive subwoofers being driven by a 17 year old).
The other thing that amazed me is how the folks at Daytona can get over 100,000 people in and out of the facility in a reasonably efficient manner. They actually use several offsite parking lots, and use the dirt service roads that run under the power lines to run Buses back and forth to the track (no other traffic on these roads, no stoplights, etc.). These folks clearly know how to handle a crowd.
All in all, it was a great experience. We'll do it again.