RICK @ the RACES ( 5 to 10 December 2013)
This week was the first Birthday of my grandson Benji, so I took a few days off work, and went on a trip to Austin, Texas to join the celebration. It was his birthday on Dec 6 and my daughter Carla’s on Dec 8, so there were two special days to celebrate.
This Summer, Carla , Alex and Benji, relocated from Ft Lauderdale , Florida, to Austin , Texas where Carla had previously lived a few years ago. I visited her twice, once in September 2007 when I attended the Thunderhill Speedway at Kyle, and again in May of 2009 .
Just as in 2009, I had no racing plans for this trip, as it was purely a personal family visit. My trip went something like this.
Thursday Dec 5
I left home in Cornwall, Ontario around midday and crossed into the USA at Ogdensburgh NY. I was in Watertown NY by 2-30pm where I met up with one of my racing friends from the ESS Sprints, Dawn Kamff for a chat. We had a snack at the Panera Bread shop, before I took off for the Best Western Hotel and Airport Parking at Syracuse.
My flight was early in the morning, so by booking a room for the night, I got free parking and their shuttle bus to the terminal.
Friday Dec 6
My journey to Texas involved, a short flight to Washington DC where I would connect with a longer flight to Austin. The first one was slightly late taking off , while the second one was delayed by nearly two hours. I eventually got into Austin at around 5-00 pm where I was met by Carla. Although Friday was the actual day of Benji’s birthday, his party was planned for Saturday. Even so, Carla, Alex, Benji and myself, all went out to dine at the nearby Olive Garden.
Saturday Dec 7 and Sunday Dec 8
Quality family time was spent celebrating Benji and Carla’s birthdays.
Monday Dec 9
After a mid morning breakfast at a bakery in Austin, Carla took me back to the Airport for my return journey home, but not before making a slight detour.
A few weeks ago the worlds top race car drivers were in Austin for the USA Grand Prix at the newly constructed Circuit of the Americas. This is located just a few miles away from the Austin Bergstrom International Airport, so we went along so I could take a look. It was drizzling with rain at the time, but we still managed to get a photo by the main gate.
While I’d been in southern Texas, further up the state in Dallas, and across the country to Philadelphia PA in the east, a winter storm had caused disruption to flights and transportation.
My return trip home, involved a flight from Austin to Cleveland, Ohio where I’d get the connection back to Syracuse. Once again, my plane turned out to be late leaving , as was the flight from Cleveland to Syracuse. It was two hours later than expected when I picked up my car from the Best Western at 11-30 pm.
An overnight snow storm was expected in the Tug Hill area between there and the Canadian border so I wasted no time in getting my self home. There were a few snow flurries as I drove up I81 but nothing too serious, and was I back home in Cornwall, at 3-00 am on Tuesday morning.
