We are back home. What a weekend. Where to begin. Let's begin at the start.
Friday about 2PM we crossed into the border. Since we were going east then south we crossed at a different crossing than for Columbus. The guard was very professional and never told us we couldn't come in. He did correctly note that Robin was American from the start. This time we had our marriage certificate. No issues.
We made it to our hotel about 5PM. They had us assigned a very nice room overlooking the lake but it was on the second floor. This is an issue since my wife uses a walker. After some discussion the owner was summoned and they made available a room which was not yet released from a previous flood (2 weeks earlier -- turns out it was a huge flood). The room was fine they just hadn't put it back in circulation yet. Turns out the room was fine. We ate the rest of our sandwiches for supper and then mosseyed onto the bar to enjoy some drinks and a live band. The band was OK but did a lot of Lynryd Skynyrd. They even did "All Summer Long". The bar was a big pier over the water which was kind of cool. Not having to drive also was good because I could drink more.
Saturday we had breakfast at the hotel. The restaurant overlooks the lake. The Lake is Lake Seneca, one of the Finger Lakes in NY state. It was a beautiful lake.
We then went on a sightseeing boat cruise in Watkins Glenn on Captain Bill's boat with a Captain named John. Was very informative and it is a beautiful lake. Fun fact, if you eat salt anywhere in the USA, it likely comes from Watkins Glenn, NY. The lake is not a salt water lake. The salt vein is very deep beneath the bedrock. The first mate was an expert at killing flies.
After that, we headed over to the track to pick up our tickets for Sunday. Turns out they had upgraded us to a whole weekend pass but we were not prepared for Saturday so just did Sunday.
We then tried to find a McDonalds. Turns out the one the GPS took us to was the WalMart which used to have a McDonalds but they closed a couple of years ago. But my wife had a couple things she wanted from the WalMart anyways. One of them was cigarettes but in New York State, any location which has a pharmacy cannot sell cigarettes. One of the many weird laws we found here. Also everybody seems to hate the governor for various reasons. None of which are what is in the news now.
Failing to find a McDonalds, our next stop was COVID tests for our return to Canada. We had appointments for a "Well Now" centre to do them and it turns out it was in Big Flats, NY. About an hour south of Watkins Glenn as the GPS directs you. We just made it in time to the plaza but it took us about 15 minutes to find the centre. But they took us and $460 later we got tested. While we were there, there was another Canadian (dual citizen) who was there getting tested for her return. She lives 2 blocks from us and even uses the same type of Canadian US$ VISA we use. Weird co-incidence.
The scenery on that diversion was lovely so that was a positive about this experience. We drove through and Arby's for supper on the way back to our hotel.
Saturday night had a different band. This one was very good. It had a female lead singer that did a very realistic impersonation of Pat Benatar, Joan Jett or Heart and was good covering other songs as well. They also did several Canadian songs which made me feel right at home.
Sunday morning we had breakfast outside on the patio overlooking the lake. Then it was off the the race. We had a "Preferred Parking" pass but I think that means they prefer you park in this particular field.
We bought a VIP pass on Friday (after we crossed the border). This gave us 6 free beers or wines each. Free food and free soft drinks. We had one each but the tent in the shade was a god send. We met another couple and shot the shit until about 2PM. Then we flagged down a guy who radioed for a ADA cart for my wife. Our seats were on the other side of the infield. This vehicle got a flat tire half way there so we got a replacement. We missed the pit crew fixing the vehicle. Our seats were handicapped seats. First row of the inside grandstand right behind pit row. We were overlooking the pit of "Kyle Larson #5". We heard a very bad rendition of the American National Anthem by an local American Idol Contestant (note not winner). They had fireworks when the bombs are bursting in air. The jets flew right over us in the fly by. They also had a Baptist preacher bless everyone. It was a good prayer as he prayed for everybody's safety.
Then somebody said "Start Your Engines". Then we put our earplugs and earmuffs on. The noise level was incredible.
I found the race exciting. We had a screen in view so we could see whatever they were broadcasting on NBC. The cars are a lot faster than they look on TV. Kyle Larson wound up winning. He did his tire burning in front of us. And he was interviewed in front of us. If you look closely you can see me and my wife over his left shoulder in this interview.
When we were done, there were no ADA carts to be had so we tried to walk. But it turns out that in order to go a reasonably short distance, you have to go all the way around since a huge chunk of the infield is closed to the public. Eventually we had someone radio for us a cart which eventually came and drove us back to the gate.
We thought now being 2 hours after the race, we would have no issue getting out. We were wrong. This race track is in the middle of the country and it has no infrastructure to handle a sellout NASCAR crowd exiting. But they did a good job. We were forced to go left or right at several turns (sometimes at odds with our GPS). We eventually wound up on a road going south away from Watkins Glenn while we really wanted to go back north. However the GPS found us a couple of interstates which was a longer drive but probably a saw off to trying to make it through Watkins Glenn which would have been a nightmare. We had a hotel south of Rochester for Sunday night.
We were able to track down our COVID test results this morning and had an uneventful border crossing back into Canada (and another COVID test). My wife said they really improved the ArriveCAN app. Because we are vaccinated, we are exempt from quarantine and/or isolation.
And as always, I am very thankful for SatRad on these trips.
