Day 11 takes another trip back to memory lane as we were in New York for our annual summer visit to the family. We went up on Sunday, August 5th and spent a few days in Syracuse. We enjoyed some family time at Oneida lake and in the pool at my parents' house. As to our original plan we left on Thursday morning to go to to New York City to see the Braves play the Mets at Shea stadium. It was the first trip to the city for the kids. After the game we checked into the Wolcott hotel which is a great hotel for the money in NYC. We took the kids to the revolving top of the Marriot Marquis and got some dinner at ESPN Zone in Time Square. Later that evening we took the kids to the top of the Empire State Building and it was great to see their amazement in overlooking a crystal clear night in what we think is one of the greatest cities ever.
The next day was December in August in NYC. It was a cold rain which really put a damper on the kids first full day in the city. They could barely see the Statue of Liberty, but did get a chance to visit Ground Zero, as well as other tourist 
attractions that the city has to offer. The next day we had planned to do the whole 5th Avenue thing in which I freaked her out and took her to the third floor at Tiffany's. Of course she tried on rings and Will almost fell over when he asked me, "Does that really cost over $100,000." And we definitely had to visit FAO Schwartz when I got to see my baby turn into a little girl again and start playing with everything, especially all the Harry Potter stuff. The original plan was to head back to Roanoke after the day on Saturday to be able to have Sunday to relax before work on Monday. However, things did not turn out that way. My lovely wife had mentioned to my father that one of our goals was to go to every race track on the NASCAR circuit and Watkins Glen was Sunday, August 12th. My dad called on Friday when we were in NY and said that he had gotten 5 tickets to the race on Sunday at Watkins Glen. Therefore, after the day in NYC on Saturday we drove the five hours back upstate to Syracuse.
attractions that the city has to offer. The next day we had planned to do the whole 5th Avenue thing in which I freaked her out and took her to the third floor at Tiffany's. Of course she tried on rings and Will almost fell over when he asked me, "Does that really cost over $100,000." And we definitely had to visit FAO Schwartz when I got to see my baby turn into a little girl again and start playing with everything, especially all the Harry Potter stuff. The original plan was to head back to Roanoke after the day on Saturday to be able to have Sunday to relax before work on Monday. However, things did not turn out that way. My lovely wife had mentioned to my father that one of our goals was to go to every race track on the NASCAR circuit and Watkins Glen was Sunday, August 12th. My dad called on Friday when we were in NY and said that he had gotten 5 tickets to the race on Sunday at Watkins Glen. Therefore, after the day in NYC on Saturday we drove the five hours back upstate to Syracuse. On Sunday the 12th, her birthday, we left around 9AM for the less than 2 hour drive to Watkins Glen International Raceway. We had a small tailgate then went in to 
watch her first road course race. Thank goodness for the FanView and the large screen across from the track because at a road course you can see the cars for just a little bit of each lap before they are gone for a little bit. We saw a great race in which Kevin Harvick and Juan Pablo Montoya got out of their cars to have a little altercation (Will is a Harvick fan!!), then we got to see my driver Jeff Gordon dominate the race only to spin out by himself on the last lap to end up finishing close to 11th. While that was great, we got caught in race traffic leaving, had to take a detour and ended up having an 11 hour drive home to arrive in Roanoke at 5AM. Just in time for an hour nap to get up and go to work!!
watch her first road course race. Thank goodness for the FanView and the large screen across from the track because at a road course you can see the cars for just a little bit of each lap before they are gone for a little bit. We saw a great race in which Kevin Harvick and Juan Pablo Montoya got out of their cars to have a little altercation (Will is a Harvick fan!!), then we got to see my driver Jeff Gordon dominate the race only to spin out by himself on the last lap to end up finishing close to 11th. While that was great, we got caught in race traffic leaving, had to take a detour and ended up having an 11 hour drive home to arrive in Roanoke at 5AM. Just in time for an hour nap to get up and go to work!!The whole point of the story is that on Day 11, my youthful bride was presented with an 11 picture collage of our day at her first NASCAR road course race. It was fun to think back to that day and a great trip with my unbelievable wife and family!!!
DAY 11: 11 HOUR ROAD COURSE DRIVE
JULY 17, 2009
29 MORE TO GO!!!!
Viewers poll....Day 30 A Jon Scheyer jersey for that is the number he wears
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