Sunday, February 15, 2009

Daytona 500 Fest-Ode to Sprint

So, hey there. Right now I'm in a black SUV with a police escort leaving the Daytona 500 with some pretty intoxicated folks and I'm not even kidding. Doesn't that sound like fun? Thankfully none of them are driving. David and I are away for the weekend in Daytona as Sprint's guests. David received the invitation through work. It has been a fun weekend that culminated in our attending the Daytona 500.

We arrived on Friday afternoon to a lovely room on the ocean. There was free food and drinks all weekend. I told David that this would be the weekend to start drinking and he said, "that's fine as long as you can quit by Sunday night." So, I drank like 450 free diet cokes. With lots of ice. Just like I like them. As Sprint's guests we had some fun activities planned. David went by bus to Disney's Driving Experience and was on the winning racing team. He had a ball. I stayed back at the resort and received a massage at the hotel's spa. It was really nice. The problem with a massage is that you are supposed to lie still and enjoy it. My problem was that I had an itch. I laid there trying to decide if I could scratch my itch or not...finally I did. Anyway, it was a really nice treat. Last night we had a nice dinner where they presented the ladies with a small bouquet of roses. We sat and ate dinner with strangers. There was one guy at our table who calmly stated that he had driven 162 miles an hour in his BMW on the turnpike. To which I replied, "excuse me? did you say you drove 162 miles an hour? on the turnpike?" He responded calmly and I held my tongue...at least I tried to. I think I might, maybe, have calmly said, "are you kidding me?!" with an "oh my goodness" thrown in for good measure. It was at that point that I just shut my mouth and smiled across the table at the idiot...sorry for I offend any of you speed demons, but wow...that could so kill someone. Anyway, after a lovely dinner and very stimulating conversation David and I headed up to our room.

This morning we got up and David had to attend a sales meeting in order to receive our tickets to the race. The exciting thing was that at the meeting David won a pass to the "Driver's Meeting" at the race. I had no idea what a driver's meeting was, but people were congratulating us so I figured out pretty quick that it was a big deal. I'm no dummy you know. There were 2 buses of Sprint people and our buses had a police escort to the race. Your tax dollars hard at work or maybe Sprint paid for the escorts, but it seemed a bit extreme to me. I kept thinking that the people we were passing had been waiting for a long time. Just didn't seem fair to butt in line like that. I felt like a fraud. You know, like I should be someone important to receive a police escort and all. It was weird. Since Sprint sponsors the race we had wonderful accommodations in a suite with more free food, drinks and headsets where we could hear the drivers talking to their pit chiefs and such. Don't I sound like a race fan? We also had tours of the pits. Lots of tires in them there pits I tell ya. I decided to root for Jeff Gordan and so I was listening to him on my headset. At one point he had some choice words to say about car no. 2 who didn't have a bumper anymore for him to bump up against. Thankfully his language didn't shock me. I'm a southern girl...I've heard some language. Oh, I forgot...Keith Urban was the entertainment and he sang 3 whole songs. Are you kidding me? And Tom Cruise was there 'cause he's a race fan don't cha know. I was about 15 feet from him when we were all inside at the Driver's Meeting and HE HAD ON HIS SUNGLASSES. It was the Top Gun look I'm thinking. Oh, I digress...from our suite the view was lovely and the noise was not bad at all :). Ok, as an aside, the drunk gal in front of me is yelling into her phone trying to order a pizza...oh my goodness...she is just drunk enough to be funny. She yelled into the phone..."I'm staying at the nicest hotel in Daytona" when the people asked her where she wanted the pizza delivered to. Oh my goodness. That's all there is to say. Oh, and bless her heart.

Well, we are back at the hotel and our racing experience is nearly over. The race ending was very anti-climatic since it was called due to rain. Bummer. All in all it was a great weekend and I'd do it again if I was asked. I'm such a martyr. It's back to the old grind tomorrow, except tomorrow we are having family photos taken. I sure hope my hair decides to co-operate. Today was like the worst hair day I've seriously ever had. I have no idea what happened....I was seriously bothered by my horrible hair day. I could hardly get over it. I kept thinking that people were looking at me thinking, "that poor lady with the bad hair." And then I remembered the days when I used to get tons of compliments on my hair. And then I wondered what has happened to my hair. I tried to watch the race, but my deep thoughts kept getting in the way. Seriously, it was a fun weekend and I would like to publicly thank Sprint for the memories. We could have never done it without you. Love, JS (I'll post pictures later)

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like it was a fun weekend!! I can't wait to see pictures and that "bad" hair! :) Sorry you had that to contend with! That was a fun recap of the events...talk to you tomorrow. Love, Christie

melmac said...

Oh Jackie, how fun for you. I would love to go to the 500 but only if I could cut in line and get the royal treatment otherwise it would be a huge waste of my time and energy. How shallow am I!
Sorry about your hair, I have pics for my missionary card tomorrow so I'm rooting for a good hair day as well!

Cassie - Homeschooling Four said...

I love this post! I feel like I was there with you... and the drunk girl makes me laugh :)

Largaespada Family said...

Jackie, you are too funny! I loved this post! And I have to say, this southern couple is a little jealous of your experience! You got to listen in on Jeff Gordon's crew...how awesome!

Good luck with those pictures. Just to let you know, I have NEVER seen a "bad hair day" on you. I love your hair! It's Hot!!!

Kelly said...

Glad you had a good time! Jack was on the logistics team. All work and little play. He is grateful that he gets to be there and see the race. Can't wait to see the pics!

Valarie Daly said...

Sorry your race experience ended in a dud!!! That's one of the resons why I refuse to pay those big bucks and have it end in a rain win!!! I'm telling you,,how can Matt Kenseth even be proud to say he won the Daytona 500-come on---he won because it rained, not because they raced all 500 miles!!! Let me tell you,,,I've seen plenty of them drunk race folks in my time :-) I do love the roar of the race cars flying by in front of you!!! That's when I usually call people and hold my phone up :-) I really was cheering for Mark Martin to win this time! Well, glad you had the chance to experience a nascar race, well not really, you did it first class not like us real race fans :-)

Luanne said...

I can relate to your "free drinks" at the company work trip! We just did that last week--but we only got to go to Michigan!!

How can 40 year old, professional people suddenly act like college kids again??

Anonymous said...

Jackie, I loved your recap of your weekend! Especially your reaction to the gentleman admitting to have driven over 160 mph!!!! The Mom of two "driving" teenage boys certainly would have come out in me, and I think I would have freaked on him!;O Your a saint for holding your tongue!! As a race fan, that was a pretty sweet deal you got! Did you see Dale Jr.?? And no, I don't think the crash was "only" his fault! LOL
Jackie Sue, having a bad hair day?? NEVER! As one of those people who always loved your hair, you're beautiful inside and out!! Well, as usual, I loved your blog. Can't wait to see the pictures!!
Love Ya, Patti

Jen said...

That sounded like such a fun weekend with your hubby! Bummer you had to deal with the speed demon, drunk pizza girl and the bad hair!! :)

Love and miss ya!! Jen

Jackie Sue said...

You people are so sweet...at least those of you who said I never had bad hair days. I WAAAAYYYY do! Anyway, the comments about my hair were more to reveal my scary thought process than to seek hair security :) I'm ok with having a bad hair day with people I know....its just when Im with people I don't know that I obssess...isn't it funny how many voices we can hear in our head at one time...oh, wait, is it just me that has these internal conversations....anyway, y'all are some fun friends!!!

DAVID AND AMY VENN'S WEBSITE said...

Thank you so much!! I appreciate it so much!! With as many children as you have...have you ever had to deal with anything like this? As much as I am praying for strength.. I can't explain but I am having 10 x a harder time than if I were having surgery myself!! I am trusting in the Lord, but I can't shake the what ifs. How do I do that?
Amy

Abby said...

LMAO!! I do have to say that you can't root for Jeff Gordon if you don't spell his name right.

Steph said...

Oh my goodness. You are too funny my friend. Trust me, everybody there was too drunk to notice how bad your hair was!! Of course, i would have worried the whole time that I hadn't shaved my legs in a week!!