The end of the season...

And the start of something new The amount of disinterest I held for The Chase this year was rather, well...it was boring. Yes, Lil E and JG made it in. But we knew they wouldn't win. Neither of them had it on this year. Good, as always, just not WOW. Even the Champ Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth put on a slightly ho-hum show as they closed in on the final races. The stories I wanted to watch (Denny Hamlin and Jeff Burton) while intriguing in their novelty, just didn't do it for me. Of course, the Saturday afternoon Cup Series that was the weekly prelude to the Sunday Cup event did nothing to spur my interest either.Let's just say that I'm glad it's over. And there's so much coming! 2007 is the season of interest. Toyota, immigrants from the IRL series, veterans taking it slow...leaving Mr. Gordon to look ever more like the elder statesman. (Mike Waltrip will never earn that accolade). The much debated Car of Tomorrow will take its bow. And right now Goodyear is trying to stave off a very ugly invasion by Hoosier. Goodyear might lose their contract if they can't settle a strike with the Steel Workers Union (it took me a moment to figure that out...until I remembered steel belted radial tires..ah! Steel!)On the local scenes...Mike Dillon won the BGNE series with Sean Caisse giving him a run for the money. Sean is young and very eager...too eager if you remember his debut in a Busch car at Dover. Patience Grasshopper It will come. However, fighting off the seasoned new-comers to NASCAR from other top flight racing series will be no easy task. The bar just went astronomically higher.Rousch...with Mark Martin stepping out and heading over to the competition, who will lead the garage? Biffle? Kenseth? Neither of them strike me as a spokesman for their fellow drivers. Edwards...maybe. But who's gonna listen to him? MacMurray? Nope. Also, the deal for selling half the team to the Red Sox fell through when the head office decided to bid for that ritzy Japanese pitcher. Things don't look so good to me.Hendrick...smart move inviting Casey Mears on over. Well, that's all for now. No, I don't have comments about drivers in tuxes. They don't belong in them. I'll try to start blogging more consistently, but other endeavors have distracted me, and as I said, there wasn't a whole lot to be said again Catch ya later!

The day after...

Thanks for leaving a comment, Stewartfan. I apologize for it not publishing...e-mail provider being stupid.

Well, here we are--the off-season. Good God! What do we do now? No engines revving, no pretty rainbows screaming around a track...just the abyss. Ugh.

Well, actually I'm kindof glad. This season was a whole lot of nothing stories, really. Denny Hamlin provided some entertainment by being the shining young gun. But otherwise, it was more about endings than wins. The end of Mark Martin's run in the #6, Dale Jarrett leaving the #88, Kenny Schrader silently slips into part-time with nary a word...the end of manufacturer provided sheet metal templates. The end of Detroit supremacy as Japan enters NASCAR. I can only hope this will be the end of carte blanche for cup teams in Busch.

The end...

But an end means somewhere there is a beginning. Something new. Hopefully something interesting.

Until January (yes, I watch testing in Daytona)

So...what's up?

I've been remarkably quiet lately...so much to do! So little time ;-) Currently I'm waiting on a few things. I'm waiting to hear back from a publisher on my novella "The Shape of a Woman". I'm waiting to hear back from the judges for final placement in the Wallflower "Black Moment" Conest...my historical novel "The Forgotten Princess" was honored with finalist placement so far. I will be putting the final chapters on another novel "A Child of Uncertain Birth" over the next week or so. And of course, the holiday madness is about to take over. ACK. Hubby and I are also going over our photos from the past year for a special treat.

*waiting anxiously for Jimmie Johnson to win the Nextel Cup*

Later!

Crossing over...

Upon arrival in Jackson, NH the first thing you have to do is cross a covered bridge. The bridge is red, wood and one lane wide. If you think you are bringing your 35ft. RV with duelly pick-up, cell phones and slick credit card life...you better think twice.

The bridge takes you into a village that is snapshot of New England as it has been for two-hundred years. Taverns, inns, little white churches and small shops for the locals.

The rush of the tourist laden traffic jam on Rte. 16 is instantly gone. You have crossed over... Enjoy yourself.

 

As time goes by...

Hello! We just returned from a two-day get away to the White Mountains. It was like a moment out of time. We stayed at Eagle Mountain House, an historic inn located in Jackson, NH. Just down the mountain is the Jackson Falls.
Where vistas of the White Mountains combined with the never ending rush of the waters chasing the rocks down the slope.
And butterflies could stop to stoke up for their fall flight south.
And people can stop to dabble their toes in cold water and soak in the sun. No phones. No boom boxes. And not even a hot dog vendor to be found. Just an afternoon spent the way it was...and always should be. 

I created a Slide Show! Check it out!

Tennis Elbow?

Don't know how or why, but there it is. It's most frustrating. And it impacts almost everything I do. Lifting a can of soda, putting my hair up in the morning, getting dressed...any motion that involves raising my right arm while holding something. I have a brace for my elbow and it helps to keep me from moving in a damaging manner.

Now it's time. Time to let the muscle inflammation go down and let the small tears in the muscles heal.

I hope it doesn't take too long, I miss writing my stories.

Later!

Have I said how much I love Carl Edwards?

Nothing more needs to be said. Carl Edwards won. And I flipped! Well, he did...but I did, too.

Opening fly over for the Cup Race... 

Whelan Modifieds and Busch at NHIS

Teddy Christopher has a new ride this year...the #36. No more black #13...

Four wide racing...you won't find it in any other series at NHIS.
The end of the Whelan race was cut short by a blown tire on the #06.

Nearing the end of the Busch Race...#60 Carl Edwards is keeping an eager #21Kevin Harvick behind him. 

Grand National Busch East race pics

First we have John Salemi in the #15. Last year he was recognized by his peers for putting on a first class fight on a shoe-string budget. This day he crashed out :-(




The final race was between #44 Sean Caisse and #61 Mike Olsen. They traded paint for lap after lap.
As you can see, Mike took the checkers. Sean won the week before. Fantastic racing! 

Racing at NHIS

We've got Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson taking their qualifying laps and the opening lap of the Grand National Busch East division...it's all good stuff!

 

It's a new car!!!

I'm sure everybody who shops for a car goes through all the agony I do. Earlier this spring my 2000 Impala began to show signs of its age. I fixed the intake manifold, then I fixed the power steering belt (including tow), then came the rotors, the battery and alternator (another tow at 11:00PM on I495 in the rain). The service department let me know the tie rod ends were gone, Richard discovered a missing bolt on the sway arm and the A/C no longer spewed cold air. It did admirably with the hot...but no cold. Oh! And the fans fried a resistor pack. The blue car was telling me it was ready to retire.

After some soul searching I decided what I wanted to finance and discovered I wouldn't be looking at another Impala. It was most depressing. So I entered into the world of the Economy car. I test fitted a Toyota Corrolla, Honda Civic, Chevy Cobalt and Mazda M3. One salesman told me the smaller steering wheels would help me turn the car easier...I was pretty sure it was so I wouldn't hit my elbows on the doors. The high MPG ratings looked promising. But...but... I'm a car girl. You all know this! I have LOVED driving my V6 roomy Impala for the past seven years. Before that I puttered with 4-cylinder cars. Something was missing; a growl under the hood when I demanded a little more from the engine.

So this week when my Chevy dealer called to let me know that they were having a 0% Financing Sale this week, I saw my chance. Without paying a bank, it was possible to keep the little monster under the hood. So today we trotted down to the dealer, picked out a pretty red car and took her for a spin on the highway. Oh yeah. She was coming home.

2006 Chevrolet Impala LT. Sport Red. Ivory interior with lots of buttons for me to play with. The remote start was standard (So I don't have to walk out to a dark car at 2AM on Saturday nights) and this time cruise control was included as well. Oh! And it has a compass program that tells me to drive in circles to set it. Yeah, I'm chuckling. I will get to play with ONStar and decide if I will give up my ancient suitcase style cell-phone. It serves much the same purpose plus theft deterrent.

Well, there she is! And I'm a happy girl :-)

Love,
Sonya

I know it's been a while

I've been a busy girl! I'm now published, like with a paying gig...but first people have to actually buy the story...anyway details!

"Fire and Water" is on sale at Ocean's Mist Press. It's a fantasy/erotica short story. So if you're underage or shy, don't go looking for it! ;-) How I ever actually got brave enough to submit to OMP, I'll never know. But, there it is.

Also! I've a new homepage! Check out the latest news on my musings at: http://sonyadgrady.com

And if you're dying to know what I'm thinking about in the NASCAR world check out NASCAR NOTES 2005. It's all new and snazzy with homemade graphics and photos from the track!

SpeedWorld on sale!

Check out your local bookstore (the big ones like Barnes & Noble) for SpeedWorld Magazine with Jimmie Johnson's #48 on the cover. Inside you will find driver interviews and articles about your favorite teams. And most especially...in the SpeedRead section you will find an article "How NASCAR Saved Us $$" by S.D. Grady. That's me!I had to toot my horn and hope that you will give the magazine a shot. I'm already winding up to submit another article for the next issue due out in September.Catch ya'll later (after qualifying) ...

Want to see more?

A few more photos of our weekend at Pocono and more NASCAR related entries are located @

http://spaces.msn.com/members/NASCAR-NOTES/

Carl Edwards- the Winner!- during Practice

Sunday June 12, 2005

Raceday

Don’t go to the pits on Sunday at Pocono. We didn’t see anything. We stood nose to back with thousands of other fans trying to walk on pit lane. Rich and I shortly gave up trying to take photos of pit boxes, etc. and returned to the RV for lunch. I felt sorry for anybody on a guided tour, they wouldn’t have seen anything, either.

The race:

Our seats were at the entrance to pit road about five rows down from the Terrace Club. Not bad. We could see a decent amount of the track and the Nextel Vision definitely assisted us in watching the action. The benches are narrow with no backs. You can rent a cushioned seat with a back for $7.00. I dunno $80 and I need to spend more to sit marginally comfy? Gimme a break.

Carl Edwards! I got to watch him do a backflip! He definitely had the dominant car. He worked his way from the rear of the field, slowly eating up the competition. The other leaders, notably Vickers and Waltrip, drove away from the field. Edwards was the only one that actually caught the leader- three times over.

Maybe the new gear rules required some rookie mentality to figure it all out. Edwards was told repeatedly by his spotter to just stand on the pedal. That worked. When Vickers saw Edwards coming for the second time, he cried over the radio “How many times could I shift every lap and not hurt the engine?”

He was told, “Zero.”

There was a pause…he despondently replied, “Oh.”

The end of it all was staring him in the rear view mirror. This was Carl’s day.

Bad days…there were a few. Lil E’- had three tires go flat on him. His radio was awful silent after the first one caused him to lose the lead lap.

Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Ricky Rudd, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Scott Riggs all suffered various tire and engine maladies. Bobby Labonte’s Lap 199 crash was beyond cruel. Jason Leffler as well- none of that was anyone’s fault. Good video from the wreck, though.

Jeff Gordon. A 9th place finish was a hard day’s work. Impressive in its refusal to give up. Hendrick in general had a great day: Vickers 2nd, Busch 5th, Johnson 7th, Gordon 9th and even Terry Labonte 12th. If that isn’t dominance, I don’t know what is.

Vickers, Busch and Johnson had cars that were simply as good as where they finished. The entire day was spent generally in the same spot.

Biffle! How could I forget! His engine! Jimmie gets to keep his lead.

Tires…Goodyear said the cars were running too far down and the rumble strips were chewing up the front lefts. That’s supposedly why we say so many dramatic blow-outs. I guess we’ll see what happens when the Cup series returns to Pocono in a few more weeks.

Well, I guess that’s about it. Burgers are cooking and the traffic jam is on.

My ultimate decision: Pocono is well worth visiting. Watching the race here is no better or worse than other facilities I’ve visited. If you want up-close action, then visit a local track. But if you want to see the big boys, enjoy yourself in the Pocono mountains.

Shocking...to say the least

Yesterday, after setting up, cooking supper and generally looking forward to the rest of the weekend, Mother Nature stuck her nose into the mix, again.In the form of a severe thunderstorm.

The clouds built for hours, looking black but skirting us to the south- away behind the Grandstands. Then it came. High winds, steady rain. We pulled down the awning (the pair of newlyweds down the way already had theirs blow over the top of the RV, bending parts and shattering a roof vent.) We generally secured the site. Then sat down.

Rich asked, “Do you think I should take down the flags?”Lightning flashed and thunder boomed. We agreed that now would not be a good time to do that. Water came down in sideways sheets (again), wind howled and the skies flickered. We lost sight of the grandstands. If you take a look at the attached photo, that’s pretty significant. We sat on our dinette listening to the torrents. Then a flash of light, a bang that reverberated in our skulls and a strange tingling sensation remained on my tongue.We looked at each other. Did we? Nah…we didn’t. Did we?

When the skies let up we poked our heads out of the trailer and about 5 neighbors were running over to us. Yes, apparently we did get hit.Our flag pole served nicely as the point of entry. Our trailer, I believe, served as an insulated cage for us, but the refrigerator propane ignition system and the AC/DC converter died. We found the ground of the bolt at the base of the DirecTV dish. The truck has an assortment of idiot lights on as well. I guess we’ll find out how crucial they are on Monday, on our way home. The neighbor’s air conditioning fried, as well.

Meanwhile, we are grateful, once again, for our little generator. It is keeping our food at least reasonably cold. We probably won’t be keeping up with racing stuff on the TV, though. *sigh* And we’ll be going to bed early, unless I manage a cheerful campfire for entertainment. Yep, I think we are really camping.

Pocono also has this silly idea that once you are in the infield, you stay for the weekend. They have a saying, “The only way out is in the back of an ambulance or a police cruiser.” It’s OK. We have enough gas to keep the generator running for a good deal of the time and I have books with me.

This morning, Mother Nature continued to tease us with fog. Again, the grandstands were nowhere to be seen. We doubted that practice would arrive. Jet dryers were deployed even as sprinkles continued to rain down. But the racing gods were here to cooperate today.

Seeing a race at Pocono:The grandstand is humungous! It runs almost the entire length of the straightaway. You will definitely need binoculars to see anything anywhere else on the track. You need binoculars just to see the other end of the front stretch!Watching the race from the infield: While it’s a neat idea, you won’t see much unless you have a platform on top of your RV. And even then, you’ll be following little ants in a circle for the majority of the day. However, for somebody who has never actually watched a race from the infield, it’s entertaining and unique. And you’ll be paying as much for infield access (or more) than if you bought the family grandstand tickets.

Pit/Paddock Access:OK. I have done this at Watkins Glen and Atlanta. It’s cool. Pay $30 and you’re allowed behind pit wall on pit lane while the cars practice. This is awesome! And Pocono has the Paddock Areas. These are wonderfully conceived in a manner that encourages fan access. The fenced Paddock areas are facing the Cup garages. You get to watch your favorite driver’s team get their car ready. Then there is the Paddock Alley. A perfect vantage from which to watch the cars come and go during practice and qualifying. Though I prefer pit road for qualifying.

Today, after returning from first Cup practice, an ARCA car smashed into the wall at the exit to Turn 3. Repairs had to be made to the wall. I found it amusing that we used to get out torches and lengths of guardrail when repairing the wall was needed. Today we toss large bits of pink Styrofoam around and off we go. Progress.

We’ll be watching the ARCA race tomorrow from our campsite. It’s plenty loud. Later!

Tadpoles and Sunshine

We went driving down the scenic roads of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. At a picnic stop we climbed down to the river to see what would be seen. Tadpoles! By the thousands in the slow shallows. And some deer tracks. The air was heavy and hot. Shortly we climbed back in the truck and set out for some "park approved" overlooks.

This was disappointing. On Rte. 611 all the overlooks are now overgrown. Trees block any view of the river and the cliffs that form the Gap. It looks like the only way to see it is from the water. This is fine, its better for the river. But the overlooks should be taken off the tourist maps.

Tonight, sit by the pool and do some final grocery shopping for the track. Catch ya'll next week!
Delaware River near Delaware River Gap

Camelback Mountain

As usual, Richard left the daily planning to me. I read about Camelback Mountain. There's an auto road that loops around the summit and a restaurant. We went. And as usual I wanted to do a little bit of hiking.

Now, I have this tendancy for choosing nearly vertical or extensive hikes. And considering that neither of us is in good shape, it normally results in a lot of moaning. Yesterday I did well with the waterfalls. Some stairs and climbing, but no backwoods adventures. I ran out of luck today.

The hike on the state park map indicated it was a 1.3 mile loop suitable for biking. It didn't say anything about ups and downs, except not to take the RED trail. This was the orange trail. I figured it couldn't be too bad. However, as the descent continued downward for more than fifteen minutes, I started to worry. Then there were the rocks, large boulders really. And the moss covered, leaf covered slopes. We weren't complaining until we reached the bottom of the loop and started back up.... I suppose I've never mountain biked, so I just don't understand how that was a bike path.

Besides all that, the view was well worth it, if hazy. The Pocono Mountains lay beneath us in all directions in a dense green carpet. White fluffy clouds slowly crossed the sky, earning our forgiveness for the intense thunderstorms of last night. Birds and chipmunks skittered nearby. Fairly bucolic.

And finally. The mountain laurel is nearly blooming everywhere. Next week it will be a bright infusion of pink and white amidst the green scrub oaks.

Ants- everywhere there were ants. We stopped at one anthill to watch the army trying to shove a thick white grub down the hill. The grub didn't want to go. A tortuous death for sure.

After the hike, we were ready for lunch. Except the summit restaurant was closed...we ended up getting some pizza in town. Great Stuff. Look for Amici's Pizza when in Tannersville.
Mountain Laurel on top of Camelback Mountain 06/07/05

Moss Covered Ravine

Today, with thunderstorms threatening for the late afternoon, we set out for something fun and short to do. We found Bushkill Falls. As you can see, beautiful. We chose the moderate trail and the stairs were plenty challenging.

The deep ravine is covered in rhododendron, moss, lichen, ferns and Spruce. It reminded us of walking through those "tropical islands" in some of the larger zoos. The roar of the falls was broken only by the purr of a generator. Repairs were being made on the many man-made bridges and stairways that make this point of interest accessible to the usual tourist.

For the stout hiker, there is a path that leads up to another set of falls. We didn't take the challenge.

With temps in the high 80's and thick humidity, we were puffing after two hours of exploration. We wanted to find lunch. We stopped at a local "diner". It was really nothing more than a bar. A few regulars were taking a liquid lunch while we munched on our sandwiches.

The rains arrived. Lots of wind and sideways sheets of water. The lights flickered repeatedly. The bartender lady got a call her house had lost power. We figured the campground would be in similar straights. That's OK. We brought the Lord of the Rings and a generator for rainy day entertainment.

We saw another live deer today. That's 2. I hope we balance the sheet by the end of the week.
Bushkill Falls, PA