Bruce The Nomad Trip to INDY Part 2
		This travel log is for our trip to Indianapolis and the INDY 500 race. After Molly and I left Baxter Springs we got onto Interstate 44 again. As I entered into Missouri I realized that the predominance of road kill here are Armadillo. Now I was under the impression that these creatures were common in Texas. I had not seen one in Texas and several in Oklahoma. I looked this up on Wikipedia, and here is what I found: In the United States, the sole resident armadillo is the Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), which is most common in the central southernmost states, particularly Texas. Their range is as far east as Florida and as far north as Kansas, and while cold winters have slowed the expansion of their range (due to a lack of sufficient body fat), they have been consistently expanding their range over the last century due to a lack of natural predators and have been found as far as western Kentucky, and are expected to eventually reach Ohio before the cold winters inhibit their expansion. Anyway, we moved along and I decided to stop at the Arlington River Resort, located about 80 miles east of Springfield, MO. This state isn't as enthusiastic about the Mother Road, Route 66, as is Oklahoma and even Arizona. As we pulled into the RV park, I was surprised at the amount of damage the park had suffered from the flood during March of this year. Several of the buildings were completely destroyed, the pool was flooded with debris, the spaces got covered with debris as well. The owners have been busy getting it cleaned up and back in business, but they have a long way to go. I chose to stop here because it is located along the old Route 66 road, which dead ends at their place. I was aware of the flood that hit them, but since they were open I decided to try it. We had a nice night and headed to St. Louis the next morning. Sunday: I was thinking about stopping outside of St. Louis at a KOA or Jellystone Park. As I checked these out I discovered their rates were nearly $50 a night. No chance! I continued and expected to see road signs for other parks. Was I surprised! I was also hoping to stop at the Budweiser Brewery and again expected to see signs to direct the public in finding this famous landmark. No such luck. The traffic was horrible and some exits were closed for repairs. Molly wasn't able to help with navigation so I faked it and ended up across the Mississippi River before I knew it. I did see the arch as I drove over the river. I was impressed but didn't want to turn back and try to take the motorhome into the downtown area. I kept moving east on I-70 and eventually found a RV park about 40 miles out. The RV park is located in Effingham, IL, next to a small lake. Nothing special here so we just relaxed and the time gave me a chance to write some of these articles. Monday: We broke camp and headed to Indianapolis. The drive was easy except for the rain which continued the entire 3 hour drive. I stopped just outside of the city to check the web for RV parks in the area. Every choice is located significantly away from the speedway. I decided to go to the speedway, give the assistant a call to set up a meeting and discuss the job. I got permission to park right next to the speedway, outside of turn one in one of the speedway lots. I was told that a couple from Kentucky were there, so I went and introduced myself. A really nice couple who have been doing this for 6 years. There are 3 other motorhomes here, so I feel safe being here. The rain subsided during the night. Tuesday: I was awakened by a knock on the door. A fellow and his son asked if I wanted the motorhome washed. Sure, and only $60 including the truck, washed and waxed. I will had my meeting then toured around the city today. I met a couple of the other Parking Assistants in my assigned lot, nice people. I then moved into this lot and got all set up. One of the bonuses is that the spot that I'm is is the power available. There are a bunch of trees on the site and the power will be great since without sun I may have had to use the generator instead of the solar. I get to goof-off for most of the day on Wednesday and I plan to visit the museum and look around the infield. I do get to have mostly free access to the garage areas so I hope to get a bunch of cool photos. (At least as far as 'Car Guys" go.) I moved into the lot where I will be working. I spent the day setting up and going over to the track to see the museum and other sights, such as older race cars on display. I got a number of good photos of some of the cars in the museum. One in particular is shown below. I returned to the lot and discussed the job with the lot supervisor and other guys. At about 5 pm I discovered that I would be working that night, Wednesday. Well I grabbed a quick sandwich and started working at 7 pm. Since the lot opens at 7 am Thursday morning there wasn't much to do. So we just sat around and told those wishing to come in to park along the street, in a residential area, and wait til morning. A couple of guys from Greenville, NC, were the first to arrive at about 2 am. Nice guys and they joined us in shooting the bull for a while. I about froze my butt off. We, there were 3 of us, had to set-up our chairs in the road and just wait. At 7 am we opened the gate, I clocked out and went to bed. I awoke at 11 and after taking Molly for a walk I went to the track to watch the activities. I took a bunch of pics throughout the track, even the garage where the mechanics were working on the cars. Below are a few photos of some of the sites I enjoyed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
		This shot is of the RV lot where I stayed and worked. I took this one just after we arrived. There are about 200 spaces for RVs, but no tents.			I took this photo of the lot just prior to the start of the race. In the background you can see a bunch of buses that came in loaded with race fans.
					I took this shot on pit road where cars were displayed on Wednesday. The man and woman in red shirts are the car owners who occasionally drive the car at historic car races. They were very nice and I learned a bunch about the car and their activities with it.
		This photo is me standing in front of the car that won the Indy 500 races in 1957 and 1958. It is displayed like no other car in the museum - in the specially constructed old garage setting. The car was owned and built by George Salih, a close relative of my mother's father. It has taken me 50 years to finally see this great car. I'm sure glad that I took this opportunity.
					Since I didn't have a reserved seat I took what I could get. I sat in the bleachers at the entrance of pit road on the infield side of the track. This shot is of the first lap as the cars were heading to the start/finish line.
		This photo is of one of the cars being worked on a couple of days before the race. This is one of the three garage bays that each car uses. Much more space than available fifty years ago.
					I tried to capture the action during a pit stop, but as you can see, or can't see, the popularity of Danica Patrick was such that ESPN blocked my view of the car and crew. This was the pit stop that as she left she was hit by another car and eliminated from the race.
		This photo shows the supervisor of the fire crews on the track. His name is Brad and he's from Tulsa. He and his buddy came up to work the race and stayed in the RV lot where I was. Nice guys. I got a Texas Motor Speedway hat from them - they also work races there.
		Thursday: After a quick nap I reported to work again at 6:45 pm. we had a number of RV's coming in over the night. The last arrived at 5:30 am. He was from Michigan and joining his friends here, also from Michigan. It rained on us most of the night, not bad though. It was a good thing we had a tent-type shelter to sit under. But it didn't keep out the cold. I hit the sack about 8:00 after feeding and walking Molly. I had wanted to go watch the IndyLight car race, but it was rained out so I slept til 2. When I got up I discovered that I had slept through the arrival of RV's that nearly filled the 200 sites. My rig was set-up right at the entrance, but I didn't hear a thing. I was tired. It will continue to rain tonight, but should be sunny with a high of 75. I hope. Saturday: I awoke with the sound of low flying jets overhead. It was the 'fly by' of planes honoring the beginning moments of today's race; the Indy Lights. It was a sunny and warm day now at noon. I took Molly for a walk and went to the track for a quick watch of the race and a few photos. After I went back to camp, across the street. Stu, one of the guys I work with at night, and I went to the grocery store for supplies. We decided to fix NY steaks and grilled corn of the cob before we start work. I should take a nap, but what the heck this is "fun at Indy". Tomorrow is the big event. I hope I can stay awake during it. Sunday: I got a fairly good night of sleep - all 4 hours of it. I got inside the track just as taps was being played and to a seat before the green flag. After a couple of photos at my seat I walked along pit road and took a few shots of the pit crews in action. From there I really couldn't see much of the race, but I could look up the the large monitors mounted on the grandstand. I returned to the RV lot when about 150 of the 200 laps were complete. I tuned in the radio and listened til the end and took a nap before work. We expected this night to be pretty mellow so Stu and I , actually he prepared dinner, and we sat at my motorhome , ate dinner and watched the tape delay of the race. I got to see much more on tv than in person. Monday: After work I slept for about 4 hours, packed up my stuff and took off to Dayton, OH. I found a small RV park nearby, spent the night and really had a full night of sleep. Finally. In the morning we drove over to the National Air Force Museum and Wright-Patterson Air Base. WOW! Four hangers full of vintage and contemporary aircraft. I saw the types of planes that my uncle flew during his career in the Air Force. Unfortunately my little camera didn't work very well with the lighting in the hangers, so no good photos. I remember the visit with him in Wichita when he let me sit in the cockpit of a B-47. From here we went to Columbus to visit with Bill Taylor. Bye for now. Bruce and Molly
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