Firestone Indy 200-Nashville Super Speedway

First things first, we got a great camera for a great deal.

One of Tuan's Argent Account Executive called him late in the week and asked if we wanted to go to the Firestone Indy 200 in Nashville. It is a "working" thing for Tuan, he has to do some networking and stuff, and we were supposed to be in Oak Ridge for Amber's Birthday Party on Saturday, but we decided that opportunities like this don't come along very often and we should take advantage of it. So, we went to Oak Ridge on Friday night and spent time with Amber and gave her her present, then we went to see her once more on Saturday morning before heading to Nashville for a jam packed afternoon.

We stopped for lunch at Demo's in Lebanon, and called the hotel to find out if we could check in early. Luckily we could, because we were able to take a nap, that was much appreciated around midnight when we got back from the race track. We checked in at the Argent tent around 4pm, and the headed up to their luxury suite. We probably wouldn't have gone if we had to be outdoors, it had to 100 degrees and 100 percent humidity. We got there in time to settle in and have a snack before our 5pm meet and greet with Danica Patrick (I was shocked at how small she is) and Buddy Rice and Jeff Simmons. They answered some questions and then posed for pictures with everyone in small groups. We will hopefully get that picture from Argent soon. At 5:30pm, we were escorted to the garages for a presentation by one of their crew members and then we were free to go around the garage and the pits for all of the cars. It was really neat. The car in the picture below is Buddy Rice's. Unfortunately, he was one of the first to have to quit the race due to car problems.

When we got back to the suite, we were SO happy to be back in the air conditioning. Our clothes were soaked because of the heat and humidity. Soon after we got back, dinner was served, we watched the race, ate dessert and got great little goodie bags on our way out. It was a neat experience. I hadn't known much about Indy racing before, but I don't really understand why it isn't more popular. The cars go so much faster and it seems much more dangerous since the cars are open topped. The only thing that would make Nascar more exciting in my opinion is that there are more wrecks and stuff.

Tuan and I watched Mallrats in the van (me there, him back). It was cute, I like that kind of movie. Now I want to see Clerks.

Today we had breakfast in Nashville and then headed back for a blackberry picking in the backyard (only got a handful more for the freezer), Chef's Secret dinner (yummy, again), apple crisp and ice cream (from a box), and Firewall.