Well, we’re finally back from Indy and Chicago and what a trip it’s been.
We drove from Joliet to Brownsburg and it seemed to take all day! Mom claimed she wanted to work the MotoGP at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after the Chicagoland IndyCar Series race - and now that we’ve been through the trip down here together, damn good thing we didn’t go. She would have been SO tired and that’s dangerous.
Mom wrote furiously through Wednesday, with time out for long walks and for trips to Costco and World Market with Deb. We got lots of necessities of life at both places, and even took a side trip to Trader Joe’s for treats for Deb. We love giving her stuff… she’s such a good friend.
We went to the NHRA media luncheon on Wednesday and then Mom swung by Eric Medlen’s grave to talk with him about Karen’s death. While she did cry again, she seemed a lot more at peace after sniffling at Eric’s headstone.
Thursday we did some track time, stopped in at the John Force Racing open house and went to the Oakley dinner at St Elmo’s, where I amazed everyone by staying under the chair until Mom was silly enough to offer me some food. Then I woke up and became a dog again.
We really had a great time talking with car designer Chip Foose, in whose honor the dinner was held. Chip designed some cool new Three Palms lifestyle shoes for Oakley and some new neat Jupiter shades that look great on Mom. Chip even told her so several times during the weekend, as he was the NHRA’s Grand Marshal for the Mac Tools US Nationals.
Friday was my only day at the racetrack, and it started with a tour of Don Schumacher Racing. Seems they’ve got a new machine shop that got Mom all excited. It was so clean I didn’t even get dirty wandering around. I guess racecars have to get built in antiseptic environments.
I kept my Mutt Muffs on for much of the time at the track. The O’Reilly Raceway Park media center is right next to the dragstrip so it does get noisy and lots of vibration comes in. Mom gave me a chew treat, which I almost finished; she put it in the side pocket of her Oakley backpack (she must really like these people’s products, right?) and took it home for me to enjoy later. Unfortunately, she forgot about it but Sierra, the pointer, sure didn’t. She found the treat, ate through the mesh pocket and enjoyed it. Reminds Mom that dogs will be dogs sometimes, even if I’m the best-behaved pooch around.
I stayed with Deb for the balance of the weekend while Mom went to work at the racetrack, talking to people and taking photos. As for me, I got to go everywhere Deb did, because she had my identification and a note from Mom saying it was okay for her to be with me. I don’t know what happened at the track, but I was sure glad to see Mom every night that she came home – and I think she felt the same way. It was a party going on each night!
Finally, on Tuesday it was time to start the long trip home. Mom took two boxes to the post office so she didn’t have to schlep them back and then we drove up to Chicago in some kind of wind. The Mazda CX-9 we were in got buffeted by the gusts but Mom just kept her steady hands on the wheel and listened to music as though nothing was going on.
I keep waking up every time we arrived at a toll station and Mom had to bring the windows down. They sure charge a lot to get around Chicago, don’t they? The Hampton Inn we stayed at was very nice and the room was great with a tall, tall bed for me to jump on. They even had a “pet area” where I guess I was supposed to do my business, but nobody’s ever going to tell me where to go, will they?
The next morning we arrived at the airport, did the silly security thing and spent time in the Admirals Club chatting with people and answering emails. When we got on the plane in first class, some gate agent came to Mom and started admonishing her for not providing a therapist’s letter in order to board the plane with me. Neither one of us understood that idea and finally the woman realized I am not a therapy dog, per se, but a hearing dog. Read my lips, lady!
So here we are, sleeping away in one of our beds back at home. All is right with the world and as they say, there’s no place like home. Tomorrow we’re off to visit Christie because Mom needs some R&R but today we’ll be working all day and playing at Second Saturday tonight. I hope the bands aren’t as loud as they were last time.
Oh, and here’s a photo of Larry Dixon, who won the Top Fuel category at the Mac Tools US Nationals. Mom thinks it’s his turn to win the title this year – I think she got a great shot of him en route to victory at the Big Go.
Ciao for now - Leah
