The Last Days of Vacation...

Our last full day of vacation we decided to head over to the speedway. We wanted to do the whole Daytona Experience. We went in (and thankfully, it was not busy at all) and watched the 3-D NASCAR movie (which we saw when it came to theaters, but it was still cool to see again). Then we went out and John did a tire change and we walked around and looked at all the neat stuff (including playing on the “bank” of the turns that they had set up inside).

After all that we went outside for the track tour. We were loaded up on the tram (looked like a lot of golf carts put together) and drove around and learned a lot of interesting facts about the track. We got out and had our picture taken in the winner’s circle and drove through the pit boxes. On our way back, Ryan decided to spit his pacifier out and I had almost caught it before it bounced out of the tram and down turn 3 :) So we joked that when we watch the next race, watch out for a blue pacifier flying around :) But when we got back and told the guide (he was great, making jokes with us and the kids the whole time) he offered to go and find it for us. I told him it wasn’t a big deal, but he insisted. So he and John hopped in a truck and went out. Meanwhile the kids and I got some great French fries and took a break! Luckily, John and the guide were able to find the pacifier very easily!

That night we went to a restaurant on the beach with a racing theme. We realized it was because way back in the day, the racers used to race on the beach, and this place was called something like North Point Turn. Ryan was a pain (as he really had been at every restaurant), but I finally got him to sleep right after our food came (I walked circles around the tables for what seemed like forever). And our food was really good! Wonderful French fries!

The next day we packed up and cleaned the place up. We said our “good-byes” and headed to the airport. The flight back was easy…Ryan slept the whole time and the kids watched a movie.

The one bad part of the vacation was that we found out that John’s grandmother had passed away while we were gone. So we knew that we had to head to New Jersey the next day for the funeral. So we got home and got everyone to bed, and then the next morning we packed up and hit the road for the long drive.

On the way to NJ, we stopped at the candy store that John and his family stopped at each time they made the trip to NJ as kids. It was awesome! Rows and rows of bulk candy for $3.29 per pound. The kids were in heaven!

The funeral was nice and hanging out with family was great. We had a fantastic dinner Saturday night and then headed home Sunday morning. The kids were absolutely fantastic the whole time! Even with being in the car for almost 20 hours in 3 days!