Memorial Day Weekend / Coca Cola 600

During Memorial Day Weekend, Marie and I took in our first NASCAR experience and went to the Coca Cola 600. The 600 is run on the same day as the Indy 500 and is at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, NC. We met up with a few friends and headed out to the track around noon on Sunday.

For the pre-race tailgate festivities, we set up food, a tent and a TV to watch the Indy 500 taking place before our 5:45 race. The "personality" of the fan base was right in line with what we thought it was going to be. At one point I asked Marie "How many tattoo's do you think are at this event right now?" Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating, but we toughed it out until the race was official postponed to Monday. We headed back to our friends house who lives only a few minutes from the track and stayed the night.

Monday, we got up and headed back out to the track in hopes of finally seeing some racing. They successfully started the race and were we able to get our first taste of Nascar racing. The cars are a little slower, but its hard to tell the difference between 175 mph and 220 mph.

The race was delayed several times because of rain and they finally called the race after a 3 hour delay on lap 227 of 400. The winner was a driver that was at the back of the pack, but got up front when all the leaders went on a pit stop a few laps before the delay. I never thought in my life I would see Marie get mad over the winner of a Nascar race. Then again, I could sense a bonding moment between her and the track....

Here are the some photos of the race weekend. Enjoy!

View of the track from our tailgate spot.

Watching the Indy 500.


Our seats on Turn 1.

Marie's Day 1 Game Face. There are old school buses that take you to the track... for free!


Video of the race from our seats.

Engagement Pictures

Here are a few of our favorites...

Lazy 5 Ranch / African Safari in North Carolina

Saturday, while Marie's brother and mom were in town, we visited a zoo in Mooreville. We were trying to think of things to do and Marie found it online. We were uncertain at first, but were pleasantly surprised when we got there. For only $8.50 a person you can drive a trail that has a bunch of different animals roaming freely around the area. There weren't any cages (except for the giraffes and rhino), so the animals would literally come right up to your car. This was fun because we were able to see them up close, but bad because they would block the road. Here are some of the animals we saw. Vote on your favorite!


Animal 1 - Billy goat (I think?). This little guy decided to headbutt my car when I gave his brother (or cousin, I didn't bother to ask) food instead of him. I was not too happy, but Marie thought it was hilarious.




Animal 2 - Rhino. The Rhino was contained and wasn't able to walk right up to our car. However, I don't think he had the energy to do anything judging by the look of him.

Animal 3 - Gazelle. There were tons of these all over the place. There were adults and babies walking and laying around. Some of them were hesitant to approach the car.

Animal 4 - Zebra. There were a few Zebras around. This one stopped in front of us, then walked over to Marie's side of the and stuck his head in. She freaked. It was funny to see.

Animal 5 - Water Buffalo (again, maybe?). For only $3.00 you got a large bucket of food to feed the animals. Trevor had his hand out the window and gave this guy a snack.

Animal 6 - Giraffe. These guys were also fenced in, but Marie was still able to reach them by standing through my sunroof. She has the food bucket out and is feeding one of them.

Animal 7 - Pot belly pig. These guys were scattered all over the place as well and were probably the most populated in the zoo. This picture was of a baby piglet and about the size of Deucey. Also, none of us have gotten sick yet, so I don't think we contracted the Swine Flu from this visit.

Overall, it was a great day and a great trip. We had a lot of fun with the animals and would definitely go back.

Honeymoon

HELP!!

We would love to hear your thoughts on a honeymoon. Where are good places to go? Tell us about places you have been or places you think would be good for us.