Spring 2012

May 2012

The “Month of May” in Indy has flown by!  We enjoyed an afternoon in beautiful downtown Indianapolis starting with lunch at Creation Café on the White River Canal.  The café patio has an awesome view of the canal, the atmosphere is eccentric and the food is good.  We strolled the canal walk, enjoying the views of Indy on a clear day, the geese in the canal, people-watching and visiting the USS Indianapolis Memorial. The Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, hoome of the Indiana Historical Society, is located along the canal and we spent a few hours there. It is very well done and well worth a visit.

Creation Cafe, former site of the Boggs TempleCreation Cafe

 

Of course, our "Month of May" is not complete without  spending time at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indy 500. Bob worked his seventh year as a "yellow shirt" (Safety Patrol) in the garage area, where he was able to re-connect with the Panther/National Guard team. Joe, Christopher, Doug, Anna and the rest of the team have always made us feel welcome and helped make IndyCar racing a great passion for us. We both enjoyed spending several days at the Speedway. Kathy volunteered on Community Day this year, which she enjoyed and will probably do again. The Indy 500 race this year was one of the best ever and we were able to see it with our long time friends Steve and Jan, cousins Brigette, Brandon, Caroline & Cassondra, and 300,000 of our closest racing friends. We have been blessed to have been able to see the last 31 races, including several of the most exciting races in the history of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing".

JR Hildebrand with some fansNational Guard car in the pits.Marco Andretti

Ana BeatrizRyan Hunter-ReayHunter-Reay car

Dario Franchitti -- Race winner!Friend Joe with Christopher in the Panther Pit for practice.JR Hildebrand - excited about another praactice session!

Friend Doug in the Panther PitsWade Cunningham in during practiceSimona DeSilvestro waiting to go out.Rubins BarachelloTony Kannan

2012 Pace CarFacing us is Joe, with JR Hildebrand on the back heading for the racetrack.Bob with Hinchcliff's GoDaddy Car

Gasoline AlleyEJ Viso in white in the pitsPractice lapsScott Dixon's Target CarMike Conway in the GarageBob with Larry Foyt and friend "Bird Dog"Joe working on the Panther Car 

We've enjoyed spending time with son, Eric, hanging out and catching up. It's nice to have him back from Iraq. We've also been able to spend time with family and friends. We enjoyed watching nephew Ross play soccer with his travel team and niece Emma play on the high school tennis team. Emma graduated in May and we were able to participate in here graduation party and attend graduation.

Eric & Emma with his graduation cakeEric and Emma with HER graduation cakeEmma with graduation cakeEmma (ringht) with friend Sophie

Emma at her graduation partyEmma with Mom after graduation.

Ross (in black) at soccer game.RossEmma with Mom and Dad for senior day at tennis matchSenior day l- Emma and MomEmma being nice!

Left to right - Mariann, Ruthie, Steve, KathyVaughn familyEmma, Mya and Ross

 

Our time in Indiana is drawing to a close and we will soon be heading north to Milwaukee, WI for the Milwaukee IndyFest. This will be our last IndyCar race this year. We hope to spend some time visiting Madison, WI, the state capital before heading to Philadelphia, PA for the 2012 World Open Chess Tournament in early July.

April 2012

We had an enjoyable 2 weeks in Columbia, TN, spending time with son Mike and family.  We were able to spend an afternoon with each of the grandchildren as well as enjoying the Middle Tennessee weather and countryside.  We arrived at S&H Campground in Greenfield, IN April 16 and will be here until mid-June.We look forward to spending time with family and friends, attending at least one Indiana Pacers game, and doing some area sightseeing.

Campsite at Campers RV ParkCampsite at Campers RV ParkPatrick giving Eric a ride

Mike & EricWesleyGrandkidsMike & Abby Dog

Abby & ShelbyAbby

Campsite at Campers RV ParkBob & HelioPatrick & Ringo

March 2012

We celebrated Valentine’s Day with a visit to the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi where we enjoyed various demonstrations, including Bob participating in the “Bird of Prey” show.  Afterwards we had a delicious dinner at the Crab-N in Aransas Pass. 

Jellyfish RosetteSpoonbill Dophins Bob with new found friend

Petting a stingray Stingray Blue Heron

Bald Eagle Bob with a Hawk Hawk

We spent a lovely afternoon in Port Aransas for the Whooping Crane Festival.  While we didn’t see Whooping Cranes, we enjoyed touring the many booths and walking through the Port Aransas Nature Preserve where we saw various water fowl.  We enjoyed lunch at Kody’s, a local steak & seafood restaurant with a fun and rustic atmosphere. 

Our good friends from Houston, Bill & Deb visited for a couple of days.  We enjoyed sitting on the beach, then Bob & Bill toured the USS Lexington, while Deb & Kathy visited the South Texas Botanical Gardens.  It was nice to be able to spend time with them again. 

BotanicalGardenSofa Deb Bob, Kathy, Deb & Bill

 

We enjoyed watching IU advanced in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments, with Greenwood friends, Tom & Konita.  It was exciting to see them advance to the Sweet Sixteen before losing a tough game to Kentucky.

We are preparing to leave our winter home in Rockport the last week of March, heading east to Birmingham, AL before arriving in Columbia, TN to spend time with son Mike and family.  We’ve had a great winter and enjoyed making new friends and look forward to spending the spring and early summer with family. Here are some more random pictures of Texas Wildflowers and a trip to Goose Island.

Wild flowers at the Rockport Cemetary Wild flowers at the Rockport Cemetary Wild flowers at the Rockport Cemetary

Bob with the "Big Tree" Texas Wildflowers Blue Bonnet

Bob on the pier Aransas Bay

Fisherman Birds on Goose Island

April, 2012

We enjoyed a great racing weekend in Birmingham, AL at the Barber Motorsports Park.  We parked our rig at Carson Village Mobile Home Park, a short distance from the racing facility.  We were able to visit our friends at Panther Racing as well as the TRC team with the Star Mazda Road to Indy series.  We also spent time at the Barber Vintage Museum, a very interesting and worthwhile place to visit.  Outside of a rainy Friday afternoon, the weekend weather was ideal for racing and we found a great shaded viewing mound for the Sunday events.  While our favorite team didn’t finish as well as we’d hoped, we saw a lot of action and the race was safe and exciting.  Congratulations to Will Power, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama winner. 

Star Mazda RaceWill Power Wins!JR Hildebrand during race

Charlie Kimball out of the raceJR Hildebrand before the race

Custom build Natural Gas car before the raceJerimy Daniel -- Star Mazda Driver

TagsBob on race day

National Guard Car in the GarageFoyt racing -- Mike Conway the driverScott Dixon's car

Joe looks over the National Guard carLong Day!

Barber Motorsports ParkRick MearsTony Kanaan's car - note Gecko peeking over the frontEd Carpenter

HelioJR HildebrandSebastian Bourdais

Christopher - Tire Changer on Natiional Guard teamTony's GeckoMike Conway and Larry FoytRyan Hunter-Reay

Bob with Charlie KimballPassenger in the cart is AJ FoytJames Hinchcliff -- Go Daddy Boy!

Bob with Sarah Fisher in the PitsJosepf NewgarteIn the pits with JR and the National Guard TeamNational Guard Car in the Pits

Barber Motorsports MuseumBob with Gan Gurney's 1963 Indy Lotus in the Barber Motorsports MuseumBob with the 1969 Lotus Indy Car

Barber Motorsports MuseumBarber Motorsports Museum

Barber Motorsports MuseumBob with Ed CarpenterDoug working on the National Guard carEd Carpenter's car

We arrived in Columbia, TN on April 2, where we will spend a couple of weeks with son Mike and family.  It’s good to see them again; my how the grandkids have grown!  We look forward to spending a “special day” with each of the grandkids while here.