Charlotte Camping

Our annual camping trip has come to an end. We arrived in Charlotte Tuesday evening around 9:00pm. The kids were tired so we just set up the trailer and went to bed. Wednesday we visited a few of the race shops around town. We visited Michael Waltrip Racing, Jr Motorsports, Kasey Kahne racing in the morning. After visiting those shops, we took a little ride to Camping World to check out what they had since we don't have one around us. Then we headed to Joe Gibbs Racing to meet our friends Chris, Angela and their boys Hunter and Cameron. We usually get to see them when we come in May so it's always good to catch up with them! Ashton really wanted to see the 20 car!

Thursday we went to Hendrick Motorsports and Ganassi Racing. Ashton was excited to see the 42 car at Ganassi Racing! While we were at Ganassi, we were given 10 free tickets to Pole Night! So we took the kids in around 5:30pm to watch final practice for Nationwide and then got to watch knock out qualifying for the Cup guys. The kids did amazing sitting in the stands! They loved watching the cars go around the track. We were there for about 2 1/2 hours. Ashton got to see the 42 and 20 cars and the girls got to see the 5 car! Brittany ended up falling asleep at the end, but I was expecting that since they didn't take a nap during the day.

Friday we took the kids for a little bike ride around the campground, but after 10 minutes it started raining, so we went back to the trailer. It stopped raining after about 10-15 minutes so we went back out for a bike ride again. After our bike ride, we took a ride to the mall with Karen, Paul and Allie. We usually park at Bass Pro, which was a good thing since they had a Bubba Burger tent up giving free Burgers and soda for lunch! Perfect!! We were trying to decide what to do for lunch and nothing beats a FREE lunch! The driver of the Nationwide Bubba Burger car Kyle Fowler was out signing autographs also. Friday night we hung out at the campground and played cornhole with our friends Matt and Theresa and my friend Jenni that lives in Troutman came to spend the weekend with us.

Saturday morning we took a walk to the souvenir trailers before we went to the Nationwide race. We didn't end up buying anything, we just got all of the free goodies vendors were handing out.  After we got back from walking around, we put the kids down for a nap. Kevin, Jenni and I went to the Nationwide race while Kevin's sister and brother in law watched the kids for us. Kyle Larson (one of Ashton's favorite drivers) ended up winning the race! After the race, we just hung out again and played more cornhole!

Sunday morning, the Lambert's came over for breakfast and hung out for a little while. After they left, we took a walk up to the souvenir trailer's again. We didn't go up to purchase anything. Usually the day of the race there are more free goodies and chances to see some of the drivers doing autographs at their merchandise trailer. This is the kids 4th year at the track. We have tried to get a picture with former Miss Sprint Cup Monica Palumbo every year. We passed her when she was on the golf cart and she made them turn around so we could get a picture with her! We got to see Greg Biffle, Joey Logano, Aric Amirola and Kyle Larson. Ashton ended up getting Kyle Larson's autograph and he was nothing but smiles when he came back! Sunday was the Coca Cola 600 race, but we didn't go to the race. We stayed back at the trailer and grilled steaks and watched the first half of the race. The kids wanted to go for a walk, so we walked to the track and let them see the cars. Ashton wanted to go sit in the seats to watch. I told him we couldn't because we needed tickets. He told me that we needed to go get tickets. I guess that means next year we need to take them to a race.

Monday it was time to pack up and head home. When we were leaving the track, Ashton asked where we were going. I told him we were going home. He tells me that he wants to see his 20 car! I think he had a memorable weekend!!