Time To Re-tire??

 OK.  So it's been a while.  We've been busy, and have had limited time or limited internet service, or both.  Sorry for the delay.

A few weeks ago we pulled in to a gas station at Russell, Kansas.  Guy comes up to us and says "Hey, you have a flat tire, man!"  Sure enough!!  Not just flat, it was basically gone.  Not a blowout - or we'd have known it.  Must have lost pressure and just gradually disintegrated as we ran down the interstate.  Pulled in to a parking lot and put the spare on, then drove to Hays where we got two new tires.  We had already worked out a deal via phone while driving.

Then yesterday while driving to a tennis function in Stillwater, we get a flat on the truck.  Pulled into a donut shop parking lot for this one.

Gotta find someone to fix this.  It's a heavy wheel on a 3/4 ton truck.           Didn't have to look too far!

She asked . . . no, insisted that she wanted to do this, as she had never in her entire life changed out a flat tire.  Better late than never, I say.  Especially when it saves me some work.  Notice that it is daylight as we begin.  Not so much when we finished!  But Lorna did a great job, with a bit of assistance from time to time, and we were ready to roll in about an hour (and after dark).  Acquired two more tires at a local shop today, and we're rollin again.

I think we last posted before Fayette County Speedway in West Union, IA having just driven from Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, MN.  We did OK at that track, but nothing to get too excited about - 5th in the Heat race and 14th in the Main.  Left there around 6:30 in the morning (Labor Day) and drove  12 hours  to Stillwater, OK.  Spent a couple days there with my sister Suzanne and her husband Mike, then Friday morning we left our camper behind and drove to Claremore, east of Tulsa, where we arrived at Joe Duvall's shop in time to help with some work on the cars.

To understate - Joe has a very nice, well equipped shop.

Wade had our car on a lift that could be rolled around as necessary, making it easy to set on blocks to work on the balance of the car, which we did.  Also put the wraps on the Duvall car, which Wade is very good at:

In the old days we used to paint the colors and numbers on the cars

These vinyl wraps come in a roll the length of the car, with all graphics intact.      A simple way to color-up the car, but not all that simple to apply.  You might be able to view a time lapse of the project on our facebook page at Lorna Doug Appel.

Wade got a lot done on the car, with a little help from us.  Got things put away and the shop cleaned up by maybe 1:00 in the morning, and to bed in the Toter at around 2:00.

We all left mid-morning Friday in the Toter headed for Ark-La-Tex Speedway in Vivian, Louisiana - Casey, wife TJ, Lorna, Wade and Doug.  It's nice to be able to travel together, and fun to get to sight-see along the way.

 Arrived in plenty of time to get the car prepped for the evening, anxious to try it out having made some considerable changes to the set-up.  That night Casey went out and won the Heat Race, then took a 10th in the Main.  It was a long night of racing with many cars in many classes.  Got to bed around 3:30 Saturday morning.

Then around 9:00 a.m. several cars went out to run some "test and tune" laps on the dry track that remained from last night's races.  Casey decided that we should unload our car and do the same, which we did.  Got some good practice in, and were able to make changes to the car, then go out and test them immediately.

Loaded up (again) and headed for Boothill Speedway in Greenwood which is only about an hour down the road.  A rather narrow track with a kind of odd (to me) surface of sandy, gritty "clay".  Pretty good running early on, Casey finished 5th in the heat, meaning that we had to run the B-Main to qualify for the feature.  Casey WON the B-Main, then finished 9th in the A-Main having moved up from the 13th starting slot.  Overall a very good night, on a track not too conducive to passing.

Headed out next morning for the RPM Speedway in Crandall, Texas, an easy drive of less than 3 hours.  There we have a track similar to Boothill, a kind of sandy/gritty thing which becomes a one-laner as the program progresses.       Here we took a 4th in the Heat race, moving up 5 positions in just 8 laps.  Finished the Main in the 13 slot.  One more for the books.

We left Crandall right after that race, drove thru Dallas just before midnight, and arrived at the Duvall shop in Oklahoma sometime around 3 or 4 in the morning, I guess.  We slept a few hours, then Wade and Casey left with the rig for South Dakota while Doug, Lorna and TJ spent several hours in Tulsa before TJ caught a plane for Rapid City herself.  D & L return to the camper in Stillwater for a few days of R & R.   Yay(!) 

Getting late (again!)

Will catch you later!

D & L