I've been on vacation; vacation from this blog, vacation from work, vacation from NASCAR. Wait a minute...vacation from NASCAR? Is that even possible? Not really.

Shortly after the 16 finalists were announced, my family and I hit the road. It was perfect timing also. All along I knew I wouldn't make the top 16 but it was fun and a lot of hard work. I wasn't sure if I was going to come back, but deep down I knew I would eventually. I do not write full time and the contest had turned into my life away from my life. Since the contest ended, I've returned to the lifestyle that I  once enjoyed. My daughter's t-ball season is underway, I started reading a book, I've gotten a manicure, a pedicure, and started up my tanning again, I have even got to play Bingo. But two significant things have happened that has prompted my return to the blogosphere, and I've realized that I will probably never be completely gone.

As I mentioned previously, my family and I went on vacation. Nothing big, just a few days away from home. We traveled to Oklahoma City, about a 4 hour drive, with our 5 year old daughter and 1 year old son. This would be our first family vacation with our son and really looked forward to it. We didn't do much, we went to the Zoo, ate at Spaghetti Warehouse, swam a lot in the pool and we visited Bass Pro Shops. I can say those three words and anybody that is a NASCAR fan instantly knows what I mean. Well, we were looking for Spaghetti Warehouse and happened to pull into Bass Pro Shops parking lot to figure out where we were on the map. My husband and I didn't even know they had a store there. Later that evening, my husband, who likes to fish occasionally, but is not a novice, turns to me and says: "I think I want to go into that store..." Without missing a beat, I chime in and say "...to see if they have NASCAR stuff." Enough said. We were on the same page and we didn't even have to convince the other one to go in. It really was a beautiful store with rows and rows of fishing rods that I know my Dad would have to spend all afternoon looking at. The fish tank in itself was a spectacle that any non sporting enthusiast would have enjoyed. And yes, a great selection of NASCAR items that ranged from die casts to t-shirts to scanners to ice chests. Shopping there was a bonus on top of a great family getaway. Even on vacation, out of my day to day routine, I was still able to squeeze NASCAR in.

The second thing that prompted my return and really just sums up how I feel about NASCAR and that was the premier of CARS. We took our son and our daughter to the drive in instead of the theater to watch the show. For one- my son has an early bed time and we were able to tire him out on the slide and swing set while we waited for it to get dark. He conked out in like the first 5 minutes of th show. There would be no way we could take him in the theater and have enjoyed this movie with our daughter. Not only was it an animation which she enjoyed but it was NASCAR based which we enjoyed. I liked the movie a lot, but for two special reasons. One, it's based on a town located on Route 66. I live on Route 66, but not in Radiator Springs, and the movie refers to a Cadillac Range, where a mountain range looks like the back end of Cadillacs sticking out of the ground. This is actually based on Cadillac Ranch, a short jaunt from where I live.

Cadillac Ranch is 10 Cadillacs halfway buried in the ground owned by a local entrepeneur named Stanley Marsh. Stanley is known in the area for doing crazy things and this is just one of them. But the second reason I liked this movie is because it truly emobodies that NASCAR is not just a sport - it really is a way of life. If we didn't have kids and didn't know anything about NASCAR we would have never watched this movie. AND for Disney to give the King a tribute that should have gone down in the real record books speaks for EVERY NASCAR FAN. That feeling alone is what ties us together. Fan to fan, husband to wife, girl-friend to girl-friend. And although fans of NASCAR get slammed all the time about it not being a sport - well, it's just so much more than that, and I just feel lucky enough to be a part of it.