Better Late Than Never

I realize that my trip to Montreal was at the beginning of August and I really haven't said much about it. Better late then never.When I came back I was extra crispy as I posted on before. Made it quite difficult to use the computer or move really. Plus I wanted to find the best pictures to use for this post. God bless the internet. I now have 100s of pictures, including my own.

I'll start with the days leading up to the trip. I was pretty stressed out. It wasn't until the Monday when I got the cheque for my RRSPs. I took it to the bank on Tuesday and that became a hassle. I was able to get the money for the trip but at the time I wasn't sure if my rent would end up being bounced. Fortunately they didn't put a hold on the cheque and it went through just fine.

If you know me (away from the online version of myself which is a lot like the offline version.. just not as quiet) then you know that I tend to go to bed late and sleep in. Before the trip to Montreal I had actually been going to bed anywhere from 5:00-7:00 a.m. So when I was being picked up at 10 a.m. it was a bit of a challenge. I didn't get much sleep on Wednesday night but at least it meant I was able to have breakfast before heading out.

10 a.m. I was outside. It was super hot that day. I think it was already like 30 degrees and only 10 a.m. 20 minutes later I was already feeling the heat and was dehydrated. I went back inside to get a can of Coke for the trip and glass of water. Go figure, as soon as I got inside Wayne was here to pick me up. I had figured that we would be on the road immediately. Nope. We didn't end up heading out until about 11:30. It was a scenic drive down there through a lot of small towns. I'll skip most of the details of the drive but it was about 6:30 when we got to the hotel. I was more then happy to get out of the van and had a migraine by then. We were staying at the Comfort Inn in St. Jean-sur-Richelieu. It's about 30 minutes from Montreal and has a population about the size of Peterborough. Get unpacked and head out for dinner at the Restaurant au Foyer Rouge. Mmmmm steak. :) The hotel had wireless internet setup so I was able to check my email, look up the metro for Montreal, and check Facebook for any new updates. Went to bed early on account of the headache and the lack of sleep from the night before. Slept like a baby!!!

On the Friday the track opened at 7:30 a.m. but most of the day was just qualifying for the Canadian Tire Series and the Grand Am series. Plus there was practice time. So we didn't rush down there. Bacon and eggs for breakfast, back at the Foyer Rouge. Then we made our way to Montreal. Originally we were planning to take the Metro over to the Circuit Gilles Villeneueve since the web site had said there was only limited parking available on site. I had only gotten as far as locating various metro stops and left the rest up to Wayne and Tammy. They had identified where to go but the directions were left in the hotel. I had my PDA there, along with the GPS but it tends to want an address to go to. I did however find directions to the casino which is right in the middle of the racetrack. So we decided to try our luck there. Turned out to be really easy and not paid parking. Guess they're afraid that you might have lost all your money in the casino and can't afford parking fees as well.

First stop was to find where our seats were. Along the way we walked through the center area. Here there were vendors, or should I say Zellers since they had the official deal for Nascar merchandise. There was also the beer garden. One of the main attractions was definitely the Budweiser girls. They were local dancers and would pose for pictures or be dancing on the stage that had been set up. From what I could tell the band was always playing. As part of the Budweiser display there was also a replica Dale Earhardt Jr. car that you could try your hand at removing and replacing the tires. Since Dodge was another big sponsor of the even there was also a huge display with the current models. Oakley also had a booth there but I never did find out what was inside. Old Spice also had a tent set up where they were playing music and had cool air running. Perfect if you need a respite from the hot sun. They were also giving away Old Spice cloths that were being stored in a fridge. I didn't discover them until Saturday but it really came in handy. Dodge was giving out red bandanas with the Dodge logo. Once we made it through what I call vendor alley we had to cross a bridge that went over the racetrack to get to the Wallace Grandstand. No rest for the wicked. Tammy and I then went exploring. Time to check out the merchandise even though it was cheaper to buy in the local Zellers store. It was also about taking in the sights and sounds. Back to the stands to catch some action and eventually the Grand Am Rolex Series race. That series just seemed confusing to me. From what I could tell there were 2 different races at the same time. One group was for prototype cars and another was for Grand-Ams. Don't ask me who won. I have no idea. It was fun to watch though. We were in the middle of the S curve so there were a few cars that either took short cuts through the grass or wound up way off the track.

Dinner was Burger King.... That turned out to be a bit of an event. I can recognize some French words but I definitely can't hold a conversation. I ordered chicken and I don't normally eat at Burger King so I didn' know the package said both chicken and fish. I don't eat fish so when I looked at the wrapper and it said "chicken of the sea" (well okay that's what the French translates to) I thought I had gotten the wrong order. I didn't speak French and they didn't speak English. Let me tell you nothing got accomplished. I finally gave up. Turns out the order was right. After 7 hours in the sun I was developing a nice burn on my back. Spent some time with Tammy since I hadn't really talked to her since I got fired. Had a shower as well to try and cool off my back.... get some moisture into the skin. Plus I felt pretty grubby after a day in the sun. We were under a high heat and humidity warning all day. I was in jeans and a tank top. Grubby....

Saturday morning Carmen and I had to turn in our room key. We were supposed to have a different room that night. As it turns out that wasn't the case. We were able to keep our room due to a cancellation. Skipped breakfast this time since it was going to be a long day in the sun. This time when we went to park at the casino we were directed away. No Nascar fans were to be parked at the casino. So Wayne lied and told them we were going to the casino first. Get parked and discover we have another issue... We will not be allowed to enter the casino with our chairs and coolers. So Wayne heads out to drop us off and then was supposed to tell them that he had accidentally got turned around. Do you think he could handle that? No... instead he mentions Nascar and is immediately directed away. Get turned around by a cop and he drops us off and then parks the van. Must admit that it was nice to be parked at the casino and not be worrying about public transit. Not to mention the fact it cost less... Free is always good.

The smart plan would have been to drop all of our stuff off at the seats and then sent 2 people to explore. Wayne had been told that the driver trailers were supposedly close to where we were and they wanted to find them. Now I had my suspicions that the trailers were over by the pits which was on the opposite side and quite a distance away. I was also debating whether or not it would be worth going. We hadn't left as early as we were planning so we only had an hour before the Canadian Tire Series race started. Now you would think that it's plenty of time. We finally get over to where the pits are (well you can't get anywhere near there without a pit pass) and it looks pretty much the same as every other area. The only difference is track location. Tammy and I stopped while Wayne and Carmen carried on. The race started while we were standing there. 45 minutes after we stopped Wayne comes back. They weren't able to go to the driver trailers. Not only that but Carmen is exhausted and was waiting for one of the crew vehicles to drive her back to our section. So he was going to wait with her and then walk back. Tammy and I headed back and it only took us 10 minutes. But we had missed half the race. Once she did make it back Carmen didn't leave the stands until the end of the Busch race.

After the race I finally got lunch and did some exploring on my own. Now I was in shorts and a tank top this time. My back felt like it was on fire. Having a tattoo there does make you more sensitive as I discovered. It was at this point I asked people where to get the cloths they had. Went to the Old Spice tent and skipped the line... Went in the back way and just got a cloth. I ended up at the St. John's medic tent. Why is it that every time I go away to an event I wind up with the medics? It wasn't anything serious. I had just cut my leg and wanted a band-aid. Not like Trudeau Park where I still have a scar on my finger. Got back just before things got underway for the Busch race. In the meantime I made use of the ice water from my cooler to cool down my back. Ahhh.... relief.

And then the drunk chicks arrived. Up until that point it had been heaven. we had 6 tickets and only 4 of us went so we had a little more space then other people. Somehow I still ended up in someone else's seat for Friday but it didn't really matter. People were peaceful and I could just watch the race. But these two were obnoxious. More importantly the one sitting next to me seemed intent on spilling her beer on me. Within about 5 minutes she had already dropped her beer. They were also loud. After she dropped her beer they left to get another one. Peace and quiet for a little bit. Too bad they came back. I kept wrenching my back to steer clear of her since I really didn't want that beer. After about an hour and a half they disappeared and did not return. Not sure if they had a hand with that decision or not. What I found interesting is that they were here from Ontario and didn't even like racing. So why go? And if you just want to have a good time why not get general admission tickets so that it costs less?

And then there was the race.... The hometown hero, Patrick Carpentier, had the pole. For the most part there wasn't a whole lot of excitement. Round and round the track they went. I'm sure that some of the drivers weren't so happy with the course. God forbid they have to do a right hand turn. But near the end... that was when it got good. There was a crash that involved a number of cars, including the leaders. While they were under caution Marcos Ambrose touched Robby Gordon and spun him. Then it got ugly. Nascar ruled that Gordon was in 18th place and he disagreed and refused to move. He was blackflagged (ordered to come off the racerack) but disobeyed that as well. And when it did go back to green flag he intentionally took out Marcos Ambrose who had been in the lead. So with both of them out it led to Kevin Harvick winning the race. But as Kevin Harvick did his victory burnout so did Robby Gordon. Gordon ended up being benched from the race the next day, fined $35,000 and on probation for the remainder of the year. Nascar at it's best and worst.

The rest is pretty much history. From the race we went back to the Restaurant au Foyer Rouge where I got to have my steak again. Had an enlightening conversation with the waiter which I may blog about another day. I ended up with burn on top of burn which was quite painful. I did have a shower that night but it gave me no comfort and I didn't sleep. And the next day it was back home again. I had a fantastic time and would love to do it again! As the saying goes in Nascar, "Rubbing is racing."