Got milk...and cookies!

HARTVILLE, Mo. – Tonight is the kick off of the 4th annual Outlaw Kart Fall Nationals and Spring and I are here to take photos and see what the karting scene is all about. So far, we have met several nice folks and are getting a huge kick out of these kids in their driver suits. Oh, and we’ve already sampled the grilled burgers too. Yum!

We hit the road about 11:30 this morning after a detour to FedEx to pick up some sample trading cards and business cards that Spring had printed up. They turned out great and I think the traders will be a huge hit. I know how much I enjoy my son’s little league pictures, and so I can’t imagine why parents wouldn’t want a good photo of their kid with his or her race car.

The trip down went really fast, but that’s mostly because Spring is a race car driver at heart. I tried not to sneak too many peeks at the speedometer, but when I did, it was dialed in at a comfortable 80mph. Despite the speed, and Spring’s tendency to eat with one hand, talk on the phone with the other and steer with her knee, she never once made me nervous. I teased her with the nickname of Dalena Earnhardt, but I don’t really think it’s going to stick.

We had a nice chat about last night’s Cards victory over those nasty ol’ Mets and from the sound of it, we would have had a good time watching it together. Oh well, we have at least 4 World Series games coming up, so maybe we can plan to watch one of those instead.

The farther south we drove, the prettier the colors became. I was down here only about a month ago, and I can’t believe how much things have changed. Of course, on my last trip it was cloudy and rainy, and today the sky was picture-perfect blue, so that certainly helps.

I can hear cars warming up from our table here in the concession building, and the temperature is dropping fast. A space heater was on my list of things to pack, but when I went to look for it, I couldn’t find it, so I think I’m just going to have to tough it out.

Spring is out taking pictures during hotlaps, and I can’t wait to see how they turn out. She was very excited to see these little cars, and has been wishing Caleb was here all afternoon.

We have had several folks stop in to see what we were doing and everyone seems to be pretty interested. I’m anxious to see just what kind of business we actually do. Could be overwhelming, or just the opposite, none at all. Either way, we have already decided that this trip is all about having fun and enjoying our last race adventure of the year.

LEBANON, Mo. -- 1:51 AM

Well, we survived it! The road back from Hartville to Lebanon is about 35 miles and we were fortunate because we had a big ol' tractor trailer leading the way. We figured if there were any deer alongside the road, he could take care of them for us.

Right now, Spring is polishing off her apple walnut snack from McDonald's. She's trying to get me to split the last cookie with her too. Since they go well with wine, I think I'll go ahead.

What a fun night this was. I am exhausted, but I know I won't be able to sleep for a while be cause the adrenaline rush is still going strong. Things worked out really well. Spring spent the whole time out shooting, and I stayed at our table printing proof sheets, taking orders and printing pictures. The crowd was awesome and the photos Spring took were fabulous. Everyone loved her work and was glad to see us and we already have our invitation for next year. We will be back.

The track really did undergo a major transformation to go from horse arena to kart track and we spent a little time out in the middle during the hotlaps sessions. There were a lot of little bitty kids racing these karts, and they are really something to watch. You can tell that they just eat it up and the parents I met were right there cheering them on and doing whatever it took to keep them going. What a blast.

We both wish we could stay for tomorrow night's races, but it's just not meant to be as Spring has a big family shoot to do. We're putting this event on our calendar for next year though. What a fun time! And maybe next year we'll actually get to race against each other. That would be SO cool!

Here at the hotel, we celebrated our last race of the season with a glass of wine and these McDonald's chocolate chip cookies. There's nothing like $3 wine in plastic cups from the Days Inn, let me tell ya!

We hope everyone has enjoyed our adventures this season. I know I have had a great time. This blog and our web site will not be idle, however, so please keep checking up on us even during the cold winter months.

A huge thank you goes out to Dustin Arnall and everyone at the Hartville Saddle Club Speedway for making us feel so welcome and at home. We really enjoyed getting to meet so many fun people! We will have lots of photos up ASAP, and Spring is actually blogging at the same time I am so you'll get her perspective shortly.