NASCAR at Texas Motor Speedway

NASCAR is back in Texas! I'll be spending next weekend watching the Craftsman Trucks and Nextel Cup Cars race at Texas Motor Speedway. For a lot of people, all NASCAR is a bunch of tobacco chewing rednecks swilling down beer by the gallon watching cars go around in a circle yelling "Go Junior" or "Gordon Sucks". While they are half right, there is more to NASCAR than that. There are the stories behind the drivers, the points battles, the rivalries, etc. For most, the NASCAR addiction starts when they see a race in person. For some, it happens when a driver they like wins a race. And for others like myself, being a car & racing nut, it was destiny. This is the first year for the Busch & Cup series to race at TMS in the fall. Unfortunately, I will miss the the Saturday Busch race due to coaching my son's soccer team. But, we'll be there for the Friday night Truck race and Sunday Cup race. Next year, I hope I'll be able to camp out at the track in the motorhome the whole weekend like I did back in the spring. Now if Biffle can repeat what he did in the Spring, maybe Jack Roush will get his third Cup championship in a row. Go Roush Racing!

Fishing

We went on our camping trip and had a great time. We ate a lot of great food, did some fishing & played some poker. Here are some pics of us fishing and our "big" catches.

Is it Camping or "Camping"?

This is directed to all of you (not just you Mike) that think that going to a campground is not real "camping". I've got a message for you, WHO CARES WHAT "REAL" CAMPING IS! Is roughing it untouched wilderness fun? Can be. Is "camping" in a motorhome, cooking over a propane grill, watching satellite TV while a portable dishwasher is cleaning your dishes in a Army Corp of Engineers campground also fun? can be. The point is, "camping" can be anything from sleeping in a tent in your back yard, or staying at the Cedron Creek Park at Lake Whitney or go hiking through the wilderness and set-up camp using only the things you carried on your back. The point is, camping (no matter what your definition of camping is) should be fun and should be done with family and friends. When we go camping this weekend, my kids won't care if they stay in the motorhome or if they stay in a tent. All they remember is that we spent time together as a family and had lots of fun. And isn't fun what Camping or even "Camping" is all about anyway?

Camping

I am so looking forward to camping (10/28 to 10/30). We're going to McCown Valley Park at Lake Whitney. We usually like to go to the Cedron Creek Campground, but they will be closed until Spring. Both McCown & Cedron Creek are both Army Corp of Engineers parks, which I prefer. COE parks tend to have less frills, which is cool with me, but they also seem to be more laid back. When I go camping (if you could call it that in my motorhome with DirecTV and a now a dishwasher), I like to relax. I can't relax at a park with too many rules, like most of the Texas State Parks. I go camping because when I'm there, I don't have to worry about projects or anything else. I just go and relax. I can't wait! How do you unwind & relax?

Abortion 2 (Click for link to article)

This is a follow-up to my first blog. There was a great article on MSNBC.com today about who Bush nominated for Supreme Court and how it's (not) going to affect Roe V. Wade.

This quote from the article should really make you think:
"All the president's talk about a "culture of life'' might even have been sincere up to a point, of course; doesn't everybody think they're for a culture of life?And it certainly did the trick for him. Many people I know—most of them pro-life Catholics who oppose the war and much of the rest of Bush's domestic agenda—felt obligated to vote for the president on this one issue. So will social conservatives now admit they've been had? Probably not. "

And if everybody would realize the following and get on the same page, imagine how much good could happen:
"Good could still come of recognizing the reality that Roe is not going to be overturned—if both sides would only channel all the energy they have so long poured into fighting each other into actually preventing unwanted pregnancies and caring for unwanted children. Plan B, anyone?"