May 2024

Interesting month for weather. From throwing snowballs at the beginning of the month and torrential rains to a heat wave at the end of the month. So we said goodbye to winter and raced through spring straight into summer. The snowball fight was at the King’s place as we left a Kentucky Derby party they had hosted. Karissa picked the winner this year and got a nice pot of $27.

Rog had another aikido seminar followed by a party to celebrate Jack’s promotion.

For Mother’s Day, the family had dinner together at Ryan and Beth’s. Beth’s mom joined us as we enjoyed a mild weather day on their patio.

Meanwhile, the bathroom project continued to progress. We now have a nice round hole in the wall.

On the 17th we packed up the van and headed to Indianapolis for the Indy 500. We did an easy leisurely itinerary of 350 to 400 miles a day so it took us 6 days We stayed in some great spots. In Des Moines, we stayed at the Elks Lodge and experienced our first (and last, I hope!) tornado alert. Sirens went off and we headed into the Elks bar as our safety area. For an hour we played cards while the lodge monitored the progress of the storm. Ultimately, no damage done where we were but Greenfield got hit pretty hard. Once we got to Indianapolis, we stopped at Mobility Plus to pick up a scooter I had rented. Then it was off to campground 1C at the Speedway.

We stayed at the speedway for 4 days, enjoying the loud music and parties every night. I was so glad to have the scooter. It was quite a hike to get to the actual raceway. On race day, we met up with Ryan and Beth and their friends Noah and Megan. Just as we were getting ready to head to our seats, they evacuated the stands due to possible lightning strikes in the area. We then joined the other 300,000 folks under the bleachers as the storm passed over dumping a considerable amount of rain. After an hour, the rain stopped so Rog and I decided to head back to the van. But as we reached the gate, the announcement came over the loudspeakers that the race would start in an hour. They dried the track and the race started 2.5 hours late. The weather cooperated and the race was outstanding. My guy, Pato O’Ward almost won but got passed by Newgarden on the last lap. Other than losing my phone midway through the race and unsuccessfully trying to track it down, we enjoyed the entire Indy experience. And we didn’t have to join the gridlock of cars trying to get home.

The next day we headed up to Elkhart for a visit with Jim and Sue. It was Memorial Day and the Walshes usually convened at Jennie’s place for a family get together. Because of the weather, they scrapped that plan and everyone met up at Jim and Sue’s. We got to see almost the entire family. The next day, the weather cleared up so Jim and Sue drove us up to Jenny’s cabin. We got a ride around Diamond Lake on Jenny’s pontoon boat, then headed to a local restaurant for dinner. The next morning we headed back to Indianapolis. We returned the scooter then headed over to the Speedway admin building. They found my phone in the box of electronics and I was elated. Then we spent 6 days heading back. We hit all new spots on the return trip and found some real gems. Tess was awesome. The only hiccups were depleted batteries at the speedway because of low solar, the passenger door refusing to close, and a rock dinged the windshield. All in all, a great trip!!!