 As told to 
Tuesday 17th September 2013: Alamo/Santa Pod Junior Drag Racing Fun Day. Today was the Alamo / Santa Pod Junior Drag Racing Fun Day. It went better than anyone first thought, although we hoped it would be busy, it was much busier than anyone expected. We had over 2,500 pre-booked tickets and had a long queue going through the local town where others arrived with no tickets. The first competition of the day was against all of the other juniors, we had one timed run and then into eliminations. On the timed run my car broke down on the track because something was missing (I'm not sure what it quite was), so there was a bit of down time. I had Callum in the first round but unfortunately lost because we had no idea what the car was going to run as we had changed a few things. Belle got through round one because the other car went before the tree even came down. She then won the second round and ran dead on her dial in (she dialled the car in by herself!). But then lost in the third round by breaking out by 0.001.
Then came the stock race. They had a qualifier and then went into eliminations, Belle won first round but then lost to Katie in the semis. My Outlaw 330ft race was soon up and we qualified on out fastest 330ft time. I qualified number 1 with a 4.15 330ft time, but only the top 4 qualifiers made it into eliminations. My Outlaw dragster is absolutely amazing, in qualifying I was finding it hard to breathe and I got blurred vision throughout the run, that car is like a bullet. I can't wait to race it again! Oh and when I was getting out of my car I realised with the amount of force that car has it had cut my finger and I couldn't stop shaking. I felt soooo hyper and I thought I was going to faint. After that I couldn't stop SMILING :D After a few runs I was getting to see more of the runs!! In the semis I ran against Aaron and won, and in the final I ran against Rhiannon and won. Rhiannon's car ran the closet time to me, which was about 4.6, but it was no match for the outlaws 4.15 :P. Winner trophy for me :) my best 60ft time was a 1.32 :) Randy says it should run a 3.85 to 330ft with the right set up :)
All in all it was a brilliant, fun and eventful day. There was lots of people around the pits. Oh yeah, I also raced my Dad twice in his Porsche... I whipped him both times! And what makes this event even better is that I won the Outlaw 330ft race!!! So I have the fastest car!! See you soon :) Thank you to Randy for letting us buy the Outlaw, I love the car and I enjoy every second I have in it... I just want to race it 24/7. I have had a lot of compliments about the car, plus the speed it goes gives me quite an adrenaline rush. So thank you Half Scale Dragster! A massive thank you to Malcolm @ Air Sea Logistics for getting both my cars to the UK safely and in time for today. The day was a real success and hopefully everyone had a good day. There was lots of interest in drag racing and I hope we can do it again next year :) Thank you to Darren for helping out with the race schedule, a HUGE THANK YOU TO DONNA!!!! for making this event happen, and thank you to Martin Hill for keeping the Outlaw Dragster a secret as well as letting us use his storage unit :) Thursday 12th September 2013: NHRA Eastern Conference in Bristol. Tuesday 16 July by Belle Today was great at school and all my friends said they will miss me like mad! After school we rushed home. When we got in, we quickly got changed, got all our bags and left as quickly as we could! Well we got to Alamo Rental Station at about 6:45pm, dropped the car off and got the bus to the Heathrow Airport Terminal. Luckily we got past security, whoopee! Finally we got on the airplane and took off. I watched Skyfall, All Stars and The Great Wizard of Oz! I thought Skyfall was very emotional, I thought All Stars was a bit sad because of Jordan not being able to dance because of his Mum and Dad and The Great Wizard of Oz was quite a sad and happy film. It was about 2:00am when we got to our friends house, we got to sleep straight away as we were all so tired. By the way this house is huge! Wednesday 17 July by Paige Today I went outside to play with the dog, Emma. She is a Beagle. She is white with brown spots, actually I don't know she might be brown with white spots? Tweet me and Paige and tell me what you think! While I was with Emma investigating the 12 acres of ground I thought I saw a Bigfoot or something like that, so I hurried back in. Next time I went outside I took Paige to see what it was, we walked very slowly towards it... Ha ha ha it was just a gorilla carved out of wood. After a long morning we headed-off to the Halfscale Dragsters Inc workshop to see Paige's new junior dragster. At the workshop we saw lots of different dragsters being worked on at the same time. The chassis looked very new, the body was amazing, we all loved it. Then after a busy time at the workshop we drove to a shopping mall, me and Paige went into Abercrombie & Fitch to buy new clothes, they were having a sale so it was very cheap. In the evening we went to have a swim with our friends, their pool was lovely and warm. We see lightning bugs (aka fireflies) they looked so pretty flying around the garden. Thursday 18 July by Belle Today we went back to the workshop to help put together Paige's dragster. I didn't do anything but Dad, Mum and Paige worked on the car. We met a new friend called Mackenzie, we played at the workshop. We all went for lunch at Chick-Fil-A, my favourite bit was the cookie sundae. After lunch we started our long drive to Bristol, Tennessee. On the way we popped in to Costco to stock up on supplies. After 10 hours we arrived at the condo. We brushed our teeth, picked our bed then jumped into bed to get some good sleep. Friday 19 July by Paige Today I had a nice long lay in before we set off to Walmart, to stock up on food because last night we got in really late and didn't get everything we needed from Costco, so we went this morning. We spent quite a while in there before we set off to the track. Once we got to the track we looked around and waited for Half Scale to arrive, however we soon found out they had been delayed leaving due to getting many cars ready to bring with them. So we left the track and headed straight to the condo pool because Belle kept on begging Dad to go. We then spent the rest of the day in the pool. Saturday 20 July by Belle This morning we rushed off to the track about 8am, when we got to the track only one of the trailers had arrived so we could only get my car out as Paige's was in the other trailer. My dragster passes tech inspection for the Mike Bos race, but I missed my first time run. When the other trailer arrived we finished setting up the new dragster then went through tech inspection, Paige’s passed too; but also missed her first time run. The strangest thing happened today; in the first round of eliminations PAIGE'S PARACHUTE CAME OUT WITHOUT HER PULLING IT, it happened before Paige reached the finish line, oops! If the parachute didn't come out she would have won the race because she was so far ahead.
We went back to the condo very late and watched thunderstorms from the balcony. Sunday 21 July by Paige Belle and I were due to get one timed run each before going into eliminations. It took quite a while before I got my first timed run in because there was soooo many 13-14 years olds, it took over an hour for us all to run without any delays. Belle ran a 12.89 with a .14 reaction and I ran a 7.94 with a -.07 reaction. Unfortunately eliminations never took place because there was a lot of rain and they said that by the time they where able to dry the track it would be too late to race. There was also meant to be heavier rainfall...so they called the event. However in the end there was no rain and the sun came out. We went to the swimming pool instead :) Monday 22 July by Belle Today was a rough day because it was eliminations (again!). When we got to the track the NHRA tech was open so Mum took our dragsters over to the queue to be inspected, luckily they passed! I went out in first round as I pulled a red light (oops!), close though -.030. Paige lost first round as the boy she was against got a perfect light! Oh well there is always tomorrow. Tuesday 23rd July by Paige Today I am the only one who is racing (ages 13 to 17) because Belle is going to race tomorrow. Usually the Wednesday is our day off however this year Belle is racing so we have 0 days off. I have two timed runs and then straight into eliminations. On the first timed run I ran a 7.95 with a -.13 reaction and on the second run I ran a 7.95 with a -.02 reaction. I won first round of eliminations with a 7.93 on a 7.93 dial in but unfortunately red light in the second round but we was way off our dial in so there was no way I could have won even if I pulled a green light. Whilst I was racing, Belle and Mackenzie were watching me race, also Belle attended Scotty Richardson's Drag Racing School, she really enjoyed it and tomorrow I will be going to his school for the second time :) Also, earlier on today Antron Brown signed my helmet and car. Hopefully his signatures will give me some good luck. Antron is such a nice person... He is definitely my favourite driver! Wednesday 24th July by Belle Today was just my day, only 8-12 year olds, Paige didn't race at all but she went to Scotty's school with Mum so I had nothing to worry about. I had two time runs then went into eliminations, I lost first round because I broke out by .002! Check out my hair style...
After I lost I went to the swimming pool and swam with our two friends Mackenzie and Gavin, Owen was still in so we had to leave him at the track. We played in the pool and hot tub, the hot tub was sooo hot it was almost burning, we all enjoyed ourselves having a bit of time away from the track. As we had finished early we planned to go out for dinner to Cracker Barrel, us kids sat at one end of the table. After dinner we all had a browse around the shop and picked up some bits to bring home. Thursday 25th July by Paige The NHRA Eastern Conference Finals 2013 has begun! We both had two timed runs... It takes 6 and half hours for all of the competitors to have one timed run, so that's why we only got two in a day. On my first run I ran a 7.96 with a -.13 reaction and on my second run I ran a 7.99 with a -.04 reaction. Belle ran a 13.06 on the first run with a .12 reaction and on the second run she ran a 12.97 with a .09 reaction. Today was also Gavin's birthday! For his birthday they got him a Despicable Me 2 Minion piñata, so we all had fun opening it. A track team had dressed up in a Mardi Gras theme and drove their decorated golf carts in a cortège throwing necklaces, sweets and toys, it was so much fun, we got loads then shared them all out when we had got into the car. For Gavin's birthday we went to Outback, it was sooo funny because all of the kids had a table. Mackenzie, Gavin and Owen are some of the funniest people ever! Friday 26th July by Belle I was first up for a time run, then Owen and then Paige. I did ok on the light and my car was consistent. Paige pulled another red light. Round 1 - I won! Paige ran her quickest time of the weekend but it was too fast and she broke out and lost. Paige was mad but then she got happy because a man from Summit came over to let her know that she had won 'Best Overall Appearing Car'. We went to the tower to look at the hand-painted plaque from Brando Custom Paint, it was money shimmering in my eyes :) Halfscale's local track, who were wearing matching neon yellow t-shirts, won 'Best Appearing Team' so an overall win day for us. After I went to see Anson (Antron Brown's son), he is the same age as me so we got along quite well, we were having fun chatting and playing. Then they announced that there was a big storm coming so we arranged to meet at the pool and ran back, jumped in the car and drove to the condo. Saturday 27th July by Paige This morning we packed up and left the condo ready for the final day at Bristol, the bad thing was the weather forecast was awful and it looked as though we would have to leave ready for our 10.5 hour drive before Belle had her second round. But the rain held out and they called 8-9 year olds to the pairing lanes, for their second round at 11am. How weird is this.... Belle dialled in her own car and she won!! She dialled in a 13.04 and ran a 13.04.
There was a bit of a downpour but Belle was the first on track. Unfortunately her reaction cost her the win in the third round. We then said our goodbyes then left the track. The journey to Florida takes 10 and half hours. Sunday 28th July by Belle After a long drive to Florida we arrived at our house at 2.30am, so we had to unpack our bags ready for the morning. Then once we unpacked we got to bed around 3.30 so not much sleep for us, but of course I did want to sleep... I did… in the end) This morning I was up at 7am; I forgot to mention dressed as well. Nobody else was up and Dad said he wasn't getting up before 10am so I ended up playing on the Xbox on a racing game till 8.00am. When my Dad was finally up we went to collect some food while Mum was cleaning and Paige was sleeping! (still). I went in the pool when we got back, Paige found a tiny frog in the filter for the pool, and she was doing Dr Dolittle to save him. Today was our first relaxing day since we left England and we mostly stayed in the pool all day! Monday 29th July by Paige Today we went to Premium Outlets to shop. Guess what, I got my hair braided just like last year by the same lady, it took 4 hours but it didn't feel like that long. Paige was deciding whether or not to get the side of her head braided but in the end Paige finally said no. In Premium Outlets I bought 2 pairs of Converse but that was it, we left for home about 6, so an early night for us finally. Tuesday 30th July by Belle Today was another pool day from morning to afternoon, we had dinner at the villa then we all went to Downtown Disney, we walked round and went to the Lego shop… for me! I did get Lego but I was only allowed a little so that it would fit in my bag, then we walked down to the Disney Store… only to look. After that we went to Ghiradelli, Dad and Paige had a cola float I had a delicious warm fudge brownie sundae. Dad took me to play in the Disney fountains while Paige and Mum went shopping, after a long time in the fountains we headed back to the villa to watch the bad lightning! Wednesday 31 July by Paige Today we visited some friends of Dads; Bob, Christine, Cameron, Kent and their dogs Einstein, Mickey (he was my favourite because he was really fluffy and soft, he reminded me of a bear) and puppy Yogi (he is such a cute puppy). For nearly the whole time we were there Belle played in the pool and she kept on taking Yogi for a boat ride/swim. Bob took us to the community pool on water slides Belle loved it. I tried some news things to eat; I liked one of them. We were also introduced to some new drinks, which I liked so soon went to Walmart to get some. Thursday 1 August by Belle Had relaxing pool day. Belle and Dad popped to shops. Belle fed her little friends, Sandhill Cranes. Did some packing. Friday 2 August by Paige Today is our shopping day! Some money will be spent today! I got lots of nice things and some birthday presents for Sunday, I never realised how much I missed the Abercrombie and Fitch store, it's definitely my favourite shop in the whole entire world. Saturday 3 August by Belle
This morning we had to get up really early, get dressed and finish packing because we had a long journey to Pennsylvania. We drove for 8.5 hours to just get to North Carolina and we stopped for petrol, food, drinks and to go to the toilet. So in the end it was 9 hours. When we got to North Carolina we stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott, about 10 minutes from Wrightsville beach. We went to the beach for a stroll and I picked up about 15 shells. After a little while we headed back to the hotel to get some beauty sleep! Sunday 4 August by Paige OMG, OMG, OMG.... Today is my 15th Birthday :)) This morning we left the hotel really early so we could continue our journey to Pennsylvania. The drive took 8.5 hours, it was horrible because I was stuck in the car all day and it didn't feel like my birthday! Once we arrived we had a delicious birthday dinner with Randy, Judy, Eric, Jaime, Owen, Gavin, Grace and Emma. It was nice because they all seem like family and they definitely made it feel like my birthday... So thank you all sooooo much, I really appreciate it. Monday 5 August by Belle Today we went to Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey, with our friends. We left at 9am to get there at about 10:15am. Some of us went on a ride that was meant to feel like being in a top fuel dragster, it was called Kingda Ka, of course I went on it! It went 128mph... so fast! Then we did some other rides like a log flume ride, a train ride big wheel, and lots of indoor/outdoor roller-coasters. After a long exciting day we headed back home at 10:30pm for a good night sleep.
Tuesday 6 August by Paige It's our final day :( we spent it shopping in Abercrombie and Fitch, it's the 4th time we have been in an A&F store (just this holiday). I think I am addicted to that shop!! We also went to an Italian Pizza restaurant and had an authentic Italian Pizza, the small restaurant was in Pennsylvania. Once we got back to Randy and Judy's we played in their huge yard and we saw a ground hog (it looked like a beaver). Belle took Grace for her first ride in the John Deere electric truck. When Dad and Randy got back from the workshop we went to dinner in a local hotel. Belle had root beer in a glass bottle and Dad tried barbecue ribs for the first time. We loaded the car up and said our goodbyes after dinner. It was horrible saying goodbye because they are like family. I felt quite sad saying goodbye to them... We spent over half of our holiday with them :( I'm going to miss them all soooo much. Especially Gavin and his amazing English accent, he does it really well. Once I recorded him saying things and every time I listen back I laugh so much I get a stitch. We arrived at the Holiday Inn at 21.30 and went straight to bed because we had to get up early in the morning. Wednesday 7 August by Belle Woke up at 4am! Got to airport. Surprise - upper class. Today was our last day in America; we woke up at 4am! On the way to the airport yesterday we had a surprise - Dad told us we were going to fly in UPPER CLASS!!! When we arrived at the airport we checked in and past security and off we went, on our way back to England! What a trip we have had.
I can't wait to see all my friends, family, our gerbils and chameleon! And I've got a special parcel arriving, hopefully in time for the Alamo / Santa Pod Junior Fun Day. Thank you to Half Scale Dragsters Inc, Alamo, JEGS, Oakley, Lucas Oil, GK Motorsports, KLR Racing Group, Eibach AG, VP Racing Fuels, Air Sea Logistics and Steve from Junior Specialties. Paige and Belle X Sunday 11th November 2012: Flying in Vegas. Wednesday 24th October This morning Belle and I woke up at 5.45 am, so that we could leave the house by 6.30 am. Of course I was not happy getting up at this time but I guess I have to do what I have to do. If you don't already know I am not a morning person. It took 4 hours to get to the airport and in that time I was sleeping and doing my make up ;) I didn't have time to do it this morning. This time we were driving to Heathrow Airport (I prefer the Manchester airport), we got to the airport in the nick of time; we got stuck in traffic. Luckily the line for the baggage check-in wasn't long, so we went straight to a counter and we got through security quickly. Because we were late we didn't do any shopping :'( instead we rushed to the gate. Unfortunately we didn't get on the flight because it was overbooked; we got transferred to a later flight. Now here we are waiting in the Virgin Lounge until 4 pm; it's a good thing that the lounge looks quite fun soooo...... I am going to leave you now because I have some exploring to do. It's nearly 4 pm, this lounge is actually AMAZING. I wish that this could be in my house lol. Their breakfast (I had sausage, scrambled egg, toast and half a bacon roll) is lovely, I think I need to hire the chef. So far I have had loads and loads of tea; at this rate they will have no hot water left. You may think I am joking but I promise I am not. The lounge has this really cool table that has lots of games that you can play on it, Mum, Belle and I keep on going over to the table to play PacMan and this game called 'Frogger' where you are a frog and you have to get across the road and a lake without being run over by anything. It was really addictive. The table is called a RetroTech, it has 60 old fashioned games on and we really want one now... But they are too expensive. We have just had lunch; I had fish fingers with a warm chocolate brownie and ice cream. They had nothing with an English name so I ordered off a kiddies menu. We are a few hours into our flight, as you can tell we made it on this one :) Mum was offered a jump seat but luckily they had someone not turn up so she got a normal seat. Belle and I got to sit next to each other, she is really annoying on the plane, plus she doesn't do anything therefore she is boring as well as annoying. Anyway I have already watched one movie which was 'Marvels Avengers'. It is one of the best films ever; my favourites are Hulk and Captain America.... Iron Man somehow reminds me of Belle! We have also had dinner; which was chicken, mash potato and vegetables with a GU chocolate dessert. So far I haven't been able to sleep much so I am going to leave now and try to get some sleep ready for our hour drive to the hotel. On the plane I didn't get much sleep, about 10 minutes to be precise :/ The flight was a total of 11 hours long. The man who did the security checks was really nice and seeing as I am new at this whole finger print thing he went quite easy on me and it worked first time (I have to do it now that I am 14) ;) I really didn't want to do the finger print thing but I already have to do it on a theme park ticket, though it's not the same because in a theme park they always seem to tell me that I need to do the scanning thing again and again..... Until the 10th time and then they just tell me to go through lol. Once we got all of our baggage we set off to the Alamo bus, and on there we met some of these rappers who had to be at a club or something like that. When we arrived at the Alamo location, as usual Dad had to go get the car, but whilst he was doing that we noticed that Alamo had started decorating ready for Halloween. Then we started our hour journey to the hotel we are staying at, which is the Courtyard by Marriott. I think I was asleep the whole journey, I am sure that anyone who was awake for 24 hours would have slept in the car too. Anyway we are at the hotel now and to be honest I can't wait to go to sleep. And now I am going to conclude and leave you as Mum is moaning at me to get ready for bed.... Night! Thursday 25th October This morning we woke up around 5 ish, don't worry we didn't plan to get up at that time, we couldn't get back to sleep. So we had a shower and went down to the hotels cafe; the man who was working there told us when the traffic would be bad and how to avoid it (his daughter lives in Las Vegas so he visits there quite a bit). I really enjoyed the breakfast there because it was very relaxed and quiet :) After breakfast we loaded the luggage in the car and decided to go exploring... Yet again. The area was really nice and it had lots of little shops that you could easily walk to, I would have liked to go into some of the shops, but we didn't have time. After, we went to Walmart, we were only meant to pop into Walmart quickly to get some snacks for the journey but instead we spent a bit too long in there. We then made our way to the Oakley Headquarters and now we are ready for our meeting with Sheldon! I actually can't wait to see inside, it will be nice to do something different for a change. When our meeting is done I will let you know how good it was.
OMG!! The Oakley building is absolutely amazing. Sheldon introduced us to Justin who is like an Oakley scientist, he was really nice and he showed us something that I will never forget.... He shot a lead pellet at a polycarbonate lens (which you find in most sunglasses), the pellet was going 100 mph when it hit the pair of brand named glasses and the lens completely shattered; all was left was a frame lol. He then did it to a pair of Oakleys and where it hit was just a little bit distorted, but could still be worn and would still protect your eyes from the sun and harmful rays. He also shot another pellet at the Oakley sunglasses and there was still no damage! This test has definitely made me look at my sunglasses in a whole other way, I already knew my sunglasses were of a really good quality but I didn't realise just how good they were compared to normal sunglasses. To make us all even more assured that our Oakley's would protect our eyes from more than pellets he dropped a solid, heavy, sharp spike which weighed just over 1 lb however, this spike only went 40 mph because it was a manual drop. The spike produced a hole through the other brand name lens leaving sharp edges exposed, and left a mark on the rubber dummy face; this would mean that the person may have lost their eye. He then did the same with the exact same pair of Oakley he had used for the previous test and all it left was a small dent where the point of the spike hit the lens; the spikes point never actually went through the glasses so the person would still have their eye :) I have got to say thank you to Justin because if he never showed us those tests I would have never known how good my Oakleys are. Also he let us keep the Oakley lens which he used for both tests, so if you ever want to see them come and ask me at our pits. To be honest I think I am never....ever....ever going to wear a different brand of sunglasses, I love my Oakleys so much, I trust them so much and they look soo good :D we now call them eye protection, not sunglasses. The whole thing was like being in a science lesson, Justin was teaching us loads about how the glasses are made, the only difference between this and a science lesson is that in this I actually learnt stuff ;) If only everyone knew what went in to creating a pair of Oakley sunglasses and how much technology, innovation and safety standards is put into the ongoing development process, in a word... It would be 'WOW'. If you would like to see some of the tests they perform go to http://uk.oakley.com/innovation/optical-superiority A massive thank you to Justin and Sheldon for sharing their knowledge, hospitality and time with me; I don't think I will be forgetting any of this any time soon :D Once we left the Oakley Headquarters we stopped off at Chick-Fil-A (Dads favourite place). After our delicious lunch we then started the long 4 hour drive to Las Vegas. We are currently a few minutes into the drive :/ great! I can tell this is going to be one long drive; I am already nearly falling asleep. I will update you as soon as we get to the hotel.
Friday 26th October This morning we woke up at 7 am. We had breakfast in the Bellagio's Buffet; however I must have eaten something that didn't agree with me because I
felt so sick. We were delayed leaving but got to the track after 10am. When we got there we headed straight to R2B2 to see Leah. Whilst we was there Jon
Cavaiani gave Belle and I a signed hero card but he also gave Belle the same medal which I received in Gainesville. Once we were done at R2B2 we went to
the Lucas Oil pits to get booked in. Then we saw Torch and got some more 'eye protection'. When Rob Geiger came we went to see the amazing Spencer Massey
(which was the best bit of the day and probably the best bit of the trip) and he said we could hang out on Sunday.... I was then officially looking forward
to Sunday :D. We had our photo done with Tony Schumacher, and went to see Melanie Troxel to catch up. And finally went to watch Top Fuel.
Dad wanted me to have a go-pro on my wrist so we can show people the video, we also brought pictures, and as you got a 20% off voucher on all the apparel if you completed the jump, I couldn't help but get a t-shirt too. Can I just say that jump is one of the best things I have ever done, it was soo cool I wanted to do it again but Dad wouldn't let me :( but I am soo glad that I did get to do it even once. Today was a really good day, especially the part where I get to see my favourite driver EVER.... I sure you all know who it is but if you don't I will
refresh your memory, it's Spencer Massey. Anyway I am going to bed now; the jump has drained all of my energy. Night!
Saturday 27th October Today we headed straight to the track because there was a lot of traffic getting there yesterday. We had breakfast at Lucas Oil and then headed straight to Jeg Coughlin pits. We had a quick chat and let him go as they were preparing down in the staging lanes. We wandered around the pit area and then headed to R2B2 for lunch, Dad had pumpkin pie but he was convinced it was apple pie with cinnamon in, he told me to try some and that it was orange because it had cinnamon in, I said no. We told him that it was pumpkin pie but he didn't believe us, when he had finished it we showed him the real apple pie, after that Mum and me were in stitches! After Dads major mishap with the apple pie, we went to watch the Traxxas remote control cars demonstration, now that I have actually seen them doing stuff I really badly want one. They just bash them all over the place and they don't even get damaged! They are soo cool.... We need them in England. After Belle and I were done begging Dad for one, we went over to GK Motorsports / Cagnazzi Racing Hospitality with Erica Enders. We got a chocolate cupcake with a pumpkin (not apple) ring and a lot of icing on top of it, I could only eat the icing as it was sooo filling :) Whilst there we met Courtney Enders too and boy is Belle just like her, they said that I was like Erica and Courtney was like Belle. Courtney was really nice and to make things even better she coaches volleyball... I love volleyball :D
Anyway we have just had dinner, so I am going to bed now :) Sunday 28th October This morning we woke up really early so that we could miss the traffic again at the track, this morning I felt really hungry so I started to feel ill :( we went to Lucas Oil for breakfast again today they were serving cookies for breakfast :O Belle and I got right in there! Lol. I remember taking my cookie into R2B2 and a man asked Belle and I why he didn't have one and where were they, we just said we got them from somewhere else. As usual Belle wanted to go see the Traxxas cars, but instead of just driving a car this time she was brought one instead! I was soo angry I had to put on my glasses and walk away.... It's not fair how she got one and I didn't, she said that she would share it with me, but she only said that so she could get one. I really wanted the Mustang one :'(. I promise you she will NOT share it with me and that I will have to get my own one with my Christmas money. It is a Christmas present for Belle because of all the money that was spent on me in Abercrombie & Fitch and Aeropostale. After that we watched some racing, Spencer Massey, Erica Enders and Leah all went out second round :'( I really want Spencer Massey to win in the championship but then again I want him to be 3rd in the championship.... Like me! I am really devastated that I didn't have time to go see Spencer but hopefully we will go Gainesville, so I can see him there. I feel really bad not spending the day with him...... It was the one thing, the whole day, that I was looking forward to :'( If Spencer Massey is reading this (though I very much doubt he ever will) I promise you I am your biggest fan EVER, I didn't mean to not come over and see you... I am sooo sorry. Anyways...... We said our goodbyes and left the track. I hope we come back next year. Right now all we are doing is eating our dinner watching TV, and then I am going to bed. I think the guilt of not spending more time with Spencer is going to eat away at me :( Monday 29th October This morning is the first morning that we actually had some sort of lay in, I wanted to go watch the testing because Spencer Massey could have been there but we got up too late :( We had breakfast at the Bellagio, and then drove to the Hoover Dam. Once we got there (after about an hours drive) there was a bridge that you could walk over, it was called the Memorial Bridge after all of the people that died whilst building the Hoover Dam. The bridge was soo long, it took us about half an hour (maybe 45 minutes) to walk to the end and back! It was one long bridge. We got some really cool pictures of the Hoover Dam though and I never realised how big the dam was. Before you got to the actual memorial bridge they were showing you how they made it and all the problems they come across whilst making it, in fact it had only just been completed in 2010. After we was done there we headed to go see the dam, however there was no parking spaces left so we had to drive all the way up this huge hill :/ There were parking spaces there, but Dad didn't want to walk all the way down the hill and then all the way back up when we were done. So we took some photos of the dam from far away and then we decided to go check one more time, luckily the parking garage was open and there were loads of spaces, so we parked up and walked to the Tourist Centre to go on the Power Plant tour. We travelled down into the actual Hoover Dam wall and see how the 8 massive generators use the water to make electricity and separate the water from the dam into different tunnels to send the flow to seven different states. It is very clever to think that all this technology was designed back in 1931.
On the way out they told us to rub the bronze statues feet as it was good luck, so of course we did :) After that we headed back to Las Vegas to the New York New York to ride the roller-coaster as Belle is now tall enough, can I just say Belle really does stress out when she goes on them :/ After that experience we headed to the arcades. From there we went to the MGM Hotel to do the CSI Investigation Experience. It was really good; I thought it was going to be scary... But it wasn't :D I actually really enjoyed it, plus we solved the crime correctly! It was then time to have dinner at the Rainforest Cafe with the Tramm Family and Diane (Spencer's Auntie). Belle, Mum, Diane and I all shared the big Volcano Desert! We are now back at the hotel and I am getting ready for bed... Night! Tuesday 30th October
My feet are still hurting from all of this walking we have done today. When we got back to the hotel we took Belle for a swim (I couldn't because I didn't pack a swimming costume). She was only in the pool for about half an hour but when we got back upstairs Dad was there and he had already ordered his dinner :) We are now packing; ready to go home tomorrow :'( I don't want to go home Wednesday 31st October This morning we had breakfast in the Bellagio, for one last time. We then quickly popped into the New York New York so that Belle could spend her arcade tickets; I ended up getting this weird thing where you have to try and get your two fingers out of it, the more you pull the tighter it gets :) You know what?! I am really really really going to miss this place I don't want to go home :'( well anyway we had a 4hour drive to LAX Airport. I didn't do anything interesting the whole way apart from sleeping...more sleeping and even more of sleeping. We woke up early... Okay! Once we got there and went through all the security we browsed through the shops and then finally got on the plane. I didn't really watch anything on the plane, I watched Men in Black III and I couldn't help myself from watching Madagascar 3. Oh yeah, have I told you my new obsession is Captain America.... It was Tom Daley, but I guess I have moved on now ;) I LOVE THE MARVELS AVENGERS SOOO MUCH! Lol apart from watching two movies.... I slept a lot :) Thursday 1st November We are currently driving home, we landed to dark clouds and boy did I really not want to come home :'( One day I hope I can live in America and then I wouldn't have to worry about getting cold. The most disappointing thing was not going to spend time with Spencer Massey :( I guess there will be another time... Right?! :'( Anyway Happy Halloween :) Paige -x- Special thanks to: Rob Geiger, Melanie Troxel, Cagnazzi Racing, GK Motorsports, Lucas Oil, R2B2 Motorsports, Spencer Massey (for just being there). Thursday 13th September 2012: Bristol blog. Wednesday 18th July Last day of school… Complete :D I have just got home from school, and I have never been so happy in my life! Apart from being a Year 10 when I get back to school, I am mostly looking forward to being able to drive an Outlaw 330 and being able to represent England, especially in the time of London 2012 Olympics. I am really looking forward to racing once again in America but this time I am aiming quite high… This year I want to try and get a 'Wally'. I'm sure you all know what one of them are but if you don't then I will explain; a 'Wally' is a big trophy only awarded by NHRA for winning a national drag racing event. This is Belle and me holding one of Melanie Troxel's. We are currently in the car on our way to the airport and hotel (we are going to check in our baggage today so that it isn't as much as a mad rush tomorrow), we are staying in the 'Hilton' Hotel, based in the airport (which I'm sure will be handy, as we won't have to get up as early). On The Plane: We have just got off of the plane and we are waiting for Dad to hurry up, we are standing out side Alamo Rent-A-Car whilst he is having a good old chat with the man behind the counter! He better hurry up cause Mum, Belle and I are boiling hot :-( It was nice having the gush of hot air when you get out the airport but this is just too much hot air. Anyway whilst we are waiting for him it gives me a chance to tell you how good the flight was. The flight was really good, however the plane was old so it had the old in-flight system (the old in-flight system starts all of the movies at the same time, then waits for them all to finish and has a 30 minute wait). Personally I prefer this system to the other one because with the newer ones you seem to just play movie after movie and get tired really easily. The only thing I don't like about flying is the food… its disgusting :P 30minutes later: Finally, about time Dad got here… I am soo angry with him. Plus what makes things worse is that we don't have a Dodge Durango :-( We have this other car called a Caddilac Escalade instead. So we are on our way to the Orlando Hilton Hotel. I'm going to have to say bye to you now as I am really tired and there won't be much to talk about :L I will tell you tomorrow if anything exciting happens. Thursday 19th July Morning!!! Nothing special happened last night, apart from the fact that I actually had a good night sleep :-) Today is that day that we do the first of two long journeys :/ But right now we are having breakfast, as usual Belle is stuffing her face with whatever she can get her hands on. Today I think I will be sleeping for most of the journey, so sorry if there will be lots of different times. First 20 minutes complete – 9 hours to go: The first 20 minutes has passed and I am already finding it difficult to stay awake. I have to keep on telling myself that there is not long now, it's the only way to keep myself awake. Belle and I have already played a few games of 'Road Trip Bingo'. Its the only decent thing to do, but I'm sure it will get quite boring after around 2 hours. What makes things worse is I can't go on 'Twitter', which means I can't talk to family and friends :-( I can already tell this is going to be one long trip. Another 2 hours pass: 7 hours to go. Does that seem long? It does to me! (Belle is really starting to get on my nerves now… she kept on throwing her stupid blanket at me, so I then decided to lay my head on it and now she has started kicking me and trying to pull the blanket from underneath my head! I am soo tempted to get my water and throw it at her. If she really wanted her blanket then she wouldn't have throw it at me in the first place). Oh, by the way we have already got bored of the bingo game; we got all the new high scores on it. 1 Hour to go :D : Oh yes! About time. This 'little' journey seemed to go faster than thought. Since I wrote my last bit we went to Chick-Fil-A (Dad's favourite) and a gas station. Other than that I have been pretty much sleeping and being annoyed by Belle. Home Sweet Bristol: Yay! It feels like I never left. I think we should just stay and bring all of the other jr dragster racers over here. Right now I am in the lovely apartment looking at the race track from the balcony. We have already been to get a few supplies from Walmart; we got some 'stares' from people in there… yes, we are English! Hehe I know one thing for sure… this apartment is way better then the hotel we stayed in last year. Plus the apartment is in walking distance from the track, not 1 hour away like last year. Right, I am going bed now. Night everyone J Saturday 20th July Good morning Bristol. We have just arrived at the track for the first time in a year. All of us were a bit naughty this morning… there was a long queue to get into the track, but we knew the back way (which we discovered last year), so we weren't waiting, we decided we would get in this way.
Whilst we were waiting for Randy (Half Scale) to arrive Mum, Belle and I went to go claim our spot on the grandstand (so that we could easily decorate our stand). We decided to claim half of 'E-F' which was near the start line. To make sure that no one took our spot we put up a huge Union Jack flag. Whilst there Belle and I found out something about Mum…she isn't very good with tie wraps, Belles better at them than her! That was the first of our problems the second was that the flag was dodgy; it only had holes in one side of it, but we soon fixed that. Randy, Jamie, Eric, Owen and Gavin arrived a few hours ago. We was going to finish the day with adjusting the pedals in the Outlaw 330 and the junior I will be racing, however I need an Outlaw 330 engine on the car, a very nice man called Sean Dodd, that we met last year, spent all evening doing it!!(I feel well special).Thank you soo much Sean and family for doing the engine for me J Night Everyone. Saturday 21st July Good Morning, Race Day! :D We are all at the track preparing for the long day ahead of us. Belle and Dad have already had a water fight with Owen (Randy's grandson son). This morning is already boiling so I can tell today is going to be one hot day. Personally I would like a water fight but I don't want to have to walk around the pits all wet :/ There is this huge storm surrounding us :-( I am not exaggerating… all of the sky is black. The racing might be called off for a while ?!? Daddy….. :
Anyway back on to how I did with the junior. It felt really slow compared to the outlaw. It was really strange getting used to another car, yet it kind of felt the same, maybe as they were both 'Half Scale' cars. Round One: Today wasn't a very successful day for me. I feel like I have let down everyone, and definitely myself. I just hope that tomorrow will be a better day for us all. As I am moaning about how bad I did I might as well tell you about how I did. In the Outlaw my best reaction of the day was 0.066 and my fastest run was 4.465. I didn't get through first round but I may have earned a title or two: am I the fastest 13 year old in Europe? and the first English Person to race an Outlaw 330? (we are figuring out if I have beaten Scott Hauser's fastest run).With the issue with the helmet even with Miranda's helmet it was still a tight squeeze, so I had to find a way to get in and eventually I did :-) In the junior my best reaction was a 0.048 and I didn't get through first round in the junior neither. I don't feel too bad as I found out that Owen and Sean (in the Outlaw 330 and junior) didn't get through first round. I definitely think that driving the Outlaw was a great experience and I will never forget the first time I put my foot down in it. Thanks to Half Scale Dragsters for letting me borrow the car and Sean Dodd for the engine. Now all I have to do is beg Dad to get one for me :-) Also throughout the day we went to see Marcus and Bjorn and spoke to them for a while. Randy got me to try a piece of meat… what I didn't realise is that it was Deer (that he had caught on a hunting trip and shot), he never told me it was Deer until I tried it. I should have asked what it was before I tried it but to be honest it didn't taste that bad (it was kind of like frozen chicken) but now that I know what it is, I don't think that I could eat it again. But at least I can go around telling everyone that I have eaten Deer :-) Night Everyone Monday 22nd July I don't think I can get much more tired. Yesterday I definitely had an adrenaline rush, I am so tired; I just want to go back to sleep. I think I might have a nap whilst I'm waiting for the 13 year olds first run. Oh yeah, yesterday I saw this boy and he had an illuminous pink mow hawk!! How cool is that ?! So now after seeing that I think illuminous pink is my new favourite colour :-) It was the best hair I have ever seen. Anyway right now we are at the track with Gavin (Jaime's other son) in the car; Belle wanted to do a blog this year (so make sure you read it, as it is really good!) and she is currently reading it to Gavin… I think he is actually enjoying it (it's making me nearly fall asleep). I have only just realised that there is this huge cloud, it looks like the clouds we had yesterday :-( Lets hope the heavens don't open up; we just missed it yesterday.
Rain, Rain, go away, come back another day: It has rained 3 times! I still haven't run and it's nearly 5pm. What a boring day! The only things I have done today is: Gavin, Owen, Belle and I went to the Radio Station to announce that the lemonade stand was open, I watched Owen race with Mum; he did really good, we went to go meet Mike Boss and he said he wants me to go race one of his cars. He has made a car that is meant to look like Tony Schumacher's Top Fuel Dragster… and guess what?! It does! What a Long Day: I have just been out for my first run of the day :D It feels good to get back in the car after being bored to death. I run an 8.026 and my reaction was -0.021, which wasn't that bad seen as I have never used this car before with the sportsman tree; instead of the pro tree (which I used yesterday). I remember that last year we realised why they call it 'Thunder Valley' (because of all the rain and storms they have). I feel like a Mountain Dew, sorry for that randomness :-) I think I am well ready to go to bed. So night everyone J Wednesday 24th July Today there will be 333 7.90 cars competing… and I am one of them! If my calculations are right there will be 9 rounds in total including the finals. I still can't believe how many cars there are! 332 other teenagers aged form 13-17 :O That's a lot! Round One: Round One = Complete :D The boy I was up against apparently was a really really good racer, the reason I won was because he red lit by -0.055 :-) I feel like I have conquered the world, I am soo happy J Round Two: Round Two = Complete :D I have gone through yet again because of a red light, the boy red lit by -0.054. I don't know why they keep on red lighting, all I care about is winning J
Round Three = Complete :D I think that luck was definitely on my side… I beat the boy by 0.004. Phew! I am ready to take on the next racer :-) Round Four = Damn :-( I red lit. I don't have anything else to say :'( :-( : They have just called a red alert which is when there is a really bad storm coming and you all have to get inside as quick as possible. They told everyone to get back to their pits and secure down everything as quick as possible. This is scary. The radio also said that if the storm hits then everyone would probably be safer in the tower then in their RVs. I am sorry but this is really freaking me out, 'We'd be safer in the tower then in your RVs'...is it just me or do you get the sense this is no small storm… I hope it misses us… I don't want anything bad to happen to anyone nor anything :-( Racing… Back On: The racing started back on a little while ago, they have finished running the eliminations for everyone. Apparently the storm hit the other side of the pits but we didn't get anything major… which was good. No one was hurt, only napkins. I think I had a very successful day, I'm just kicking myself after giving the race away at the start line; there was no way I could have beaten her, she dialled a 9.12 and ran a 9.126? I wish I could have given it my best shot and given a good race. At least a red light means that I am trying. Night J Thursday 25th July Today nothing really happened. We all attempted to break the world record, and I think we did :-) Owen was lucky enough to get a bye. In America they do the byes differently, they put everyone's race number (from your age group) in a hat and pull one out, whose ever number it is they will have the bye whenever there is one too many cars. For example Owen, there was an even amount of cars in the first round so he couldn't use his bye, however as long as he gets through and there is an odd number of cars in round two then he can use it then. They can use their bye all the way up to the semi-finals!! And in this case he used it in round two J Well Done Owen for getting into the fourth round (the same as me), however unfortunately he lost as well. GO HALF SCALE! Saturday 27th July Eastern Conference Finals… here I come :D It is finally here; I have waited a whole year for this moment. I can't wait to finally go down the track. This holiday has already been an amazing experience, especially getting to drive an Outlaw 330… I still can't believe how quick it was :-) I still really want one! I definitely want to come back next year; I think I am getting a lot of experience from coming to the place where it all started. Thank you to everyone who has helped out on this amazing experience :D Here We Come… Florida ?!: Shamefully I didn't get through first round; what really surprised me was that I got an 0.008 light and lost by 0.004. However I did drive the top end and apparently he just got to the finish line before me because he had more momentum :-( oh well, I guess I have next year. My REAL holiday officially begins. Oh yeah down in staging lanes… I saw the amazing illuminous pink mow hawk boy! (if you are reading this, you know who you are!) (I call him highlighter boy). But the bad thing was that he went up against Miranda, and he won; so bad luck Miranda. There is some good news… Owen got through first round and so did Sean :-) Whoop, Whoop! :P Sunday 28th July Today we are going to make the last 10 hour journey, I am really going to miss this place :-( We have just said good bye to everyone and I have given various people my email (so that I can keep in contact with as many people as I can). Whilst I was down in the staging lanes I saw highlighter boy! I love his hair soo much… I want to dye my hair illuminous pink. Mum said that might be too bright, so I might just dye the ends of my hair illuminous pink instead (so look out for me). I am seriously in love with this kid's hair! :-) I hope he has illuminous pink hair next year. Oh yeah, and I saw a boy that was here last year and he now has 3 cars… ummm… can I have one ?! :D Hehe Dad has just driven through the gates… noooo! I want to go back already; although it is nice to look forward to something as amazing as this every year and this has been the best year out of the two. This year somehow there was a lot more people who knew who I was, but I don't know how, as we had no press release this year; it has really confused me :L oh well! This year has definitely been an eye opener on just how seriously they all take it, I've only just realised how good the American's are… at their own sport. Whilst I was at the track I went to a drag racing school with my Mum, Scotty Richardson taught me how to drive at my full potential and trust me he is the best teacher EVER! So thank you Scotty Richardson, I am going to use everything you taught me at home, with my own car :-) So everyone at home better watch out! :D The Ten Hour Journey: Sorry I didn't write anything throughout the journey, I slept for over ¾ of it, so it would have been really boring. Yet again whenever I was awake Belle annoyed me. We decided to both look for bigfoots in the woodland areas… we wasn't successful :-( Although I'm glad we didn't because I would've been having nightmares for the next month or so. I get scared really easily (I got scared of the 'Jaws' ride that was in 'Universal Orlando', but luckily now it has been taken down). It doesn't make sense how I get scared of the ride but not the first movie nor the second movie? I haven't quite managed to watch the third one; I might wait a little to watch it, as it is based in 'Sea World' and we sometimes go there (plus it's newer so it might have better special)! Right now we are currently in the house that we will be staying in for the rest of our holiday; it's a really nice villa. Our friends, Ed, Jan, Ali and Andrew that we drove back with will be staying at Ed's sisters house :-) It's really late at night so I am gunna go bed now, night! Monday 29th July Morning! Today is going to be the first relaxing day we have had :-) I know of only one thing we are doing (so far), but Dad usually just organises these things without Mum, Belle and I knowing; it will tell us right at the last moment. Belle is going to have her hair braided; she has wanted it braided every since we arrived in the U.S.A. I wonder what it will look like :-) 1 hour and a half max…umm I don't think so: The lady who is doing Belle's braided hair said that it will take 1 hour and a half max, however as usual Dad organises to go to 'Ripley's Believe It Or Not' museum at 1 pm but it's 12.45 now. I think we might be a tad late lol. I am really looking forward to going to 'Ripley's Believe It Or Not', apparently it's meant to be really good (it better be) :-)
We was 1 hour late :/ oops! Fashionably late :P Dad was not happy when Belle came out of the market place, he looked like he wanted to run us over… it was actually quite funny. Talking about funny 'Ripley's Believe It Or Not' museum was amazing!! It was really funny going with the Sabala and Rosa family. It definitely made us all laugh, plus there were some really strange things in there. Most of the stuff I didn't even believe because it was soo weird; but then again I don't think someone could even make up some of that stuff. It made me realise how normal I actually am (compared to some people) :P I am tired. I think we should all just go to sleep and not go to the Rosa's house; I might fall asleep there. I know this is really random but I have got 'Payphone' stuck in my head… stupid song :/ I'm joking I love it really :-) I am gunna have to say bye now as we will arrive at the Rosa's house soon. Tuesday 30th July Morning :-) Guess what?!... we are going shopping today :D Abercrombie and Fitch here I come. I really miss being able to go to a real shopping mall; the shopping centres back home are nothing compared to the malls here. I think we should call Shopping Centres Malls, it sounds a lot better. Today is going to be a good day, I can already sense it, I hope they have lots of nice things there. Then we might be going somewhere with our friends. I think we should go go-karting. I love going go-karting, but of course I love drag racing more :-) Money, Money, Money :-) : Shopping was fab, I got quite a few things. However Mum has brought me loads of stuff for Christmas :D How long is it until Christmas?! I hope it comes fast. It turns out we will be going go-karting with our friends. Am I good or what?! After that I am sure we will be heading to the Rosa's house. As if! : That was the worst go-kart I have ever been in; I swear me and Ali got the slow ones :-( everyone was whizzing past us… that was no fair. I think Ali's one was slower because I lapped her, and she started before me :-) At least I passed someone. Wednesday 1st August Pinch, punch, first day of the month, no returns. 3 more days til my birthday, I can't wait :D We are currently heading over to the 'Hard Rock Hotel' so that we can get our fast passes ready for when we go to 'Islands of Adventure'. We are going to do the other park ('Universal') tomorrow. That Was So Good: Sorry I didn't keep you updated, I couldn't quite take an iPad around 'Islands of Adventure' because of the three water rides. It was a really good day, we went on 'Bugle Barges', 'Ripsaw Falls' and 'Jurassic Park'. It was soo funny on 'Bugle Barges' for starters me and Mum got absolutely soaked, I knew from the beginning that we was gunna get soaked :-) And secondly there was this other boy with his dad on there and he didn't know where to put his iPhone, so Belle said he should put it in the middle (where you put your things so they don't get wet), so he did and looked at me and smiled; for some reason I think he may have recognised us. Also he had really nice hair, so he kept on ducking and putting his hands over his hair so it wouldn't get wet… poor thing because his hair got really wet. Ha ha ha lol
Also we had a bit of a problem after the soaked picture of us three, because Dad didn't want his picture taken so he went back to the hotel by himself. We only had our fast passes, nothing else, so we couldn't get into the hotel or the elevator because we were in a nice room so you had to put in your card before the elevator would take you up to your room. So in the end we went to the front desk and told the man what had happened, so he rung Dad and said 'Is that Mr Wheeler, I have 3 wet family member down here and they have no keys, can you please come down and get them'. It was so embarrassing because we was dripping wet and we had to walk through a lovely DRY reception :/ and we had to wait at the elevators, people were just staring at us. He finally came down after about 30 minutes of standing by the elevators dripping wet and cold (because of the air con). Fire and Ice: We have just got back to the hotel after going to dinner at the 'Nascar Café' and after going to 'Islands of Adventure' again… but this time we went on to the 'Dragons' both fire and ice but also the 'Harry Potter' ride. The 'Dragons' were amazing as usually but it was scary on 'Harry Potter' because they couldn't get me and Mum off, we nearly had to go around again; you see they have a conveyer belt that doesn't stop, so you have to get off and on quick, but they just got us off on time the people that were meant to go on next couldn't because it was too late. What made it really scary was that they had to get 3 staff to try and get us both off but then eventually one of them just tugged really hard at it and they finally came off! Phew… I hate that ride so much, I am glad I didn't have to go on it again :L Plus belle got off and she was in the shop all by herself… SCARY! We are just going to go get some desserts from the Club Lounge, and then go to bed so I am going to say bye now. Bye! Thursday 2nd August Morning! Today we will be doing 'Universal' all day :-) I cant wait to get onto my favourite ride ever…'HULK!' He is my favourite super hero; I just love him ? This time it's going to be even better because Belle is now tall enough to go on all the roller coasters! Luckily we can get in extra early and get on 'Rip Ride Rocket' before there is a big queue ('Rip Ride Rocket' is fairly new so it doesn't have the fast pass lane L). That Was Great But I Feel Like I Am Missing Something…: We got into the park when it opened and got out the park 20 minutes before it was closing! In total we spent 9 hours in the park, that's well long. We all had a great day, but I am not looking forward to getting up early yet again tomorrow. I still can't believe we are missing the Olympics, I feel like I am cheering on America but I am really cheering on home :-( I wish we could fly back home and get tickets for the 10m platform men's diving (so I can support Tom Daley and Peter Waterfield). But then again you would see more if you watched it on TV as you would get to see a close-up of our divers. I would literally DIE if I ever met Usain Bolt and Tom Daley (they are my favourite athletes EVER). Maybe that will be my life time goal :-) I am gunna have to say bye now as we are on our way to the villa and when I get there I am going to watch some Olympic stuff. Bye.
Tomorrow is my birthday, tomorrow is my birthday :D I will be 14 tomorrow… do you think that's old? I do! Next thing you know it I will be forgetting what I was doing. Today we are off to Aquatica with the Sabala and the Rosa families . To be honest I am mostly looking forward to going to Discovery Cove tomorrow (for starters it will be my birthday and secondly dad and I will be doing the new Sea Venture thing whilst Mum and Belle do the dolphin swim experience, the only reason I am not doing it is because I did it a few years ago. That Was So Much Fun: Today has been a great day, after a year of not going you totally forget how good Aquatica is, but the best bit of the day was going to the Rosa's house for an early birthday cake :D The bad thing was that we didn't go home and get changed so I think I look like a total mess in the pictures… sorry for ruining the pictures. Thank you for the beautiful and yummy cake J
Sunday 5th August Today you could class as our first relaxing day, in nearly a week. We went to Sea World and then went shopping :) The only reason we went Sea World was because Mum, Belle and I wanted to go onto their two big roller coasters called 'Kraken' and 'Manta'. There was a 25minutes queue for 'Manta' but we got straight onto 'Kraken', so we decided to go onto 'Kraken' two more times. I enjoyed going shopping again but it wasn't to buy more clothes, I had a hole in the jeans I had brought so we exchanged them for another pair, but I also got more Christmas presents because they had a sale going on. Today was nice because we didn't have to rush around after anyone. We have just got home and I think I am going to watch some of the Olympics :) Monday 6th August Another relaxing day for us... All we did was pack our bags and went in the pool all day. I really don't want to go home. I think we should just stay here forever :) Tuesday 7th August I don't want to go home, we are currently in the airport. Early this morning we went for a nice long swim in the pool; for the last time. We then headed to Chick-Fil-A to get our last Chick-Fil-A of the year.... I think they should bring Chick-Fil-A into England! Our flight is at night so we arrive in England early tomorrow morning. I'm sorry, I really don't want to go home, I'd rather just stay here :) Paige xx Tuesday 17th April 2012: Easter week.
Today we went to the RWYB at Santa Pod Raceway, the car was running very consistent and I got a .001 reaction, my best reaction so far; but still want a perfect! Me and my mum made a deal; if I got a perfect or double 0 reaction then I would get a new pair of converse!!! Belle got some good reactions, but my one was the best :) We went to dinner at Buddies USA with Tog, Spencer Tramm and Stacey; the brownies are yummy, Stacey and me shared them, we were soo full! Had a good night. Sunday Today we were at Santa Pod again, but this time it was a Test and Tune day. We had to take my Gerbil called 'Tyson' because she wasn't very well! Belle got the best reaction out of both of us - she got a perfect reaction; 0.000!!!! :( Today Stacey Reed has come to stay at our house until the Easter Thunderball! I think that this week will go really fast as I'm sure we will have soo much fun. Monday Today was really warm outside so we all decided to walk to the town. Apart from that we hung out in the garden and played 'Got to Dance' on the Nintendo Wii; we have a plan to complete every song on the game by the end of this week. So we had a really lazy day. Tuesday Today we went to London to see my Nanny Joan. We took Tyson as well because she was poorly.... Again :( We had a great day! Wednesday Today my Auntie Michelle and cousins Harrison and Jessica came to visit. We took Tyson to the vet because she wasn't eating, they said the best thing for Tyson is put her to sleep. It took me a while to stop crying, i took her home to spend some time with her and then we took her back to the vet at 5.10pm to be put to sleep. I decided I wanted her cremated so i can keep her ashes. Tyson is the best pet I have ever had and no pet could ever be as good as her! R.I.P. Tyson - the best gerbil in the world! Thursday We went to Pod to set up for the Easter Thunderball; we were 2nd in queue for signing on and then 3rd in the queue for scrutineering, I'm happy we didn't have to wait that long as it was cold. It's good to be back at the Pod! It's even better seeing the Alamo lane and all of the new Alamo signs on and around the track. Looking forward to seeing everyone again and racing my car; Belle is excited too. Guess what!? Spencer Massey is in the programme! Friday It was great to be able to race again :) Today we got 2 qualifying runs - in the 1st qualifying run I was 8th with a .1 reaction :/ and Belle was 14th and in the 2nd qualifying run I was 14th as my reaction hadn't improved and Belle was 18th. Oh well we've got tomorrow to get higher on the qualifying ladder :)
Today my Nanny Shirley and Nanny Carol came to watch and stay with us until Sunday. So far it has been raining a lot, so I don't think we will get another qualifier in :( We were pushed down for a qualifying run only to be pushed back to our pit due to the rain. And again :( Whilst we were down in the pairing lanes we met a man who asked if he could interview me and Belle, he was filming for a programme. We finally got our 3rd qualifying run in and packed away for the day. Me and Stacey Reed have decided to go to the fair; we are going on this tall thing but I have no idea what it is called, lol. Sunday Lots of people from Alamo came today, the only people I knew already were Franc and Selina Leone, who have come to watch me with Selina's sister and niece:) Today it was spitting most of the day, it cleared up in the evening which meant that we got a final qualifier (I got a .06 which meant I was then in place 16). The bad thing was it was VERY cold and Belles engine doesn't like the cold. After the last qualifier we only had a short period of time before going into the first round of eliminations. There was confusion over who Belle and me were up against but it was revealed when we got to the fire-up lane; I had Thomas Abbott-Cook, Belle had Aaron Fensome. Unfortunately Belle red lite by .02; if she hadn't she may have won as she was bang on her dialling time (well done Spencer Tramm) :( Next time Belle! Good news for me... Thomas red lite, so I went careful on the lights so I didn't red light as well :D Also I was .07 off my dialling time - thanks Dad, Conrad and Anna Stanley. Clearly this was meant to be my race as Thomas was pulling amazing lights all weekend! I guess it's anyone's race and a bit of luck :) I wanna win this one for TYSON! Me and Stacey went to the fair again in the evening, but this time with Josh Saunders and Belle. We all went on the egg shaped tall rocket ride and then on the umbrellas. Belle loved it soo much she didn't want to go back to the RV and got upset but it was late.
Lots of teams had left when we woke in the morning due to the down pour of rain. The rest of the competition got rained off at 1pm. The television crew came to interview us in the RV, the same crew were filming for a couple of things so I will keep you posted on that. Once we left Santa Pod we went to get our new gerbils - we have named them Joey and Caramel. I already miss everyone and being at the Pod :( We have got three weeks until the Big Bang... That's ages away :( Tuesday Today we picked up Tyson's ashes, it feels good to have her back :') Also a BIG thank you Roger Gorringe for the amazing photo of Spencer Massey's FRAM Top Fuel Dragster! See you all soon Drive Happy Paige x Sunday 25th March 2012: Gainesville 2012. Wednesday 7th March I got up early this morning and we drove up to Manchester airport. We dropped the car off, checked in and then met up with former/retired top fuel driver Barry Sheavills. We did some shopping for some gifts for the teams, then had some lunch and got on the plane! This journey has actually gone really fast so far! I've watched the movie Jack and Jill twice...only because it is soo funny, it had me in tears!! Lol, anyway I also watched Alvin and the Chipmunks, it was good but Jack and Jill was definitely the best movie ever! I'm not sure what to do next! I think I might just play Temple Run, which will be a good time waster... because I don't know about anyone else but I always want to beat my high score - even if I have just set a new one, I want to beat it again - strange right?? Just to let you know I don't use the cheats - I'm not a cheater! Lol :) We have just got out of Orlando Airport and are heading towards ALAMO to get our rent-a-car!! The only problem is, we have lost Barry. We are going to drive him to the hotel he is staying in, but we have lost him :/ OOOPS! It wasn't me !! Lol. After 10 minutes of texting and calling we have finally found the last member - PHEW! Finally we are on our way! I'm so tired :/ We have arrived at the Hilton Hotel, after waiting in a long queue to check in we are in our room now! The room is really nice! Anyway later on we are going to meet up with David, Charlie, Harry & family at Joes Crab Shack which should be funny as I can't stand seeing DEAD animals let alone crabs! Lol :) We arrived a little while ago, after the man gave us our drinks he asked what we wanted as our main course… I didn't feel great so I said nothing… the man looked shocked when I said nothing, obviously they don't get many customers that say they don't want anything lol. But how many of them have just got off a plane????? Tomorrow is going to be good as we are going to drive to Gainesville, the journey is REALLY REALLY LONG! Thursday 8th March We are now 30minutes into the drive to Gainesville and I've decided to update you all! This morning we went to the Florida Mall and Premium Outlets; Dad only let me get one thing in Abercrombie and Fitch! Which is child abuse! Lol anyway we are an hour and a half away from the Cabot Lodge - which is where we will be staying. Last year there was a load of traffic on our way to Gainesville, so I think that is why we have left in the afternoon instead of leaving nearer to the evening! The traffic last year went on for about 4 hours :( We have arrived at the Cabot Lodge, after a long journey - I can't feel my butt lol. We are just settling in :) Dad wants to go to the shops and get some drinks, so I will report back to you when I get back! Once we got outside we saw Don Corsette from Lucas Oil, he took us to Publix as he needed to get his hair cut! We got everything we needed and headed back to the hotel. Dad has been strange all day … so I have a feeling that something is going on… I don't like surprises! Anyway I better get ready as we are going to dinner with Rob Geiger and his daughter Sara Geiger.
As if … how did I not suspect this??? I knew something was going on… how could they keep this from me? I JUST MET SPENCER MASSEY…. Ahhhhhh! Spencer was going to go to dinner with us but luckily he had to go do this fan fest at the Ale House…! PHEW! There is no way that I would have ate in front of him! Lol :D I had another picture with him!!!! Now we are on our way to an Italian restaurant with Rob & Sara I felt soo bad at the restaurant as I was being really picky :/ And I also didn't eat everything… why couldn't we just have gone to a place that sells normal chicken? Lol anyway I still can't believe that I met Spencer Massey ;D he told Rob to take me to his pits so he can show me all around!!! I can't wait! I'm going to go to bed now so cya xx Friday 9th March Today was a relaxing day as we mostly rode around on a golf cart and watched racing. We went to see Roger and Leah at R2B2 to catch up which was really nice. We also went into Erica Enders' pits and we also met Victor Cagnazzi who runs Erica's car. We also spent some time with Melanie, she is working really hard to get back on the track. I really hope she works it out as Melanie's a real professional and loves all of her fans. We keep on popping in to the Lucas Oil Pits and said "Hi" to Don Corsette. We watched a little bit of racing; Sara had enough of it and was getting tired, so we left early :( but tomorrow me and Dad will be going by ourselves because Rob and Sara are going somewhere! So we will get to watch lots more racing tomorrow! YESS! :) Tonight we are going to go to dinner with Sara and Rob again, not quite sure where we are going, but I'm hoping there will be no more surprises and normal chicken on the menu! Lol Anyway I must be going as Dad is moaning at me because I take forever to get ready, so he wants me to get ready first! I will tell you about the dinner tomorrow as no doubt we will get back to the hotel really late! Bye xxx Saturday 10th March Last night there was no surprises, but we went to another Italian restaurant for dinner. Me and Sara thought we ordered a margarita pizza - you know the one with just cheese - but they are different in America to what they are over in Europe - so me and Sara got a pizza with no tomato sauce, a thin base with tomatoes and spinach on it! It tasted horrible, so Rob told the waiter that the pizza Sara and I ordered was wrong because in Europe it's just got cheese on! So luckily the waiter changed the pizzas for free lol. :) We arrived at the track a few hours ago and we have to meet up with my sponsor Oakley (Oakley have the BEST sunglasses EVER!) We had a great time with the guys at Oakley and then we also went around to see my friend TJ Zizzo, Leah Pruett, Roger Burgess and then everyone at the Lucas Oil Pits!
We met up with David, Charlie & family as they were going to take a walk up to Courtney's pit after her crash. After talking to them for a while we went over to R2B2 and spoke with Roger and Leah for a while to confirm our plans for this year. Well Done to Leah Pruett for getting past the first round. But right now we are standing near the start line with Leah Pruett watching Top Fuel... FINALLY! (long story as to how I was allowed) Lol :) Well done to Morgan Lucas for becoming No. 1 qualifier! Go Morgan!! It's getting well cold, so Dad said he is going to get me a jumper... And I said "Can I get a Spencer Massey one?" and then he said "I guess so!" Im getting a jumper with Spencer Massey on it!!!.... I'm not that excited lol :D We are on our way back to the hotel now! After watching the racing for a little while Dad was getting cold so we decided to head back. I'm sad because tomorrow is our last day! Do we have to go home? I have already told Dad that we don't have to go back if he doesn't want to, but he said he has work to do :( I'm soo tired so I'm going to stop typing in case I start writing weird stuff! Lol Cya Sunday 11th March Today is the day that we have to get on a plane to boring old England :( I have already been to see Spencer Massey to wish him luck and to say goodbye and watched loads of racing on the start line!!. Well done to Spencer Massey and Morgan Lucas for getting through the first round... Better luck next time TJ Zizzo :) We are just about to go and say farewell to the Lucas Oil team and then will be on our way out of Gainesville. I got to meet two very special people today, Champion drag racer Darrell Gwynn who had a terrible accident in his top fuel dragster at Santa Pod 20 years ago. Since his accident he has dedicated his time to make other peoples lives better and safer through the Darrell Gwynn Foundation.
It was a real pleasure meeting two very special people who dedicate their lives to others. We have said our goodbyes to the teams and to Rob Geiger. He has just told me that Spencer Massey was going to give me his crew shirt that he has been wearing at the event :0 OMG AHHHHHH! But we are going now so Rob is going to get it for me and then give it to me when we see him again!!! I wish I could live in America so I could watch racing all the time :( BYE GAINESVILLE, IM GUNNA MISS EVERYONE :( We are in Orlando at our friends house now and I have just heard that Spencer Massey lost in round 2! :( better luck next time, though I'm sure he will win the next event....fingers crossed! :) The event has been called off due to the rainy weather so by the time we get back to England we should know who has won; I think it will be Morgan because he has been running great times! After a good flight we are back at home and I'm already feeling cold, I'm also sad but I guess I will see all the racers in Las Vegas in October; last year I sat in the grand stand waiting for the top fuel dragster final and guess who was in it.... Spencer Massey vs Del Worsham, and I was (of course) cheering for Spencer, so hopefully this year Spencer will again be in the final and win it! Bye and remember "Drive Happy" Paige xx Thank You to: Dad, Rob Geiger, Roger, Leah, Spencer Massey, R2B2 Race Cars, Alamo, Lucas Oil & Oakley:) Sunday 27th November 2011: A busy (and expensive) few days. The trip to Las Vegas was fantastic! Me and Belle met our favourite drivers; Spencer Massey, Matt Hagan, Antron Brown, Melanie Troxel (of course) and TJ Zizzo :) Anyway well here's how the story begins: Day 1 – Tuesday 25th October 2011 This morning we had to wake up and leave the house by 7 o' clock! I'm NOT a morning person :) lol. We had to get up this early because our flight was at 11.45(ish), and Dad likes to get to the airport early. Once we arrive at LAX, we have a 5 hour drive to Las Vegas - this time I'm hoping I will stay awake for the whole drive, therefore I will be able to see the desert and then see the lights in Las Vegas slowly getting closer and closer, bigger and brighter. Whilst we were on the plane I watched Cars 2, Zookeeper and Kung Fu Panda 2, all the films were great!! Especially Kung Fu Panda 2, it's so funny! I love it when we just arrive in America because once you have got out of the plane you get a sniff of American air - it smells lovely. So here we go, another 5 hours to go. We only had one stop, and that was to get something to eat lol. I told Mum to wake me up when you are able to see the Las Vegas lights, but noo she just leaves me there sleeping. So I didn't get to see the lights :( Anyway once we arrived in Vegas we went straight to the Monte Carlo, and to bed I went zzzzzzzzzzzz. Day 2 – Wednesday 26th October 2011 I got up at 6.30am and I was still tired so I decided to go back to sleep, I eventually woke up at 7.07 am. Once everyone was dressed and ready we went down to the Hotel Buffet Restaurant; that was about 8.00am. The buffet was lovely, I had scrambled egg, pancakes, fruit and bacon. Whilst eating our breakfast we all made an agreement... Belle, Auntie Carol, Nan Shirley and Mum and I were all going to go to The Las Vegas Premium Outlets. My Dad decided to go to the track, just to check out were everyone was pitted and meet up with friends!!
After going shopping we met Dad at the Hotel and headed to The New York, New York, to meet Gary Page and his fiancée, Jane. Once we met them we went up to the game area, because Gary Page wanted to go on the rollercoaster ride. So Guess what ... I went on there with him:) The rollercoaster starts inside and goes all around the New York, New York. The ride was just like any other rollercoaster ride, however it goes upside down and all you had was a bar that went over your neck and finally one bar that goes over your legs... Scary!! Belle was too small, so her and Dad were playing on the games – she won loads of tickets!!! The more tickets you have the bigger prize you get. So once we came off the ride I started give her money so she could play more games, to get more tickets. In the end I just stood near the counter and loads of people gave me their tickets:) We ended up with a strange bracelet, a sparkly converse shoe and a weird glow up ball. We had loads of tickets and the good thing was they never expire, so when we go next year we can get some more things/ tickets. After that I wanted to go to Fashion Show Mall because there was a big Abercrombie and Fitch shop :) We walked along the Las Vegas Boulevard, on the way we popped into The MGM to see the lions and finally we went to the Bellagio to see the Fountains, however we waited an hour but they weren't working:( . By then we decided that the Fashion Show Mall was too far away so we headed back to the hotel, I was all walked out. Back at the Monte Carlo Hotel I ate at an Italian Pizza place.:) Day 3 – Thursday 27th October 2011 We got up at 7.00am and we went down to the buffet at 8.00am again. Today is going to be another shopping day:) We are going to be dropped off at the Fashion Show Mall first and then make our way back up the Strip through different hotels until we get back to the Monte Carlo. After breakfast we headed straight for the Mall:) We took Belle to the Build-A-Bear shop first so she could get her Snoopy and Woodstock bears, she loves it in that shop. Whilst in the Abercrombie and Fitch shop I spent an obscene amount of money!! :) I got sooo much but some is going to be put away for Christmas... I feel spoilt!!! Anyway that was all my money gone. We took a long walk through: The Venetian, Bellagio, Caesars Palace and the Palazzo. Towards the end Belle was getting tired and grumpy so we got ice cream from Ben and Jerry's and had a rest outside Caesars Palace, Belle picked the biggest cone they had!! All of the hotels were beautiful! I especially enjoyed wandering through Caesars Palace and The Bellagio, the way they are set out is amazing – best hotels ever! We finally got back to our Hotel, to have a rest ready for the FanFest that started at 5.00 pm. But knowing my Dad he will make us arrive an hour early :) Once we arrived (which was 30 minutes early) all of the drivers were getting ready to go on stage. Unfortunately we couldn't go up with Melanie as she hadn't arrived yet because she was at In n Out Burger signing for fans. Instead we went up with Leah, while we were waiting backstage Belle and I got to meet Tony Schumacher :) We also had our picture done with him and he said that he would look out for us. He also said that Belle and I had nice eyes. Once the fanfest started me and Belle was sitting between to Melanie and Leah:) Me and Belle signed some really weird things like: a helmet, rugby ball, game, banner and t-shirt. Whilst we
were at the fanfest Belle got chosen to go up and enter a dance competition, she came 2nd.... GO BELLE!! And whilst she was dancing Gary Page came to see us:) Thank you Andy and Roger for taking
lots of great photos once again ;)
When the fanfest had finished Gary Page took Belle and me on the overhead zip line, it was soo much fun, but the queue to get on was soo long and when we was just about to get on Gary Page was freaking me out by telling Belle and me to keep our mouths shut so that we don't catch any flies or bats while we were on there as it was dark :) Luckily no one caught any... It was all great fun and a wonderful experience, after our zip line adventure we went to Caesars Palace, to go to the Cheese Cake Factory with Gary Page however that didn't happen because we had to wait about an hour for the next table to be available and it was already very late. So we all went back to our hotels to eat...I had some Pizza again, I love it! We then all went to bed zzzzzzzz. Day 4 – Friday 28th October 2011 Once again we got up at 8.00am and went down to the buffet. This is the first day at the track and I'm looking forward to seeing some great racing:) When we arrived at the track we went straight down to Melanie Troxel's In N Out Burger pit, to say hello to all the crew. Now they give you a VIP band to get in and out of Melanie's pit easily. After settling there we went to the Lucas Oil pit, we met up with Don Corsett and then headed for the track to watch some racing. After a round or so we headed back to the Lucas Oil pit to get our VIP bands and have breakfast, I had a chat with Charlotte Lucas, she is lovely.
It would have been the best day ever if Mum hadn't of embarrassed me in front of him, she told him that I loved his eyes, he just laughed. Then we met Matt Hagan ♥ – who is amazing. She also embarrassed me in front of him... I swear that's what Mums were made for :( We then went to congratulate TJ Zizzo for qualifying No. 1 :) We had a chat with his Mum and Dad who were lovely. The day passed too fast, all of a sudden we were watching the next round of qualifying in the Top Fuel, Pro Mod and Funny Car. Melanie was still No. 2 and TJ Zizzo No.1. As we left to go home we bumped into Antron Brown!!! So I asked if I could have my picture done with him:) He said to come see him tomorrow because he loves the way I speak :) What a GREAT DAY I met Spencer Massey, TJ Zizzo, Matt Hagan and Antron Brown which are some of my favourite drivers ♥ Day 5 – Saturday 29th October 2011 This morning we had breakfast at the Lucas Oil Pits – it was a nice change. They had scrambled egg and sausages... nice! Mum and me decided that we would get Anna Stanley's SURPRISE early in the morning so that we wouldn't have to rush it:) The SURPRISE is a 'Thank You' present because of how lovely she has been, she has helped me soo much and I'm soo grateful to have her helping me soo... THANK YOU ANNA STANLEY x
Later on we had lunch at Melanie's Pit, their chef made amazing pumpkin cakes – which was icing and sugary orange crystals on top of a soft brownie... They were DELICIOUS! After that I bumped into Urs Erbacher and Anita outside the Nitro Mall, and I asked if I could have my picture done. We also met Roy Wilding and friends.
Dinner is served.... All of those who were in the In-N-Out Burger Pits today got a meal from the In-N-Out Burger stall. It was all really nice, I will definitely go back to a In-N-Out Burger place again :) We left the track at 7 pm and took a walk down the Las Vegas Strip, loads of people were dressed up – scary. Day 6 – Sunday 30th October 2011 Today, we had an early start we got to the track at 8.30 am and we had breakfast at the Lucas Oil Pits, we had a chat with Charlotte Lucas and I met Rick (who has a program now called 'Rick Restorations') he was originally off of 'The Pawn Shop'. Wow, who would have thought that I'd meet Rick at the Vegas Strip!? We went for a walk and Belle went around getting her Alamo Shirt signed, she got Spencer Massey's autograph just so that she could annoy me, saying that she had his Autograph and I didn't :P But I did get it, a personalised hero card signed to me! As the day went on it got hotter and hotter... And the day went... FAST. Melanie seemed to be whizzing through eliminations (in the Pro Mod) and before I knew it Melanie was in the semi finals... against our team mate Leah... GO ON R2B2! All of us were cheering. Leah Won!
How cool is this... Belle went to go see Matt Hagan after he'd won in the Semi Finals, he was packing his parachute and one was damaged so he flung it on the floor and said to Belle “You can have that if you want!” How cool :) Now whenever she see's Matt Hagan she always say's I've got one of the end's of his parachute!! Lol. Belle then headed over to Tony Schumacher's Pit and he pinched her nose, I think he remembered her from the Fanfest :) Leah Pruett won in Pro Mod. Mum said we had to leave but I insisted we watched Spencer Massey, I said that I wouldn't move unless we did. TF were the last pair to go down the track!! So ages went by and then finally TF came on... I luv Spencer Massey but he was up against... Del Worsham. Sadly I watched my 2nd fav driver lose (Melanie is my fav):( At least he came 2nd. Mum and I ran all the way back to the car where the others had been waiting an hour!! Oops, sorry guys. I had a great day but already miss it. My family met Spencer Tramm and his Mum at the Cheese Cake Factory for dinner – this time we booked in advance. However we still had to wait an hour before we could get a table, but as I was walking through the Bellagio Mall I found an Abercrombie and Fitch shop, so I did some spending – I spent $56 on A PAIR of shorts lol... Dad went mad. We had a lovely dinner, Belle was sooo tired she fell asleep, ah. Last Day :( Day 6, Monday 31st October 2011
Once we arrived at the track we headed straight for the pits, as we said 'Goodbye' to everyone we knew. We then found out Melanie was testing the FC, so we quickly went to say Goodbye to TJ Zizzo and gave him a hero card for his children, then rushed back to watch Melanie. There wasn't many people testing, but Tony Schumacher and Brandon Bernstein both got some excellent runs in!! We also watched the Fighter Jets practising; there was loads, they felt and sounded like they were going right over our heads. After a short time at the track we had to leave as we need to travel to LAX for our flight, so I went to say 'Goodbye' to Melanie and all the crew!! I wished her good luck with the testing, and said that I hoped I would be able to see her soon. We then made our way straight to LAX Airport. It was a long drive back :( I'm going to miss EVERYONE!! Paige x Thanks to Roger Gorringe and Andy Willsheer for pictures
Sunday 4th September 2011: Trip to America. Monday – 18th July Today is the day I've been waiting for; we are finally making our way to the airport for our trip to America. Tonight we stay at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester and then finally go on to our flight to Orlando tomorrow morning! The only bad thing is that we have to leave school, go home, get changed and leave for Manchester immediately. Well at least we are going to Manchester tonight rather than us getting up really early and then driving to the airport. It took us 10 minutes to get changed and to check the house to make sure we hadn't forgotten anything. So we are now on our way to Manchester. The drive seemed to just drag along :-( We have just about settled in, we arrived at 8.30 pm and now it's 9 'o' clock, so I should be heading to bed soon, as we have to get up early. Tuesday – 19th July I have just got up and it's 6.30 am and I'm soo tired. After a nice breakfast we are travelling to the airport to catch our flight. ? I can't wait to arrive to a sunny hot day in Orlando! The flight is under way! I have just watched 'Gulliver's Travels', it was funny and life like. Had a nice ice-cream. Flight seemed to go quickly and after another movie or two we were preparing for landing in Orlando airport. I love the smell when I get off the plane and walk through the tunnel to the terminal, mmmm florida air!! After picking up our car from ALAMO we headed to the first hotel, Buena Vista Palace in Downtown Disney, which is one of my favourites. An early night for me tonight. Wednesday 20th July Dad, Belle and I went to Publix to get breakfast (Mum didn't come with us as she had migraine). When we got back to Buena Vista Palace we had breakfast and went for a swim with Mum as she felt a little better. We had a lovely swim. Dad had to come and get us out before we shrivelled up. In the evening we went for a walk to Downtown Disney which is just across the road. We had a browse through the largest Disney store in the world; it's so big you can get lost in it; Mum usually does as it takes her hours to come back out!! Thursday 21st July Another day of travelling!! We woke early and packed for our long 10 hour journey to Bristol, Tennessee. It seemed to take forever and my bum was hurting. I saw lots of wildlife and big mountains as we got closer. We went up a mountain so steep that the lorries were going 5 mph (I could have pushed them faster) and they needed to keep their hazard lights on incase they rolled backwards suddenly. Then we came down a steep mountain that had a run-off for lorries if they could not slow down enough; and it looked like it was regularly used!! Dad pulled in to see the view from a tall mountain, it was really pretty. Dad didn't want to stay too long just incase we encountered some dangerous wildlife, lol. We arrived at the Carnegie Hotel where we were going to be based for the next 10 days. We made ourselves comfortable, looked around the hotel and facilities and went to bed, as tomorrow I am going to Bristol Raceway to meet the owners of Halfscale Dragsters who made my new awesome car. Friday 22nd July
After breakfast we set off to Bristol Raceway. The sat nav took us in the back way and we kinda got lost until we see the track, it had beautiful views, the pit area was huge. We arrived just before Halfscale Dragsters so Dad helped Randy and Judy set up their stand. Randy and Judy are the owners of Halfscale and made my beautiful new car, thank you Randy. Judy took Belle and me into their RV to watch TV as there was not much to do and really hot outside. Gabby creeped up on my Mum when she arrived and frightened her, Mum said it was really strange to see her in another country. Gabby warned us that when it rains it just rushes through the pits; and it did. The dark clouds came rolling in over the mountains and dropped lots of rain on us, but the rain was warm. Now I know why they call it Thunder Valley, we had a big storm hang over us for a while creating a river through the middle of the pits. While I am racing here for the next 9 days I am borrowing a Junior Dragster from Halfscale Dragsters. The car belongs to their nephew Daniel. I am going to put my own stickers on the car tomorrow. But first I need to join the LONG queue for 'tech inspection' which we call 'scrutineering'. Wow, there are sooo many cars and it's only the first day apparently more arrive towards the end of the week for the Eastern Conference Finals. I met a lady from Birmingham, England, while I was queuing. Her name was Sonia, she had moved to the USA 15 years ago after meeting her American husband who happened to be the announcer for Bristol Raceway. She was so surprised to hear that I had come all the way over from England to race and thought it was great that I had made the journey. We head back to the hotel to change and get ready for dinner. Dad, Mum, Belle and me went to Pizza Hut; I love pizza!! We have another early start tomorrow as it is practice runs for the Mike Boss Competition. I hate mornings!!!!! Saturday 23rd July It has been raining sooo much! The only cars that had the opportunity to have a practise run were the 330 Outlaw Class! We made some really nice friends who have been helping Dad get the car ready for this week, their son Sean raced in 330 Outlaw! As the day went on it rained and rained; finally they made a decision to call it off. Sunday 24th July 330 Outlaw class is now going through their eliminations as they already had their timed runs yesterday! Luckily Sean Serra wins 330 Outlaw class. Well Done Sean!!! Sean's trophy is huge and very heavy. The winning car and trophy are displayed for all to see on the Halfscale Dragster stand. It looks really cool. Sean drives the Halfscale Dragster 'house' car which Randy is Crew Chief for; this means that Halfscale own the car but Sean drives it for them as they no longer have any of their own children racing juniors. Sean has his own 7.90 dragster which he will be racing later this week. Monday 25th July
Today is MY Elimination day, wish me luck! And it is also Gavin's birthday; he is the grandson of Randy and Judy. Belle was so excited about singing 'Happy Birthday' and giving Gavin his present that she tripped over the back of the trailer and nearly knocked herself out on the golf cart, luckily she just cut her knee and elbow. Belle was very brave and didn't cry. Guess what... I got past first round. However Gabby and my new friend Miranda weren't as fortunate as me (they didn't get through) :-( Second round has come round really quick. And before I knew it I was already getting ready to go down the track! This time I didn't get through, but it's okay because it's my first time racing here in Bristol, and I still have 2 more races to get further. For the rest of the day we watched all of the classes, and then went out for Gavin's celebratory birthday dinner at Cracker Barrel. I made friends with Sean's younger sister, Miranda, who is the same age as me. We had a great time. We took Creg, Christy and Miranda back to the track and got to our hotel about 11ish. Tuesday 26th July It's my day off today as the ages 13-17 are doing their practice runs. Tomorrow is ages 8-12 timed runs; which is me. So today me and my Mum have decided we are going to Abercrombie and Fitch, to spend a fortune! Sorry Dad :-) A & F here we come! After shopping we are head back to the track to watch some racing. Wednesday 27th July Fun day competition today! I only get 1 timed run, then it's straight into eliminations! My first timed run was really good, I got a 0.016 light and the car went 8.915. We have just had round one and I won because the boy I was against pulled a red light! And before I knew I was already in round 3. Unluckily I lost in round 3 – oh well? Now a big group of us are off to Fatz Cafe for dinner. Thursday 28th July The Eastern Conference Finals begins today. We have a few timed runs – but not many. Also our friends from St Louis arrived, so I had their support as well! My day went really fast! After having really late nights throughout the week we have an even later one, as we go to Outback with 20 other people (so 24 altogether). I wonder what the bill will come to?!? : / Friday 29th July Ahhh!! :S It's the first day of eliminations! It sounds really strange, but we only got the first round of eliminations done today as there were that many racers here – it took over 6 hours for one round!! Anyway the good news is I got past first round!! YAY! This means I can come back tomorrow and race!! Saturday 30th July
Second round here I come; I am feeling nervous today as this is the big competition. There were five friends that were all racing today; Sean and Gabby in 7.90's, Miranda and I in the 8.90 class and Owen in the 12.90 class. All of us had already got through first round except Gabby who was knocked out. 4 out of 5 isn't bad though. Miranda and I didn't get through second round but it's okay because Dad said that we are definitely racing here next year, I'm looking forward to it already! Sean and Owen got through 2nd round and continued doing well. We had a really long 10 hour journey back to Orlando so we said our goodbyes? I really don't want to leave the track. We have made some fantastic lifelong friends that I will definitely keep in touch with and hopefully see again next year. I REALLY WANT TO PERMINANTLY RACE IN AMERICA. I had such an amazing time, we learnt lots as well! I NEED a green card, lol! We stayed in contact with friends at the track and found out that Sean Serra (true to form) came 2nd and Owen got through to the Semi Finals but pulled a red light :-( Well done to them both!! Racing was just the beginning of my holiday; we still have another 3 weeks out here – 4 weeks in total! Our friends from St Louis are going to drive back to Orlando with us to spend time together relaxing and having fun. They have family who live in Orlando, which is where they will be staying and we will be spending lots of our time. Over the last 6 years we have been meeting up with the Sabala and Rosa family during our holidays; us kids have great fun together - mostly in the pool. Thursday 4th August Wahoo, it's my birthday! 13 today :-) We are off to Aquatica, Seaworld with a group of American friends and Laura Turburville (we picked her up from Tampa yesterday where she is on holiday with her Mum). It was a really hot day (it's always sunny on my birthday) and Laura, my Mum and me got sunburnt. We all had a fantastic time; got there at 8.00am and left at 8.00 pm. We went back to the Rosa family house to cut and eat birthday cake. Yum!! We are absolutely worn out so it's home to bed. We are taking Laura back to Tampa tomorrow to pack as she is leaving on Saturday. Sunday 7th August For the next few days we are off to stay in Dads favourite hotel ever, the Hard Rock Hotel, Universal Orlando. Whilst we are staying there we are going to go to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Belle is now tall enough to ride 'Rip, Ride, Rock It' so she is really excited. We checked in and started our day at Universal, the park was so quiet so we got all the rides done; Belle loved 'Rip, Ride, Rock It' so we went on it four times!! We decided to make our way over to Islands of Adventure to get some rides done there while it was quiet. We got favourites done so returned to the Hard Rock for dinner and rest ready for tomorrow. Monday 8th August After fuelling ourselves up at breakfast we caught the water taxi to Islands of Adventure to have fun and get very wet!! The park was busier but we got all the rides done and left the park just as a storm arrived. We love these parks and staying at the Hard Rock Hotel so it a shame to leave but tomorrow we are heading to Atlanta to see Melanie Troxel and Roger Burgess. Tuesday 9th August We packed up and left Vista Cay apartments and our 6 hour drive started. We have had a lot of long drives over this holiday so we are used to it now. Our base for the next couple of days is the Holiday Inn Hotel. Belle and I wanted to watch a movie; we picked 'Hop'. I am really excited about tomorrow as we will meet Melanie and Roger again and then spend a day at Six Flags Theme Park with Melanie. Wednesday 10th August
Guess what... today we are going to go to the R2B2 workshop! After that we are going to go to Six Flags theme park, over Georgia, with Melanie Troxel. The R2B2 Workshop was amazing! It is hard to describe here in writing but oh what a place. Let's just say Roger doesn't do things in halves. Kevin, who is the General Manager, showed us some really cool cars and gadgets. I sat in my all time favourite car – A YELLOW LAMBOURGHINI, but didn't want to get out. I met Leah who is the newest recruit to the R2B2 racing team. Leah was getting ready to leave to go do some testing. Roger and Melanie were going to fly out the following day to watch her. Melanie is a very lucky lady! Soon after Roger had taken us around all of the building, Me, Mum, Dad, Belle and Melanie went to Six Flags Over Georgia. Six Flags had some fantastic rides; I definitely would recommend this theme park. I like all of the rides apart from the Ninja, your head constantly bangs on the hard harness (it hurts), only go on it if you want your brain to get shaken. My favourite was Acrophobia, it takes you straight up perched on a so-called 'seat' whilst spinning and then when you get to the top it leans forward so you are standing and then it drops you! It's a 16 story drop.Belle's favourite w as the three WOODEN rollercoaster's! They shake you so badly. We had a great day; I think I'll be going back there! After a quick change we all had dinner in our hotel. We left the adults talking while Belle and I played on the Wii which they had in the restaurant. I was so tired after our long eventful day so I headed straight to bed when we eventually left the restaurant. Thursday 11th August
We are at the R2B2 Workshop again as we are going to say goodbye to everyone. Roger Burgess, the team owner, let me hold a WALLY! It was really heavy. Before we left, Melanie gave us some R2B2 stuff and then we were off on another long drive to stay in a house in Orlando. Friday 12th August Today we are off to visit our friends, the Sabala family, to say goodbye! I really don't want to go home ? Saturday 13th August We have been waiting in the airport for about 1 hour now! The person at the front desk isn't sure whether we will get on this flight, as there is a problem with the plane! That means another day in Orlando! As we came out of the terminal it felt like we had just arrived in Orlando again. :-) Tonight we are going to return to one of my favourite hotels, the Buena Vista Palace. It is really strange because we started our holiday in the Buena Vista Palace and now we are about to end it here. It's nice spending another day in Orlando though. Sunday 14th August We stop off to see the Rosa family on the way back to the airport and say another goodbye. Luckily enough we actually got on the flight to Glasgow! They had a bit of trouble closing the doors, but we got home! The flight seemed to go so quickly, only Dad slept. I already can't wait until I come back to the U.S.A. Thank You's I would like to a special 'thank you' to Half Scale Dragsters and family; Randy, Judy, Eric, Jaime, Owen and Gavin, R2B2; Roger, Melanie and Kevin, The Serra Family; Creg, Christy, Sean, and Miranda (not forgetting Parker and Hot Rod!) for making this trip so special and memorable. And to our friends; the extended Sabala and Rosa family for always making us feel so welcome in Orlando. Wednesday 12th July 2011: New rides. Saturday 28th May - Main Event: At the Main Event I had an interview with Trackside Tina, I dragged Stacey Reed into it! They were amazed how Stacey prepares her own car e.g. fuel, tyre pressure and more. I couldn't do my own car because I would forget what I would have to do! Lol Sunday 12th June Shakespeare County Raceway – joint first: A few weeks ago at Shakespeare County Raceway I finished joint first with Alex Brett, at the Junior Dragster League! My car ran a Perfect ET on one of my runs! The Trophy I received was beautiful! Thanks Alamo for sponsoring this Junior Dragster event. Friday 17th June New Golf Buggy: We have now got a new Golf Buggy! You will all see it at Dragstalgia or the Open Sport Nationals! Friday 24th June - Surprise, Surprise: Last night I received my early Birthday Present! Guess what it was…?! It was my NEW CAR!! EEEP My car came a day early, so no one expected it! All I knew was that Geoff Hauser had a parcel at his work, so we had to go there and collect it… but we couldn't fit it in Dad's car though. Here are some pictures we took:
Thanks to Geof Hauser at Hauser Race Cars for organising the whole thing along with my Dad, and thanks to Randy, Judy & Jaime @ Half Scale Dragsters for building such a beautiful car. Also thanks to Malcolm at Air Sea Logistics for bringing it to England. Dad, Mum, Belle, Geof, Scott and me had fun unpacking it and putting stuff on it. Sunday 25th June Summer Nationals - Another One: Alamo has had yet another addition – A New Crew Member! Anna Stanley has joined the team and has been coaching me; it has been amazing. We began with staging which we cracked at the Summer Nationals, I nailed the lights, however me losing in the 1st round was my fault – I forgot to let off! Oops! :s Thank You Anna! Also we displayed the new car at the Summer Nationals! I couldn't believe how many people were around it when I arrived at Santa Pod! Monday 27th June - National Press at Santa Pod: Anyway, how lucky am I!? On Monday Santa Pod opened the track just for me because a photographer needed to take some pictures of me and my new car! Sunday 3rd July - New Car: The Alamo Team, Spencer Tramm and Pete Kellett, took my new car to the Retro Show at Santa Pod Raceway to do some demo runs… Unfortunately there was a small issue with the fuel tank - then they kinda fixed it! They decided to fire it up to see if it would be okay for me to go down for a run, however then Dad found something else that he wasn't happy with – turns out it was ok, just a new way of doing things!!. So in the end I didn't go down the track, but I did get to see some cool cars. Monday 4th July - I've been nominated: A few days ago my Head of Year – Mr Whitely nominated me for a Northamptonshire County Education Award for excellent commitment and attitude towards School. Guess What?! I'm one of the Finalists, so I have to go to a special ceremony where they announce who have won! Tuesday 5th July – All Eyes On Me: This evening, I had all eyes on me! Around a week ago I got a letter from my School; I thought that I had done something wrong. :s But it turns out that I was getting an award in P.E.! I love P.E. – especially running! Lol Well anyway, when we got there they began the evening by calling up pupils from across the school to receive different awards; I was sitting patiently waiting for my name to be announced, I was waiting for ages, I was beginning to think that they just invited me for the sake of inviting me, but you only get invited if you receive an award!? At last the final award was announced….. And it was me!! The award that I received was
My award, which is only awarded to one person each year, was presented to me by Dan Cutting who is a 3x Guinness World Record Holder for Freestyle Football he had performed at the beginning of the evening and it was amazing!! I received a certificate, a trophy (to keep) and a shield (to give it back next year but my name engraved on it forever). I totally didn't expect me getting that award – there are so many other people in my school that have other great achievements! Wednesday 6th July I've just got back from school, and I've opened a letter with my name on it! It was the USA Junior Dragster Magazine, I only realised when I was flicking through that I am in it! I'm on page 10! It announces me joining Roger Burgess' R2B2 Racing Team. Looking for a new ride: I'm looking for a new ride, for Santa Pod – don't worry it's nothing expensive (well not as expensive as my new car anyway), it's a BMX! So if anyone has a new/used BMX that is up for sale of if you know someone who has email me at alamodragster@me.com! Next week we are off to America to Race with Gabby in Bristol, I will be keeping a diary and my web site up to date with how we do. You can follow us on our trip at www.paigewheeler.co.uk on Twitter @alamodragster or on my page in FaceBook Alamo Dragster – Paige Wheeler Bye for now Paige - x – Thursday 12th May 2011: A busy few weeks. There has been lots of exciting things that have happened since my last trip to the USA, which was in March to Gainesville. The day after I came back from Gainesville I had to do some filming with the BBC for a programme called “Country Tracks”, Santa Pod opened the track just for me to do a few runs (how cool is that), unfortunately one time the camera stopped working : / I don't know what I did wrong!! Then a few days after that I was asked to go on to BBC Northampton to do a radio interview about my trip to Gainesville. What a busy week I had?! Before the R2B2 announcement was made it was really hard for me to keep my mouth shut, I was sooooo excited I just wanted to tell the whole world about it! lol ;) Now I can talk about Melanie Troxel as my team mate :D PHEW! Easter Thunderball Finally after a few months (it feels like a year) of waiting I can finally get back in my car and RACE! I had a great time at Santa Pod, however I lost to Josh Saunders (I didn't mind) in the 2nd round. I only lost by 3 inches! WOW. Josh went on to win the event! Well done Josh and Rhiannon Bellenie for coming 2nd and leading the Alamo Challenge, for now......... Big Bang The Big Bang was a good event. We were pitted right in the corner of our pit area so we could see the live action area! It was really cool because we had VIP Seats – everyone else had to stand outside in the wind whilst we sat indoors in and watched! Belle wanted to go on the Monster Truck that passengers can ride in so I went with her, it was great fun; we want another go. Someone tried to steal my ride – it was BELLE, she kept on wanting to steer my car down to the pairing lanes and when she was doing that she was buckling up the belts and putting my gloves on. How DARE she! Anyway, I lost in the first round to Brad Jackson, he beat me on the lights, it was like the European Finals all over again apart from I won that one... ;) It's weird; like the Easter Thunderball I lost to the winner of the event AGAIN. Well done Brad & Rhiannon x. Also whilst I was competing in the Big Bang the announcement of Oakley sponsoring me went out. I love Oakleys, they are AWESOME! Another great thing happened whilst we were there.... I got my USA NHRA LICENCE!! EEPP... HOW COOL! To get my USA Licence we had to go see a man (who had a cute dog called Bingo), Dad says he was a Public Notary who was licensed to witness my forms - Mum and Dad had to swear on the bible!! My new car design has finally been agreed with Alamo after lots of changes and discussions. Hopefully my new car will be here by the end of May – Yay! Bye for now, Paige -x- Sunday 20th March 2011: Paige's Gatornationals diary. Wednesday 9th March Here we come, Orlando
Anyway, at the moment we are waiting inside the Virgin lounge eating pancakes with bacon, it's really nice :-) The Virgin Lounge has totally changed!! It now has a Nintendo Wii and Guitar Hero!! I'm trying to decide if I should get a facial or a hand massage in their beauty salon?!?!? Both sound really nice : / On the plane We have just got onto the plane and I've just realised we are in Premium Economy!! The sits are nice and roomy – just the way I like them... the only bad thing is that we have to fly for 9 hours and 11 minutes :-( BORING. I've just watched Tangled and its really good – only watched it to annoy Belle – she hasn't seen it yet!! Heehee. Just so I don't get square eyes I've decided to read my book from school, I'm on page 118 and I've got to read to page 165 by Tuesday! OMG Finally I have finished the book and I still have 5 hours left – hurry up... Now I think I'm going to watch Mega Mind, it looks really funny. Mega Mind is actually a really good movie – 3 hours and 15 minutes to go!!! Finally we've landed and we are on our way to the hotel. Arrived At the Buena Vista Palace, Orlando Okay then, we have just arrived at the Buena Vista Palace, after going to Chick-Fil-A for something to eat, from my point of view the BVP looks posh, everywhere is sparkling white and clean... Unfortunately we are only staying here for 1 night and then we are off to Gainesville to watch the drag racing :-) Thursday 10th March Here comes the long drive I've just got up and it's 8.00am in the morning, I'm still really tired. I think we are going down to have breakfast in a buffet! :-) I feel like having bacon and scrambled eggs ... hmm. That breakfast was delicious, I had loads of this special Florida orange juice – it's my Dad's favourite orange juice. Great, we are just about to leave and head on to Gainesville. Wish me luck through the journey!! Hurry Up Traffic We are 45 minutes away from our destination and we have just come up to some very slow moving traffic. There is nothing to do so I might as well tell you what we'll be up to in Gainesville. We will firstly be going to the Don Garlits HoF Ceremony, so I have to dress up in a nice dress... I think I look okay in it but Dad says I look beautiful. Then over the weekend we'll be going to the track to see some racing!! Yay. Another hour and a half has gone past and the traffic is now moving fast so we should be there at 4.57 in the evening. However I won't have as long getting ready because we have to meet Rob Geiger at 6.00 in the evening. Phew we have just arrived
I've just got ready, put on my dress and all my accessories!! So we are now off to meet Rob Geiger. I can't wait until we get there because I'm sure it'll be totally different to anything I've seen so far. Just arrived at the Hilton Hotel for the Don Garlits HoF Ceremony and there is so many people, I have met Charlotte Lucas, Don Coresett, Jeg Couglin Sr and so many other important people in drag racing. The dinner was really good and I enjoyed every minute I was there. After hours went by Rob Geiger asked if we'd like to go for an ice cream, so we left, there was still 3 people to go up and get their Hall Of Fame trophy. We had an ice cream at the Cold Stone, I had a strawberry ice cream after much time choosing. Decisions, Decisions! After we finished eating the delicious ice cream we headed straight for the Cabot Lodge.... to go to bed. Friday 11th March GatorNationals It's 7.45am and I'm up and ready for breakfast. I wonder what the Cabot Lodge has for breakfast – I hope it's nice!! So off we go to see what's for breakfast and I saw they did scrambled egg, so off course I had that and one of their biscuit bread things with a Krispy Kreme and a bit of orange juice... It was a really unusual breakfast but it was nice :-) We saw Robert Hight in the restaurant and lots of crew members from other teams. At 8 am we met Rob, Craig and Sam from Geiger Media at the reception area and headed out to see some racing.
After we had lunch at the Lucas Oil pit we headed over to Melanie's pit to say "Hello" and to wish her good luck. We also headed over to see Roger's Pro Mod, it looks real cool, a bit like Batman's car. Dad got some pictures for Spencer ;-) Later in the day I got to ride in the tow car with Shawn Langdon for a Top Fuel qualifying run. Then to add to the excitement I rode with Melanie in her tow car for her Funny Car qualifying run. I also met Kenny the man who owns Nitro Fish, Pro Stock Driver Bob Benza and we went over to see Erica Enders. This day just can't get any better..... Soon after that we watched a bit of racing and then went back to the Cabot Lodge to go to bed. Saturday 12th March Morning everyone, today we are meant to meet Craig and Sam at 7.30am, so I needed to get up at 6.00 so that I have time to get ready and have breakfast - I take forever to get ready and eat :-) This morning we saw Morgan Lucas and Robert Hight at breakfast! We have just arrived at the track and on our way to see Melanie, Michael Gullquist and Roger to say Good Morning and to wish them good luck in qualifying. On the last qualifying run Melanie's tyres spin early, she pedals it but just misses out :-( Roger, Brad, Ray and Michael all qualify. We watched lots of racing, weather is chilly but sunny; probably better than back home though. Heehee! Oh my god, Gary Page, Laurie Bamford and Barry Sheavills just came over to see us at Melanie's pit. Gary wanted to take a picture of me in my new Oakleys to put on his Facebook. Wow! I love watching Gary racing his Funny Car at Santa Pod never thought he would want to take a picture of me. This was my last full day here; me and Dad have decided that we don't want to go home. Sunday 13th March Guess who I just met... John and Courtney, we were chatting for a bit and John called me pretty!! OMG!! They both wished me good luck for the season. At breakfast I also saw Antron Brown and Tony Schumacher!! They were also staying in our hotel... Soon we arrived at the track and went over to the Lucas Oil Hospitality Area to have some breakfast – it was really nice!! When we finished our breakfast we went over to Melanie Troxel's Hospitality Area to say Good Morning to all of the team. Unfortunately Melanie didn't qualify in the Funny Car nor in the Pro Mod, which is a big shame but I'm sure Melanie, Roger and the team will get everything sorted for the next race and WIN it all!! So we wished Melanie good luck ready for Las Vegas – which is her next big race :-/
Goodbye Sun :-( I would like to say a very special Thank You to: Roger, Melanie and all the Team at R2B2, Forrest, Charlotte, Don, Morgan & Shawn at Lucas Oil / Morgan Lucas Racing, Torch at Oakley, Kenny at Nitro Fish, Rob, Craig and Sam at Geiger Media / go2geiger.com, Tog at Eurodragster.com See you at the Easter Thunderball, Drive Happy! Paige xx
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Finally, this is the day that we set off to Orlando to attend the Don Garlits Hall of Fame Ceremony and see some great racing at the GatorNationals.
I'm looking forward to seeing Melanie and all of her team!
I can now move my legs after sitting in the car for ages!! Now all I need to do is get ready for tonight.
So here we are now at the GatorNationals!! We are currently in the Lucas Oil Hospitality Area with Don Coresett and Charlotte Lucas
(they are some of the nicest people you could ever meet – all the Lucas Oil team)... Don said that I could sit inside Shawn Langdon's
Top Fuel Dragster!! How COOL! So of course I took the opportunity... I also meet Shawn Langdon and Morgan Lucas!! After about 10 minutes
inside his car I finally got out of the car because I needed to go get some Oakley's. So after I got some really cool glasses we headed
back over to the Lucas Oil Hospitality Area; that was where I got to meet Forrest Lucas (the owner of Lucas Oil). Forrest Lucas showed
me a Super Bowl Winners' Ring that he received after the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl because he sponsored the team... he put
it on my finger, it is worth 20,000 dollars and it had real diamonds all over it!! WOW!! What an experience... Forrest said to me that
no one in the UK has ever seen one, let alone wear one. How lucky am I!!
We popped over to see Tim Wilkerson – he remembered me from Las Vegas – he is really nice.
Then we went over to see Roger and all of the R2B2 team. We had a nice chat with Roger, he is such a nice man, Melanie likes him too, she says
Roger's a nice boss. Just before we left, we went to watch the 1st round of eliminations then we said our goodbyes for the last time before we
then drove back up to Orlando for our flight home. I didn't want to go.