Okay so here goes. Aside from a better forecast, the other reason we decided to explore the interior of BC was because we learned that the CASCAR National Series races were being held in Vernon, BC this weekend. Mark Dilley, (as in Taunja’s (Rick’s niece) husband) is a CASCAR driver (#9) and we wanted to surprise both Mark and Taunja by showing up at the races unannounced. We knew Taunja wasn’t going to be there but she follows the website religiously and if we said we were going to Vernon, she would figure it out and give Mark a heads up. By arriving unannounced we could post a picture of Rick and Mark together and surprise Taunja, the girls Bryden and Faith AND Mark!

We found Mark last evening and only posted the picture in our Picture section with this explanation to follow. We are in fact staying in a B & B just 10 minutes from the race track which is a few miles north of Vernon in the Okanagan Valley.

This evening we went to one of two events being held at the track this weekend, the 100 lap qualifiers where Mark placed 4th in the first race. It was a lot of fun for me because #1, I knew a few of the racers from the days when Rick worked as a member of Mark’s pit crew, #2 it isn’t nearly as noisy as a NASCAR race, #3 the weather was great without being incredibly hot like the NASCAR race in Indiana was that we went to last summer, #4 the seating was a lot roomier and more comfortable, #5 I wasn’t being showered with beer by unruly fans, # 6 the races didn’t last for a hundred years like a NASCAR race and #7 getting out of the racetrack lot took a couple of minutes versus several hours. I have a lot more I want to write about and I will over the next few days when I am not using Wifi at a Starbucks and I have a place to plug in my computer. I will add a ton of fabulous pictures as well but mainly this post is for Taunja, Bryden and Faith.