Start your engines!

Team Thompson joined my parents and our family friends, Gary and Kayleen Bye, last weekend up in Windsor, Calif. where they had rented out a timeshare/condo. The Emersons and the Byes get together each Memorial Day weekend to watch the Indy 500 -- now that both sets of parents are empty-nesters, they decided to take the annual gathering on the road each year and visit one of the kids in their new locations.

There are six children total and we're all one year apart. I'm the oldest (and the only girl). The order is as follows:

Christine E., Cody B., Joe E., Bryce B., Matt E., Tory B.

Last year they visited Cody and his family as it just so happens they lived in Indiana at the time and last year was the year the Emersons and the Byes attended their first Indy 500 all together.

Cody and I are the only ones that live out of state...Thus...this year, they came to California. I guess California sounded a little more tempting than Prosser, Wahluke or Pomeroy. Sorry Joe, Bryce and Tory!

The Emersons and the Byes have been getting together to watch the Indy 500 since before I was born...it all started in the 70s when my dad and Gary, who had been working for an agriculture publication in the D.C. area, snagged tickets to the actual race in Indianapolis from Tom Sneeva, an Indy racer at the time.

In the years that followed, they got together each Indy weekend to listen or watch the race. They'd rotate between each other's houses (the Byes live in Pomeroy. That's where my dad grew up farmin' wheat and raisin' cattle n' hogs) and they soon introduced ladies, who soon became wives, and eventually six children were added to their Indy madness.

Watching isn't all we do...the adults (a group into which I was finally inducted this year) draw names of drivers, tally up the starting positions, keep track of different events (first out, worst/best pit time, finishing positions, etc.) and have themselves a friendly competition. We even have a revolving trophy where we list a new winner each year. The losers also get trophies, because we're fair like that. The loser trophies are handsome, handmade creations made by the previous year's loser. Some of them are real gems.

I've actually been to a live Indy race! I went in 2005 with my friend Jen from Georgia whose family goes to the race each year. Jen's grandfather used to work at the track so the family has tickets they use each year and Jen, knowing my family has an annual Indy gathering, gave me a ticket for my birthday.

This was down on the track...through Gasoline Alley...we're not sure how we were able to make it in there because not "just anyone' is allowed. And, you're supposed to be wearing close-toed shoes and have some sort of a badge. We just walked in and were able to get this pic with a pit crew next to one of the cars!

Here is a team getting their driver ready. We were right near the start/finish line and directly across from pit stops for Dario Franchitti, Danica Patrick and Tony Kanaan.
Go Tony!! Tony Kanaan is one of my favorite drivers.

I met Jen during my semester abroad in Australia. Jen had heard me say something about the Indy-style (the Nikon Indy 300) race coming to Surfers Paradise (near our Uni) and we soon discovered we were meant to be friends for life. Who else randomly meets another girl in Australia and discovers their families both have a random only-the-Indy-500-race obsession with formula 1 racing?

So...we went to the race, though those Aussies were good about closing off the streets and hiding any glimpse of the action from people who didn't buy tickets. We had fun anyway, even though we walked and walked and walked and narrowly missed getting stuck in a horrible thunder storm.

This year, Justin was able to get in on the Indy action. We all drew names the night before -- I had GREAT starters: 1. Helio Castroneves (3-time winner), 2. Will Power (ha), 4. Ryan Briscoe, 11. Justin Wilson, 33. Sebastian Saavedra (Rookie). No one drew Dario Franchitti, who actually won the race. There were three names left over, and Dario was one of them.

Our rookie player, Justin, actually won the contest -- though most of his racers had poor starting positions, they had managed to wiggle their way up to decent finishing positions. He's hooked on Indy now, too!

It was good to get back in on the Indy action...I haven't been to an Indy gathering in five years! I was the first of the kids to opt out for a weekend, but I had a good reason...I was going to the real race!

However, the following year, I decided to stay in the Seattle area so I could spend the weekend with [my then boyfriend] Justin because it was his birthday. A chain reaction followed: Cody got married, moved away and had two baby boys, and the other boys eventually went off to college and the army. Joe and Bryce have been away from home for a few years pursuing careers in teaching and Tory, who graduated just a few weeks ago, has already landed himself a sweet job that will take him around the state and elsewhere.

We hope to join in on the Indy weekend action again soon. I think we should coordinate a reunion weekend!