Where is Lightning McQueen?
Where is Lightning McQueen?
Evidentially Lightning is still lost in Radiator Springs because Tommy has been looking at every Mack truck here at Texas Motor Speedway and has not found him yet!
One of Tommy’s favorite scenes from the “Cars” movie is when Mack falls asleep while driving and loses Lightning McQueen on the dark highway… Lightning could not see well because race cars don’t have headlights. He ends up chasing down what he thought was Mack his car hauler…
“Mack, wait up!
Mack, you’re not Mack!
I ain’t no Mack, I’m a Peterbuilt for dang sakes. Turn on your lights, you morin!”
Enjoy the video of Tommy resiting their lines –
Nascar Allstar Race
For our second new Freedom trip we booked a week’s stay in the infield of TMS. We arrived on Thursday and departed on Monday morning. We got lucky in that we were able to position our Freedom with the back bunkhouse facing the track. This provided a tremendous view for Tommy with in the safety of his home on wheels!
The infield for those that aren’t aware, is huge. A section for campers, the garage area, the pit area and they even have a restaurant. Entrance is through a tunnel that goes under the track, which is pretty cool. TMA schedules the entrance of the car haulers which we knew Tommy would enjoy. We were able to line the fence as 18-wheeler after 18-wheeler would blow their horn coming through the tunnel and file into their garage stalls!
We watched this on Friday with the trucks and the xfinity series as well as Saturday as the cup car haulers came in. Never got old to Tommy. Every truck had different color schemes and numbers but none of them were Lightning!
We ventured up to the fan zone of TMS where Tommy encountered a balloon artist that made a special creation for him. He also found a pink Nascar to take his photo with. So fun! Lots of things to do and see that were new to him. He has gotten somewhat used to the racing community as he has gone to several dirt track sprint car events with his dad. We have great friends that run those cars. He has adjusted to wearing headphones if the noise if too loud and cheering them on, whether they win or lose!
He's got the beat
The past few weeks in our church song service, Tommy has become the drummer! This simply means playing his “air drums” from his seat of course, but this has become the new interest and as you can guess the first item on the list for Christmas 2022. At least we made it to May!! LOL
He actually has great rhythm and I believe he could really learn to play by copying what he see’s played by others. Maybe You Tube Videos? Although we are not sure yet how long this interest may last, I have been praying that he would find his niche in this great big world. He has always loved music and this is not his first drum set nor performance, so we are researching!
As a perk TMS hosted an AC/DC cover band Saturday night near our campsite. Yes, this is not the music lyrics for Tommy, but he wore his headphones and played right along side the drummer. He wanted to get really close to see better, until it got too loud! We moved back and he continued to watch and play! A cold front had moved in as we retreated to the RV but believe me the music could still be heard inside!
On to the main event
We definitely have some of the greatest friends. They are great with Tommy and the fact that we always have Tommy with us when we do things and it is never a problem! I know in the autism community this is a rare find, but God really blessed us with them!
They had tickets for Sunday’s race and came and met us in the infield and spent the day with us. Gave us the opportunity to go into the stands with Tommy to see how he would handle the racing noise from that angle. He was such a trouper and lasted longer than I expected before we returned to the trailer, but with each race he was out more and more seeing what all was going on!
Great trip!
Great Adventure!
Long drive home!
Blessing to you and your families as we have reached these summer months. Take the time to enjoy every moment. If you are planning a big vacation, prepare your children. You will be surprised what they can accomplish when they know what is coming next!
God Bless -
