The last part of Portugal was the 24 hour race! The race was Saturday from 3 pm until Sunday at 3 pm. We went to the track Saturday before the race started.
This is the car
This is in the rig and is where the guys were to sleep
My honey right before the race started! They got penalized and had to start at the very back. But hey... they had 24 hours to make it up, right?
Diane Putman! Our husbands used to race in the same series and we have spent many of track days together over the last 14 years! Her husband races in a faster class but has been doing the European circuit for several years. It was so fun to bump into her!
Heather's husband bought all of us a Magnum ice cream bar :)
Trevor, Heather, Andrea, and Harriet watching the race from the tower
It was "record temps" during the race (nothing compared to GA summer heat and humidity). Several teams had pools for the drivers to cool off in. The pink flamingo is hilarious!
Chris is about to go in!
We stayed until the evening and then headed "home". We only had one car and couldn't get an uber... so we rode him with 4 in the backseat. Not the safest, but a fun ride!
We went back to the track Sunday morning. Over night, there was an oil spill and they had to pause the race for several hours. Chris Lewis came to the condo for some rest, but Chis Wadle and Seth slept in the rental car (and brought blankets and pillow from the condo)
View of the track from the tower (where we watched the bulk of the time). We LOVED the panoramic views!
Chatting it up with my man during the race
Seth being interviewed during the race
Crew cheering at the finish line. It was crazy how different it is in Europe. In the states you'd NEVER be able to be in the pits! If you were in the pits, you'd have special credentials, pants, and closed toed shoes. In Europe it's definitely more "at your own risk" mentality.
There were several classes running this race. Seth's team finished 3rd. Granted, there were only 3 cars in their class but I think it's incredible to run those speeds for 24 hours and complete the race!! His car had an issue at the beginning of the race that put them out for a bit and they just never made it up. SO SO SO proud of them! I balanced myself on this ledge to get a better shot of the podium
Podium!
The team after the race
My handsome man!! I just love him
After the race, I went to Heather's hotel rooftop deck and we layed out by the pool. It was nice to get some one on one time with her.
We ordered these coconut cocktails that were delicious!
That night, we met back up with everyone at an amazing pizza place. We ordered 3 different pizzas and totally pigged out. YUM!
Monday July 9th was our anniversary! We've been married for 13 years. This was a great place to celebrate our past, present, and future together
Heather was with us for our adventures. We drove to where we rode our bikes earlier in the trip. I wanted to show them the spots Harriet, Andrea, and I saw. This is that same steep hill with the pretty views.
We'd been in the grottos via kayak, jetboat, and now we went in a tiny motorized boat. This was super cool! A man steered it from the boat. It sat 6 people. When we went in some caves, the man would say "DUCK" as we narrowly avoided banging our heads on the cave entrance.
Love the light peeking through!
I walked around the jutted out rock in the ocean while Heather and Seth went through the tunnel. The water was SO cold, but I was brave and went all the way under! :)
Heather's flight left later that afternoon, so we said our goodbyes. :(
That night, Seth and I headed out on our own for an anniversary dinner.
We ended up eating Indian. It was lovely to sit outside and enjoy our yummy food!
Chris, Andrea, Seth and I left Tuesday morning to go back to Lisbon (our flight left early Wednesday morning). It was a big of a struggle getting the luggage into the wagon, lol
We drove to Algarve (where the ladies did the jet boat). It was fun to park the car and walk around to view what we'd seen from below
Just gorgeous. I truly couldn't get enough of these scenes! God made a special place here
We drove the 3 hours back to Lisbon and had one last amazing meal at a restaurant that specialized in red meats. We were kind of seafood-ed out (never thought I would say that!)
This was the outdoor area. There were bean bags scattered and low tables. It would be so fun to come back!
It was an old embassy (looked like a palace) turned into shops and restaurants. This elevator was quite old and interesting!
We came home Wednesday morning and were thrilled to be reunited with the kids! I missed them like crazy! This was truly a once in a lifetime trip! We're so thankful for our parents taking the best care of Adelyn and James.
Andrea is photographer, so I have to give her credit. Any pictures that are really good are taken by her! She has quite the eye!
