photo courtesy

by Gary Erdakos
S.T.A.R. Resources Operations Manager & NASCAR Technical Advisor

This wasn’t your typical road trip – the one with the wife and kids , DVD player, and chants of “ Are we there yet?” and “ I gotta pee”. No, it was just the two of us with hours of deafening silence ( which beats the heck out of “ Tell me what you’re thinking” ), trying not to offend one another with choice of radio station, and the chant “ I gotta pee”.

It began innocuously. Half of what should have been a 9 hour sojourn to Indy was spent trying to leave North Carolina. You know you’re in trouble when people are getting out of their cars on the Interstate to stretch and share bottles of water. Chalk this one up to a “red flag” for retaining wall repairs.

Having survived this hiccup surprisingly well, we proceeded to fulfill our expectations. I was one of the very  few who drove hundreds of miles to go to Indianapolis Raceway Park and not attend the Brickyard 400. Trust me, this is always the right decision. From there I got a ride to  Danville, Il. – the “Cradle of Hollywood Stars” ( Gene Hackman and the Van Dyke brothers ). There I watched the Brickyard on TV. Again, trust me, this is the only way to see a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Mary Elizabeth had dropped me off in Indy ( literally, the car barely came to a stop), and she continued on to Sweet Home Chicago – a mere 3 hours behind schedule. On Sunday she picked me up in Danville and we returned to our base station in Orland – the lovely, Mediterranean, and heart –warming home of Paul and Margarite, host and hostess par excellence.

When visiting Chicago, my three main  goals are to go to Greek Town, Nick and Vito’s, and a Beef Sandwich joint. We accomplished only the Beef  thanks to Mary’s brother who, while we were digging in ( this sandwich demanded a utensil ), dialed up Dennis Farina for a chat.

We also got to visit the core group of family and friends, and managed to conduct some business. As a bonus, the Daniels treated us to a Sox game. Here’s another sports venue tip. The best reason to go to Sox Park ( or is it Comiskey Park or Kaminski Park or U.S. Cellular Field) is for the Kosher dogs. While at the ballpark, it immediately became evident that I am no longer the demographic target of Major League Baseball. Actually, I’m no longer the demographic target of anyone other than the State of Florida. The ballpark is way too “busy” for me. They have taken Nascar’s “ rolling billboard” philosophy to a new level.

For the most part, we can say, in the imitable words of your President, “Mission accomplished”.

© 2004 Gary Erdakos, S.T.A.R. Resources, Strategic Teams Achieving Results, a performance management consulting and education firm that specializes in creating environments in which people want to work. Call 704-535-5610 or visit www.starresources.biz for more information.