First track on the 'unexpected vacation' circuit

Just a post before I go, to whom it may concern.

Traveling today to Laurel Park, winning wagers to be earned.

(The above introduction, apologies to Crosby, Stills & Nash, must be attributable to falling asleep with Playlist.com on continuous-loop.)

Since my surprise departure from an employer of 11 years the Thursday before Thanksgiving, I decided that the unexpected vacation was the perfect time to actually get out to the races. I'm working up plans for a trip to Hialeah and Gulfstream in January or early February, but the circuit begins this morning with Maryland's Laurel Park Racecourse.

The weather forecast is probably decent for December near D.C.; no precipitation is predicted. But with a projected 12:35 post-time temperature of 40, Florida is already sounding a lot better.

Nevertheless, I'll get a chance today both to see Laurel, watch racehorses in action (which, like Pete Rose on playing baseball, I might walk through Hell in a gasoline suit to do) and hopefully cash a couple of winning tickets, but I'll also have the chance to hang out again with a friend from an online horse racing discussion group who once traveled to Gordonsville, Va., to meet me and my horses.

Thanks for the invite, Rob. And for the worthy diversion from worldly worries.