Living my life in the Fast Lane (Chase Elliott)

Chapter 13: Off to Dawsonville, GA

After I had posted everything on my social media accounts about joining the podcast I headed back to Kate's office to discuss more about this interview I would be doing. When I walked into her office she had just got off the phone with NASCAR and was getting my hotel room and my flight booked. NASCAR told Kate that they were going to have everything taken care of for me from my flights, hotel stay, food, cars, etc. Kate then informed me that I would be flying out to Georgia later today and the interview will be tomorrow around noon. She told me to finish up everything and to go ahead and leave for the day so I could go home and pack, so I then could head straight to the airport. I finished what I needed to get done and then went back by Kate's to grab my tickets and everything that I needed for this little mini trip that NASCAR was sending me on. When I left I called Sarah and asked her to come over to my apartment; I wanted her to help me pick a good outfit to wear since I was meeting Chase for the first time. I told her that since it's almost lunch time anyways I was going to swing by Publix and pick us up some sushi for lunch. 

When I got to my apartment Sarah had just pulled up as well. She said for me to not worry about driving myself to the airport because she said she would just take me and then come pick me up whenever I got back to Charlotte. I love having a friend that I've known forever that is close by and can always come over when I need her to. Since it's not football season quite yet Sarah and her husband Christian McCaffrey are going to come to the races for the next two weeks. We sat down at my kitchen table and ate our lunch while we gossiped of course about everything that has been going on. I told her about Chase calling me on the phone and how we talked for way over an hour, I was in the process of setting Mikayla up with Ryan Blaney, she told me how she's been accepted into the wags (wives and girlfriends of professional athletes), and so much more. 

We finished lunch and then we began looking at different outfits for what I should wear to the interview. From dresses to suits you name it we had all different things thrown together as options before we made final decisions. I began packing my small suitcase while she was still pulling outfits for me, I got everything that I would need and just had to decide on my interview outfit. We searched and finally came across the perfect outfit...hooray! It was a black long sleeve crew neck shirt that we were pairing with my black and white tweed blazer and skirt. I also decided to pack extra shoes since we couldn't decide which ones went better with the outfit, I packed a pair of black flats and a pair of black heels that had a sensible heel that I could walk in and not fall in. 

After that was done it was time for me to go ahead and start heading to Charlotte Douglas International Airport. I've always been told to arrive at the airport at least an hour before your flight is supposed to leave because flights may come in early or may not be on schedule at all. When we got to the airport Sarah being the good friend that she is decided that she would wait it out with me before my flight was ready for takeoff. At the gate we wanted to go look around at all the different little stores that were here from restaurants to souvenir shops and even some luxury stores as well. It was so funny because Sarah kept finding different things that her husband and the Panthers were on, she then became very tempted to buy some of the items. She was so excited to tell me that since joining the wags she has been getting different jerseys, jackets, and special high heels that had been blinged out and covered in rhinestones. Then to aggravate me she said if I end up with Chase she would get me some blinged out NASCAR items since I would be a wag. 

Over the loud intercom system we then heard that Delta flight or DL 2609 was now boarding. So we then walked back to where I needed to be and then said our goodbyes. I boarded the plane and quickly sent texts to my parents before flipping my phone to airplane mode. Soon  the plane began moving and we were soon in the air headed back to my home state of Georgia. I set a reminder to text Mikayla a picture of my outfit for tomorrow and ask her which shoes would go better with it since she is a fashion designer after all. I then got comfortable in my seat and put my headphones in and listened to some music. The flight was only roughly about 40 minutes, we were flying into a smaller airport instead of going to Hartsfield Jackson International Airport aka the Atlanta Airport. This plane was a smaller plane that they used as a private plane to make short trips or trips for very important people or companies (cough cough NASCAR). 

We began making our decent into Dawsonville and I began to feel overly excited than I already was. I soon got off the plane and I saw that there was a luxury driver that NASCAR had sent for me; he was standing in front of this new blacked out Range Rover. I walked over to him and introduced myself before handing him my suitcase and climbing into the car. He introduced himself to me as Paul Winchester and that he was my driver for while I was here. We made some small talk before we pulled up to the hotel where I would be staying. I recognized that the hotel was a Courtyard Mariott, they are known for being very nice hotels and that many professional sports teams stay in them. He told me that I did not need to pay him when I had began to pull out some money because this whole trip was paid for by NASCAR. I told him bye and he said that he would see me in the morning and that if I needed to go anywhere to just call him.