Five days. That’s how long it’s been since my last blog, and we’ve packed plenty into that period of time. I’m now sitting in our motorhome using Jenna’s laptop (computer, that is) in the hope of not getting too far behind. Her and the little dancing machine (more on that later) are still asleep, so now is the time to write. The date today is 7-11. That’s also my Funny Car number (just leave out the hyphen, please). Today is also Frank Hawley’s birthday, so happy birthday, Frank (like he’s reading my blogs).

Our trip out was pretty smooth in the Monaco RV, but not exactly cheap. Not counting tourist stops, and discounting the fact that we had about one-third tank of fuel when we left, it still amounted to just over $1000. Now, don’t think that all of that was just diesel fuel, as we did have to top off with propane (okay, $925 of it WAS diesel fuel). It was still in the high 90s when we left Southern California, and it never got below 87 until we were into Utah, well past midnight. Our newly recharged dash AC unit just doesn’t cut it trying to cool 2000 cubic feet of hot interior, so we needed to use the roof units as well. Easy, unless you’re under a quarter-tank of fuel, as that is where the generator cuts out. So the three of us went to plan “C”, and let evolution do its’ thing with our sweat glands.

You guys that read this regularly will know that, although Jenna and I aren’t exactly in line for “most exciting couple on earth” (do they have an award for that, and who are the nominees?), we like to sightsee when on our roadtrips. Stop one was the Zion National Park in Utah. We figured we’d drive through the lower portion with the RV and see what we could. Or not. With a 50-foot overall limit (and no one who wanted to buy the PT hitched on the back of the RV), that was out of the question. So we decided to take the shuttle tour. Next time we should make sure that Jason has eaten and had a good nap, as trying to entertain a one year old AND enjoy the beautiful sights of nature are apparently mutually exclusive. We hopped off 2/3 of the way through and took a returning bus back to naptime. Once back near the base, suddenly he turned back into “Mr. Happy” on dad’s shoulders. Maybe when he’s older, Zion!

We made it into Colorado Monday night, and decided to stay in the parking lot of the Dinosaur Museum so Jason could see the sights on Tuesday morning. This time we stuffed him with Gerber’s and made sure he was well rested. He was a bit intimidated by the life-size recreations, as was dad. I came up roughly to the knee of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, so it’s a good thing they’re extinct (at least for us Homo sapiens). He really liked the museum, and we had a hard time keeping up with him. Luckily Jenna had the foresight to buy him a leash. Before you go thinking that we’re mistreating the little guy, it really is the way to keep from losing your child. It’s kind of like a backpack with a tether attached, only it’s a monkey (a stuffed simian facsimile, not a primate that visited the taxidermist). You too can purchase your very own “monkey on my back”.

Also along the lines of keeping Jason entertained, Jenna thought that if we bought a portable DVD player that it would be easier to keep him from getting fussy on long road trips. It worked brilliantly, as he stayed occupied for several hours watching cartoons that mom had recorded from home. In fact, Jason looked a lot like me at home, reclining back watching TV while stuffing his face with Cheetos. I couldn’t be more proud!

After leaving the museum, we decided to do more sightseeing and headed over to the Colorado National Monument. Confusing, as there really isn’t any “Monument”, per se, it’s one big national park. Once we turned off the main road we were able to see the “no trucks” sign-nice placement, guys! Now we were committed, and the paperwork the ranger gave us had phrases such as, “low tunnels, steep drop-offs, narrow curves, honk horn around corners” … you get the picture. We were now stuck having to go the four and a half miles to the visitor center before we could turn around. It was tense at moments, but well worth the sweaty palms and excessive use of low gear. The effort required to build that road was extraordinary, and I couldn’t imagine what those men went through in the 1930s to give us a scenic drive. I just wish they would have made the tunnels wider!

I participated in the NHRA/Bandimere press conference in downtown Denver on Wednesday, and then headed over to MADCAP Racing Engines to visit my favorite Sportsman engine builders. Getting them to make reliable horsepower for my Blackbird dragster is easy; getting them to smile is tougher than making 1.86 horsepower per cubic inch with one carburetor!

Wednesday evening the folks at Gates belts and hoses, one of our sponsors, hosted a dinner for all of the DSR crews. It’s so gratifying working with people who are friends as much as they are supporters of our racing efforts, and this was just one more example. I love our sponsors! The work that Gates has put into our blower belts is so leading edge and challenging engineering that you would be stunned, yet they still use these belts in industrial applications. My guess is that those farmers probably don’t cycle through belts like us fuel teams do.

Thursday was the Big Day if you race a Mopar and happen to be in Colorado. They close off downtown Golden for one heck of a party. Not only did we have the Army car and Mopar funny car on display, but they had Garlits Swamp Rat 12 (with “Big” himself cackling the car!) as well as the factory Mopar off-road, drifting, and road race cars and drivers in attendance. They had done a big Mopar photo shoot the day before up in Red Rocks, and I’m sure the shots will be very dramatic. Anyway, we had several hours before we needed to go to the event, so it was time for more Beckman family sightseeing! This time we took Jason to the Train Museum to see all the big “Choo-choos” that he sees in his kids’ books. He makes great train noises and got to go up in the cab of several cars. My father did a stint on the railroad when he lived in Maryland, and his brother and father both retired from the C & O Railroad, so I suppose Jason has some choo-choo in his blood.

While at the Mopar block party Jason discovered his hidden talent for dancing. That certainly isn’t a trait that runs in the Beckman blood, but he entertained everyone around him with his crazy moves. We should have brought the video camera, as it really was funny.

It’s Friday here in Bandimere (actually, it would be Friday everywhere in North America and the majority of the world right now), it’s in the mid-90, and it’s getting time to head over to the pits and make some noise.

Stay tuned.