Greetings, blog readers! LP here with a few things I love about going to Chicago. I know, I know, it’s a few days late, but like Doug and I always say, things are busy around here! If we could figure out way to put about 32 hours in day, it would help out tremendously, but I’m not exactly going to hold my breath waiting for it to happen. So you are stuck reading yet another catch up blog and putting up with my apologies and promises to try and do better about keeping it updated.

Okay…back to Chicago. I traveled with the team from Topeka directly to Joliet, putting me there early enough to enjoy an afternoon off and a little adventure into downtown Chicago. I piled into the van with six other members of the Snap-on team on a rainy afternoon with plans to indulge in what is quite possible the finest pizza in the country. Once we found a spot to park to exceptionally tall van (watch out for those one way streets, Jon….), we hoofed it over to the Giordano’s close to Sears Tower and made absolute pigs of ourselves. These stuffed pizzas are about two inches thick, full of cheese and scrumptious toppings with the delectable sauce on top. One piece had Heather and I talking about how stuffed we were, but before we knew it, we had somehow polished off another piece each. If you have never had Chicago style pizza, do yourself and favor and make the trip. Seriously. Even if you live in Oregon or Alaska or the other side of the planet. Reason number one I love going Chicago.

We decided we needed a least a little bit of exercise to work off the pizza, so we headed to Sears Tower. When we bought our tickets, the ticket guy warned us that the visibility wasn’t the best. He said it was three miles, which for a rookie like me sounded pretty good. Yeah…not so much. On a clear day, you can see for 40-50 miles. This didn’t deter us from heading up, though. Not everyone gets the chance to go to the top of one of the tallest buildings in the world, and we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity, clouds or not! And that’s pretty much what we saw: clouds. With the exception of one side of the building (photo), the view was pretty similar to that from an airplane because we were above the clouds. All in all, the experience was still cool, and I plan to make the trip again when the skies are clear. Reason number two I love Chicago.

Route 66 Raceway is the closest track to Snap-on’s corporate headquarters, and there were a ton of people rooting for us over the weekend. On Sunday morning, Doug and Steve Johnson signed autographs at Snap-on’s huge hospitality tent. They had it set up really cool, with all kinds of tool boxes and tents and Snap-on goodies. The place looked amazing! Kai, Alicia, Scott and Baz spent the day with us, going for a ride in the tow van and weathering the storms. Getting to see the people we communicate with via email and phone in person means a lot. Reason number three I love Chicago.

After our semifinal appearance on Sunday, it was time to pack everything up and hit the road. We made the short trip up to Crystal Lake, Ill.,, to get everything ready for a Snap-on display on Monday. We parked the rigs in the parking lot at Snap-on and headed to the hotel. The guys were a bit delirious from a long day. They were singing and laughing and fighting and starving and a little annoying. We were packed like sardines in the van, and for some reason I was behind the wheel. I felt a bit like a mother with a van load of rambunctious kiddos, but we managed to make it safely to the hotel somewhere around 12:30.

Snap-on’s facility in Crystal Lake is a product center. Not only do they disperse all the tools from this location to their satellite velocity centers, they repair torque wrenches and pneumatic tools, they house the industrial customer service group, human resources, and other vital processes. They were having their annual Great Place to Work celebration, and invited us and Steve Johnson to participate. We arrived bright and early to get everything set up so the employees could see what it’s like to be at the track. The weather still wasn’t our friend, but this time it was just spotty showers all day, no threat of tornadoes, thank goodness, and it certainly didn’t keep us from putting on a show for the employees.

We fired up the car while several hundred employees looked on, and as usual, the looks of delight and amazement on their faces were priceless. Doug signed a bunch of autographs, and the team mingled with everyone and answered their questions about the car, the rigs, and racing in general. We had a great time, and before we knew it, lunchtime was over and the time to pack everything up had arrived.

Marjorie Rittmer and Dave Hart took good care of us, making sure our bellies were full and giving us a full tour of the product center. Steve Johnson and his crew came along, too, and spending time with those guys always makes for an adventure. Our schedules at the track are so different we don’t get to spend much time with them, and getting to catch up on everything in the Pro Stock Motorcycle world definitely goes down as a plus. Even though Crystal Lake is about an hour and a half north, it has to go down as reason number four I love Chicago.

Hopefully, all you faithful blog readers are already aware that Sunday is Father’s Day. Kids – hug your Dad and tell him you love him. If you can’t do it in person, then call, or send an email. Do something. Dads- hug your kids and tell them you love them. Call, send a card, something. I will be seeing my Dad for the first time since the accident this weekend, and I will be thinking of and praying for Doug, Jessie, Jon and James as I hug my Dad and tell him I love him. Celebrate this Father’s Day like you never have before, and celebrate it like you might not ever again.

Until next time, LP