Overall, I think Vegas was a good weekend. I got to see a lot of people that I have not seen in a long time. We had a great crowd, including some people from back home in Iowa. It's nice to race in front of a lot of friends and I think it was a great weekend for the crew. It's nice to finish the season running so well and having a good year.

We came up one run short of winning the event, so that was kind of a bummer. When it was all over on Sunday Mel and I went to dinner with her mom and some friends. I was so tired from the entire weekend that I could barely stay awake; amazing how the sun in Las Vegas wears you out. It also has something to do with the season coming to an end, too, but all the adrenaline and stress brought on from competing in a national event wears you out.

But we want to be ready for Pomona and get a jump on next year, so we stayed in Las Vegas and tested on Monday. We tried some new things and used some new parts that we're thinking about for next year. We only made a couple of runs, but it went well.

On Monday night we took the motor home to a repair shop. Mel had a two-nights-free certificate at The Palms that came in her goodie bag from The ESPYs, so we used that and stayed in Las Vegas for a couple of extra nights. We had some sushi for dinner and just tried to shake off a long weekend.

What better way to relax than go shopping! We went to the Caesar's Palace shops on Tuesday and just hung out. Being in Las Vegas on Halloween is great. We just people-watched and saw a lot of great costumes walking around Vegas. We didn't dress up; we're saving that for a party on Saturday.



We also had some complimentary passes to the Ghost Bar, which is not something I would like to do again. I held my phone over the glass that looks all the way through the hotel, but that was as close as I got. I am NOT a fan of heights. That photo is as close as you will ever get me to the glass floor. Not big on that at all.

We also had dinner at top of The Palms at a place called Nove. Then we went to the Playboy Club. Mel wanted to see Ghost and I wanted to check out the Playboy Club, so we made a deal to see both. All of the dealers and cocktail waitresses were dressed as bunnies, and that was about it. It wasn't nearly as cool as I thought it would be. Needless to say, we didn't stay long.

We got up early on Wednesday and went to the SEMA Show, Mel did autographs at Don Schumacher's booth and I did autographs at the B&M booth. We didn't stay too long because we had to get ready to leave for our cruise.

About six months ago a good friend of ours, Chad Head (he used to work for NHRA) asked us to join him and his gal Michelle on the IRL banquet cruise. He works for IRL now and it sounded like a great idea six months ago.

But now that we're having to fly from Las Vegas to Orlando, back to Indy on Sunday night and back to Vegas on Tuesday, it seems like it might be a little hectic for this time of year. But I'm ready to go relax and just chill out for a couple of days, so maybe this is exactly what we need.

I've never been on a cruise before, so that alone makes it worth the extra travel. I'm going to do whatever it takes to relax and enjoy myself. I'm not even taking my computer! There are going to be lots of IRL employees and racers, all the people who want to celebrate the end of their season.

Gene Simmons is going to host a costume party on Saturday, so the four of us are going to dress up as the Flintstones. (I think it's pretty obvious I'll be Barney…..) I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of that. As soon as we get back, we're going right to Pomona for the season finale. I'll write as soon as I get back from the cruise.