We went on our little vacation somewhere in Tennessee last weekend. I was wrong; it wasn’t Lake Cumberland like I thought. It was relaxing though. The cell phones didn’t work; I had no internet access for about three days. Once in awhile, you need that I guess. We didn’t get home until 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. At that point, we had to rush and get everything ready for the motor home to leave for the Western Swing. Nick Bastios, the new guy on our team, took off on Monday and drove the motor home to Denver for us. We’ll let Nick blog during the Western Swing.

We got some really bad news while we were on our trip. I got a message from Kevin Knock saying the son of Freddy (the ticket guy) was hit by a car and killed in the street in front of their home. They live down the street from us. The child was only five years old. It’s a shame. Something like that really hits home when it’s someone you know and people that you’re close with. Our condolences and best wishes go out to the entire Bear family.

We flew out at 9:45 Monday morning for Los Angeles. Spike flew with us. We changed planes in Denver and Mel ran out to the security checkpoint and handed Spike to her mom, so Spike has been in Denver all week. Then, we switched planes and went to L.A. for the ESPYs. We got here around 1 p.m. and they had a limo waiting on us. We jumped in the limo and headed to the hotel. We’re staying at the Mondrian Hotel (www.mondrainhotel.com) in West Hollywood. It’s very modern and trendy.

The folks from ESPN have been great. We drag racers are not used to this celebrity treatment. As soon as we walked in the door, they escorted us to a suite and gave us our room key and the schedule for the week. Then, Mel got a gift bag for her nominations. We also got two more gift bags. The first thing we did once we got to the room was open the bags to see what she got. I even made out pretty good because there’s a lot of men’s products. There was everything from clothes to electronics.

Later, we had an appointment to go through the “style studios” where companies have rooms displaying various products. They offer free products or gift certificates. It was like Christmas in July. We got two $5,000 gift certificates for a car customization and wheels. We got a five-night stay at a resort in Idaho, two nights at the Palms hotel in Las Vegas, two nights at a Florida resort, something for a resort in Cabo San Lucas. It goes on and on. There was so much stuff, I can’t even remember the half of what it was. We’re going to have at least two to three more suitcases than we came here with. I felt like some Hollywood star during the Academy Awards.

That took longer than expected. Then it was off to a golf-pairing party on Monday night. She got more free stuff there. We hung out there for awhile and ran into Jim Trace from the NHRA. It was nice to see a familiar face. We were at the golf party for a bit, then around 10 p.m. we headed back to the hotel. We’re not used to West Coast time and we were pretty tired.

Tuesday morning, Melanie had to get up at 5:45 a.m. to head downstairs to go play golf. I was on my own yesterday. Melanie ran into Phillies outfielder Aaron Rowand (pictured here with me) on the bus the golf tournament. I hung out in the hospitality suite for all the athletes and their guests while she was gone. I ran into Jason McElwain, Doug Flutie and Shaun Alexander. I recognized a lot of faces, but I couldn’t place who they were. I also walked up Sunset Blvd. and acted like a tourist.

Mel got a free spa treatment, but she was golfing, so I used her gift certificate at the hotel. The massage was nice. She got back to the hotel around 6 p.m. She met Aaron and he’s a big drag racing fan, so we met him and his wife that night. We hit it off and hung out with them last night. He’s going to come to the Reading and fall Las Vegas race. He plays for Philadelphia and lives in Las Vegas, so that will work out well.

After the pool, we went to another party at the Roosevelt Hotel. ESPN’s Tuesday Night Fights were broadcast live from the hotel. That’s where I met Jerome Bettis (pictured), Tom Brady, Hines Ward, Sam Hornish, Reggie Bush, and plenty of other famous athletes. The athletes and celebrities had to walk down the “blue carpet,” so I escorted Aaron’s wife in the back way since we were the “other” half of the famous folks.

We slept in this morning. We did breakfast and now Mel is out getting her hair and makeup done. Mel met Jaime Little, the IRL pit reporter, at the golf outing so they’re getting their make-up done together. I’m hanging out at the room now. We have to meet at 3 p.m. for a champagne reception before we get in the limo and head over to the Kodak Theater for the red carpet walk. I get to walk with Mel tonight, so that should be fun. After the ceremonies, there are two after-parties; one at the The Highlands and one at our hotel hosted by Lance Armstrong. I’m working on getting everything packed now. We leave for LAX at 8:30 tomorrow morning, hopefully with an ESPY or two in hand.

It’s been a busy week. See you in Denver.