In Melanie’s last blog entry, she let you know what she did the weekend of the Phoenix race. I went to the race in Phoenix by myself just to make sure if a deal came along I was there to seize the opportunity. I had mentioned in one of my previous blogs that my grandpa wasn’t doing very well, and shortly after I arrived in Phoenix, I got a call from my sister that he had passed away. It’s tough going to the races these days not driving, but that made it even a little worse. I changed my return flight home to Sunday morning and tried to make the best of the weekend. I got to hang out with my buddy Aaron Rowand on Friday and fixed him up with PR Ted so they would have a place to hang out on Sunday after I left.

Melanie and I drove back to Ottumwa for my grandpa’s funeral on Monday morning and spent some time with my grandma and family. My nephew Gage got to go on his first airplane ride as he and my sister flew back from NC for the funeral. His birthday is March 10th, and my sister had planned a trip to Disney for his birthday. So the Saturday before the Gainesville race, Melanie and I loaded up the car and drove from Indy to Orlando to spend a little vacation time with Gage at Disney World. It’s a long drive but well worth it when we arrived at the condo at 12:45 a.m. Sunday morning Gage was still up waiting on us to arrive.

We spent the day Sunday hanging out at the pool and planning our next three days at Disney. Bright and early Monday morning, we drove to the park and started our adventure with a 4 year old at Disney. Now Gage and I are big buddies, but nothing compared to his buddy Melanie. Everywhere we went, he wanted to hold onto Melanie’s hand. I did get to put him on my shoulders and get a little attention once in a while, but Aunt Melanie was definitely his favorite. We got in line for a ride called the train not knowing it was a roller coaster. We got to the ride and decided we would give it a try and see if he liked it. My sister is pregnant again, so she bypassed the ride. My brother-in-law Mike and I sat in the car in front of Gage and Aunt Melanie. We looked back to see if he was loving it or hating it, and he was all smiles having a ball. He is definitely going to have a future in racing because he loved the speed. The only problem with taking him on a roller coaster for his first ride was that is all he wanted to do is ride another roller coaster.

The five of us spent the rest of the day at Magic Kingdom riding rides, eating, and walking a lot. My sister did great for being pregnant and having a 4 year old wanting to see everything. We were all tired and worn out, so we called it a day and headed back. My dad had driven down from Charlotte Monday to join us and was waiting on us at the condo. My mom couldn’t make it down as she was still back in Iowa with my grandma. Aunt Melanie made us all dinner, and we called it a night.

For Gage’s birthday on Tuesday my sister made reservations for breakfast at one of the resorts. As you eat breakfast the Disney characters come around to your table to visit the kids. He was all smiles as he got a birthday cake for breakfast and got to meet Goofy, Minnie, and Donald. The waitress’ all had their hometowns on their name tags, and I noticed one’s said Ottumwa, IA. Now that is a coincidence for sure.

After breakfast, we headed back to Magic Kingdom since we didn’t get to do everything we wanted in one day. The economy may be bad, but it sure didn’t look like it at Disney. There were still a ton of people and long lines everywhere. We spent the entire day riding more rides and then went back to the condo for dinner and birthday cake. Gage opened presents and then Uncle Tommy was his favorite for a little while. I got him a LEGOs set, and we proceeded to build things.

On Wednesday, we went to Animal Kingdom. It was much different than Magic Kingdom, and I liked it a lot better. We spent most of the day at Animal Kingdom then headed to the Hollywood Studios Park that night. The hardest part was explaining to Gage why he couldn’t ride the big roller coasters. Another three or four inches taller and Aunt Melanie will have her someone to ride all of them since I am not that big of a fan of roller coasters. I don’t mind going upside down or in a corkscrew, but I don’t like riding the ones that go way up in the air. We had a great time with the family at Disney.

On Thursday, Melanie and I headed to Gainesville. We made a stop in Ocala at Big Daddy’s museum since Melanie had never been. I hadn’t been since we donated the car I got into the four second club with, so I wanted to stop and check it out too. I’ve mentioned a few times that growing up at the track as a kid I used to hang out at Marvin Graham’s trailer and he would watch me while my parents were up running my dad’s car. He has always been my childhood hero, and Thursday night he was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame. We went to the banquet Thursday night and sat with Marvin and his family at their table. It was great listening to all the stories they told about the old days in drag racing. I wouldn’t have missed seeing him get inducted for the world.

We spent the rest of the weekend at the track. Melanie’s car owner Roger Burgess was racing in Pro Mod and did a great job, qualifying number one. I’m still busy working on things and have some hope that I will be in a car soon. A couple of things are in the works, and I will let you know as soon as something happens.

We drove home Sunday night and didn’t get back into Indy until 4:15 in the morning Monday. After being gone for over a week, we were ready to get back home and get our dogs. I slept for a couple of hours then went and got them. Just before we left town, our hot water heater went out. We had bought a new one but hadn’t got it hooked up yet. We spent all afternoon Monday installing that. Of course, like anything, it wasn’t without problems, so four or five trips to the hardware store later we got it done. The weather in Indy has been great, so we have been working around the house getting things ready for spring.

Whit Bazemore had got me into riding bikes a couple of years ago, but without Whit around last year, I had not been riding much. A friend of ours loaned Melanie a bike to see if she would like riding before I talked her into buying one, so on Tuesday we went for a short ride. I don’t know if she is convinced yet about biking, but at least it got me back on the bike and I’m committed to riding more this year. It is a great way to stay in shape, and since I am looking for a new ride, I can use that.

It doesn’t look like we are going to Houston for the race. I think we will take one off. I’m still undecided about the Vegas race. It is my birthday weekend, and it’s always a fun time in Vegas. Hopefully someone will call and I will have a reason to go.

Check in with you later,

TJ