Greetings from the World Club (excuse me, Sky Club, or Crown Room, or whatever it is now...) at MSP. This will be another short one, as I'm pressed for time, but I think it's better to check in with just a few paragraphs rather than skip it altogether.

Funny thing, Dave and I rarely try to coordinate our travel, since we both have different reasons for flying out or back at specific times and he often comes in a day later than me, but this time I sent him a note to see which flights he was on, just to be nosey. We both found it odd that we're on two different NWA 757s to Seattle that leave 40 minutes apart. He's in line, right now, getting on his 2:20 flight and I'm in the Club waiting for my 3:00 trip. For once, he'll beat me to the destination, so I told him to scout out dinner options while he's finding the hotel.

Yet another new hotel for me. We're staying northwest of the track, in Kent, at a Hawthorn Suites. Sounds like it will be a nice place...

I'm putting a quick photo gallery at the bottom, because it's faster to send everything in this way rather than try to fit photos next to the appropriate paragraphs (a process that takes actual thought...) The first one is great, and it came from my esteemed colleague Lachelle Seymour, who is a wonderfully talented former member of the NHRA Media Department staff. She's now working for the track in Joliet, both on the circle-track side as well as Route 66, the strip. They had a NASCAR race and she sent me a shot from the garage area. Just check out the t-shirt being worn on the left side of the image! Ta Daaa... Thanks Lachelle.

Then, the next couple of pics are actual screen captures from the ESPN2 show last Saturday night. I lost track of the number of emails I got from people who saw my back-to-back extensive moments of "face time" but after finally getting to see it I think I'm close to qualifying for a Screen Actors Guild membership card. I've since gotten about a dozen emails with photos people took, either off their computer screens or of their actual TV screens, so I'll share a couple of those. I think they all perfectly make the case that I was, indeed, born with a face made for radio!

And... Reader Dan M. from Parker, Colo. sent me a shot he took from the stands, and in this one I actually don't look morbidly out of shape. I'm still on a diet, both in terms of dropping a few excess pounds as well as making an effort to simply eat better (and less!) A couple of servings of fruit and veggies everyday can't do anything but good, although it's REALLY hard to find either of those items at the race track. It ain't easy to eat well when I'm "at work" on the road, but we'll give it a good shot to at least think before I munch.

The final pic is the latest view of the Target Field webcam, for all of you who write to ask how the new ballpark is coming along. They've been working on the actual field surface for about a week, and it's been easy to see layers of subsurface go down, as well as drains and irrigation. From what I heard a year ago, they have to get the grass in by August for it to take root and be mature enough to make it through the winter, so the clock is ticking.

The other great sign that the ballpark is coming along is the addition of actual seats for us to put our butts in. They've got the right field and left field bleacher seats in, have started on seats out by our section in the right field corner, and now have multiple sections totally complete behind home plate. It looks more and more like a ball yard every day. Today in Minneapolis: Sunny and 71. This would've been a PERFECT day for a game...

Well, I gotta go... First assignment tomorrow is for me to complete the decal work on our back-up LRS Shelby body, which has not been out of the trailer all year so it doesn't have any of the contingency stickers on it. We're getting to the part of the season where we might need it, so I'm having Jeff and the boys get it out for me tomorrow morning. I'll try to keep them straight and level...

Talk to you soon from Seattle!

Wilber, out!