Hello to everyone from Jim. I’m back to keeping up with my blog instead of letting Toni and Jamie have all the fun. I have been meaning to write all week, but because of the recent tragedy with Eric Medlen I just couldn’t bring myself to write anything. I really am not ready to deal with the finality of losing a fellow driver and friend. We will continue to keep the Medlens and everyone in the John Force Racing family in our daily prayers and thoughts as they try to come to grips with the loss of a loved one. We know that Eric is in a better place but we will still miss him terribly. Please continue to pray for his family and friends.

The reason I was not at the Gainesville test session was because we were invited to do a promo for the employees at the Sea Ray Boats - Sykes Creek manufacturing facility. We left the track Sunday night and drove the rig to the plant located in Merritt Island, Florida – about three hours from the track. Nothing could have prepared me for the overwhelming response we received from the staff and employees. Everyone was fascinated with every aspect of our racing operation from the tractor-trailer to the lounge and of course the racecar. You could almost figure out which department each employee was from by the part of the car they were most interested in the most.

I signed autographs for a couple of hours and near the end, Jamie, Jon, and Jon’s girlfriend Allie took a tour of the plant. Wow, were they impressed. It is hard to explain to someone how these beautiful boats are built and the best way to do it is a plant tour where you can see the boat in every stage of assembly. I know it got Jon and Jamie’s engineering minds going just looking at the plant.

After loading up the tractor-trailer and moving the rig to a secure parking lot, we began the task of loading our boat for our annual “spring break” trip to the Florida Keys with Jon and Allie. Unfortunately, Jamie had to get back to the shop so he couldn’t go with us this time. We finished loading the boat, had a nice dinner at the Harbortown Marina and hit the sack early. Our plan was to make it to Miami by Wednesday and then Hawks Cay, in Duck Key, by Thursday. The plan was to jump out in the Atlantic and haul butt at 35 mph to Miami -- about an eight-hour trip. Well, the seas in the Atlantic were out of control and eight- to 10-foot seas are no fun no matter how big of a boat you are on. So we decided to stay on the inside on the ICW (Intercoastal Waterway) at least for a while.

It took about four hours for us to get to Fort Pierce Inlet and for my patience to wear thin with the slow pace of the ICW. I had a bright idea – let’s jump out through the Inlet and see just how bad the waves really were. Well if any of you have ever watched the Discovery Channel and seen the Coast Guard Cutters going off of the coast of Oregon in raging seas, you have a partial vision of what I was looking at over the bow. Our 56-foot Sea Ray is about 24 feet from the water line to the top of the bridge and while we were traversing the inlet on our way to the Atlantic it seemed like every wave was over the roof of our bridge.

Toni was not the least bit impressed and didn’t start talking to me again until the next day. I haven’t seen her that mad in a long time, but Jon and I had a great adventure. Poor Allie just hung on for dear life as Jon kept telling her that this really wasn’t so bad.

Once we got out in the ocean it didn’t seem so rough. We only took waves over the bridge every five minutes or so but these Sea Rays are built for conditions way worse than anything Toni will ever let me play in. It isn’t the boat you have to worry about, it is the people. I still don’t understand why they don’t put seat belts in these things! We ended up running in the ocean for about four hours before we got to Lake Worth Inlet where we could easily escape the rough seas and find a marina to dock for the night. At this point we decided to throw the schedule out of the window and just relax and enjoy the sights on the ICW for the rest of the trip as we worked our way to Hawks Cay.

We spent the next night in Ft. Lauderdale and arrived in Duck Key right on time Thursday afternoon. Gosh, I love this place. Even as relaxing as it is being on the boat, when you come here you reach another level of relaxation. We’ve just been hanging out at the pool, piddling with the boat, learning how to use my new navigational electronics, and enjoying the time with Jon and Allie. The food here is great and Jamie will probably be mad about my weight when I get to Houston. You know how those crew chiefs are; it’s all about performance. But right now, I’m on vacation, enjoying my family and the Caribbean seafood.

I will try to write again after we get the boat back to Cape Coral and before we start our drive to Houston for the race. In the meantime, I hope everyone takes the time to realize how important your family really is. Kiss your kids tonight and tell them you love them. You never know what tomorrow may bring. Please say a prayer for all of Eric’s family and friends. I hope you enjoy some of my pictures.