It is Sunday evening and for the first time in a very long while, I am home trying to relax in my own house for a change. (Yep, I already changed all the burnt out light bulbs!) When you are on the go for six or seven weeks straight without a day off it is sometimes hard to slow down and relax, but I am giving it my best shot today.

We had a great time in Sonoma. Melissa joined us for the weekend to help us out, as did Myles Freeman of Wiley X, his brother-in-law Gary, and several employees from Wiley X. Their headquarters is only an hour from the track so they don't have to travel very far to get to the race. As soon as Friday night's qualifying was over Gary fired up the grills and made us all an awesome tri-trip dinner. Unfortunately, the Friday night qualifying session ran late but believe me, Gary's cooking was well worth the wait. We are hoping they will be able to make it to a couple more races, maybe Vegas and Pomona – and no, not just to cook for us.

After the Sonoma race, Jamie flew home, I waited for engines to be picked up and then started on my journey to Brainerd to leave the rig. Toni and Melissa stayed in Sonoma for a couple of extra days to take in the sights of San Francisco and visit some of the wineries in the area. Today is Melissa's birthday (and Rob Geiger's too!) and since we wouldn't be seeing her for her birthday, Toni wanted to give her an early birthday celebration. It would have been nice to join them, but I wanted to get the rig to Brainerd, get it dropped off, and then fly home for a few days.

Ironically, my travels took me across Interstate 80 and then north on Interstate 35W. I pushed my driving limits to try to get through Minneapolis before rush hour and ended up crossing the I-35W Bridge about 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning. I made it to Brainerd, grabbed a rental car and turned around and drove back to Minneapolis to catch a 5:15 p.m. flight. By the time I was in the air, the same bridge I had crossed earlier in the day had collapsed into the water and I knew nothing about it until I landed about 11:30 p.m. that evening. Let me tell you, it sure made me stop and think how fragile life really is. My prayers are with all of those affected by this tragic event.

Speaking of life, my niece Joanne is soon to deliver a new baby around the first of September. This will be the second baby in our family and we are so excited. On Saturday, there was a family baby shower for her and for once I was in town and able to attend. You see, in our family, we like any excuse to get together and catch up on what has been happening and we especially like celebrating new babies. Well, Joanne says she is due around the first of September, but after seeing her, I think that maybe it could come at any time. After getting an abundant amount of advice from her mom, sister, aunts, uncles and grandparents I feel confident that she is now more than ready to deliver this child. Aren't families great?

Well, I will almost have a full family in Brainerd this weekend. Jamie and Cynthy left today to take a few days off and drive to Brainerd, and Toni and I will fly there on Wednesday morning. I tell you what – I could really get into this flying thing. Jon will be taking his last two summer session finals this week and then he will also fly into Brainerd to help us out. He has a week or so off before he starts his fall session and I am really excited to see him again. The only one we will be missing is Melissa and she will be busy working at the IHRA race.

Well, the hour is getting late and I have a few more things I want to get done before tomorrow so I best get this blog sent. I want to say, Happy Birthday Melissa! We love you and hope you had a great birthday! (You too, Geiger.) I will write again soon.