All those tiny little streets

The day we spent in Zacatecas was really very special to me. It is so beautiful and as close to magical as any place can be. There are many shops in which to browse in and Jon went and enjoyed some of them and got some shopping in for his wife that his no doubt was missing. What I didn't realize was that while I was having the experience of a lifetime my son Will was having a terrible time. Since the streets were very narrow and twisted not to mention the streets were packed for miles around with cars and people trying to meet the teams and see their cars. By the time Will found us in front of our beautiful colonial hotel, The Emporio, he was major stressed out. It truly made me sad that he wasn't having as much fun as I was. What did make me happy was the way he found ability to get himself together after I hired a taxi and went with him to go get our trailer near our hotel. It was obvious that he was feeling a lot better after the trailer was near the front of the hotel as he began talking about the car and reminding me of some things that needed to be done on the car. I can't begin to tell you both as a racer but even more importantly as a father how proud he makes me and that night was no exception. He really outdone himself and when he would say, "Dad... don't worry about it. I have everything under control. Just relax and enjoy yourself."

After Will and I finished changing some tires and getting Lucky locked up in the trailer and with Jon and Steffan having a nice dinner and relaxing I went to the famous Bullring for the awards ceremony and dinner. This was really the first evening we as a team went our own way for the evening. It was nice but in retrospect I would have loved had we all been together on the podium that night when we took the award. When I stood up there holding it up above my head I was smiling but I really missed my best friend and son.

My son and I laugh each time we look at these two photos. As I stand alone on the podium the cameras went off both from in front and behind. If you look you can see Brett Haller taking the photo from behind while the one in front is being taken. That evening when I walked back to my hotel I ran into Will and showed him the award and I was excited to show Jon but when I got to our room Jon was sawing some serious logs. To tell the truth, knowing he was able to unwind and get a great nights rest that he deserved made me smile too.