Hilly places and belly dancers

Let me start out by saying that San Francisco is a beautiful city. Between the majestic bay view to the unique building designs, the place truly is a photographers paradise. I arrived into the Bay area on Wednesday evening and spent the first night in the Golden State near the airport. Needless to say, I heard every red eye flight into the place but the great thing was that a 'Married with Children' happened to highlight the overnight hours on channel 47.

The next morning, Johnny and I took off for a scenic drive through the area and I was shocked to discover that Honda and Toyota had dealerships in downtown San Fran. Literally, dealerships a few stories high. It was great. Eventually we found a motel (the La Luna Inn) and met our intrepid program girls, Cinnamon and Maddie. We made our way down the curviest road in America which was a slalom course that would even make Motor Trend drivers scary.



A lunch at Fisherman's Wharf was up next and I had some amazing Shrimp pasta. We then took of for Joe's Crab Shack and the happy hour specials. The rest of the afternoon and evening was a great time of sharing stories and laugh's. Someone along the way, Johnny wound up singing "Wanted: Dead or Alive," and totally nailed the rendition on the karaoke bar stage that drew rave reviews from the locals.

Today, we made our way to Chico and I took off to enjoy the area. Chico State is a great looking campus and the town has a great main street district full of shop's, music scene's and ice cream stops. While I was at one, I noticed that a 5 year old boy was staring intently at a belly dancer in the store across the hall from the ice cream stop. The wide eyed young man looked up at his father and said "Daddy, what is that girl doing? It's AWESOME!" Without missing a beat, the boys dad replied, "Paying for college son, paying for college." Classic tale!

Tomorrow we race over at Silver Dollar Speedway which I am looking forward too intently. I keep hearing rave reviews about the place and am looking forward to my first race on the quarter mile.

The purpose of this blog is to mainly chronicle my travels with the World of Outlaws but it's also a way to let you guys get to know me a little bit more. I'd by lying if I had said my life has not changed tremendously in the past few months. My view of the world has greatly expanded and many of my views have changed. Unfortunately, you can sometimes get lost amidst all the changes. I haven't learned a a great deal in my 22 years on this planet but one of the few things I have picked up is that you should never, ever lose your core values and beliefs. Sometimes, I have to slow down and remember that. With some many things swirling around, having that base, that anchor, means a great deal. That all being said, I would like to share a song with you. It's about aspiring to be the type of person you can be proud of when you look into the mirror.



-Gump