I'm Back!

I'm back in the Bay Area, after a good, long flight from Germany, via Dresden and Munich. Deustchland was an unforgettable experience, and I have tons of photos and good stuff to share. I'm pressed for time, due to arrive in Monterey this afternoon, but I wanted to drop a line and say, "Hey! I'm Back!". See you guys soon. Actually, here's a bunch of photos about the journey - but not all of them!

On the flight. . . Marlboro Ducati, Factory Kawasaki, half of Dorna's crew, Pramac D'Antin Ducati, and many more from the GP community. It was fun sorting through the luggage at SFO, but for the only time, I was able to breeze through Customs with my US passport! Gotcha!

Although the sun was still shining, I was pretty wiped out from the hectic and long week in Germany, and also from the flight. I made a point of staying awake so that I wouldn't be super jet-lagged, but that might have back-fired on me because later I would discover I would work over-night at the circuit on Wednesday. . . . Anyway, if you know this house you know what it looks like across the street from where I stayed on my first night back in the States.

Step One was to drop off the luggage (and funnily enough, I was already travelling with one broken suitcase, and picking up my other one to put it into the car at the airport - well, the handle snapped right off! Score! Two broken bags!), and then get some food. A late night noodle place - Thai - fit the bill, and also provided enough food for me to have a totally kick-ass breakfast the next day.

Step Two was to hoof it around the city until I found one of [I]these[/I] so that I could start putting the pieces back together of my lost wallet. It felt so good to be walking around in the California Sunshine, that I didn't mind the heat so much. It was fun watching the cars and listening to the bass of the kids trying to show off. I didn't end up doing much except getting some cash, thank god. But in the immortal words of our state's leader, "I'll Be Back."

Step Two allowed me to get ahold of Step Three.

Step Four: Oh yes, who's a happy guy?!?

It's soooooo good to be back. On the way to Monterey, I had to stop and see Big Red.

Headed over the 17, we passed God's gift to four wheelers.

Because we flew in as early as possible, much of Tuesday was spent recovering from Jet-lag and getting ready for the work ahead. For most, that meant driving around to Gilroy's outlet mall, shopping in Salinas, and just shopping in general. The dollar is so weak right now. Sucks to be us. But the beaches are still free. For now.

On Wednesday, we were geared up to work in the morning, but learned our shipping containers had not arrived at the track yet. That meant waiting until 1:30, and before that we ate at the most incredible place (insert sarcasm here).

This should be enough of a hint to figure it out. I really wanted this US trip to be special, because for much of my team, it's their first time in the USA. This is definitely not where I wanted to go, but I'm not the boss - yet!

Bah, still waiting to get it going, and the more time we waste not working at the track. . . . . well, it just comes out of my sleep reserve.

Posted by Liam on July 18, 2006 08:16 PM | Permalink