• -Mitsubishi New Zealand offering a free goat with pickup purchase. Might have more takers with it vice-versa. http://tinyurl.com/r86vqz #
• -Happy hour with Danielle on the patio on a perfect Seattle afternoon. #
• -It’s too nice of a day to be inside soaking up air conditioning. #
• -Apple updated stock, and my new (refurbed) MacBook is on it’s way! I’m bursting with geek joy. :) #
• -Ten killer tracks for you to download from @morganpage. I’ve been loving them all afternoon. http://tinyurl.com/q5tvgp #
• -All set to buy a new MacBook and then the one I wanted is out of stock. Now I have to wait. Bummer. #
• -Sitting on Mom and Dad’s porch in the sunshine, reading a Brock Yates book and listening to the wind chimes. #
• -Hanging out in Dad’s garage, listening to the Eagles, drinking beer and tuning engines. #
• -Breakfast on the porch with Mom, Dad and Grama, overlooking the Jocko Valley. #

Relaxing on my parents’ front porch today - four days into my five-day weekend of indulgent home cooking, Montana sunsets, dusty atv trails through the foothills and commiserating in the garage around the beer fridge - I finished the book I started on the flight from Seattle Thursday night, Brock Yates’ autobiographical recount of the original Cannonball “Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash” races of the 1970’s. It’s a great read for anyone that happily soaks up half a paragraph describing the glorious exhaust note of a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona (such as myself) and also for anyone that has watched the various Gumball and Cannonball films and lustily, idealistically wished for a chance to take part in something so utterly mad and utterly life-changing.

• -At the airport early, just like i always am. I spend way too much time killing time at Starbucks. #
• -Headed to the airport, Montana-bound. #
• -Taking a quick midnight drive. Cold air and dry roads makes turbos happy! #
• -Upgrading some wiring in my car. I love the smell of solder. #
• -Starting my sick day with breakfast, a handful of pills, and a dose of vitamin D on the patio. #
• -There is a bear roaming around Seattle and it’s headed for my house! http://tinyurl.com/omkfxn #
• -One of those “rain forest” nights at home, where rain is falling softly and I can hear birds in the trees and the rustling wind. #
• -Photos posted from this weekend’s race at Knox Mtn in Kelowna, BC. http://tinyurl.com/pxpj5u #
• -Overheard at Knox Mtn: “I like Japanese classics, American thunder, and the occasional lightweight British car. With new wiring.” #
• -Being welcomed to beautiful British Columbia by the gracious Canadian border patrol. #
• -Tracking treasure down, three hundred miles to go. #
• -Eating dinner in my garage so i can revel in my freshly-washed car. #

It was a perfect weekend to cruise over the Okanagan mountains to Kelowna, BC and attend my favorite northwest track event - the Knox Mountain Hill Climb. I originally ventured into the great white north seeking this unique, european-style rally two years ago - with my buddy James Walper - and the event was just as excellent as I remembered it. The drive up there, even more so; please bear with all my out-the-window shots as I was completely enthralled by the scenery along the highway, but there was rarely room to pull over and take a proper photo (plus I never would have made it home). ;)

Although I didn’t intend to bring any souvenirs, I did manage to return with a horrendous allergy/cold/flu (swine?) but had a worthwhile trip despite not being able to hear or sleep or breathe for most of it, and managed to confirm a few things for myself:

• My Z is a fantastic car. Besides being totally sexy, it is just brilliant to drive (finally getting the new suspension settings where they should be surely contributed to that) and the 700 miles I logged this weekend flew by, bringing me home all too soon. I can sit in that driver’s seat for literally hours without even considering a break, and while there are things I’d love to fix, I’m extremely happy with where it’s at right now. I guess it’s just nice to validate that all the hard work and money are worth it - and they are. :)
  
• I am good at traveling alone. A few weeks in a foreign country with a lonely hotel room and an expense account have taught me that it’s okay (enjoyable, even) to walk into a restaurant and request a table for one, and I’m resourceful and creative in finding ways to entertain myself in a strange town. Of course, I would have loved a roadtrip companion, but I’m pretty experienced at flying solo and it’s something I do well. I like that about me.
  
• I’ve got a crush on British Columbia. There’s a lot of it to love: all the rugged, dramatic, sweeping wilderness that I grew up surrounded by in Montana, but on a larger scale; all the lush cascade rain forests of Washington, but with more sunshine; wide open highways and a driving populace that knows how to “stay right except to pass”; the metric system (it’s easier to use, people). Everytime I’m up there I find another reason to go back, and Kelowna is definitely on the short list of places I’d like to “keep an apartment” someday.
  

The other thing I learned this weekend is how quickly my dual-battery grip is exhausted running the autofocus on AI Servo… so I didn’t shoot as much of the race as I would have liked to. On the bright side, that left me time in the afternoon to actually just enjoy it as a spectator, rather than through the lens (and halfway up a tree). Next year, though, I’ll have battery reserves for the late afternoon, and two working nostrils so I can stay for Sunday’s runs, too.

Click here for the gallery

• -Setting my alarm early, hoping i can sell stock before the market opens and beat the bimonthly nosedive. #
• -Erica Smith: “life shouldn’t end with a period, it should always end with a comma.” #
• -Being productive in a quiet corner across town, loving being a white collar worker with autonomy and mobility. And a job. #
• -Ripping my John Wayne movie collection onto my AppleTV. Who’s up for a Duke marathon? #
• -Shipped a hard drive to my Mom to fix her iMac, and it’s the wrong one. Back to square one. Doh! #
• -Rickrolling, 2009-style. http://tinyurl.com/p4qtza #
• -Planning my weekend in Kelowna, for Knox Mtn. (http://tinyurl.com/oaltm6) Still seeking roadtrip buddies. #
• -Eating the sprinkles from the bottom of the circus animals bag. Best part! #
• -I’m a cowboy; on a steel horse i ride. I’m wanted: dead or alive. #
• -Ordering toaster bags so i can make grilled cheese sandwiches at work. Now if only there was a can opener for tomato soup… #
• -It’s been a long, frustrating day and I still have 3 hours of meetings left… #
• -No internet in my building for the rest of the day. Getting out of here early. Whee! #
• -Trying to gear myself up for this 12 hour day. #
• -Watching the rain fall from inside my garage. #
• -Sync your Google and Mac calendars and contacts automatically - super slick! http://tinyurl.com/pa8elz #
• -Having a white trash pool party in the sun (lawn chairs in the driveway). #
• -Everything I know about dating I learned from McLintock. #
• - Driving home in the sunshine after a terrible week at work. If you can call parking on the freeway “driving”. #
• -What kind of soulless cretin lays off a new mother while she’s gone on maternity leave?? #