Family fun in the desert

Flying back out to Vegas to do some video and photograph Marc taking the kids out for rides in the truck.
A lake shaped like a bird.
Landing at 5:30 p.m. So dark and shiny.Oops too much oil. Looks more like Harv had another accident...
Test run behind the shop.
Some boys stopped to watch.
The electrical SOS tape from the SNORE race.
Out in the desert to take the kids for some rides.
Braxton
Harv
Father and daughter
Harvey cracking Ira up.

SNORE 250- Stranded in the desert

Prepping the pre-runner for the next race, SNORE 250, also in Primm, Nevada. Gotta find the one wire causing the battery to drain...
Here's that tire that got torn up in the last race. It's a keeper.Ira, the I can't believe it's not butter Handyman.An upside-down view of the reflection in the pool.
My pretty black widow again.
She's flicking TJ off because he tried to spit on us. (Note spit on left)
A new tail light.
Rick Geiser, one of our truck builders. Him and that trail mix.
Getting ready to practice some tire changes.
Ready, set, go.
We love contingency and tech.
Will someone take off with the trailer in the middle of the night?
This is what everything looks like at 5am on race mornings.
At pit 2, waiting for the truck. And waiting. And waiting...
We never saw the truck because the motor died at mile marker 12. To make matters worse, we had no radio contact with the truck. So Marc and TJ spent an hour or so trying to fix the truck on their own. When they realized it was a lost cause they tried to communicate with other racers to get word back to us. At this time we were only hearing rumors about where they were and that the hood was off and they were sitting on top of the truck. They had spelled out "RADIO" on the underside of the truck's hood with random pieces of electrical tape. I wish I had a pic of that! We gave another race truck some new radios to give them. Finally we had some communication. But the race officials wouldn't let us go onto or near the course to get them, so they had to navigate back to the main pits on foot. It was about an 8ish mile hike through the desert and a nice steep mountain (the ridge in the picture below), and they hadn't eaten and only had some water left after being stuck out there for hours.
A closeup with a 400mm lens of the tower that they passed on their descent. I thought I could see them and then realized there was no way...So we waited around.
"Hmm... why did the motor die."
Braxton stole my lookout lens to take some sweet action shots of other trucks at the finish.
"We were so hungry that if we saw a lizard, we were gonna eat it!" TJ
So we got the racers back, but we couldn't go out onto the course to get the truck until the race was over. And I had a flight out that night that I couldn't miss, so I had to leave before they went out to go get it. I was so pissed. But I've got some pics of it taken by Matt Stanger, I believe. They didn't have power steering because the truck was dead, so it took hours to get through the course and out to the flatbed to tow it back to Vegas.
Below photo by Matt Stanger
Harvey forgot his helmet. Look at that face!
Photo by Matt StangerBack at the house. Waiting for my dumb flight... Until next time.

Wedding and water

Some pics from the Riot Racing driver, Marc Ewing's "wedding" at his house in September.
Cheers! We're already married!
A precious little moment.
A little bathroom trouble.Marc's pool slide was so awesome. You blaze down that thing. It's really tall and windy.
Harvey shoved me into the pool because I was too lazy to put a suit on. So I swam in my clothes. It was a blast. But then Harvey had to pay...
Look at that technique.
Flawed.
What a tool.

Going back to the desert

By mid September we were back in the desert for another race. It was tough going back out there, but these guys made the best of it. Riot ended up getting 7th place at the race in Primm, Nevada. What do we do when we're not racing and waiting for the truck to arrive- get haircuts apparently. Here's Harv. More pics at http://riotracing.com/
Ira
Matt
Below photo by Matt Stanger. Gee, thanks.
We met out in the desert the next morning for TJ to go for a quick ride in the truck- the first time we've seen it since Vegas to Reno.
Our Riot mother hens.
Now it's time to fix everything still off with it.
Getting ready right before the race.
Marc
TJ
The clouds were so fun.
It was crazy windy and dusty out. Kevin was holding down the fort.
"So, Kevin, you're going to do the fuel?" (as he lights up) "Yup."
Rockstar sluts. Love um.
The Riot truck headed in toward the finish. I heart Braxton (right).
That tire took a crazy beating. It's so sweet.
After the race we went to a restaurant. Naughty.
It's beer o'clock again.
You don't give a bunch of guys who came to a restaurant directly after a race hot towels.

Beecher City

At the end of July we had a little photo reunion at Roxy's place in Beecher City, an awesome small town in southern Illinois.
Photo of my frog I caught by Josh Birnbaum
Since Josh never updates his blog, here's his photos he took of us.
Photo by Josh Birnbaum
Photo by Josh BirnbaumBelow photo by Josh BirnbaumMeowzers was very jealous.Below photo by Roxana Ryan ;)

Chi town flowers and edamame

Don't you just love dirty suckers! They're too cute.

Yia Yia's knee surgery

Back in August and before Vegas to Reno my grandma had knee replacement surgery. Fun times.Pouli and his fake tattoo.Back at home- time to heal.Bean, the knee expert.

Michigan

I missed a few photos from the summer in Michigan apparently. Here they are.Diane, Katie and Jess visited! We left them on shore. Ha.
The joy before Katie's tears after they fell.
The sweetest pic ever... if only she wasn't falling. Nice Bean!Below photo by Nick EscobarBelow photo by Kristina Magda
Below photo by Kristina Magda. I'm such a loser.
Below photo by Kristina Magda
I miss these Michigan stars...I'm not allowed to do star trails without Brad, apparently. Fail.
Outside a greenhouse in Michigan- Elaine.Driving homeDoggie driving
A little drinky fun at the trailer.

SLC

Tony's funeral was held in his hometown of Salt Lake City. Those of us not from there flew out for a few days. It was good to see everyone again and to hear all the wonderful things people had to say about Tony. Although it was odd to see everyone dressed up and in suits. The city was really neat, and I wanted to climb those mountains. I didn't want to leave because I knew I had to move down to corn-filled Peoria in like two days and start working.The view from our hotel room at the hotel Monaco. They offered us a goldfish when we checked in. "I can't be trusted with a fish."
Ira the boat captain. Ira and Harvey
Harv and his wife LindaThere was lots of tasty food at the hotel.Lights from the bar in the hotel.I went exploring the town one night and found some neat places and fun hobos (not pictured).I stopped at a bar to listen to some open mic music, and the guys were happy to let me take photos.
The next day at some park area.

Vegas to Reno

Here's photos from the Vegas to Reno race from the end of August. The guys had been working on the truck non-stop for weeks before we got there and continued to do so when we arrived. It was going to be a three-day race beginning in Vegas and eventually ending in Reno, and we would have camped out at night in RV's at various locations in Nevada. But we only raced part of the first day due to Tony's passing on Aug. 20. As painful as this all has been for everyone, I feel honored to have known such a great person who basically got this race team started and held all the pieces together. I'm glad I was there to capture all the fun moments we shared. You can see lots more photos on www.riotracing.com from this race because I can't put them all up here- and other races if you want to beat my blog updates. Thanks for looking. Rest in peace, Tony. Below, Tony is pictured to the right.
Ira, always climbing on the truck.
From under the truck. TJ's shoes. Fun cleaning toys.
Kevin's mother's meat... enough said.
The truck's back end jacked up.
Harvey's velcro mustache- to mock TJ of course.
A female black widow outside the shop. She's so beautiful. Certain people better leave her be!
Derral, Tony's brother, peeking out from behind the truck's hood.
Harvey, messing things up in the truck.
He's so acrobatic.Riding out to Primm in the RV for qualifying. Riding in RV's is fun!
Riot tattoos. Nothing but love.
Tony on the flatbed with the truck.
Braxton against the fence waiting for trucks to go through the course.
At contingency (aka cunt-tingency). It was so hot that parts of the camera were burning my hand. Thank god for Starbucks. I almost cut someone. Below is Marc and his son Henry who came out for the race.
Such a ham.
Leaving Vegas and headed out to Beatty, NV where the race was starting the next morning. This is through the window screen in the bunk bed of the RV as we drive out. I was sweating like a pig and almost puked but it was fun lol.
"This is beautiful country." Brad "Where?" Harvey
A quick pit stop. Brett on the tele...
Harvey and Chef Dennis. Two peas in a pod. Making camp at a RV lot called El Sueno in Beatty.Chef Dennis cooking up some meat.
The view from the top of the RV. You could still see some of the Perseid shower. I think I counted 6. "I'm looking for the black hole." HarveyChef Dennis woke at 4am and started cooking up a storm.
Ira decided to sleep on top of the RV.I lured this puppy over to us. Chef Dennis was not happy with me. "I like dogs. Just not in my kitchen." Dennis
Harvey and Tony chatting.
TJ getting the truck ready.There was crap everywhere.
Kristin getting Tony ready in the truck.
TJ and TonyHenry and his grandma as we wait for the truck to reach the start line.
Marc's dadOn the road with the chase truck. I wanted to stop in some of these towns so bad. They were crazy.
We were ahead of the truck, so we decided to join some people as they watched vehicles go by.
We met this awesome man who was a rodeo champion. He was so cool. Waiting for the truck to arrive at pit 6- the last time we saw the truck.
Another truck coming in to pit next to us.Matt keeping an eye out for the truck.
The Riot truck pulling away.
The next morning in Tonopah, NV as we get ready to head back to Vegas. I never want to see that town again.
A reflection of the truck in an RV mirror.
Back at the shop.
We decided to sign some Riot posters.
Back at the crew house.
Ira goofing off. Below photo by Harvey Knapp
Below photo by Harvey Knapp (you got one in focus!)
I had some weird tuna poke thing for dinner.Flying back to Chicago with Harvey and Dennis. He's too funny. He made this trip bearable. Thanks so much Harv!

Tribute to Tony

On August 20, Tony Sorensen passed away during the Vegas to Reno race. It was a bittersweet day as it was his first time driving the truck in a race, and with his son TJ as his co-driver. My heart goes out to TJ, his daughter Kristin, wife Wendy, his buddy Harvey and the Riot Racing crew. He was an amazing racer, a great father and friend. He will be with us always. "Get in that truck. You're gonna shit kittens."

Chanute

Fourth of July

Here's some fireworks from off the lake in Michigan. Nick was finally with me this year and he got better photos, so check those out.

Funeral

My grandpa hates people taking photos of him, so I snuck a few. Here you go Opa.

Salsa

aka Chelsea. I was messing around with my new 24-70. It's bulky but sharp.
I tried to redo the photo on my web site, but it didn't work so much. Still fun.

To Columbia

My sister is going to Columbia College in Chicago in the fall so the fam and I went to orientation last week downtown. It was long and boring so there aren't any photos of that, but still an exciting day. Yay Bean!

Turtles and the moon

Deck assembly

We got a new trailer and with that a new deck that was a major project to take apart, move, and reassemble. A bunch of people from the campground helped out.

Bun

Wedding day

Nick and I shot a good friend of mine's wedding in May in Joliet. Thanks to Babcock for letting me use his 70-200 and Lensbaby.