Baja 500, The BEST Ever.

I finally found a partner in crime who loves the off road races as much as I do.
Gary was recruited to help with the timing of the race at the Start/Finish line with me, and it was cute to see his excitement build as he realized he would be a full fledged SCORE official at the historic Baja 500 race.
We get down to Ensenada, Mexico a day or two early when there is a race so we can have some time to explore, eat, shop, or whatever. Then we have a day where we're kind of wandering around while the racers get checked in. We get the paperwork at the end of the day and we put them in our computer for the next day's race.
As I walked around with Gary, showing him my favorite spots in Ensenada, I kept expecting him to say, "Well, okay, I'm bored let's find something better to do." But that never happened. In fact, he said a couple of times, "This is so fun! I'm so glad I got to come with you!" I certainly agreed!

I really liked that he appreciated the view that I so appreciate every time I'm there:

I celebrated when it was obvious he had the same love for churros as I did....but together we discovered Churros Rellenos....which is stuffed churros. Stuffed with chocolate. MMMMMM....

And like I do, Gary will take the time to check out a cool new race truck:

And laugh about the little things in Mexico that you just wouldn't see in the U.S.:

That's an upside-down seven for the Lobby button...

But then when it came time to score the race, he was more than willing to be there in the middle of the night, waiting for finishers.
We had music playing on his I Phone, we laughed at the spectacle around us, and we were overjoyed when someone finished the grueling race...

I've never had so much fun at a race.

I'm On A Boat

Gary and I have been getting to know each other, and one of the things I found out about him is his love for the lake and going out on his boat.
Since I've worked in the boating industry around here (mostly part time) for several years, I'm surprised I didn't know him before. Or see his boat....

Oh. My.

What a beautiful ride. We managed to take the boat out in May for the first time, and we spent the entire day in a cove by ourselves. He snorkled, I relaxed.

Well, I played with my camera, too.

We managed to get out again with a couple of friends, but it was more like a rescue mission. They'd gotten several miles downriver in their boat and it quit on them. So we dragged out Gary's Laveycraft and pulled their day out of the dumps...

They were good passengers. I was the stewardess. I served Fritos and Doritos. At one point we were on the beach near the London Bridge, enjoying shade and laughing at the parade of boats going by. I remarked that there are probably only a handful of people in the world who could say they sat on a boat under the London Bridge that day. And we'd be included in that handful.

And how many people can say they were parked next to this BAZILLION DOLLAR boat that da? Probably not many.

One side of the boat says Lick. The other side says This.

How many people can take a serious photo like this? Not many, I'm sure.