Heather Chavez, Second Self Virtual Assistance (928) 412-4469

Thanks to Michael Thornton's stained glass photo post, I not only found out about a great Active Rain group I was unaware of until now (Friday's Fotos). But it reminded me of my trip to Riverside's Historic Mission Inn. There was a chapel built on-site using original Tiffany stained glass windows that were from an old New York church that was being torn down. The man who built the Mission Inn (Frank Miller) rescued them from being tossed into the trash by just promising to give them back to Tiffany's if he ever decided not to use them anymore. Here are photos of those stained glass windows (couldn't take the photos from inside the chapel):

Heather Chavez - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!

Apparently, Mother Nature means business over the Southern California skies. And business is good! We have been experiencing thunder, lightening and occasional outbursts of light sprinkles. This would be what they mean when they say "June gloom".

Heather Chavez - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!

What a difference a week makes! After last week's long, drawn out race that wouldn't end, the exciting Monster Mile proved to be what fans love to see: short track racing at its best. There were a few lead changes throughout the race, a couple of wrecks here and there, but the final 3 or 4 laps were what makes you sit on the edge of your seat and yell at the TV. See, in my house, we have both Jimmie and Tony fans. My son ADORES Tony Stewart. So, when Tony took the lead and appeared to have it in the bag with only a handful of laps left, my son was giddy with anticipation. And, considering how fantastic Tony has been racing this year (his first as an owner/driver), it looked like Tony was gonna be doing the infield shuffle with the checkered flag. Then, from outta nowhere (as all great drivers truly do), Jimmie Johnson started challenging the Tony Stewart for the lead. There were a couple of laps of "Is he gonna? Not quite. Oh man! Is he gonna? Not quite. Oh man!" before Jimmie showed what a magnificent team he and Chad Knaus are and flew right by Tony for the lead and eventual win. While Tony had to settle for a second place finish, he ended up first in the points standing, leaving my man Jeff Gordon to fall to second place, just 44 points behind him. Jimmie's first place finish brought him up one place in the standings to third, just 64 points behind Tony. The hard wreck that Jeff Gordon endured during practice certainly couldn't have helped his back problems any. Tony Stewart ended up being the first owner/driver to ever have the points lead this early in the year. Congratulations to both Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart.

There was alot of commenting happening about the #88 team as well. If you've been living under a rock over the past week, maybe you didn't hear that Rick Hendrick decided to shake things up with Dale Earnhardt Jr's team to see if he could help improve things in the #88 garage. Mr. Hendrick did this by having Dale's crew chief and cousin, Tony Eury Jr, step down and replacing him with Lance McGrew for Sunday's race. This seems to have been just the shot in the arm that the #88 team needed, since Dale Jr was running in the top 5 for many laps, eventually ending the race a respectable 12th. Only time will tell if this was a great move or not.

This was the last race to be televised on Fox until next year folks. I'll miss those guys, especially DW. It just isn't the same without his back and forth with Jeff Hammond. Sunday's race at Pocono will be televised on TNT starting at 12:30pm ET.

Top 5 Finishers at Dover's 2009 Autism Speaks 400:

1. Jimmie Johnson (#48)
2. Tony Stewart (#14)
3. Greg Biffle (#16)
4. Matt Kenseth (#17)
5. Kurt Busch (#2)

Heather Chavez - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!

Whew! I knew that the Cocoa Cola 600 was supposed to be the longest race of the year, but this was just too ridiculous. I needed a nap when it was over. After two days, six and a half hours, 224 laps completed, TONS of rain/rain delays and an incredibly risky but ultimately smart call by Crew Chief Rodney Childers, David Reutimann won the 50th race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the #00. In fact, three of the six caution flags were thrown for rain. This is so NOT the way I like to see a race end. My driver (Jeff Gordon) has won races under caution and in the rain and I still don't like it. It's quite a letdown. In a beautiful testiment to the men and women who lost their lives fighting for our freedom, at 3pm local time, all cars on the field stopped, turned off their engines and shared a moment of silence with those in the stands as well as the guys in the pits. It was a touching tribute and showed the importance of God, country and family that is at the core of the redneck nation behind NASCAR. Kevin Harvick had a rough race (finishing 41st), Dale Jr was probably VERY happy that the race was cut short by the rain since he was battling a rough car the entire time (finishing 40th) and Tony Stewart exhanged some words with David Reutimann as well as Reuty's "Billy Bad Butt" crew member on the caution before the last yellow flag due to what Smoke considered some seriously rough racing that was unnecessary so early in the race. But, this is why we love Tony so much. The only guys not to go into the last pit stop on the final yellow flag were the guys that finished #1-3: Reutimann, Ryan Newman (#38) and everyone's favorite bad boy, Robby Gordon (#7). Since the yellow flag turned into a red flag which eventually turned into the finish of the race, this was definitely the smart call to make. Even though Jeff Gordon finished 14th, he still retains the points lead by 44 points over Tony Stewart. Next Sunday, NASCAR goes to Dover for the final race on Fox (before it switches to TNT). Pre-race commentary starts at 1:30pm EST on Fox. I'll see you at the races!

Top 5 of the 2009 Cocoa Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte NC:

1. David Reutimann (#00)

2. Ryan Newman (#39)

3. Robby Gordon (#7)

4. Carl Edwards (#99)

5. Brian Vickers (#83)

Heather Chavez - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!

Even though I was born in Southern California, I have never been to one of the most legendary spots in Southern California before today: Pink's Hot Dogs. Located at La Brea and Melrose, Pinks is celebrating its 70th birthday this year. Originally only a hot dog stand in 1939, by 1946, business was so good that a building was erected on the very spot the hot dog stand had been for the first seven years. Lots of stars visit Pink's all year round. Many of them have signed photos hanging on the walls. They even have a free valet who will move cars around as people get ready to leave, since parking is at a premium and some cars get stacked behind others. We were lucky enough to only have to stand in line for about 30-40 minutes and we were able to secure a table pretty easily. However, as we left, the line was much longer and tables were pretty scarce. I had a chili cheese dog, my husband had two regular chili dogs, my son enjoyed a bacon chili cheese dog and we shared an order of onion rings. The dogs had quite a snap to them and the chili is out of this world. We met a very nice couple while we waited in line who were in town from Georgia. The husband had heard about Pink's from the Food Network and wanted to visit there. We ended up sharing a table and had quite a lovely conversation for about an hour. It was a fun-filled day. Even though I've lived in California for a large portion of my life, there are still some places I haven't seen. I can now click Pink's off the list!

Heather Chavez - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!