What I needed most...
When I finally got to hug my family I felt this release of emotions that I can not even put into words. I just felt happy. I have missed them so much, even though we all talk pretty much every day, its not the same as seeing them. We met up in Edinburgh, Scotland as I was racing at Knockhill that weekend (The weekend write up in the post prior to this one). In the evenings after the race activities we would walk and wonder through the capital of Scotland and just admire how cool it was. The old buildings, cobble stone roads, massive churches and the castle was super cool.
From Scotland we headed back to Jay's house and hung out there until we took a flight to Paris, France. I had no clue what to expect. I had seen it in movies and online but never been there. HOLY COW....this place is beautiful. The buildings, the streets, the people and the FOOD. I am not a really "foody" person but I had some of the best food I have tasted here in Paris. From skewers, to ravioli, to burgers and various dinner plates. Then came the madeleines, the chocolate croissants and just the croissants. I was in food heaven. We ate so much and tried everything we could as we walked around and explored. May favorite part of the trip was exploring Paris on the electric scooters. My mom and dad shared one and my brother and I shared the other. Now that was an experience.
We hit all the major tourist spots from the louvre, to a couple of cool churches, the capital building and of course the Eifel tower. We visited that sculpture/building twice cause it was so freaking cool. We got to go inside of it and take a ride up all the way to the top. Man it felt like we were climbing forever. You could see all of Paris and beyond from the top. They had restaurants, bars, shops etc in that place. At night it would light up in this gold color and then every hour it would shimmer with these strobes. It was super cool.
After Paris we headed back to England and landed in Manchester. We decided to explore that area and see what Manchester was about. It had a lot of new construction going up and we couldn't make it around to the stadiums but we found a cool place to mini golf and just hang out. Not the prettiest of cities but still a pretty big one. I am sure once its all done being renovated it will look nice.
Made our way back to Jay's house and the next day we headed off to Red Lodge to do some racing with the British Mini Bikes Championship. On the way we stopped by the Microlise Cresswell shop to chat with John and visit him. My mom and little brother played with the horses while my dad and I hung out with John. It was cool hanging with him outside of the race track.
We rode the whole weekend and I got see some of my fellow BTC racers there along with greeting Alan. This championship was my first international championship when I was 7 turn 8yrs old and its always nice to come by and say hi to everyone. Riding on the kart track and watching my little brother work and have a blast reminded me what it was all about. Just having FUN! The crew from AMR pit bikes allowed us to use their machines for the weekend and thanks to Jay setting it up or else riding wouldn't of been an option. Grabbed a couple of podiums and had so much fun being at the track with the family.
It was a fantastic 10 days with the family. We talked, laughed, cried and just had fun. It felt like being home. It was a great reset for me especially after all the struggles I was having. We talked a lot about the present, how we got here and the future. Although I know they are all behind me, it was nice to hear it again in person. I can't thank my family enough for the sacrifices they are doing, Jay and Elle for their sacrifices as well. Time to make it all worth while. I will be doing another Holiday with my UK family here shortly so stay tuned for that blog and I am ready to get back on Scarlett at Brands Hatch!
