California Dreamin'

Well it is the New Year and we did get busy getting ready for 2015 Great Race.  We took Driver and Navigator photos and sent them in along with the rest of our paper work.

 

The Great Race folks assigned us Mentors.  After exchanging instant chat messages and email we chatted on the phone today.  The whole team was clustered around the speaker phone absorbing every word of advice.  The Martins are the nicest people.  We feel really fortunate have them as our mentors.

 

We have the Rookie booklet and the 2015 Regulations.  We have watched pretty much all of the videos on line.  We obtained a used Timewise speedometer from Rex Gardner and I have bench tested it. (It worked!)  The car seats are re-upholstered; it is a long ride to California.  Soon, it is off to the mechanic for an in depth assessment of what we need to get beefed up.  The car runs strong right now, but we are taking it to an expert for an overall look with the long trip in mind.  When the weather gets more spring like here in Iowa, we will be hitting the road to practice.

 

We have a lot of work to do to get ready.  Dave and I went over a sample set of instructions. Using what we have learned and the advice from the Martins, we feel better about the approaching challenge.

 

Here is the "June Bug".  This is the photo we sent into The Great Race organization.

 

 

It is a snowy night here in Iowa.  We are definitely California Dreamin'

 

Winter Holidays

The winter holidays are here. Not much shaking in the Great Race team camp. We will get busy after January 1.

The Great Race headquarters put out a nifty one page flyer showing the schedule.

Timewise speedometer arrived

The Timewise high accuracy speedometer arrived today. We bought a used one to save cash. It seems right as we don't know if we will use it more than once. We can sell it on when we are done with it. Maybe we will use it for several years.  Who knows? 

In the garage

We drove the VW today.  Then it was time to put it in the garage. A few winter months to wait for the next part of the adventure. In the meantime,  we will plot the way to maximum fun. Oh boy!

Winter is near

I'm taking the VW out this weekend for more driving fun. These might be the last days to drive until spring.

It will go to Dave's house for the winter. We have a list of small projects to keep us entertained. One of those is the upholstery on the front seats. There are no rips or tears, but the foam is shot. It's a long drive to Santa Monica.

Not much to report

Well it was a yard work weekend. Nothing much on the Great Race front.

We are looking forward to the Welcome Aboard packet.  Then the planning will begin in earnest.

The mechanic loved the car

I got the VW back from the shop. They loved it. It really is a solid car. The mechanic cleaned up and tuned the carb. Checked out the rest of the car and liked it. We have work to do before The Great Race,  but we are off to a great start.