Our first day on the road proved to be highly uneventful….I’m writing this from the not so fabulous but very cost effective Motel 6 in lovely Missoula, Montana. No internet service here so this one will be posted up a day late a crappy cable feed no coffee until seven so I will be tired… again…

We had an issue with the trailer lights early on from Seattle, but it must have worked itself out. Our borrowed F350 super duty is a little weak in the braking and power department for the FULL load of equipment we have, but we are making due. An ABS light early on in the trip had us a wee bit worried but it has seemingly worked itself out as well. My rough estimates on fuel costs were a little under estimated as the truck is getting around 9 mpg into Missoula. Somewhere between Spokane and Butte we lost one of our sweet Meister Gauge Faces magnetic number backers from the truck, so those are going to stay in the truck from now on….someone got an awesome souvenir.

The weather has been fantastic so far, we seem to be following clear sky and only saw a bit of rain as we started over the Cascades early in the day. Temperatures ranging from as low as 39 at the top of Snoqualmie Pass to 59 in the flatlands of Montana. The snow at the top of the passes is a bit unnerving, but we’ll deal with that if we have to.

I’ve never seen so many deer hit areas in one road trip before….Montana is a dangerous place for animals crossing the road, and a great place for yocals to pick up dinner. Mullet Central. Found a couple of names, numbers and addresses of some gentlemen Charlie is interested in meeting from the local Rest Areas here in Montana, apparently the men-folk are friendly out here.

At one point today while coming up on Spokane I noted that we must be getting close to civilization again as a Jet was taking off at a pretty high rate of climb. Phil said, “Yeah there must be an airport around here.” I said, “Thank you Captain Obvious.”

I’ll be posting some images I took on the fly

820 miles down…on to day two.

Next week, we’ll be in Michigan’s scenic Upper Peninsula for the Lake Superior Pro Rally and the third round of Max-Attack!. We’re excited for the opportunity to test our car against some of the finest competitors the midwest has to offer. As I type this we’re currently starting 24th and the highest ranked VW, the highest ranked Group2 car (ahead of the 2007 national champ!), and the 7th highest 2WD car (Group 5 is very popular in the midwest, apparently). If we can hold this position, we should be in the rankings for Max-Attack and the national rally. This will be fun.

While Tom, Gus, Charlie and Phil worked on the car and packing all week, I’ve been working non-stop on designing the new website. As you can see, it is done. There are likely some bugs or design flaws I’ve missed, so please contact us and let us know if you find any.

Of particular interest might be the re-designed video gallery and the re-designed photo gallery. While the photo gallery is a little slow, it looks very nice. There are plenty of videos (25 in all!) to watch, including most of the 2007 Doo Wops Rally. We hope to bring back some great footage from LSPR, as well.

Tom, Phil and Charlie will be leaving for Michigan on Monday morning and will arrive Thursday. Gus and I will be flying in the same day. Hopefully, we’ll be able to make it to the practice stages. If you see us there, be sure to ask for a ride!