Race Day 4 - Terminus

Up early again and engine going by 6:30 am. We still had the final three legs to make - Carbondale, Illinois to Elkhart, Indiana to Parkersburg, W. Virginia, and to terminus at Frederick Maryland. We were successful in completing the race, but unsuccessful in our strategy. Our time was so bad on the first leg for today that we lost the points we had built up and feel pretty certain we are out of the running.

It was a most enjoyable trip, though. The scenery is simply beautiful - from the rivers and lakes to the hills of West Virginia. Our last leg took us over the Allegheny Mountains and into Maryland. Lots of nuclear power plants.

The winner of the favorite airport name contest was the North Central West Virginia Airport.

Speaking of winners - Team 29 has to be given The Most Determined Team prize. At Waycross, Georgia - the very first stop on Day 1, Sandi & Heather developed engine problems. The airport was so small, there was no mechanic on the field. A volunteer, Mitch, from an airport 40 miles away where he and his wife run a FBO came over and started working on the problem. Now, it's Day 2. Turns out the carburetor needed serious work. Mitch was also an EMT and got a call which turned into several calls. Meanwhile, he helped them find the necessary part. Another man volunteered to fly Heather to another airport to pick up the part, and Mitch had returned when they got back. The volunteer pilot was also an auto mechanic. He and Mitch worked until 9:30 that night to get the repairs done, Heather test flew the airplane and got it signed off, and they left Thursday morning at 6:30. They flew four legs in one day in a plane much slower than Julia's. We were delighted to see them on the ramp this morning at Carbondale getting ready to go. They had landed 20 minutes before "legal" sunset the night before and made it to terminus today with only 40 minutes left before the deadline. When Sandi and Heather showed up tonight at the "Meltdown Party", everyone stood and cheered. They had started the race calling their team the Warrior Women and said they had earned the title on this, their first race.

There will be activities for the next two days plus sight seeing in between. The banquet on Sunday night will be where the winners are announced and we get to see everyone's score. We'll let you know then which of the 51 teams won.