Day 15, Stage 14
Saturday, July 9, 2005
Hotel: Courtyard Marriott
Weather: Cool, sunny, perfect rally weather

"To Finish is to Win!" So goes the motto of the Great Race. Well, we finished so that must mean we are winners. However, it is much better than that for the Sweet, Smooth and Sassy Team. The driver, navigator and car finally got it all together for a fairy tale finish to our Great Race.

Even though the course today was only 126 miles and three hours long, we knew it would be the most difficult, challenging and yes, even tricky, that we have seen. And John Classen (the Rallymaster) did not disappoint us. We rallied in an area roughly between Fort Lewis and the southwest slopes of Mount Rainier that was heavily wooded and quite rural with very few stretches of straight road. The check points were cleverly located so they were not visible until the very last moment. And the instructions came so fast that it was very easy to miss a sign; furthermore, there were few opportunities to make up any lost time. However, the most confusing element was the long interlocking loop built into the route. The timing between cars caused early and late cars to become interspersed along the same route and the cars took different turns off the same road.

Dawn was up to the task and did not let any of these factors confuse or rattle her. And I finally was able to accurately maintain my speeds, especially through the slow sections. The car ran flawlessly and we put together 6 legs of 4 seconds, 3 seconds, an ACE, 4 seconds, 2 seconds, and 4 seconds for a total of 17 for the day. This was the best raw score for the entire field of 46 Sportsman contestants still running. However, when the age factors are applied, there were two Sportsman scores better than ours. It was also the 12th best score of the day overall. This score vaulted us from 36th to 30th place overall in the final standings. Not quite in the money but very respectable, nevertheless. We are thrilled with the outcome of our initial outing.

The parade lineup at Enchanted Village

Our finish line banner... ...and the whole gang that greeted us

The crowd in Tacoma