We're Here!

Bozeman, Montana

Friday, June 20

First things first today: a run for Kelly and a walk to the organic food market for an espresso for Erin. With our morning routine behind us we headed out to the airport to pick up a rental car (the hotel van driver was lovely, but the 20-minute ride each way to the airport and the lack of freedom to roam about as we wished just sucked).

Today yielded a lot of chores. We scrubbed the Wonder Chariot to within an inch of her life, cleaning off the BILLIONS of bug bodies that adhered to every surface of the airplane. Kelly poured out vast amounts of her mechanic-wanna-be knowledge to Erin, mainly in the form of changing the oil.

Dang, those bugs are STUCK on!

Kelly, Zen master of the oil filter....

Yes, folks, that really is Erin assisting with the oil change!

Then came the ceremonial affixing of The Numbers. With the aid of a squeegee we were really happy with how they turned out -- by far the classiest looking race numbers of any competitor!

"Classic 31" begins her metamorphosis...

This sticker stuff is tough work!

Without a doubt the spiffiest numbers in Bozeman!

After a long day in the sun spent doting on the Deb we tucked her into the hangar for the night and headed back to the hotel. We're still scheming and strategizing about a few things, but our hopes are high about the race. We've met some neat women and though we haven't had a lot of time to get to know everyone, it's been fun to watch the other teams go about their tasks. The hundreds of years of aviation experience, the tens of thousands of flight hours, the hundreds of races flown and the miles of smiles are making this a peak experience for both of us.


This Race is an opportunity of a lifetime!

A spinner so shiney you could....

Classic 31: The Occluded Speed Zombies

Quite possibly the cleanest the Wonder Chariot has ever been!

Erin's not just a monkey with a wrench....