The journey begins in a few hours!

Hi everyone!
Susie and I are finally packed and ready to go. We leave on Wednesday to begin our cross-country jouney.

For those of you who we haven't been bombarded with all the details of this journey, let me give you a quick description. The Fireball Run Transcontinental Rally is co-organized by Fireball Run and the Child Rescue Network. Susie, my co-pilot/navigator, and I will spend 10 days and 3500 miles traveling in a 2006 Corvette Z06. Our adventure begins as we drive from Indianapolis to our initial destination, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and will end on October 4th in Grand Rapids, Michigan. There are 3 main components to this journey, in which the Team 33 Corvette will be participating with 65 other teams. First, there's the adventure of the daily scavenger hunt where we will decipher clues to lead us to destinations unknown. Second, there's the fun of several racetrack, drag strip and autocross events, including competing against the Louisiana State Police at their Training Academy. Finally, there's the mission behind all of this where each team is assigned a missing child and we promote awareness for missing children by passing out 1000 posters each to search for our assigned child--Jasmine Sajedi for Team 33 Corvette. It doesn't get any better than this ... combining adventure and fun with a worthy cause that can change the lives of children and families.

The Team 33 Corvette is being sponsored by some special companies and individuals, and their support helps make the vision to find America’s Missing Children possible. Our Sponsors are important to us, and we ask that you take a moment to check them out on our website, at RaceforMissingKids.com. We hope you will support them, too--please visit their websites, email them, buy from them, and tell them you saw their sponsorship information on this blog and our website. We give a special “Thank You” to all of our Sponsors!

As we get underway on Wednesday, we'll be mapping our route to Baton Rouge and doing lots of planning for the days to come (at least, for what we know of them). And we're not waiting for the Rally to begin handing out posters--we have 200 copies already printed (courtesy of Pip Printers at Zionsville Rd in Indianapolis). Of course, we'll let you know if we find out anything regarding Jasmine or any of the other missing children.

On a personal note, I have to confess that we haven't even started, and I'm thinking a nap may be in order already. I was amazed by how much preparation it took to get the car ready, and I think she's better packed and equipped than we are. We bring clothes and she gets her car cover; we bring toiletries and she gets car washing products (courtesy of Adam's Polishes); we bring a computer, iPod, cameras and cell phones, and she gets a CB, radar detector, GPS map, GPS locator and Horntones. I think half of what's packed is for her! So really, it's more accurate to say that all 3 of us are packed and ready to go!

I mentioned to some of you that will be able to follow exactly where we're at with the SkyGuard GPS Locator installed on the car. I will forward this link to everyone on our email list. Feel free to email with any important feedback or suggestions like "pick up the pace" or "slow down the pace," or "you guys are the only ones heading that direction." The email we'll be checking regularly is RaceforKids@aol.com. Don't be offended if we don't respond--we may be busy deciphering some clue, passing out posters, or consulting our trusty GPS to figure out how we got so lost.

We could also use your help! If Susie and I get stumped by any of the clues, we may blog, email and/or call some of you to share in your wisdom, suggestions, or outlandish guesses. There's nothing in the rules that says we can't use "Phone-a-Friend Lifelines" (remember Who Wants to be a Millionaire?), so we plan to take full advantage.

And I'd love some suggestions for nicknames for the 'Vette! I've always wanted to give her a name, but could never come up with a good one. I think she's a "she," but I'm open. Any ideas?

Enough for tonight, guys--I've got to sign off, or I really will need that nap tomorrow. Please say a prayer, wish us well, and join us through this blog as we undertake this special journey!

Cassandra & Susie