DAY ELEVEN - Finish Line in Grand Rapids, MI!

This is it—our final day of Fireball Run! I’m amazed by how fast the time flew.

We went straight to the Drag Strip at US 131 Motorsports Park. Susie and I had only a few posters left to pass out, but not much time, so we hired two school-age girls who were riding around to pass out what we had left. They were thrilled to have a little extra spending money and be involved in our mission, and did their job with enthusiasm.

I had never been to a Drag Strip in my life, so I had no idea what to expect. I asked a few questions to get the basics—I didn’t even know what things like a “tree” were. I thought we were going to have to remove everything from the car again, but the track had carved out an hour for the Fireball Run, so we all just got in line and waited for our turn. When it was my turn, I was a little slow on the start because I was surprised by how fast the yellow lights counted down for us to go. Once I got started, I just “hammered down” the straightaway. I had no idea how I had done, but later found out I came in 6th, my best ranking yet!

As we headed back for Grand Rapids, it was with mixed feelings, realizing this was our last day. We had several more missions before the days was over, the first of which was to buy some toys for the Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids and drive there to deliver them. We were then given a big batch of different Bonus Points to choose from. We only did a few, and decided to check in at the Finish Line as close to the final time as possible.

In typical form, we got lost right at the Finish Line. We had hooked up with another Corvette Z06 who suggested we follow them, and got stuck behind a light. They tried to wait for us, but by the time they turned we just didn’t see them and had to wander around to find our destination. Somehow it seemed to fit with the theme of the week—getting lost even when we had good people giving us very specific directions and leading the way! But we got to the Finish Line shortly after the allowable check-in time.

We had a few hours to rest before the Reception at the Van Andel Arena. It was great talking with everybody and exchanging contact information. Our good friends, Kevin & Michelle Boulton, won the overall Rally—they were the ones who gave me a personal invitation to the Fireball Run, so they will always be special to me. Congratulations to them, and to everyone else!

The best news of all was when Jeff, CEO and President of the Child Rescue Network, gave us the latest updates. It was official that one child had already been found while the Rally was being held! There were also a few tips received that would be investigated further. We all felt that if even one child was found, the Rally was a success, and so it was!

What an incredible adventure this has been. For several days we were running on 3 or 4 hours sleep, but I think the adrenaline just kept us going. Events like this always end with a mixture of sadness and joy, but the memories and relationships we forged will be for a lifetime. And we are all feeling humbled and awestruck by the lives we have and hope we will continue to change!

Thank you to everyone for your support, and we’ll keep you updated on other interesting news or events, especially the status of other Missing Children! Best wishes, God bless, and take care!

With Our Love,
Cassandra & Susie

BTW, I didn't officially settle on a name for the ‘vette, as I was hoping—we got totally focused on finding children and not getting lost ourselves in the process. But I’ve narrowed it down to several favorites with the great suggestions you all gave. The one I'm really leaning towards is ... Jasmine!

DAY TEN - Chicago, IL to Grand Rapids, MI

Hi everyone!

We've just been running non-stop and are all pretty exhausted. We woke up in Chicago to our first rainy day on the trip so far. I was a little worried what that might mean as we headed West for the Grattan Racetrack in Michigan, but the weather steadily cleared up as we got underway. We had our usual police escort out of town and made our way straight to the track, with no missions along the way. We passed out posters whenever we stopped.

The Grattan Raceway is a unique track, with several features I had never experienced before. I was somewhat anxious about getting “the lines,” but did fine once I got out there. I came in 12th overall, with the usual feedback that my driving was very smooth and clean, and I just needed to continue to pick up speed. A lot of teams went to the hotel, but the die-hards stayed for a few more laps around the track. It was lots of fun, although it had gotten pretty cold. It seemed odd to go from 90 degrees in Louisiana to 40 degrees in Michigan.

After the track event, we went to the hotel in Grand Rapids. We were pretty slow getting ready for the reception and ended up missing most of it. Since we hadn’t eaten, we walked around in search of food and ended up at a restaurant/bar called the B.O.B., which stands for the Big Old Building. We ate, talked, had a few drinks, and walked around some. For as tired as we were, time flew and we got back to the room late as usual.

Cassandra & Susie

DAY NINE - St. Louis, MO to Chicago, IL

Hi everyone!

This blog may be shorter since we got in very late tonight, and I have to be as well-rested as possible tomorrow for the Grattan Racetrack. We've been running somewhat behind in points, so I'm hoping to make some up at the track.

This morning, we lined up in downtown St. Louis with a couple Police Officers as an escort, and the Mayor wasn't able to be there. We realized we've been so caught up in our own world that we had all forgotten the Presidential debates were being held in St. Louis that night. Kind of understandable that there were more important things for the city to be focused on. But we enjoyed taking pictures with the St. Louis Arch in the background, and spent extra time handing out posters.

We ended up in the morning on a Mission that took us to Pontiac, Illinois--a nice town with very friendly people. In the afternoon, after several other Missions, we ended up on a mad scramble to get to the Finish Line in DuPage County on time (located in the Chicago area). We can't quite figure out how we keep cutting it so close. We ended up at the Ty Park with one last Mission to accomplish. We had to run (they specifically said "run," plus we were late) to find a Beanie Baby, and take a picture of a "Star." With my blister getting worse, Susie agreed to do the "running" and disappeared around a baseball field. I kept waiting for her to come back, anxiously watching the time as it was slowly ticking down to "O" points, when I saw her hobbling her way back. Then she turned around to go back again, and I couldn't figure out what was up. So I gutted it up and started "running" myself (I put that in quotes, because I'm not sure that's what it really was) to find out. She had found the Beanie Baby, but gone back to take a picture of a brick with "Ringo Starr" on it, and was hobbling badly. So I grabbed the Beanie Baby, camera and Mission Book and "ran" back to the check-in point. I think we had a minute left, but we made it! I sat catching my breath, when I saw that Susie was limping her way back across the field. We don't know what she did, but that "running" thing didn't turn out to be a good idea for either of us.

Susie was really suffering and I wasn't doing so great myself, so we decided to be late to the Reception and find a drugstore. After bandaging ourselves, we went outside to find the shuttle to go to the Reception. While we were waiting for the shuttle, we ran into a guy wandering the parking lot and started chatting with him. It turned out he was from England, had heard about the Rally, and really wanted to see the Back-to-the-Future car. We were tickled to be able to help him, so we hobbled and limped all around the parking lot, but never could find it. We got his room number and promised to pass it along to Paul, the owner of the BTTF car.

By that time, we saw some people getting on a bus that had been sitting on the lot the whole time (which we had seen and walked past), and recognized some of them. So, typical for the day and perhaps the whole event, we both had to own up to a completely ditzy moment--the shuttle was there the whole time! Sometimes I'm not sure if it's good strategy to confess these things, since it might make it harder for people to figure out why we haven't been doing so well on points if we didn't! Then, again, somebody's got this thing figured out, and everybody's pretty clear that it's not us. But, hey, we were busy doing a good deed.

So we took the long-awaited shuttle to the Reception at the the Lamborghini dealership in Chicago. Here again was another incredible array of cars I've only seen a few times in my life! The reception ended, and we found out that Limo Bob, a participant in the Rally, was taking everyone out to see Chicago since he was from the area and had limos to provide transportation! I kept debating whether to go, but first wanted to make sure the guy from England got to see the Back-to-the-Future car. So we gave Paul his room number, and Paul left a message pretending to be "Doc." It was great--by the time we got back to the hotel, the guy met us outside and we all watched him have the time of his life as he got a personal tour of the car! We felt a little vindicated that we weren't complete ditzes after completely missing the shuttle parked right in front of us--the BTTF car was actually tucked away in a remote corner because it had to be "plugged in" at night for all the gadgets to work the next day!

By that time, everyone was piling into the 3 Limos that Limo Bob had provided, and I decided to join them. Despite complete exhaustion and a Track Day tomorrow, I didn't want to miss all the after-hours fun on the Rally, and especially in Chicago. And with a Limo, I knew I didn't have to worry about a designated driver. We stopped at a bar with dancing, drinking and a group of Fireball Run folks who set up quite a banquet in the back. I joined the first Limo to go back to the hotel, but was glad I went.

We'll have to catch up with the rest of the world when we get back. I'd like to know how to debate went, but am quite content to ignore all the stock market news for the moment (nothing any of us can do anyway). Thanks to all those who are still hanging in there with us!

Cassandra & Susie

DAY EIGHT - Tupelo, MS to St. Louis, MO

Hello honorary Fireballers!

We’re hanging in there getting these blogs out because we want to share all the details as they happen. We pack so much into a day and go so many places that the days are beginning to run together.

This will have to be a less detailed blog on some topics, since we have to leave the hotel at 7am to rendezvous with the police escort at downtown St. Louis during morning rush-hour. I'm not sure how that's going to be work, but we'll soon find out.

This morning we set up the cars in front of the Tupelo City Hall and listened to the Mayor say some inspirational words. He then rode in an old pink cadillac with the police escort to send us on our journey out-of-town.

Everyone jockied for position as we got underway trying to figure out which direction to go to find our bonus clues and mission destination. We joined up with our friends, Joe & Gary in the white Lamborghini, and Paul & Tim in the Back-to-the-Future car, with a few other cars that came and went along the way.

We completed a few of the Bonus rounds, including taking a picture in front of Elvis’ Graceland mansion and a house called the Graceland 2. We always wish we had more time to spend at the places we visit, but that will give us inspiration to come back later.

We landed in Paragould, Mississippi, for lunch (and my Personal timed Mission to find a bathroom). It has been listed as the 3rd best place to raise a family, and seemed to be a nice, friendly town (with plenty of bathrooms--hey, leave me alone, these things can be important sometimes). After talking with people about our cars and handing out lots of posters, we got our next mission envelope and ate quickly so we could be on our way.

The directions were simply to head to St. Louis, Missouri, with the option of completing some Bonuses along the way. As our strategy has unfolded, it appears that going out of our way for the Bonus points makes us later for the Finish Line, which reduces our points. So we decided today just to skip the Bonus Points and head straight for our final destination in St. Louis. OK, “straight” may not be entirely accurate since we took a number of wrong turns along the way. In the morning, it started when we and the Back-to-the-Future car blew past an exit where everyone else turned off. Later, all 3 of us managed at different times to take wrong turns somewhere along the way, which took some scrambling to catch up with the others.

Getting lost and trying to catch up creates a dilemma. We want to get back to traveling with our friends, but it requires a little of that speeding thing, which we all want to do but are trying to be good. During one of these separations, we found out my Beltronics radar detector was working pretty well, but we did have one good scare. The Lambo was leading the way and we passed a cop on the other side of the highway, after which he immediately flipped on his lights and set out at high speed down the road. It suddently seemed important to fill up with gas and pass out more posters at the next exit. A lady there mentioned that there was a speed trap down the road with “two full-grown bears.” So we let our radar detectors chirp away for a bit before setting back out again. So far, so good.

This gas station stop also worked out well since I had a vindicating experience. Remember the rule that the red Corvette always goes in the middle when the 3 of us travel together? That way people at least have to pass by her on the way from checking out the Lambo to the BTTF car. Well, a young man walked over and started asking all kinds of questions about the ‘vette, and the more I shared, the more excited he got. I told him there was also a Lamborghini he could look at, but he waved his hand, said “I love your Corvette,” and didn’t show any interest in going over (sorry, Joe). So I think I can be OK with not insisting on the middle position any more—she can hold her own just fine.

Susie has been an awesome navigator, and I’ve suggested we hire her out for a price. She may appreciate that suggestion after another day or two confined in a small space with me.

The one thing we’re both over is packing and unpacking the car. And how exactly does it get so trashed out in a day? Susie and I both are constantly saying “where’s my phone,” or something along those lines. Lately it’s been more like “where’s my ______ phone?” But we have the coolest way of transporting the baggage overflow. A semi-truck participating in the rally is also carrying our extra bags, for a price that’s so worth it. I don’t know how the folks with tiny storage space do it (sorry again, Joe).

I’m running out of steam, so I’ll move to the highlights. Basically, after 5 relatively uneventful hours driving to St. Louis, we rendezvoued at the Bentley/Lamborghini dealership. I happily walked around taking pictures of Lamborghini’s, Maserati’s, Ferrari’s and Bentley’s—cars I’ve dreamed about since I was 6. And then a stunning event occurred. Our friend Joe, who had been looking closely at a gorgeous one-of-a-kind Lamborghini, walked over to a salesman and started signing papers—he bought it on the spot! I stood there with my jaw hanging down to the floor, drooling I’m sure. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, but I can’t get my head wrapped around it. I’m so happy for him, wondering about what his wife will think (the marriage counselor in me), and hoping he’ll just give me a ride some day. Honestly, Joe, congratulations!

To top that, which is a considerable accomplishment, a Father of one of the missing children in the Rally came to talk to us at the dealership. He wanted to share his experiences and thank us for what we’re doing to recover these children, including his own. In reality, I think we need to thank him. He flew out to meet us and was an incredible inspiration. It made all of us want to get 1000 more posters and pass them out everywhere. I know we all continue to hope and pray that we will find some kids from this event.

The evening wrapped up when we got lost on the way to the hotel (it fit with the theme of the day), a bunch of us paid some guys to detail our cars in the hotel parking lot (great idea, Fireball Run), and I had a wonderful, informative conversation with a race driver and instructor, Carmine, who also owns a Z06 (along with a really cool Charger).

I’m sure there’s more, but I’m running on fumes. Hope everyone is doing well, and stay tuned!

Cassandra & Susie

P.S. – For those of you who were wondering why some “J’s” were hanging out at the end of a few sentences in the last blog, it’s because the computer turned all smiley faces into “J’s.” I can’t quite see the connection, but when you’re reading just substitute a smiley race if there’s a “J” dangling on its own somewhere.