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