march 3 2008 : flagstaff, arizona, usa
We’ve been driving pretty hard the past few days, working on getting back to the States and getting ourselves prepared for the race. We stopped for the night about 50 miles south of the border where we had one last roadside taco stand meal. Fish tacos that ranked in our top three all time, and shrimp quesadillas that definitely made number one. Not a bad way for Mexico to send us off.

Today was border crossing day. We weren’t too concerned since we’ve really got nothing to declare, but we’d heard plenty of stories of long delays and serious searches, so we didn’t know what to expect. We arrived pretty early and found the line was about a half mile long. It moved pretty quickly though and within an hour or so we’d made our way up to the front. The first border patrol officer didn’t have much to say, but he didn’t wave us through either, instead sending us over to the search area. That officer asked us what food we had with us and we told her we had three chocolate chip cookies. That was seriously the entire contents of our bus. She didn’t seem to buy that, so she rattled off a list of about a million things that we couldn’t bring across with us, all of them were things that we’ve never purchased outside of a restaurant anyway. She then asked to see inside. Ali opened up and they both climbed in the back to have a look at our empty fridge. Thus convinced, we were finally told we could move along.

Just across the border we stopped to use the bathroom at an IHOP. Here is where we really noticed the difference between north and south. In Mexico there is a handwritten sign above each and every toilet in the country asking that you not throw anything in the toilet, including toilet paper. Here on the wall above the toilets are big signs asking that you PLEASE DO throw your toilet paper in the toilet.

Two days ago we were sweating in the sun along the coast, today we were freezing as we drove through the snow in the mountains. And here we thought everybody moved to Arizona for the warm desert air. We holed up in a hotel for the night and are headed for the Grand Canyon in the morning where the forecast is calling for 7 degree temperatures overnight. Man did we get back to the States at the wrong time.

march 5 2008 : tonopah, nevada, usa
Yesterday morning we started out at the Grand Canyon. Somehow neither one of us had ever managed a visit to the canyon before in our lives. Not sure how we missed that gaping hole but we did. We visited the South Rim which has a nice 25 mile long drive with plenty of look out points. Seeing as how it was about 25 degrees outside the crowds were pretty thin, which from the sounds of things is a whole different story than in the summer here. Obviously the canyon was amazing. The size and the depth of the place are hard to comprehend, even when standing right there staring down in to it.  In places where you can’t see the river at the bottom it is almost impossible to tell where it stops dropping. We loved it, though next time we visit I hope that it is from a raft in the bottom. That’s got to be incredible.

We drove hard the rest of the day and made it to Laughlin, Nevada just after dark. We had planned to grab a cheap casino hotel room, but on our way in to town we spotted an RV park with camp spots right along the river. It was cheap, quiet, and moderately scenic considering the casino lights were only a mile away.

This morning we started the long trek across Nevada, top to bottom. About the only obstacle was Vegas. We know lots of people who think this place is the greatest, but we have no problem driving right on past. In my college days I enjoyed losing money at the casinos, but after becoming a trader the place never held any appeal to me again. I like being the house, not playing against it.

The roads go on forever out here and we both really enjoy it. A mountain in front of you can look just a couple of miles away, but after 30 minutes you still don’t seem to be any closer to it. Lots of time to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the drive. Once we officially reached the middle of nowhere we heard a noise on the bus. It was instantly obvious this wasn’t a normal noise, and we pulled over right away to investigate. One look at the front drivers side wheel and we had found the source. The tire had dozens of steel wires sticking out of it. The steel belted tire was disintegrating. I knew these tires were rubbish, probably having cost about thirty bucks a piece, but had figured we’d run them till they needed replacing. Well, they need replacing. 15,000 miles can’t be a very good life for a tire can it?

Cracking the lugs on the tire was tough. I had about given up without getting even one loose, but then thought to have Ali bounce on one side of the tire iron while I lifted on the other. Success. Within just a few minutes we were back on the road. Back in the car Ali asked me if we had had a jack or a tire iron with us on the race last summer. The answer was no. She asked me what we were going to do if we got a flat. The answer was I don’t know. Then she made me promise to think that logic through when packing up the car for the race this summer.

And speaking of the race, it is finally official. We are signed up and going around the world. We’re extremely excited, and a bit daunted at the task in front of us. We’ve got a lot to do to get ourselves, and our car, ready for this. Racing across China though, what could be cooler than that?

march 7 2008 : portland, oregon, usa
We made it back to Portland in one piece. The bus really ran great. In fact, there had been an annoying sound for a day or two which I had thought seemed to be coming from the steering box. It turned out that it was being caused by that front tire that self destructed on us. After we changed tires we had nothing but quiet again. So quiet that, after all these miles, we actually talked about installing a stereo before we take off again next time. I really don’t think that will happen though.

march 9 2008 : portland
The past couple of days we’ve spent hanging out with family and getting our paperwork in for the race. We really came in at the very last minute and had to scramble in order to get the papers needed to the race organizers in time. The critical thing is getting China and Kazakhstan everything to get through the bureaucracy. Fortunately that’s what the organizers of the race are there for. With our papers turned in we get to just sit back and concentrate on the race.

march 11 2008 : portland
Ali and I are pounding the email pavement here in Portland, trying to drum up sponsorships and publicity. For only a couple of days of work things are going pretty well. On the sponsor front we’ve gotten two businesses behind us so far.

The first, Sunset Classics, is owned by an old high school friend of ours. They specialize in brokering the sale of exotic and classic cars. So if you’re in the market for a cool old car be sure and look them up, they’ll find it for you.

We’ve also signed up 356Restore. Jim Kellogg “retired” a few years back so he could do what he loved to do, restore old Porsche 356s. Over the years he’s seen it all on these cars and has now written an awesome book for 356 owners called Porsche 356, Guide to do it Yourself Restoration.

As for publicity we’ve signed on with Miles Hampton, a d.j. over at Radio Margaritaville on SIRIUS Satellite Radio. So all our Parrothead friends will be able to listen in when we call from around the world reporting on the race. Now if we can just score that SIRIUS sponsorship as well.

A Japanese film company is telling us they are going to follow us around and film a documentary which would be really fun, but we don’t have too many details on that just yet.

And finally, we’ve had a couple of newspapers interview us and they will hopefully do a bit of an ongoing column as the race progresses. It all sounds pretty exciting and we are really looking forward to being a part of all of it.

So we’re looking for all the help we can get with this race. Entering was extremely expensive, and even though we’re perfectly willing to fund the adventure on our own, we’re also not afraid to ask for help. We’re looking for sponsorships, or at least a direct contact to somebody who would be in a position to make the decision. This could include Porsche, car dealers, tire shops, parts dealers, chewing gum, potato chip companies, Taco Bell, and the like. One of the big things we’re searching for is a shop that would be willing to give our car a once over and really get it in top condition for the race. So if any of you’ve got any ideas please let us know.

We’ve also got what we consider to be pretty exciting news. For quite a while now, in between racing cars and driving all over North America (over 30,000 miles since we finished sailing in April), we’ve been working on Bumfuzzle the book. It’s been a lot of work, more than I originally anticipated, but has finally come together. The thing that made it so difficult is that we truly haven’t left a thing out of the website all these years. We should have withheld a few exciting stories along the way. Of course nobody would have believed us when we told them later. Anyway, in the end we think we’ve put together a fun to read book, editing the website down into a more readable format and mingling in a more personal side to it as well. Bumfuzzle will be available sometime in May.

march 15 2008 : portland
Being home again is strange. Instead of spending 14 hours a day outside we’ve found ourselves pretty much cooped up inside, working on the computer, or on the phone. We have gotten the Porsche out of hibernation and after just a couple of cranks she fired right up. When we last put it away I was still having trouble with it backfiring. The other day I went to work adjusting the carbs again, and it seems this time I’ve gotten them dialed in. At least for now. The car is running good, but we’re still hoping to find somebody to really give it the full treatment. Next up I guess I’ll throw myself underneath the car and teach myself about brakes and shocks.

We’ve still got to do some work on the bus to get it ready to store away for the next year. Ali’s cleaned out the inside, but I still need to prepare the engine. One thing we did get done was applying our Portland Is Weird sticker that my aunt picked up for us. We feel honored to be a part of the tradition.

march 30 2008 : portland
Today was the coldest March 30th in Portland’s recorded history. Great. It’s pretty much gone like that for the last couple of weeks. We’ve kept ourselves pretty well cooped up in the house, writing and getting everything together for the race. The last obstacle for us is obtaining our visas. Our paperwork for China, Kazakhstan, and Russia are all submitted now, so we’ll just wait and see. The race has it all set up, so I can’t imagine there will be any problems.

An article about the race and our participation in it ran in our local hometown newspaper the other day.