Saturday, July 04th, 2009 /
Murray
The Krew
Gianni from the Riders for Hope team (an Italian team with a full film crew making a documentary of the trip) came over and asked us what route we were taking. We walked over to the side of the car and pointed to the map Fonseca’s Design Shop had made us. Gianni reacted with an “oh, no…you should not do that.” He went on to explain that he had been a PROFESSIONAL rally driver and had driven the route we were looking to take on the way to Mongolia. According to Gianni, a large section of road has potholes literally four feet deep and large enough for an entire car to sit in. He tried to convince us to take a route through Uzbekistan, but since we do not have the visas necessary we will not be able to take that advice.
Realizing we have no other options, Gianni had us pull out our map of Kazakhstan so that he can show us a few “key” locations. Drawing a circle larger than most countries we will drive through, Gianni said “This place…[draws cirlce with finger]…this place you should avoid. This is where the Soviets tested their nuclear and chemical weapons. The air and earth is poison.” So we drew a circle and wrote “POISON” in the middle.
Then he pointed to a spot near our road. “This place…[circle]…this place is where the Russians still have their rocket launching pads. You have to avoid this place. Last year a team accidentally drove into it. The Russian military stopped them and they were thrown in prison as spies. They were only released after 3 weeks of negotiations with the UK government and in exchange for a Russian spy.” So we drew a circle where he was pointing and wrote “MISS SITE”.
Saturday, July 04th, 2009 /
SPOT
SPOT check from Kernow Krew. Adventure happened here. Story to follow… ESN:0-7496576 Latitude:51.4576 Longitude:0.0683 Nearest Location:not known Distance:not known Time:07/04/2009 03:53:33 (US/Pacific) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=51.4576,0.0683&ll=51.4576,0.0683&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
Saturday, July 04th, 2009 /
Murray
Chaos before launch
The launch from Greenwich was good. There were four teams there, in addition to the Tajikistan Ambassador to the UK and the UK Ambassador to Tajikistan. We spoke a bit with the UK Ambassador, who was extremely helpful and kind. We were wearing the shirts from our sponsor “Skinners Brewery” and she said how much she liked the beer. We gave her a shirt and she was even nice enough to pose for a photo with it. I’m thinking Skinners is going to be thrilled about that one.
We put our rally stikcers on our car, checked out each other’s rally cars, and before we knew it we were off and going. Joe drove the entire time through England since I didn’t want to deal with the driving on the left side of the road. I was designated driver after a ferry ride from Dover to Calais across the English Channel. Will stepped in as navigator and Joe as coordinator.
Comparing routes before we leave
Saturday, July 04th, 2009 /
Murray
Apparently I was too quick with the Regina Nadelson quote (see “Packing Pains”). It would have been better used in this entry. I sat watching the bags go around the conveyor thinking “I know someone’s bag has to be last, but why does it have to be mine?”. Mine wasn’t last. Mine didn’t show. Strangely enough ten other passengers had the same problem. My bag finally arrived late the next day. Always an adventure.
Thursday, July 02nd, 2009 /
SPOT
SPOT Check from Kernow Krew. We arrived at our next stop. ESN:0-7496576 Latitude:51.5794 Longitude:-0.0388 Nearest Location:not known Distance:not known Time:07/02/2009 17:47:46 (US/Pacific) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=51.5794,-0.0388&ll=51.5794,-0.0388&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
Thursday, July 02nd, 2009 /
Murray
I have changed the format of the SPOT Messages. First, it’s a full Kernow Krew update. And now there will be two new messages.
I got a broad range of input on what they should do. Some that didn’t make it include “I pooped here”–that wouldn’t be used enough to make it worthwhile; “Agelina Jolie sighted shopping for another kid”–that would probably be too often; “Mugged and all my stuff stolen”–doesn’t really work since the SPOT will probably go with the rest of the stuff; and many more.
The new ones include one showing “we arrived at our next stop”–which could be once or sometimes twice in a day; and the second which is going to be the “Adventure” message. The Adventure message will let you know something story-worthy happened. You’ll have to wait for the blog update to hear the story details.
The 10-minute tracking isn’t working yet. I have a message into SPOT to get that fixed. Hopefully you’ll be able to follow as we go without the updates.
Thursday, July 02nd, 2009 /
Murray
Nearing London
I have to admit that it would be disappointing if this update was simply “waiting for my next flight, everything going well”. Not disappointed. Wouldn’t be my life otherwise.
Quick background: I used reward miles to book my ticket for a whopping $60. The downside is an 8 hour scheduled layover at JFK in NYC. I had a little teaser when they asked for volunteers to take a flight four hours later for $500. That would split the layover between the two airports and be perfect. Sadly they didn’t end up needing anyone to take the bump.
We started our taxi to the runway and had to turn around. Pilot comes on explaining that we have mechanical problems, will need to be towed back in, asks everyone to remain seated, and stops there. A few minutes later he announces that the tow truck broke down and will need to be towed out of our way, then replaced by another. Nice.
As we start our tow back to the gate about eight passengers decide they should stand up and start getting food out of their bags in the overhead baggage compartment. The flight attendants were going CRAZY. The people were completely ignoring them, standing there eating their food in the aisle as the plane rolls back to the gate.
About an hour and a half later we were back in line taking off. I sat wondering for the first hour if that is what I should expect for the rest of the journey followed by thoughts to the fact that I created a packing list, yet didn’t reference it once after putting it together. Then Monsters vs Aliens started and my worries were gone.
Now I’m sitting in an almost empty airport watching CNN’s report on “Operation Khanjar” in Afghanistan. That’s like watching Titanic before a cruise–minus Celine Dion. Still, my heart will go on…
Wednesday, July 01st, 2009 /
SPOT
SPOT Check from Kernow Krew. We arrived at our next stop. ESN:0-7496576 Latitude:33.9655 Longitude:-118.3594 Nearest Location:not known Distance:not known Time:07/01/2009 13:57:12 (US/Pacific) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=33.9655,-118.3594&ll=33.9655,-118.3594&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
Wednesday, July 01st, 2009 /
Murray
The author Regina Nadelson said, “Most travel is best of all in the anticipation or the remembering; the reality has more to do with losing your luggage.”
I would add that the worst of all in the packing. I can handle layovers, long flights, planning, waiting in lines, you name it…except for the packing. I DREAD this part. I also always put it off until the last moment. Well, that moment is here. And it is no more fun this time than in the past. So back to the grind…
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 /
SPOT
This is how my “SPOT Check” notifications will show up on the blog when I hit the “OK” button.
SPOT Check from Murray. I’m OK. ESN:0-7496576 Latitude:33.1532 Longitude:-117.3479 Nearest Location:not known Distance:not known Time:06/30/2009 11:07:21 (US/Pacific) http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=33.1532,-117.3479&ll=33.1532,-117.3479&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
