Things have been a tad quiet hereabouts due to the pressures of work and preparations for the holiday season. Plus, the writing muse has deserted me of late so I had trouble putting together pieces for the blog. There are at least two blog posts hanging in limbo right now.
But last night, Saturday December 20th, we got out on a rallye. The Holiday Lights tour in the suburbs of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
The Holiday lights tour is a hybrid. Part road Rallye, part festive fun. Put on by Mark Larson, who also puts on the highly successful Tombstone Trails tour Rally in the region around Halloween. This event consists of driving around the local holiday lights displays and answering a series of questions about them. This tour is very popular and the thirty places available were quickly over subscribed.
Lorrie and I made some seasonal effort. She dressed up in one of her many Christmas sweaters and I, lacking a suitably festive garment, sported a Santa Hat. We reversed our usual driver/navigator roles. I like to think I'm a better than average map reader and Lorrie isn't comfortable map reading. Swapping roles is all part of the fun.
The event appeals to a wide spectrum of people. The local Road Rallye community, retired rallyists and the general public. All pay their three dollars for a map, instructions and questions sheet and set out at one minute intervals to navigate the 25 mile course in about two and a half hours.
You'll be thinking that 25 miles in a 150 minutes would pose no problem.
Think again.
You're not the only 30 cars on this adventure. There's Stretch Limos, mini buses and large coaches on the route as well as well as other members of the general public checking out the same lights as you. Getting to the displays can be quite the adventure. Once, we even parked our car 100 yards away from a particularly large display and walked there because that was as close as we could get.
But no matter, the whole thing was a great deal of fun. The map was easy to follow and the questions were a good mix of simple and testing.
The displays ranged from the simple to the complex, sometimes the simplest of displays providing the most testing questions to answer.
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| A race car themed display in one yard. |
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| How many candles can you count? |
We made it all around the course without too many problems, we took a wrong turn once, but that was because the street sign had been twisted around and because I was following the map I could quickly see what had happened. We also missed a turn in South St. Paul but thanks to the map and the layout of city blocks it was easy to get back on course.
Because of all the other people out and about I don't think anyone made it around the course in the allotted time, so it's a good job there were no time penalties assessed. Everyone had a great time and after enjoying some tasty pizza at the finish point there was an informal answer giving session where it was discovered that The Westberg sisters, Gwen and Liz were the winners with only two of the 70 questions answered incorrectly.
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| The post race question answering session. |
If, like the Twin City Rally Club, you don't have an official "Holiday Party" you should perhaps consider an event like this. No prizes, just some friends having a good time doing what we usually do.
Quote of the night comes from Liz Westberg during a discussion on counting candy canes.
"A shepherds crook is not a candy cane. It says so in the generals". We burst out laughing. This gives you an idea of the good humor that the event was conducted in.
So a big thanks goes out to Mark, our organizer and his crew of helpers. We had a great time and plan to do the event next year.
I, my friends will see you next year. Wether it be on these pages or out on the roads at a rallye. I hope that your roads will be clear and your motor runs smoothly.
