[Dr. Liz]

Here we are in beautiful, sunny Pocatello, Idaho. Okay, so it?s not sunny. We left Park City about 15 minutes ahead of a cold front (raining at last report, but that was a few hours ago, so it could have easily turned to snow by now?. Welcome to October in Utah). It was windy, but didn?t really start raining (again) until we were well into Idaho. And then it was 38 degrees, and raining.

Perfect autocross weather. (Well, I guess if you are running an AWD car, it IS the perfect weather, as the big engine (RWD) cars are going sideways. But wait. I?ll get there.) We arrived at the airport and got the RV parked, and set up, in the rain. A few immediate issues; there is a leak somewhere in the rear that brought a fair amount of water into where the car was. Enough that it took some serious mopping up and slipping and sliding in the process. But we got the car and all of our stuff unloaded. And rolled out every mat/rug we?ve got to make a dry-ish floor for the poods (and us), and finally unloaded the dogs from the truck (we?re in a grass lot; i.e. MUD. Probably not enough to get stuck in, but enough to leave little (and not so little) muddy footprints EVERYWHERE!



Anyway, we finally got the muddy feet taken care of and discovered that they were running the ?test and tune?.



In truth, Gary and I were a little skeptical; if participating was going to involve standing out in the rain chasing cones, we were going to pass. But? I have never driven in the rain before. Like, ever. And I went out to see what was going on, and noticed that the cars that were catching cones were stopping, grabbing the cone and putting it back in place before continuing with their run.



Heh. I see a new event. ?How quickly can you stop your car, grab your cone, stick it back in place and go on?? It would really reward those clean runs! Heehee.

Anyway, we are running in at an airport, right? Well, this is apparently an active airport, with the taxiway on the other side of an (essentially) invisible painted line on the tarmac. And since cars were spinning (ya know, wet pavement and all), it was sort of exciting to watch the spinning-car-taxiing-airplane dynamic.

Of course, it also gave the opportunity for a few ?Who?s Faster?? comparisons.



Gary and I each got in 5 runs, and are both quite happy with how the MINI is performing in the rain. (Me? I?ve decided that sideways is a perfectly valid direction, thankyouverymuch!) Actually, having never really driven in the rain before, this was the perfect introduction (although I?m still not 100% certain how to get the #@$#$@ windshield wipers on in the car?. D@mn Germans. *ahem.) What better way to learn how to hydroplane than in an AX course? (Certainly safer than the freeway, eh?!? *grin.)



The only bummer? Local news is predicting an inch of accumulated snow by this time tomorrow.

Shoulda packed the snow tires. (Yep, the Subarus are going to win the day, I think.)

Internet connection is a bit sketchy (consistent, but a tad slow) up here, so I?m going to put most of the pictures in an album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/gdranow/100507Octoberfast


(BTW, we?re staying at the Sandpiper toy hauler by the gate! *grin!)