Grand Canyon Rally
Laughlin, NV  January 13-15, 2006

Report from Vicki Vohs, rookie co-driver, who observed
something more than the next turn in the road ahead.

When I agreed to participate in the Grand Canyon Rally, I didn’t know what to expect and was apprehensive, as I had very limited experience with a rally computer.  My driver and boyfriend, Paul Eklund, and I decided to turn this into a road trip vacation with the rally at the end (in case things didn’t go well).  Days prior to the rally we did lots of driving and sight seeing, visiting friends and family in Laguna Beach, Palm Springs and Phoenix and I assumed the sight seeing (and vacation) would end at the start of the rally (Paul tends to get a bit serious about these things).

"I was pleasantly surprised with how the Rally Master, Gary Webb, put together this event.  The rally was to start from Laughlin, Nevada.  We arrived a day early to gamble, relax and complete our odometer check.  Even the odometer check was fun!  We left the Avi Resort Casino in the afternoon and took the back road up to Oatman, Arizona.  I had never heard of Oatman, an old ghost town on historic Route 66, where burros and Harleys roam the streets.  The shops sell carrots to fed to the burros, but be prepared when you run out of carrots, those burros don’t take “no” for an answer.  We enjoyed the town so much, we came back earlier the next day to souvenir shop, have lunch at the historic hotel and see the frontier shootout (and, of course, to do the odo check again).  We also had time for a Gold Mine Tour, which may end soon.  According to our tour guide, if the price of gold remains over $500 an ounce the mine may restart operations. 

The next morning I awoke somewhat apprehensive but was happy to discover that the morning section was well laid out, simple to follow, with controls along the way.  I was good to the computer and it was good to me.  We got to lunch without too much stress.  The rally master gave us a long lunch break (over 2 hours) so we could enjoy the Grand Canyon.  We all piled on a tour bus and went to the West rim of the Grand Canyon.  We joked that OSHA had not been here as the edge of the canyon is just a few steps off the bus with no railing in sight.  Funny thing, while Paul likes to drive his car at high rates of speed along a cliff, he didn’t like walking up to it so we found the best way to look over into the canyon was to literally belly up to the edge.  After some great photos and views, we dined on a delicious “Cowboy Lunch” (BBQ Sandwich and corn tortillas) and made a quick walk (read hike) to the Guano Mine before hopping a bus back to the tour center and resuming the rally. 

The afternoon stages were much like the morning with pauses to allow us to take pictures and stretch our legs (although I spent a few of these fixing the computer).  We ended up at a place called Peach Springs on the Hualipai Reservation where the Indian fry bread is good and the freight trains are loud.

Up bright and early the next morning, we started a quick stage at 7:15am to get over to the Seligman High School for a breakfast prepared by the students and staff.  For their efforts, the rally made a donation to the school.  Coincidentally, the graduating classes of both 1954 and 2004 had only 8 graduates.  Like Oatman, Seligman is also on historic Route 66. 

After breakfast, the next stages pointed us to the quaint, hillside mining town of Jerome where we drove on some of the same stages of the Prescott Rally.  I was fine with going about 30 mph, and repeatedly pointed out to Paul that the route book warned that going off along this edge would likely cause serious bodily injury.  He said that the stage rally cars at Prescott hit 60-70 mph on that same section and that is why I will stick to touring TSD rallies – thank you very much.  We had another couple of hours to have lunch in Jerome and roam the shops.  It became an expensive stop as I bought a beautiful silver and turquoise bracelet for myself and a few gifts for friends.  Running back to the car, we drove the last stages of the day outside of Cottonwood.  Since the rally ended early and we were only 10 miles from Sedona, I didn’t want to miss it, especially at sunset.  So we turned left and went to Red Rock State Park to look around and click a few pictures.  The scenery around Sedona is beautiful and there are many shops, which I would love to visit, however I decided to save money and stay in the car.  Instead, we made it a short visit as the sun waned.  We made it back to Cottonwood just in time for a nice reception hosted by two of the rally participants who live there. 

The last morning started with a continental breakfast, then a stage back up close to the red rock formations of Sedona, again with planned photo opportunities.  At this stop, we saw a Prong Horn Antelope.   

Our transit took us back thru Jerome and over the top of Mingus Mountain, which was beautiful with a light dusting of snow on the ground.  Our last series of stages for the rally began in windswept Chino Valley where we dodged a garbage truck waiting to start the leg.  We went by range land and into the National Forest where we saw a whole herd of antelope.  Did I tell you about the Joshua Trees?    Being from Oregon, it never occurred to me that a forest could be (and look) so different.  I think of a forest as a bunch of evergreens, but when we drove through a forest of towering Joshua Trees for as far as the eye could see, it was simply amazing. 

As the weekend progressed, it was evident that the expert rally master made the rally more challenging each day with brisker speeds on roads, check points hidden in washes and after tricky sections.  Even following the rally route took just a tad more concentration, but I was more confident after doing the first days.  The terror had subsided and was replaced by a new concern – that of messing up- as we were doing well, at least so far.  Paul kept a constant eye on my computer during the stages.  Sure, we had a couple of tense moments the first day as I learned to enter corrections into the computer, and sure, he could tell the difference when I put in tenths of a mile instead of hundredths.  But it all worked out.   

After a moment of confusion about a mileage point and a speed change (up of course), Paul fell behind, way behind.  He told me to 'hold on', which I knew was a bad sign, as he dropped down a gear and began accelerating hard and sliding around each corner.  I can’t remember the exact words, but I said firmly (and loudly) that 'he better slow down now, because no checkpoint or rally was worth a physical injury'.  Surprisingly, to no one who knows Paul, he didn’t slow down until he was on time again, and luckily I did survive.

While most of the rally was on classic Arizona desert roads, the last stage ended with a cruise down historic Route 66 ending with a check point not far from the high school in Seligman, where we gathered a final time for a BBQ lunch and awards ceremony.  While final scores were being tabulated, we were treated to a passionate speech by Angel Delgadillo, the barber turned advocate for the revival of Route 66.  Angel was one of the moving forces in the founding of the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona and in 1987 successfully lobbied the Arizona Legislature to designate and preserve Route 66 in Arizona as an historic highway.  Seligman hosts a cruise on Route 66 with over 700 cars and Harleys each May.  With scores in, and congratulations and thanks all around, the rally participants slipped into the brisk afternoon for their journeys home."