Neil San Diego
One of "...those guys..."
I saw the talk about the LowCal 250 Rally last year, and it sounded like a fun time. So Janet and I decided to give it a try this year. I’m not really interested in IBA rallys, and this was a great opportunity to try the “rally thing” without doing any 1000 mile days. Besides, it’s for a good cause.
So we signed up for the rally.
Got up before the chickens and headed down to the San Diego BMW dealer in Kearny Mesa on Sat morning (april 25), checked in and listened to the pre rally meeting. We got our rally packets (complete with plastic bag and rubber gloves…??!) and set to the task of planning a route.
The rally had all four corners of San Diego County as bonus locations, and to successfully finish you were required to go to at least two of the corners. We thought through all the corner options and decided to try for the two east corners, Salton Sea (NE) and the Desert View Tower (SE). We figured those two would give us the best possibility of finishing, and still have opportunities to gather other bonuses.
So off we went, starting in Kearny Mesa about 8:45am. Nice weather, about 60 degrees IIRC. We headed east for about 45 min and then up into the Laguna Mountains for our first three bonuses. First stop was by an observatory, forgot the name, but it was COLD! 39 degrees before you consider the wind, which I’m sure was gusting to over 20 mph – maybe 30? Guess I should have put on that fleece sweatshirt I brought…(oops, forgot to get pictures here)
On down the road, getting blown all over hell and gone, to the next stop. Pioneer Mail Trailhead. It had warmed up to a balmy 41 degrees at this point.
And then on to the next stop, getting blown all over hell and gone. Stonewall Mine in Cuyamaca Park just west of the Lagunas.
Cool, three bonuses already! Damn were good! (or maybe ignorant). Next stop, Ranchita Store to take measurements of Saquatch’s nether regions. (who thinks up these tasks?
)
I didn’t bring a tape measure as was suggested in the rally email that I got a week earlier, so we decided to just make a mark on our map and measure the mark when we got back at the end of the day. Fortunately, we were able to borrow a tape measure at the store behind Mr Sasquatch so we didn’t have to depend on the marks on our map.
Next, on to Borrego Springs to measure tusks on a baby mammoth statue. We found some nice people who just happened to have a tape measure in their truck. Janet turned on the charm. They let us use the tape measure anyway… (oops, forgot to take pictures here also)
Next we head to the northeast corner, our first required bonus stop. Salton Sea. No measurements or riddles at this stop, no siree. Here, we are required to fill up a baggie with prime, choice grade A Salton Sea barnacles. WooHoo! Six bonuses!
After a lunch break that took waaaaayyyyy too long (should have gone fast food instead of sit-down service) we headed to the next stop, which was the southeast corner – Desert View Tower. After what seemed an eternity riding south we finally made it to the tower. The question to be answered required us to climb to the top of the tower. What a view! Can’t believe that as long as I lived in this area, I’ve never stopped at the tower.
By this time it was getting late, so we didn’t have time for many more bonus stops. We figured that we could get one more stop in. This one would be a name on a bench in Mission Trails Park, but sadly we couldn’t locate the bench and time was getting very short. We blew off the bench search and headed back. As it was, we got back with only 4 minutes to spare.
We had a great time. We did 347 total miles, with 24.5 points/minute. That was good enough for fourth place (fifth actually, since second place was a tie). Overall, I’m happy with this for our first attempt. Looking forward to next year.
So we signed up for the rally.
Got up before the chickens and headed down to the San Diego BMW dealer in Kearny Mesa on Sat morning (april 25), checked in and listened to the pre rally meeting. We got our rally packets (complete with plastic bag and rubber gloves…??!) and set to the task of planning a route.
The rally had all four corners of San Diego County as bonus locations, and to successfully finish you were required to go to at least two of the corners. We thought through all the corner options and decided to try for the two east corners, Salton Sea (NE) and the Desert View Tower (SE). We figured those two would give us the best possibility of finishing, and still have opportunities to gather other bonuses.
So off we went, starting in Kearny Mesa about 8:45am. Nice weather, about 60 degrees IIRC. We headed east for about 45 min and then up into the Laguna Mountains for our first three bonuses. First stop was by an observatory, forgot the name, but it was COLD! 39 degrees before you consider the wind, which I’m sure was gusting to over 20 mph – maybe 30? Guess I should have put on that fleece sweatshirt I brought…(oops, forgot to get pictures here)
On down the road, getting blown all over hell and gone, to the next stop. Pioneer Mail Trailhead. It had warmed up to a balmy 41 degrees at this point.
And then on to the next stop, getting blown all over hell and gone. Stonewall Mine in Cuyamaca Park just west of the Lagunas.
Cool, three bonuses already! Damn were good! (or maybe ignorant). Next stop, Ranchita Store to take measurements of Saquatch’s nether regions. (who thinks up these tasks?
)
I didn’t bring a tape measure as was suggested in the rally email that I got a week earlier, so we decided to just make a mark on our map and measure the mark when we got back at the end of the day. Fortunately, we were able to borrow a tape measure at the store behind Mr Sasquatch so we didn’t have to depend on the marks on our map.
Next, on to Borrego Springs to measure tusks on a baby mammoth statue. We found some nice people who just happened to have a tape measure in their truck. Janet turned on the charm. They let us use the tape measure anyway… (oops, forgot to take pictures here also)
Next we head to the northeast corner, our first required bonus stop. Salton Sea. No measurements or riddles at this stop, no siree. Here, we are required to fill up a baggie with prime, choice grade A Salton Sea barnacles. WooHoo! Six bonuses!
After a lunch break that took waaaaayyyyy too long (should have gone fast food instead of sit-down service) we headed to the next stop, which was the southeast corner – Desert View Tower. After what seemed an eternity riding south we finally made it to the tower. The question to be answered required us to climb to the top of the tower. What a view! Can’t believe that as long as I lived in this area, I’ve never stopped at the tower.
By this time it was getting late, so we didn’t have time for many more bonus stops. We figured that we could get one more stop in. This one would be a name on a bench in Mission Trails Park, but sadly we couldn’t locate the bench and time was getting very short. We blew off the bench search and headed back. As it was, we got back with only 4 minutes to spare.
We had a great time. We did 347 total miles, with 24.5 points/minute. That was good enough for fourth place (fifth actually, since second place was a tie). Overall, I’m happy with this for our first attempt. Looking forward to next year.
