“It was a dark and stormy night…” Well it didn’t start out that way for the rally’s five teams. The Land’s End Rally start couldn’t be more perfect – warm morning, clear sky with a few puffy clouds – a great day for a top-down rally. We left Campton Forest Preserve with rally instructions in hand – each driver/navigator determining their route. The only big hindrance was getting stuck behind a farm implement hogging the road at 5 mph. He finally turned off and we were on way to one of the first rally stops – A pancake breakfast served by the Kaneville Volunteer Fire Department. Excellent food and at $5 for all-you-can eat – it was great! Only problem was that while we were feasting inside the fire department garage, a freak torrential downpour occurred and promptly deposited water inside our open-car cockpits – almost a ¼” according to Tom Holzinger’s open ashtray! We waited out the storm and then wiped up the mess and continued on our way taking note that the sky was looking very black to the northwest across the open fields. Since our route was taking us south, we weren’t too concerned – but kept an eye on the pending storm. We didn’t have to wait too long. The ominous black clouds were closing in on us and some appeared to be swirling – Time to put up the tops. Just in time. The winds picked up, the clouds were a funny color, the temperature dropped and the rains came in buckets – too hard of a downpour to drive. Some teams sought shelter in a local establishment - ‘The Pit Stop’, others huddled their cars against a building to get out of the driving rain. It was noted by one of the teams that three funnel-shaped clouds were kicking up dust in the fields and saw evidence of damage to a large tree in a farmer’s yard. The rain did let up enough to continue the rally. We ended up at Silver Springs State Park outside of Yorkville, IL greeted by Wade Keene and a cooler full of goodies to grill. Of course, now the sun was shining like nothing happened. Maybe we were only imagining the events of the past four hours…
The trip home was quite uneventful. I cruised up to Cary, IL with the wind in my hair, a smile on my face in satisfaction of a great rally and a smooth running vehicle. Thanks Wade for a fun day!

Final Rally Results:
1st     Steve and Liz Gorr
2nd     Steve and Bob Lenz
3rd     Victor L’Heureux (solo)

Additional participants included Tom Holzman and Ed Mish with his grandson. Ed gets a special congratulations for following directions and bringing a ‘youngin along to the rally!