December 8, 2004 The sun broke warmly on the backs of our cars as we began to head out for recce. Recce is short for reconnaissance and that’s exactly what we were about to do over Saturday’s stages, at roughly 30 MPH. But we have to get there first, and that’s a bit of a journey in itself. Next to the weather, Ramada is known for its never-ending transits. That’s why we’re out so early. Today’s stages are known for their good conditions and beautiful scenery and after an hour’s drive we’re in the Hualapi Nation, descending into the Grand Canyon. It’s dry and cool with no signs of bad weather. This makes me feel better. Once again, I’m taking notes. My co-driver will not arrive until Thursday night and I’d rather watch Leon pick out a good line and make notes than try to do so myself while yelling at him. (Note: Leon does not make a good co-driver!). The canyon sinks and beautiful red rocks rise up to meet a cloudless sky. Trees are changing color and everything smells like juniper and rain. As silly as it sounds, one of my favorite part of rallying is being out in the wild, amongst the natural world and all sorts of beautiful terrain. This stage will be fun. There are not too many tricky sections and the road is very smooth. The next two stages are just down the road. You might know them if you’ve ever played the U.S. stages on Richard Burns’ Rally. They’re very wide, open and fast. I’m worried about the speed- I’ve never really driven fourth and fifth gear fast! As much as I hate to say it, I’m scared! I’m also scared of the conditions- the road is getting very muddy and I don’t think my 2WD car will pull me out of this mess. This stage was short, only about eight miles or so and the next stage started 200 yards up the road. If I was scared before I was terrified now! The road ahead was like coagulating cement with clumps of snow melting down into the wheel ruts our cars made. Leon’s 4WD Suburban was sliding across the road. I thought that he was being silly, but the car kept sliding even with his hands off of the wheel! There was definitely no way that I would make it through this! I was already planning my plea to have the organizers throw the stage out of the rally. We finally made it through the stage and everyone of my notes seemed to read “slippy,” “!!,” or “muddy.” I wasn’t too happy. The trip back was long and we actually managed to take the longer way back. Crappy hotel food awaited and I was less than optimistic about the race. I tried not to think about my chances of finishing and hoped that the lucky streak of warm weather would dry things up. Return to Diary of a Driver.