July 13, 2010 - Getting Ready to Leave
From Mr. Westlake:
Wednesday, July 14
And so starts another adventure...
My students love me because I am a morning person. As cars pulled into the school’s quadrangle this morning at 4:45 a.m. I knew that I would see happy excited faces. I was very surprised to find out that all they wanted from me was the keys to the car and for me to keep quiet. By 5:00 a.m. all were happily asleep.
With angelic faces and deep breathing behind me, I was able to work on my task for the day: listening to “hits” played by radio stations from small towns in the upper Mid-west. It didn’t take long for me to realize that what I wanted to listen to and what “96.5 the Roc” wanted to play were not the same. Luckily for me I had some old mix CDs in the car.
After 11 hours on the road at an amazing eight miles-per-gallon (very strong head wind!) we pulled into the hotel. Once everyone was set, some went to the pool while others watched “Cash Cab.” (I always laugh when the contestant gets three strikes and then gets dropped at the curb!) Dinner was outdoors at Sonic.
Tomorrow students will get a chance to sleep in (a little!) and then we head for Texas Motor Speedway.
Thanks for following our progress!
Thursday, July 15
I admire writers that can make even mundane things sound exciting. Perhaps if I made our trip sound more like a battle of good versus evil, or even better, spin a story about a student who gets lost and comes back as the Dread Pirate Roberts and with the help of a giant and an expert swordsman rescues Buttercup from Prince Humperdink. (I really love that movie!) Unfortunately the best I can do is tell a tale of long straight-as-string highways, bad food and road construction.
We left the hotel in Wichita at 9:00 a.m. to start the final leg of our trip to Fort Worth. With lighter winds the gas mileage was better, but the construction zones made the drive more difficult. None-the-less, the boys were in good spirits and we made it to the hotel with plenty of time to enjoy the pool before dinner. Knowing that today may be our last chance to eat at a sit-down restaurant we found a fun burger place called “The Twisted Root.” They gave you a card with a popular name on it to let you know your food was ready. The boys thought it was funny that I was Bob the Builder. (I wish I had a talking backhoe named Scoop!)
Well, tomorrow things get started with race orientation and then vehicle inspection. It is going to be very hot tomorrow so I’m hoping we pass quickly.
Time to go to work!
Friday, July 16
My, that was a long hot day!
As the boys got the car off the trailer for the first time today it was obvious how excited they were to show the world what a year of hard work looks like. The team set to work checking and cleaning the car after the 1,000-mile drive. The electrical team hooked up the power and preformed some diagnostics. Thumbs-up and we were off to inspection.
Today we needed to pass four stations: Electrical, Mechanical, Stability and Egress. Although a majority of the afternoon was spent hurrying up to wait we passed all four. With our car done for the day, we set our sites on helping one of the new teams get their car going. It seems they had part of their vehicle break off in testing which left the electrical system with a number of problems. Enter Tayler B. and Tom G. who quickly found the problems and helped the team rewire their car. As darkness fell and the last leads where connected everyone waited with breath held to see if the car would work. A couple of flipped switches later the team was driving away. It was very fun to watch.
Tomorrow is another long day as we finish the inspection. Fort Worth is under a “heat advisory”….that can’t be good.
I like to say a special thanks to all the Alumni who have been sending nice notes. It really means a lot to me.
Always looking for shade…..
Saturday, July 17
It was almost a perfect day...
The team woke early to get the car over to Texas Motor Speedway for the final inspection stations. The car and driver needed to demonstrate that the brakes worked well and that the car would not be blown off the road when a large truck passed. (I wonder what happens to teams that fail that test!) With Safety Officer Michael M. in charge, the team also needed to demonstrate that they could load and unload the car quickly and safely. We were quite surprised to be entirely done by 11:30 a.m. At that point we waited to hear what the judges’ ruling would be on the fact that our car was measured one cm too wide (0.4 inches). The car was measured multiple times and clearly showed an oversight on our part. The official ruling was a five-mile penalty. The boys talked about it and decided to take the penalty and avoid damaging the car in order to comply. I’m pretty sure that this year’s race will not be decided by five miles.
Tomorrow racing starts. We are Team #5 so we will be the fifth team out. After tomorrow, the teams are started by the order they finished the prior day. The stage covers 195 difficult miles and will be a true challenge for us. The batteries have been sending us mixed messages in testing (I love you – no, I only like you) so we are not really sure how they will perform over a whole day of driving. We will definitely have a better understanding after tomorrow!
We will continue to update our twitter page as the day goes on.
Tomorrow's journal will have a new feature called “hat styles.” I think you will love it!
I’m REALLY glad that I don’t have to drive the solar car. (Another heat advisory on Sunday.)
Thanks for following!
Sunday, July 18 - Race Day One
Seeing the country at 30 mph...
The race started today at Texas Motor Speedway at 9:00 a.m. and everyone was excited. Tom P. quickly piloted the car through Fort Worth traffic and out into the Texas countryside. With 195 long miles ahead we did our best to conserve battery while at the same time maintaining a high average speed. After the first mandatory rest stop we still were not comfortable with the numbers we were getting from the system. We soon started to realize that the real question wasn’t if we would finish the miles - it was how far would we be able to go before we would need to stop at 5:00 p.m. Even the eternal optimist Tayler B. was a little worried.
Even with the constant stress of managing the car, the boys were in good spirits. When Paul U. took over driving he encountered some of the worst possible solar car roads. Fresh gravel covered long stretches and eventually led to two flat tires. Even while changing the tires in the middle of desert no one complained (but everyone wanted to get back into the air conditioned cars!)
Though Monday is a shorter day (117 miles) it will be very challenging because we are starting with a depleted battery pack. We are hoping that we will get some sun early and will be ready to get the car out to tan when impound opens at 6:30 a.m.
Hoping for a shorter day.
Monday, July 19 - Race Day Two
Race Day 2
The batteries get names...
Today’s stage took us from Snyder, TX to Littlefield, TX; a total of 114 driving miles.
The morning crew met outside the hotel at 6:20 a.m. so we could get the car out of impound as soon as it opened in search of any sunlight we could find. Once we had the array set up Noveen D. and Ken M. went about changing all of the tires on the car after they were chewed up by 140 miles of bad roads. The change went with Nascar precision and within 30 minutes they had new tires on all four wheels.
The driving yesterday took the battery pack down to almost zero and we were a little worried about being able to finish today’s route. Tayler B. and Tom G. had no choice but to nurse the car along to the lunch stop continually monitoring each batteries voltage via Tayler’s home-built telemetry system. Well it seems that battery number five is not all that excited about the solar car race and doesn’t want to play well with the other batteries. This “Demon Battery” ultimately led the solar car to turn off, forcing us to drive the car on only the solar array for the last mile of the morning. With a mandatory two-hour rest stop at Texas Tech we hoped that battery number eight (I call him Lil’ Westlake) would have a talk with battery five and get him to start pulling his weight. Truth-be-told we were not sure we would be able to finish the last thirty-five miles by five o’clock. Well somehow the Demon battery's charge came back during the rest stop and Paul U. was able to drive the car pretty hard in the afternoon and finished under the time limit. Everyone was very excited.
When you spend seven hours a day following the solar car you look for anything to entertain each other. Well our hats have provided some of the fun we needed. The rules of the race make it mandatory for each team member to wear a full brimmed hat anytime they are outdoors. It is a one-mile penalty if you don’t have your hat on. Well, we have pretty cool hats (thanks Mary W.!) that allow us to look uniform but also give us room for individual styles. Featured today is Michael M. and Kevin M. with the classic “bottle-top” and “tri-fold” designs that they wear everyday.
Tomorrow is a shorter day and then a day off in Amarillo, TX.
Tuesday, July 20 - Race Day 3
Battery Five gets on board...
As crazy as the last two days were we looked forward to a shorter day and hoped to start with better batteries. With only 89 miles ahead we arrived at impound hoping that with a couple of extra hours of charging we would finish the miles easily. Well, at 9:00 a.m. Alex H. pulled the chocks out from under the car and we were off. The goal was to make it to Hereford, TX for lunch by noon. With a good tail wind and the help of the evil battery five we arrived with time to spare. With only 27 miles remaining after lunch we stretched out our stop so that we could spend time answering questions and getting little kids in and out of our car. (The look on their faces when they get to “sit in a solar car” has made the entire trip worthwhile.) The way the boys interact with the communities we stop in would make teachers and parents very proud.
After a delicious lunch provided by our new friends in Hereford we headed out for the end of our day. With a good battery pack and a rest day ahead, Paul U. drove the car wide open, averaging over 40 mph for the last 27 miles. When we got to Vega everyone was very excited.
With extra time before we had to arrive in Amarillo we stopped at the famous “Cadillac Ranch,” a true piece of Americana. We hiked out to the cars in search of half-used cans of spray paint so we could make our own mark on this piece of pop-culture. From a distance the display is not very impressive, but up close it is pretty neat. In some spots the layers of paint is over an inch thick!
Finally it is time for another addition of “Hats of EVT”:
Today we are featuring Alex H. with “The Rancher,” Ken M. with “The Rodeo” (complete with feather) and Dan S. with “The Prospector.”
Wednesday we have the day off to charge and do any necessary maintenance. We are hoping to use some of the time to drive 25 miles south of Amarillo and see Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the United States.
Looking forward to some rest...
Wednesday, July 21 - Rest Day
What a great rest day!
Today we had the day off to do car maintenance, charge the batteries, and get some rest. We were successful at all three. At 7:00 a.m. a skeleton crew went over to the Don Harrington Discovery Center to pull the solar car off the trailer and set up the array. The rest of the day we took turns watching the car while shuttling students to and from the hotel. A big part of the day was spent letting little kids get in the solar car. They all looked so excited. When they where done we gave them a marker to sign the bottom of the trailer. It looks very cool with all the little “signatures.”
In the middle of the day a majority of the team went down to Palo Duro Canyon. It is the second largest canyon in the United States and was worth the trip. We hiked for about an hour and then visited the interpretive center. The canyon was very impressive.
The rest of the day was spent at the hotel swimming and sleeping. In the evening we had dinner in the Discovery Center. The students loved the interactive exhibits.
Tomorrow is a very difficult day with big hills in the morning and over 100 miles of driving. With a full battery pack and a better knowledge of how they act we hope to be able to finish all the miles. Another day with strong tail-winds would help!
No hat pictures today, I forget to take them. Tomorrow we will feature some more.
We did find a store-front that deserved a picture. I wonder what kind of “information” they have about me and why anyone would want it?
Thanks for keeping us in your prayers.
Thursday, July 22 - Race Day Five
Wow….I’m really glad you kept us in your prayers!
Sorry that my journal is a little late, yesterday was not a normal day. Before I tell the story it is important for all to know that no one got hurt.
After our lunch stop yesterday we were traveling north on Hwy 285 from Dumas, TX. It is a great solar car road: four-lane divided highway with shoulders and clear vision for cars. Doing our best to conserve energy we were traveling between 30 and 35 mph. Out of no where a drunk driver runs into the back of our chase vehicle (my truck and trailer) in excess of 70 mph. The trailer came off and was controlled by the safety chains. Tom P. and the lead vehicle had no idea that anything had happened and were completely safe. We got the trailer stopped and got out to check on the driver and the damage. The driver, a 70 year retired banker, took off! We called 911 and the sheriff had to pursue the driver who fled the scene and was now fleeing police. When they finally got him stopped they had to remove him at gun-point. (The sheriff was pretty excited about this and was anxious to share the story!) When things settled we checked the damage. The back of the trailer is smashed-in a good two feet (the crushed rear end saved us from more impact in the truck) and tongue and hitch were completely destroyed. The back of my truck has a huge dent.
After all the police reports were filled out we tied the trailer to the back of the truck and limped it into Stratford, TX. It is a very small town with a DQ on the corner and a feed-shop. We talked to someone who sent us to see “Danny” at a little body repair shop to see if we could fix the trailer. Well the three guys at C and D Body shop could not have been nicer. With Tom L.’s help we managed to replace both the tongue and the hitch. I picked the boys up at the Dairy Queen and we drove to the end of the route.
Then I had to make one of the hardest decisions of my life. It was with much emotion that I told the team that we would need to stop racing. I couldn’t do it. Although yesterday’s accident was freakish and would never happen again all I can see is the worse case scenario. I think the boys understand.
Today we will follow the race and show our car off at the media stops and lunch. We still need to do some work on the trailer. (The rear door falls off!) We will try to find some fun things to do along the way to Garden City, KS.
The boys were excited to sleep in...
Saturday, July 24
What a difference a day makes!
Yesterday our team was all a little sour about the whole drunk driver incident and it made it even harder watching other teams race while we followed in the cars. It was made even harder knowing that our car was getting better everyday and we were set to move up in the overall standings. Well, we needed drastic measures and with the help of one of our biggest supporters and sponsor we found exactly what we needed.
At 6:00 a.m. the team met me in the lobby for a day away from the solar race. We loaded everyone in the vehicles and headed west; our destination was Beaver Creek, Colorado. As soon as everyone was loaded they promptly went to sleep. That was fine because there really wasn’t much to see between Garden City, KS and Pueblo, CO. Around 11:00 a.m. we could see the mountains, some for the very first time. We drove up, up, up to Leadville and then continued on to Minturn. The views were amazing. Suddenly things didn’t seem so bad.
We arrived at the Grojean’s around 3:00 p.m. and cleaned up quickly to head to Mass at the Gerald Ford Chapel in Beaver Creek. It looked so neat to see all the boys dressed in their black EVT polo shirts sitting in the front of the church. The Priest was very excited to have us and we were very excited to be guests. The Mass lifted everyone’s spirits and everyone seemed to switch from looking behind to looking ahead. After Mass (and long conversations with parishioners about who we were) we headed to the Blue Moose for some of the tastiest pizza I have ever had. Everyone was laughing which really did wonders for my own state-of-mind. When our feast was finished I sent the boys off to wander around the village while I found a cup of decaf coffee and a comfortable seat by the outside ice rink. The view of the mountains, the warmth of the coffee, and the sound of little kids learning to skate made me feel good about my decisions over the last couple of days. (It also made me a little home-sick!)
Tomorrow morning we are going to ride the chairlift up Beaver Creek and hike down. At noon we will head back to Boulder and display our solar car before the banquet.
A very big thank you to Tom’s grandparents for lifting everyone’s spirits.
I’m anxious to start heading home!
Monday, July 26
The last journal entry…
I have had the last ten hours to reflect on our two-week adventure as we drove from Boulder to Omaha. Hopefully I can capture the really good things and not dwell on the bad.
Yesterday we woke up to a delicious breakfast made by Mrs. Grojean. I ate a few extra sausages and strips of bacon knowing I would need the extra protein for the hike down Beaver Creek. (OK, that last part was a lie. I just really like bacon and sausage!) After breakfast we packed up and then took the Dial-A-Ride up to the village for a morning of exercise. We rode the chairlift to the top and started down a three-mile trail called “The Overlook.” The view was simply amazing! Using what I know about physics I figured that the extra pounds I am currently carrying would only help me as I converted potential energy into kinetic energy. I was wrong. The boys, full of their own energy, would get ahead and then patiently wait for me to catch up. As soon as I met them they would take off again. I think I even heard one of them say, “Don’t worry about bears, you only need to be faster than Mr. Westlake.” Ouch!
After 90 minutes we reached the bottom and them started our drive into Boulder. The scenery made the three-hour ride pass quickly. When we got to the hotel we got the solar car out to display it. The boys quickly met up with their new friends, but I felt a little like an outsider after being gone for a day. It seemed like everyone was looking into my eyes with that “I wonder if he is ok look.” I was anxious to get the banquet over so we could get to sleep and start on our drive home. I really miss my family.
Here are just some of the really good things that came out of our trip:
- My students built a beautiful and unique vehicle and learned how to make it work well. Adults thought it was “cool” and little kids just loved sitting in it and making faces in the rearview camera.
- All the teams at the event got along so well. Everyone left with new “Facebook” friends.
- When we had trouble with the solar car the entire group worked together to find a solution. Everyone pulled their weight.
- Dr. Marks and the entire Hunt-Winston Solar Car staff seemed to understand the decisions I made. The boys never complained.
- Eleven high school boys saw, first-hand, the effects of drinking and driving.
·- The EVT parents and my colleagues wrote me such nice supportive notes at a time I really needed them. Thank you!
- I learned how to send everyone a text message at the same time. (They never answer my calls!)
- Joe F. and I have very cool Birkenstock tans.
- My room at school cleaned itself. (I am pretty sure that did not happen, but I can hope!)
- We had the BEST hats by far. (More styles featured today!)
- We are very good at being the Experimental Vacation Team.
Well, thanks for reading my journals. It really has been a great trip with an outstanding group of young men. Our students are why I love teaching at Saint Thomas Academy.
