road rally

When you start off a road rally by having to backtrack to find the starting point, it's not a good sign. And that's what my friend Kathy and I had to do today when we hit the road for our very first road rally together.

"The basic idea of most Road Rallies is the same: each competing team, consisting of a driver and a navigator, are given a set of written instructions which are used to follow a pre-determined course.

The one we participated in was actually a version called a Gimmick Rally, which is not scored by any high speed factor, but more of a test of the team's wit, and based on information gathered along the course and proof that the team visited each landmark along the way."

Okay, so we failed the "team's wit" test right from the get-go, but who cares? It gave us a good laugh and set the tone for the rest of the day. We had a grand time traveling down 60 miles of roads we'd never been on before, passing by things that we forgot still existed in our over-populated state, like farmland as far as the eye can see.

We stopped by places like the Cohanzick Zoo (NJ's first zoo, located in Bridgeton), Hancock House (site of a massacre during the Revolutionary War), and a 500 year old oak tree (located in Salem). The picture you see is that of the west wall of the Hancock House, which is in a herringbone pattern. At the top are the initials of William & Sarah Hancock, as well as the date it was built, 1734 (click to enlarge).

Although speed wasn't the object, I must say we took great glee whenever we passed one of the other contestants. I must also admit that there were two occassions when we considered cheating a bit. We missed one of the questions and considered bribing one of the other teams to give us the answer. Then there was our poker hand...it sucked. At each check point, they give you a card, and eventually you would end up with five, which would be used as a tie-breaker if need-be. We were tempted to trade with another team. But in the end, we were good little girls and followed the rules.

Did we win? Well, I can't say for sure, since we didn't stick around for the buffet or awards presentation afterwards. We weren't in it for the prizes anyway. It was just a fun way to while away a Sunday. If you ever get the chance to participate in a road rally, I would strongly recommend you try one out!