DAY 2 (Friday, September 19):
Woke up and had breakfast with some of the MINI peeps. Went to the gift shop to remind the lady that we would have people coming in to get the clue from the brochure holder. She gave me a bit of a problem sighting that other rallies would come in and have to purchase something.
On my way out of the gift shop, I notice the Red Bull MINI in the parking lot. Don (Big Daddy) had arranged for the girls to come again this year. They stayed for about an hour and handed out free Red Bull.
Tori and Rachel went to Subway and returned at the correct time (after we delivered them some cash). Jerome went around and took down every team’s odometer reading and gave out team numbers.
After a short briefing to let everyone know about the rules and what signs to look for, I told them “in order to start your vacation, you would need to take a look at some attractions in the area – so where would you find brochures with attractions?” And then they took off and so did we.
We left in a caravan; Miss MINI, Wicket and Jenna Jamison. We drove to the Aero Car first. Garth told us where he would like to sit and we got our sandwiches from him.
Then, still in a caravan, we pointed out Thompson Point as we drove by, so that Garth knew where April would need to be dropped off. Onwards to the Botanical Gardens, where Tori and Rachel decided that Jenna would stay with Rachel and she would pick up Tori after all was said and done. We walked Rachel to the wedding arbor and left her there with her books. She was very happy that we chose that place for her, it was very beautiful.
After leaving the Botanical Gardens, we drove on to the Floral Clock, dropped off the clues and the sign with the lady at the gift shop. We walked over to the phone book to make sure that it was still there and that we could find the phone number for Cooper S. Still driving on to Tori’s destination, we needed to make one more stop at the Brock’s Monument. We were told two weeks prior that there was going to be a wedding at the Laura Secord Monument on that day, so we needed to quickly come up with an alternative. We planned to use the only other thing we had taken a picture of during our recon trip; The Battle of Queenston Heights Walking Tour #5.
We put a lawn sign next to the plaque. We dropped off Tori at the Chapel on our way to Simcoe Park.
She seemed fine with the destination and was just going to sit inside the chapel and read her book while she waited. So, we motored on to Simcoe Park and started setting up the Minilympics.
We set everything up; crochet up a hill around a tree and back down the hill, where you then would need to sit on a chair, put a balloon on your lap and have your teammate try to pop the balloon by sitting on your lap. Next was the egg on a spoon, once again utilizing the hill and the trees. Then they found themselves at the picnic table where they needed to make a paper airplane and throw it as far as they could. And the final task was Hillbilly Golf. They needed to get all three golf balls on strings around the poles before the watch was stopped.
We still had at least an hour before our first team would arrive. We ate, Jerome inputted the odometer data into the spreadsheet, we read and just enjoyed the day.
Rory and Heather were the first team to arrive. They seemed a bit stressed. They said that they were cursing our names. But at least they figured out the puzzles and clues in order to get as far as they were. Rory ended up throwing the furthest airplane – very impressive.
In the middle of the first team doing their tasks, we got a cell phone call. It was Tori. Apparently, a man in a suit showed up at the chapel and was really upset that she was there. According to Tori, he stated that this was private property and that there was about to be a wedding there. He spoke harshly to her and wouldn’t move out of the way in order for her to pick up her book bag and other items that were still inside the chapel. She was worried that he was going to make more trouble with her so she told me that she would hide in the back and wait for the teams to arrive and if he gave her more trouble, she would need to be picked up.
I had a bad feeling that if we were going to have a problem today, this was going to be the place. Another example of not asking for permission...
I mentioned to Rory and Heather that they may need to look for Tori across the street from the destination because of the problem with the man in a suit.
Once they were done, we gave them their next clue and cookies that Champagne Bob had made and off they went.
Not long after they were gone, did Jason, Jessica and Dave arrive. They really seemed to be enjoying the rally, which made us feel like it was worth the work.
At the balloon bust, Jessica said that they just met but they were really getting friendly, and at the paper airplane, Jason mentioned that he had a paper airplane book when he was a child...now if he could only remember HOW to make one! As they ran back to their car, Jason yelled that we were maniacal fnckers!
Once they were gone, it was time for me to head off to the final destination; Caroline Cellars.
When I arrived, I let Justine know that I was there and that I was going to set up the table for the teams. I put the table cloth on, put out the snacks, hung the Make-A-Wish banner, set out the road rally signs, and waited…
First team to arrive was Team #7, Jason, Jessica & Dave. They arrived at 3:10pm. We spent a little while talking about the adventures, then 4 minutes later, Team #6, Rory and Heather arrived. This time we had a very long wait for Team #1 to arrive (3:57pm); Kristee, Chad and Don. These were the three teams that arrived by doing all of the tasks. A fourth team (Team #2, Rick, Donna, Larry, Donna, (Team #3; Bob & Karen - who teamed up with Team #2)) were directed to come to the final destination even though they still had one more task to complete. Jerome thought that it may take them a while. The other 2 teams dropped out. One too many tasks, I guess.
One team dropped out (Team #5; James & Susan) because they didn’t have a cell phone and couldn’t complete the clue that asked them to text something. They were going to get help from another team, but the team took off without helping. I’ll have to get everyone’s story before I make my judgment.
Some of the older folks dropped out early, but (Team #4) Bob, Joann, Ron and Gretchen made it all the way to Simcoe Park and I think even the chapel, but when there was one more destination, they decided to head back to Niagara.
The ones that did make it to the final destination got to earn extra bonus-minus points by answering trivia questions about the DVD. After that they could enjoy a glass of wine on the patio and some snacks.
We all headed back to our hotel. Jerome, Garth and I went to the room to figure out points and prizes. Garth went through all the donated items and picked which ones he wanted to raffle and auction off tonight.
I think we made it down to the Apollo Grill by 7:15pm. We knew who won and we had a laundry basket of raffle items. All was good.
First place (Takata Golf gift bag & $50 gas card) went to Team #6; Rory and Heather. Second place (Takata Golf gift bag & $25 Target gift card) went to Team #7; Jason, Jessica & Dave. Third Place (Takata Golf gift bag & $15 Target gift card) went to Team #1; Kristee, Chad & Don. Booby (a spare tire) was given to the last team who didn’t quite complete, but at least they showed up at the end; Team #4; Rick & Donna and Larry & Donna (along with Team #3; Bob & Karen).
The rest of the evening was spent selling raffle tickets and doing auctions. We sold $220 worth of raffle tickets on Friday evening. And raised a lot more with the auctions.
Later on after dinner, we all went to Jason’s room and looked at pictures and watched some YouTube. Garth wanted us to watch Yacht Rock. There were 11 movies! It cleared the room.
On my way out of the gift shop, I notice the Red Bull MINI in the parking lot. Don (Big Daddy) had arranged for the girls to come again this year. They stayed for about an hour and handed out free Red Bull.
Tori and Rachel went to Subway and returned at the correct time (after we delivered them some cash). Jerome went around and took down every team’s odometer reading and gave out team numbers.
After a short briefing to let everyone know about the rules and what signs to look for, I told them “in order to start your vacation, you would need to take a look at some attractions in the area – so where would you find brochures with attractions?” And then they took off and so did we.
We left in a caravan; Miss MINI, Wicket and Jenna Jamison. We drove to the Aero Car first. Garth told us where he would like to sit and we got our sandwiches from him.
Then, still in a caravan, we pointed out Thompson Point as we drove by, so that Garth knew where April would need to be dropped off. Onwards to the Botanical Gardens, where Tori and Rachel decided that Jenna would stay with Rachel and she would pick up Tori after all was said and done. We walked Rachel to the wedding arbor and left her there with her books. She was very happy that we chose that place for her, it was very beautiful.
After leaving the Botanical Gardens, we drove on to the Floral Clock, dropped off the clues and the sign with the lady at the gift shop. We walked over to the phone book to make sure that it was still there and that we could find the phone number for Cooper S. Still driving on to Tori’s destination, we needed to make one more stop at the Brock’s Monument. We were told two weeks prior that there was going to be a wedding at the Laura Secord Monument on that day, so we needed to quickly come up with an alternative. We planned to use the only other thing we had taken a picture of during our recon trip; The Battle of Queenston Heights Walking Tour #5.
We put a lawn sign next to the plaque. We dropped off Tori at the Chapel on our way to Simcoe Park.
She seemed fine with the destination and was just going to sit inside the chapel and read her book while she waited. So, we motored on to Simcoe Park and started setting up the Minilympics.
We set everything up; crochet up a hill around a tree and back down the hill, where you then would need to sit on a chair, put a balloon on your lap and have your teammate try to pop the balloon by sitting on your lap. Next was the egg on a spoon, once again utilizing the hill and the trees. Then they found themselves at the picnic table where they needed to make a paper airplane and throw it as far as they could. And the final task was Hillbilly Golf. They needed to get all three golf balls on strings around the poles before the watch was stopped.
We still had at least an hour before our first team would arrive. We ate, Jerome inputted the odometer data into the spreadsheet, we read and just enjoyed the day.
Rory and Heather were the first team to arrive. They seemed a bit stressed. They said that they were cursing our names. But at least they figured out the puzzles and clues in order to get as far as they were. Rory ended up throwing the furthest airplane – very impressive.
In the middle of the first team doing their tasks, we got a cell phone call. It was Tori. Apparently, a man in a suit showed up at the chapel and was really upset that she was there. According to Tori, he stated that this was private property and that there was about to be a wedding there. He spoke harshly to her and wouldn’t move out of the way in order for her to pick up her book bag and other items that were still inside the chapel. She was worried that he was going to make more trouble with her so she told me that she would hide in the back and wait for the teams to arrive and if he gave her more trouble, she would need to be picked up.
I had a bad feeling that if we were going to have a problem today, this was going to be the place. Another example of not asking for permission...
I mentioned to Rory and Heather that they may need to look for Tori across the street from the destination because of the problem with the man in a suit.
Once they were done, we gave them their next clue and cookies that Champagne Bob had made and off they went.
Not long after they were gone, did Jason, Jessica and Dave arrive. They really seemed to be enjoying the rally, which made us feel like it was worth the work.
At the balloon bust, Jessica said that they just met but they were really getting friendly, and at the paper airplane, Jason mentioned that he had a paper airplane book when he was a child...now if he could only remember HOW to make one! As they ran back to their car, Jason yelled that we were maniacal fnckers!
Once they were gone, it was time for me to head off to the final destination; Caroline Cellars.
When I arrived, I let Justine know that I was there and that I was going to set up the table for the teams. I put the table cloth on, put out the snacks, hung the Make-A-Wish banner, set out the road rally signs, and waited…
First team to arrive was Team #7, Jason, Jessica & Dave. They arrived at 3:10pm. We spent a little while talking about the adventures, then 4 minutes later, Team #6, Rory and Heather arrived. This time we had a very long wait for Team #1 to arrive (3:57pm); Kristee, Chad and Don. These were the three teams that arrived by doing all of the tasks. A fourth team (Team #2, Rick, Donna, Larry, Donna, (Team #3; Bob & Karen - who teamed up with Team #2)) were directed to come to the final destination even though they still had one more task to complete. Jerome thought that it may take them a while. The other 2 teams dropped out. One too many tasks, I guess.
One team dropped out (Team #5; James & Susan) because they didn’t have a cell phone and couldn’t complete the clue that asked them to text something. They were going to get help from another team, but the team took off without helping. I’ll have to get everyone’s story before I make my judgment.
Some of the older folks dropped out early, but (Team #4) Bob, Joann, Ron and Gretchen made it all the way to Simcoe Park and I think even the chapel, but when there was one more destination, they decided to head back to Niagara.The ones that did make it to the final destination got to earn extra bonus-minus points by answering trivia questions about the DVD. After that they could enjoy a glass of wine on the patio and some snacks.
We all headed back to our hotel. Jerome, Garth and I went to the room to figure out points and prizes. Garth went through all the donated items and picked which ones he wanted to raffle and auction off tonight.
I think we made it down to the Apollo Grill by 7:15pm. We knew who won and we had a laundry basket of raffle items. All was good.
First place (Takata Golf gift bag & $50 gas card) went to Team #6; Rory and Heather. Second place (Takata Golf gift bag & $25 Target gift card) went to Team #7; Jason, Jessica & Dave. Third Place (Takata Golf gift bag & $15 Target gift card) went to Team #1; Kristee, Chad & Don. Booby (a spare tire) was given to the last team who didn’t quite complete, but at least they showed up at the end; Team #4; Rick & Donna and Larry & Donna (along with Team #3; Bob & Karen).
The rest of the evening was spent selling raffle tickets and doing auctions. We sold $220 worth of raffle tickets on Friday evening. And raised a lot more with the auctions.
Later on after dinner, we all went to Jason’s room and looked at pictures and watched some YouTube. Garth wanted us to watch Yacht Rock. There were 11 movies! It cleared the room.
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