Part 4
It was tricky finding Checkpoint 6. We knew roughly where it was, but the road signs in the area were different than the names we were looking for on the maps. There were 4 cars stopped at the intersection of Bakersfield Glenville and Granite looking at a sign that said Famosa Road? These are the type of problems that drive Navigators crazy. Ron figured it out and got us there. We were a little late, but it was nothing that 400 horses couldn’t fix. We blew over the hose only 2 hundredths off.
The instructions for Checkpoints 7 and 8 were minimal. With the information given, they could be anywhere. Welcome to Expert Class! Ron figured them out based on time. We had 37 minutes to get to In-marker 7 and 6 minutes to get to In-marker 8. There were two little loop roads that fit into the available time frame. Pascoe Road to the South and Whitewater River on the North. We found them both, but my collection of “ones” was growing. I remembered the words of esteemed rally driver and navigator, Joe Akerman. Many years ago he told me, “On some rallies your timing gets off just enough that you get a string of ones. There’s nothing you can do about it.” I never really believed him….. until now. I decided to play the ultimate trump card. If I got one more #%&%$#@* one, I would let Ron drive.
Checkpoint 9 was on the lower section of Granite Road. It was dark now and the beautiful forest scenery was not so distracting. I thought I timed it perfectly, rolling the front tires over the hose right on the beep. We got a one, anyway. That made a total score of 5. I talked it over with Ron and we made a pit stop in the middle of an
oil field. You can smell the petroleum or the flowers, one of the things I love about the Cobra. Ron took over the driving and I started trying to read the maps. We drove all the way through Bakersfield to the South side and exited the freeway on Herring. Checkpoint 10 was on Millux Road just like Checkpoint 1, but in the opposite direction. We had an additional clue. The passage control sign was a right turn arrow on a diamond shaped sign. If you look carefully at the map, you realize that even though there are three sections of Millux, only one of them ends in a right turn. The other two sections end in “T” junctions. As we approached the turn up River Road, we saw rally cars all over the place. We had a little time to relax and talk things over with several old friends. We learned that we were probably occupying first place with our “5” score and the JPL Deep Space Team was close behind with a “6”. It was Ron’s turn now. (Thanks to Bill Jonesi for the cartoon.)