Day 4 completed now in Greece

2011
08.19

WE have arrived in Armenia and plan to go to the orphange this morning. The whole trip is for  the charity and I cant wait to see the children and adults faces!!!!!

\We all made it here safely, although we left our car on the side of the road, as did others….. alot of repairs, and temporary fixes to the cars!!!!

sorry we have not had alot of time to update, if you are my friend it may be  easier to just go to my facebook, and if you want to be my friend ask me and i will add you!!!!!

this has been certainly an adventure of a lifetime already!!!! the countries we have visited, the wild roads we are driving, the people we meet ,the languages and trying to communicate.  The different currency in each country and conversions are nuts!!The gas prices are so so strange and hard to decipher. The race teams are great people from all over the world..there arre someo ther canadians from Toronto and one from Australia with a canadian from BC.  We are very tired after driving the wild curvy non existence some times roads our car is very old 1993 and no power at all we have nick named her chitty chitty bang bang.  the steering wheel is huge and very ahrd to turn around each corner. the gear shift is looseand hard to get into gears and fith gear and reverse we hit each others legs!!! but all in all a good fun vehcile to drive.  The sponsers that gave us money towards our gas and insurnace etc, are displayed with decals THANK YOU!!!! We have had 2 Canadian Flags stolen off the car though, too bad i guess t hey really wanted them.  we have hadned out toys and candy only in Albania so far, as the poor little ones have so little there, their main transportaion there in the high mountains cities is horse or foot.  The y loved a smile or a wave as we drive through, The sharp curves and no guard rails is nerve racking to sasy the least, but the country is so so beautiful!!!! Abit of trash garbage though!!!!! Cows, goats or sheep can be found inthe middle of the roads, as can rocks, huge holes etc. the roads are very narrow and the odd b it of asphalt here and there..  We have totally enjoyed hte sights so far, and so much more to come, We toured macodenia yesteray and now into Greece today 8 countires in 4 days is not too bad!!!!!

sheilas pre rally blog:

2011
08.19

Well after a night out on the town with our event cooridinators, we have come to the conclusion that even attempting to read or pronounciate the language here is next to impossible !..however we keep trying only to double over in laughter at each others attempts ! lol

Budapest will be the most western and  touristy place we will be in …this is where the starting line is, we are to show up at Momento Park for 7:30 am sharp (have no idea where this is yet and its after 11pm here as I write this !!)..After that it’s God country !!….Our rally car number is 85 since Suzanne likes the #8 and I the #5 LOL….’now don’t be laughin at our relic of a car,  she has apparently done this expedition all ready with no problems…hmmm they obviously don’t know about Suzanne and I’s middle name ‘MURPHY’ lol

….now, as we have been informed the month of August is ‘RAMADAN’, so any areas near muslims will be a bust for the daylight hours….meaning we had better stock up on petrol, water, goodies and anything we might need as everything shuts down until dark. Then it’s CRAZY time as after a day of abstaining from food, drink and smokes, they are not happy campers…and if we are sleeping anywhere near a muslim house, expect no sleep, as the feasting and indulging and music begins !!!….AND if near a mosque we are told that the call for prayer is up to 5 times a day with the first one being 4 am or sunrise!!! YIKES

We do all our driving during daylight hours as the roads can be dirt, stone and a variety of footholds with no middle or side lines markings….apparently only room for one for the most case, which I guess will be a challenge as the options are mountain side or cliff ??~!@!!

 

So we have our Suburu, but I have to say it’s not like anything I have seen before ..lol..We are heading to Sarajevo, Bosnia and have to arrive by supper time or earlier…we have not many challenges to conquor for the day, as it is a day to familiarize ourselves with solving them. There will only be 2 border crossings and some Croatian highway fees but have been told there are some great Cevap and Burek places(meaning ‘BEER’) lol. There will be a big ‘drivers kick off party’  in  a nice venue downtown, and  we have been given drink coupons….wow they must be nuts !  lol, this is where the introductions will be done and will recieve our welcome packages !!

 

                              DRIVERS START YOUR ENGINES !! ~  YEEHA !

 

Here’s our SUBURU !

..testing is out !!

Our advisor and rally cooridinator ‘ATILLA’ !

Hungary- Croatia -Bosnia-Montenegro-Serevo-Albania-Macedonia

2011
08.18

We have been travellling s many hours each day and the roads are so wild to drive, we have not had a chance to post pictures or update this blog. so sorry to our followers, when we can find time we will for sure we have met s o many little children and given them toys and candy and made them smile!!!!

Budapest

2011
08.13

WE arrived in Budapest, Hungary via Paris, France.  Nice touristy city, we need to check out the thermal baths!!!!

2011
08.02

We had a very sucesfull fundraising dance for the caucasian challenge a well as our two local charities The Ottawa humane society and Cancer society. The hall was donated as well  as  most of the music from a  great DJ.  \thank you to all we supported us by coming out, buying a ticket or your donation for the silent auction raffle table,  Thank You all

Hello world!

2011
04.13

Team members:

                                  Suzanne Smith

                                  Sheila Hutchison