Finally Home!

Hi all -

After a 10 hour drive from South Bend back to Minneapolis, I returned home after a 1 1/2 week absence.  It is good to be home after such an exhausting, but highly rewarding experience.  For the first time in my life, I had to stop and sleep at a rest area.  I slept for about an hour in the hotrod.  I can drive several hours at a time, so this stop indicates how tired I was.

Amusingly, I was stopped by the MN state patrol.  Just when I was congratulating myself that I was almost home without any incidents, I saw the blue and cherry lights behind me. I knew the problem -- he saw that we had "cooked" our license plate (I think we already mentioned that the exhaust had melted the license plate bracket and burned the plate).  He told me that it "looked like I was driving 70-ish."  I refrained from reminding him that the speed limit was 70 mph.  Then he commented on my plate.  I explained the entire story, and he was understanding about the situation.  I asked him whether I had to have a front license plate in MN since it was a specially constructed vehicle.  His response, "I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't pointed it out to me."  He cited me for this violation as well.  However, he did answer my question.  All cars in MN have to have a front plate as of 1972.  In all, I had three violations.

Fortunately, he was kind and let me off the hook.  Whew! 

I stopped by Mom and Dad's on my way home to wish Mom a Happy Mother's Day and to show Dad our trophy and the car.  The car does look good with all of its decals.  They were happy to see me; happier that I came home in one piece.

I am thankful I had the opportunity to participate in this race and to raise $$$ for Parkinsons.  We fell short of our goal by $10,000, so if you know anyone who would still like to contribute, please send them to our Team Fox website at http://www.teamfox.org/.  They can type in my name (Josie Fritsch), and the site will direct them to our page.

Many thanks to my family for their support, Larry for being my co-driver, and Sandy for all of the great PR work.  I am also thankful to Gray's Racing and Pro Graphics.  The car was superb both in looks and operation!  My sincere appreciation goes out to Stitch Studio for the excellent work on our team shirts and my driving suit.  Many chuckled when they saw the "I race in heels" graphic on my driving suit.  Last, but not least, a special thank you goes out to you - our readers - for cheering us on throughout this journey.

Gratefully,

Josie

"Cooked" Plate