Tuesday, May 12th

The day has arrived.  It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago when Jason was asked to take part in the World Driving Championship (WDC) and now we are sitting here waiting to board our plane.  First, we have a 7+ hour flight to Amsterdam.  There we have a 4 hour layover.  We finally arrive in Bergen, Norway at 2:35pm, remember they are 6 hours ahead of us.

We’ve had a busy few days getting everything ready for the trip.  It seems like they have a strict dress code for the drivers.  They have to wear a shirt and tie to all of the races, and there are two rather formal dinners where Jason will have to wear a suit.  So it wasn’t the easiest trip to pack for.  Jason also had to make sure he had all his driving stuff, minus a whip- they do not use whips in Norway.    On top of making sure we had all the proper apparel, I had to go through the check list…..camera, video camera, laptop, passports, flags for opening ceremonies (given to us by the MHHA), etc.  The sticky notes were endless for me.  I also had to job of packing Kobe’s bag.  He gets to go Maine to spend the week with the family.

So it all started today. We packed Kobe up and sent him on his way to Maine with my Mom, where his main concern was to take care of the new baby horse foaled on Mother’s Day at their house.  Jason and I were glad that he wanted to go Mammy’s house (my mom).  We were afraid that he would cry when we left.  Leaving him for 9+ days is very hard and to leave with him crying would have been even harder for us.  Sending them on their way before we left and Kobe wanting to go really made us leaving much easier on us all.  Then we waited for the car service to pick us up and bring us to Newark Airport in New Jersey.  We arrived here at 3:30pm.  It is now 5:40 and will be boarding the plane in 5 minutes.