2024 Daily Series: Day 2

In which we realize Melissa's journaling kind of sucks and we can't remember much? Sorry.

This is the third in a series of posts detailing our 2024 Rebelle Rally experience, day by grueling, incredible, hilarious day. Below is a transcript of a conversation we had about Day 2, which neither of us could recall well, so...yeah, it is what it is. (Catch up on Pre-Tech + Tech Inspection and Days 0/1.)

Melissa Vander Wilt: So Day 2 we left Twin Springs and made our way to the first Self Camp, just north of Alamo, Nevada. We went through Pahroc Canyon, which was maybe one of my favorites. I do love a good canyon. [See the Rebelle's course fly-over for Day 2 on Instagram]

Rochelle Bovee: Mm-hmm. We started with an Enduro.

MVW: Yeah, with zero visibility, because of all the dust. I think we got like 10 points out of 20.

RB: Yeah, we had to slow down so much because I couldn’t see, at some points, which a lot of teams also experienced, and the course officials were like, "Force Majeure!"

[Context: Force majeure is a French legal term that means unforeseen and unavoidable events that prevent someone from fulfilling contractual obligations...in the context of the rally, it basically means, "Shit happens. Nature's gonna nature. Sorry about it."]

MVW: So, I have this in my journal: “Today was weird. Map and reality weren't jiving, and we couldn't find roads that should have been there. I tried triangulating twice, and it felt bad both times, just not getting it right, but not sure why. I felt like I was doing it correctly, but it just wasn't making sense. I wasn't alone, though. Other navigators were all WTF, too.”

I remember talking to other navis and asking if they felt like they were in the Twilight Zone, too, and they were all like YES. So weird.

Also…did you see a badger? Yeah, I have a note in my journal that says, “Shelly saw a badger?” With a question mark, lol.

RB: Did I?

MVW: You tell me. Didn't you see something run off to the side? I didn't see it, but you did.

RB: Maybe I did. I feel like that happens in my life all the time.

MVW: What, you seeing badgers?

RB: No, that I see animals run off and no one else sees.

MVW: You're like Snow White, but instead of attracting animals, you repel them. You're like the opposite of a Disney princess.

RB: Run away!

MVW: Oh! This is the day everyone was trying to get to CP6 and it was hard to tell where the road was, and it looked like everybody was going cross-country, and the staff were watching with binoculars, and we were like, fuck this, we're not risking it, that looks…not right. So we skipped 6 and 7 and just went to 8.

RB: Yeah. It was too nerve-wracking, so we drove around to CP8. I’ve got it up on the tracker now...there’s totally a road there [to 6]. I remember we drove up that other road, and we were like, it doesn't feel like we should be here, this doesn't seem right. And teams were all over the place in the distance.

MVW: Yeah, I see the road. It just seemed like people were taking…not that road, though. It looked like they were going cross-country.

RB: I know we struggled a long time with CP5 [a black (i.e. unmarked) CP] -- that's probably where you were talking about doing triangulation, because we were trying to see where we were on that long stretch -- so we were like, peace out. We timed out of 6 and 7 anyway.

MVW: Yep. And then we didn't get any points on CP8 [another black], but we didn't wide miss!

RB: Yeah, that was a weird one. I remember that one being just not even close to where you thought it should have been.

MVW: I remember we went back to an intersection and I measured the distance from the intersection. And I was trying to count the big washes coming down out of the mountains…

RB: That's a lot of washes, though.

MVW: Yeah. And you could see them so clearly on the map, but in real life, it wasn’t working. I just couldn’t get it right.

RB: Our distance was off, too. We never went far enough up the road.

MVW: Nope, we stopped, like…150 meters too soon. Stupid. Damn it. But it wasn't a wide miss, that's good.

RB: What other notes do you have?

MVW: Remember I didn't close my door all the way, so the silt was just pouring in?

RB: Yeah, that was near the end of the day, and it was the deepest, longest stretch of silt we've been in to date. You wanted me to stop, and I was like, I'm not stopping in this silt! We're gonna keep moving! I'm sad we don't have footage of it billowing inside.

MVW: Dust everywhere again, always.

MVW: I went off about Pahroc Canyon, because I loved it so much. It was so pretty. This was also our first self-camp night, and we saw the comet! Where was self-camp, anyway? I forget.

RB: It was off the airstrip, by the approved fuel station. Remember everyone was getting hamburgers and such for dinner, but we just bought cups of ice for our Yeti growlers?

MVW: Forget food, WE NEED ICE. 

RB: I remember the people at the gas station admiring the Bronco and asking questions, and I was like, don’t talk to us.

MVW: Mm-hmm. Don't touch that, and don't talk to us. Don't even look at us.

RB: LOOK AWAY.

[Context: Kidding aside, it is risky to speak to anyone outside of the rally since it’s a closed event and could be considered outside assistance that could result in disqualification. Even when someone just wants to talk about the Bronco or asks what we’re doing, as a competitor we just politely say that we’re competing in an event and can’t talk.]

MVW: Okay, I remember self-camp now. Someone kept smoking! We were so annoyed with the smoking.

RB: Yes, and it was blowing into the Bronco and our tents. Lovely.

And every time someone walked into the darkness, everyone knew what they were gonna do, and someone jokingly yelled, “I see you pee!”

MVW: Oh, that's right, I have that written down, “ICUP”! And for some reason, I have written down “Dad Cheerios.”

RB: Dad Cheerios?

MVW: Yeah. No idea. I don't remember Dad ever eating Cheerios? Or liking them. And we didn’t have any Cheerios in the Bronco with us. No idea why I wrote this down. My journal entries need help. They make so much sense in the moment. I'm like, I'll totally remember this! And then I totally don't.

RB: Yeah, do better, okay?

MVW: Okay.

Up next: Day 3, a day infamous among Rebelles for being an absolute shitshow...and it definitely upheld its reputation for us. We break down (mechanically), have a picnic, and pen a breathtaking Rebelle-themed Mad Libs. Coming soon!