Texas Independence Relay pre-drive

I’ve volunteered to help at a 200-mile 40-exchange relay road race on March 1&2 (yes, it’s two days long from Saturday to Sunday). It is called the Texas Independence Relay and goes from Gonzales, TX to East Houston, TX. I will be the lead vehicle, which means I stay with the lead runner who ever it is, and phone ahead to the next exchange to tell them we’re coming. When I get to an exchange I need to drop off a packet of supplies with the volunteer there and help set up the exchange. So yesterday I drove the course with the race director, Jay H. We started at 6:30 AM from the house, and drove to Gonzales. At 8:10 AM we began our journey and drove to each and every exchange to East Houston and the San Jacinto monument. We finished at 4:25 PM – that’s 8 hours and 15 minutes and we didn’t stop much. During the trip I used the maps from the race. I also used a Garmin StreetPilot GPS that I had borrowed and downloaded a route which I entered earlier in the week. It was a lifesaver since it helped keep me on the route. After we were done I asked Jay if he knew how to get home and he said yes, so I turned off the GPS and we headed back home. This was fine until we got to Brenham and made a mistake because we were talking too much. It was only when we had gone miles and miles north and the road unexpectedly ended in a T-intersection that we realized we had made a mistake. OK, so I turned on the GPS and told it to plot a route to home. Neat. No problem. We were again driving along heading home albeit on a longer path toward the south. Again we were talking and I didn’t realize we had entered a small town until I looked in my rearview mirror and saw that we were being pulled over by a police car. Yup. I got a speeding ticket (my second in 40 years) in Thrall, TX for driving 60 in a 50-mph zone. Ouch. Oh, I now need to pay about $200. Double, Triple, and Quadruple Ouch. I finally got home about 8:30 PM. What an adventure. Let’s hope that next week is less eventful.