Day Two – Traveling the Bayou

At 6:00 am co-driver The Veil Guy and I began preparation for day two of the Fireball.

We first the pulled the 540i next to a dumpster unloading shovelfuls of candy wrappers, empty soda bottles and even a couple of cigar wrappers that we accumulated the day prior. We then sprayed the interior with air freshener in an attempt to deaden a “stinky sock odor”.

Both of us brought a small arsenal of detectors and handheld radar and laser guns with for our trip. Our prearranged plan was to field test as many detectors that we could, during our endurance cross country rally.

Bob and I agreed for day two, we would do a side by side comparison of the new Cobra XRS R7 with the Bel STi radar detector.

I brought my Toughbook, Garmin GPS and iPhone, used extensively to locate landmarks, download maps and to solve clues for this event.

Bob and I also had six video cameras and two digital cameras between the two of us, but both forgot purchasing tapes for recording.

After topping off our gas tank, we headed out race day two’s staging area located just off the western bank of the Mississippi River. An entourage of local media was already present taping and performing live interviews for the local news stations.

As we pulled into formation we were greeted by various local dignitaries that included Baton Rouge City Council personnel, the Chamber of Commerce President and the State Visitor’s Bureau President.

We performed a final cars inspection and checked in and received a FEDEX envelope containing the clue for the first leg of our journey and told that we were not to open the packet until we began driving on the Interstate.

At 9:00 am the count down began and a local Baton Rouge television news reporter waved us on with the green flag.

As we pulled onto the Interstate I opened the sealed envelope and read our first clue. “Proceed directly to the Red Stick – According to legend Baton Rouge’s name came from a notation on a map used by French explorer Pierre le Moyone in 1699”

With the Toughbook already fired up, I went directly to Wikipedia to try to obtain information about this ‘red stick’ with hopes of beating out other rally contestants who have been known to change and/or delete clue information on this interactive research site.

Wikipedia had vague information on the red sticks location being in the area of the state capitol so we headed off to the state house. As we pulled into the park there were already ten other Fireball cars parked infront and another ten following behind us.

Wikipedia mentioned that the Red Stick was a tall Cypress pole that was smeared with animal’s blood that apparently served as a dividing line between the city and local Indian tribes. None of us expected to find a red pole with blood, but assumed that there would be some historical marker, so Bob and other drivers fanned out and walked what seemed to be a ten acre park, while I and other navigators remained in the car doing Internet searches.

I found a link on Google Maps to a private blogger’s website making reference to the Red Stick as being located behind the Capital Building and even had a google map pointer showing its location. I waved Bob over and we drove behind the State Capitol building and found a state corrections center. There were several employees in the lot and none ever heard of anything called a “red stick” but suggested that we go over to the State Capitol Police Department located across the street.

We went over to the police building and met an officer who was in the parking lot loading his patrol car. He mentioned to us that we were the fifth person who walked into the secured parking area asking for the location of the “red stick” He too replied that he never heard of any such thing but directed us back to the park saying that there were all sorts of memorials and historical markers in the area and to check them out.

We arrived back at the park, finding that most of all the other Fireballers either had left in frustration or were tracking down a better clue. Looking up at the entrance of the State Capitol building we observed two gentleman wearing red jackets standing at the entry way. Bob sprinted up the twenty fights of stairs asking about the red stick. Both related that they also never heard anything about any red stick, but that a state historian was in the lobby and perhaps he could offer assistance.

Bob walked inside finding the first knowledgeable person on state attractions and he provided a detailed map to the location where we would find the marker of the “red stick.”

Once Bob arrived back in the car with these directions, I plugged them into our GPS and we were off to a park ten miles away on bank of the Mississippi River.

As we pulled into the park we saw the Bat Mobile and Team Blinder pulling out. They directed us to a young lady that had the next clue and mentioned that at least ten other teams had beaten them to the park.

We checked in and were then given our next clue “Do the hokey pokey and turn around as you’re about to break to one of Louisiana’s most celebrated residents; Mike VI” ancestor the legendary Mike, who tragically died as a result of kidney disease in 1956. Journey now to the den located somewhere near Death Valley”
I fired up Google and searched for “LA Mike VI death valley” and instantly came up with a page for the LSU stadium. It then made sense; the tiger mascot for LSU was named Mike. I did a search in our GPS for the LSU Stadium and headed south.

After arriving at LSU stadium we went to the glass enclosed den of Mike VI and met with a Fireball representative who then gave us our next clue, “Believe it or not, only once a year the people of Plaquemine LA find sanctuary in a tiny place which at one time even tested Ripley’s belief.”

As the clue was obvious that we would need to head to the town of Plaquemine LA, I plugged the town into the GPS. As we arrived onto the interstate, I had researched that this was named the worlds smallest church by Ripley’s Believe it or Not, that it was located on River Street, just outside of Plaquemine and had Google Map its coordinates for the GPS. We headed west on I-10 to the Iberville Parish exit.

Annoying False Alerts
While reroute to the Iberville Parish exit, we had already logged over fifty miles during which time the STi remained silent. However the Cobra XRS R7 seemed to false alert every few minutes on either K or Ka band. Feeling overwhelmed with these falses and needing Bob to to focus his attention  to driving safely in this performance event, I started to become concerned. I asked if Bob was ok with the unit and related that we needed to “know and understand our ememy, the other Fireballers”  who were using Cobra’s detectors.  I said that I would turn the unit off after getting a confimed hit on both units.

While turning off at the Iberville Parish, we noticed a small gas station with a Game and Fish pick-up at the pump. We both figured that this would be a great time to grab a cold drink and to confirm with the Game Warden that we were on the right track.

At first the game warden seemed clueless when we explained that we were looking for the Madonna Chapel Church in Plaquemine but the his eyes widened as another Fireballer pulled off the highway and headed out and stated “I know! You’re looking for the worlds smallest church, don’t follow him, I know a short cut!” The warden then penciled out a detailed map though the backwoods of Bayou country.

We thanked him and headed out following his directions. Neither Bob nor I had ever been in this part of the country and found everyone we encountered to be very kind and helpful. This was especially true when we pulled alongside an old beat up pickup truck with two elderly people seated in the bed with a few younger children in the cab to ask directions. A middle aged man replied that we were going the right way, “just continue down there a bit till you come to the Popeye’s Chicken place and turn right.”

Our country back road eventually intersected Highway One and we drove up to the Popeye’s Chicken and turned right, finding River Road.

As we neared the church we saw several other Fireballers heading the opposite way and figured that even though we may not be first, we were close to the front of the pack.

About a mile away from the church I noticed other Fireballers on a dirty road heading away into a farm field and commented to Bob, “I wonder if that is the next route we take on our next clue?”

We arrived at the church and greeted by the caretaker. We entered into the cramped quarters of the church, paid our respects and lighted a votive candle for safe journey for all Fireballers. The caretaker provided us with a packet then offered to take our photo as we stood in the doorway.

As we walked back to our car we met with another group of Fireballers who were just getting ready to depart. They asked if we had stopped on the side of the road to ask direction and related that we didn’t. He then related that he stopped to talk to a man down the road directions and then paid him five dollars to give wrong directions to anyone else.  We chuckled as I told him that I did notice some other Fireballers heading out to a farm field away from the church.

Next stop Prejean’s Restaurant in Lafayette for lunch. I fired up the address in the GPS and we were off, first heading down Route 1 to I-10 west.

As we crossed Bayou country on a network of bridges, Bob related that the LHP Sergeant  we met earlier said that his favorite area to work laser was on the Whiskey River Bridge, just west of our location.

We had tested our Blinder system and we both felt comfortable that we could easily beat out a LTI 20/20 if such an encounter should occur, but kept our eyes peeled.

STi 2 – Cobra 0
At mp 132 we received two separate short alerts on 34.7 Ka band on the Bel STi while the Cobra radar detector was silent. A mile further down the road the STi went full alert and noticed the activated blue lights of two LHP vehicles ahead, each parked on the Interstate across from our location. It wasn’t till we were almost directly across from the troopers traffic stop that the Cobra made any alert and when it did, it alerted K band.

Bob and I both commented in earlier postings on our blogs what we observed as being a very narrow off center of axis problem with the Cobra unit. This very same situation was witnessed again during this encounter when the Cobra would not alert on off axis police radar signal, until the unit was very close in proximity to the originating source.

At this point my sensory perception as today’s navigator was becoming overwhelmed by the Cobra’s falsing, so I shut the unit off and made it my first project to remove the unit when we arrived at our lunch stop.

During our stop we were treated to some home-style Cajon cooking, none of which I can pronounce let along spell. The meal was a bit spicy but wonderful. After our meal, we were provided with our next clue packet to open once back on the road. I disassembled the Cobra detector and installed my trusted friend, the Bel RX65.

At this time, the Blinder Xtreme team phoned me and related that his Blinder had gotten lit up on the Whiskey River Bridge by a trooper. His co-driver Ray, had slowed down after the Blinder laser jammer activated and the trooper never gave chase.

Once back on the road we opened our packet and our next clue read “Today’s finish line is located just under the largest fire hydrant in Texas.” This time I pulled out my iPhone, brought up Google and searched for Largest Fire Hydrant Texas and immediately brought up a page for the Texas Fire Museum located in Beaumont Texas. I plugged in the address into the GPS and we were off, back on I-10 heading west.

Here Bob commented that he felt more within his element by having two detectors running simultaneously that he knew that he could depend on and opened up his 540i to a respectful speed on the open highway.

The driver packet indicated if we arrived at the finish line prior to 3:00 pm, we would be disqualified from the event, as this would indicate speeding. We checked the estimated time of arrival to the finish line on our GPS and it indicated 2:15. However we still had two other assignments that we had to complete, a photograph of our car at the Texas welcome sign and a photo of a Texas DPS officer standing next to our car.

K band alert
The only radar detector alert we encountered after our lunch stop was a K band alert at MP 10 in LA. Both detectors alerted simultaneously and in a few moments we noticed a Sheriff’s vehicle on a traffic stop.

At the Texas State line Welcome Center, we bribed another Fireballer for their Texas newspaper and we snapped our picture.

Then through some intel work though some contacts we have in Texas, we learned that there was a Texas DPS substation located in the rear of a licensing office outside of Beaumont. Upon arrival we found the station closed, but found a trooper gassing his patrol car up in the side equipment yard.

We introduced ourselves and explained our quest. He related that he would be happy to offer his assistance and graciously posed for our photograph. As we still had over 45 minutes to kill, Bob began asking the trooper about the speed enforcement equipment that he and his department used. The trooper related that all of his radar and laser equipment was from Stalker (a Texas based company). Bob then asked if he had seen or used the new Pro Laser Lite from Kustom as he removed it from our arsenal of speed equipment. The Trooper walked over to the higway frontage with the Kustom gun and began shooting the Interstate traffic at over 1500 feet away. The officer commented that he liked the guns performance and the ease of use.

Still having a fifteen minute window we thanked the trooper and drove to a staging area around the corner from the finish line. At exactly 2:57 pm, we drove out with a few other Fireballers that had gathered into the parking lot of the Fire Museum.

We checked in, provided proof of our assignment photographs and headed over to the chow line.

During the next hour the remainder of the Fireballers pulled into the finish lane, many commenting that they had not completed that day’s assignments.

After the qualifying drivers checked in the mayor, fire chief and tourism president came up to the Fireball stage welcoming us to their fine town and presented trophies.

Team “Smoky and the Bandit” Beaumont – First in Texas…