Texas Rain

When it rains it POURS here! I am from Portland, but I am still impressed. I was observing Hai-Yue and Jason work on programming in the hotel room. We heard a crash of thunder and looked out the window. Gushes of huge drops poured down at a 45 degree angle. The parking lot flooded a little and it hailed at one point. We were dry inside, but the rest of the team was unprotected back at the Cresson ranch. Hai-Yue called and made sure the solar car and our personal belongings got out of the rain. The team members who were sleeping in tents decided to get a hotel room for the night in hopes that tomorrow will be drier.

Hai-Yue and Jason still have a lot of programming work ahead of them, but they have made a lot of progress. I don’t understand what they are doing, but I assume they are succeeding judging by Hai-Yue’s happy dance.

After the set-back of the rain part of the team took a break to experience some Texas culture. What better way than to eat some barbecue? We ate at a local restaurant adorned with stuffed turkeys, elk, and moose.  We tried fried pickles, which I would definitely advise trying – they were delicious!  The waitress had an authentic accent and was very friendly. I think Michael counted a total of 20 times she said “y’all.”

KEZI video

The day we left from Corvallis KEZI’s Lindsey Davies came to see the car and got some footage.  I got to shoot part of it for her!  The part I filmed is when she is in the car.  It was cool to use professional equipment and get my work used!  Here is a link: http://www.kezi.com/article.aspx?id=43404&terms=solar

Texas

Hey solar fans! I’ve been taking a lot of pictures, so I created a Fickr account. To view the pictures either click on the “more photos” link under the Fickr photos secion on the sidebar or the “Pictures” link under the Blogroll section of the sidebar.

We finally made it to Texas! We are camping out at the motor ranch in Cresson. Right now scrutineering is going on. All the teams are scrambling to get last minute things done on their cars. How it works is an inspector looks at the car and tells you how to improve it and what to do to meet the requirements for the race. Different colored stickers are given based on how good your car looks. For example, a green sticker means that you pass and don’t need any improvements. The team is not kicked out if they don’t earn a green sticker for everything. They are advised how to fix the problems, and get to participate as long as they fix everything by Thursday.

Like the other teams, Oregon’s team is still working hard to smooth out everything with the car.

I have walked around and seen the other cars. All of them are very futuristic looking. Most of the designs are similar. Most have three wheels, but some have one in front and others have two in front. Our design is unique because the frame is made from titanium.

The most unique looking is the German car. I interviewed Lars Daniel Uhlhorn from the team. He seemed confident that his team will do well, as they have done in the past. He was not pompous though and seemed very interested in Oregon’s car.

Another impressive team is University of Michigan. They have a decked out semi with tons of sponsor logos. When I interviewed teams I asked who their biggest competition was, and team after team answered Michigan.

Since it is a race I was expecting teams to be trash talking, sabotaging, doing everything they could to beat the other teams. It is actually the opposite though. Teams have been coming by and giving Oregon advice, helping move the array, and sharing tools. Even Michigan has been really helpful!

More Pictures

Pictures from Cresson Ranch

Pictures so Far

Murphy’s Law

Everything that can go wrong will – and this seems to be the theme of the trip so far.

Day one has been full of excitement.  A newswoman from Eugene came to Corvallis and shot some footage of the solar car and interviewed the team captains.

Throughout the day people stopped by to look at the car.  Everyone was very nice and wished the team luck.  One man even was generous enough to donate money for gas on the spot.

The team loaded up the trailer with everyone’s belongings, tools, and the solar car and headed for California.  Soon after leaving we had to stop at a rest stop because the RV was overheating.  We thought we could go to Cottage Grove and get it fixed then keep driving.  On our way to Cottage Grove the wheel on the trailer fell off!  We ended up driving slowly a little ways into Cottage Grove and camped in the parking lot of  junkyard.

We decided that the RV had too many problems so we left it in Cottage grove at a friend’s house.  We split up and I rode in the Prius to Pleasanton, California with four team members.  A team member who could not go on the trip’s parents were extremely hospitible and gave us beds to sleep in, showers, and a delicious homemade breakfast! They also lent us their van.

When we woke up we drove the van and the Prius to Las Vegas!  We got there really late at night.  Me, Kathy, and Sarah (Kathy’s friend who came along to be the observer) went out to the casinos.  We went through Excaliber to the Luxor.  We were really tired so we ate at the Luxor Cafe then went back to the hotel room and went to bed.

The next day we went to the Hilton to see the Star Trek experience.  I am not a fan of the show, but it was still really fun to see everything.  We looked in the gift shop and ate at the cafe.  The best part was the giant fishbowl drink that we all shared!  It was green and had dry ice in it plus it was delicious.  Hai-Yue, Sarah, Kathy, and Nick went on the battle simulator ride.  Me and Michael chose not to spend $50 on the ride, so we explored the casino. 

I played slot machines for the first time!  It was fun to pull the lever, but I didn’t win anything.  Las Vegas was just like it looks in the movies.  Everything was huge, flashy, and bright.  And there were pictures of half naked women everywhere.  All the girls I saw were wearing tiny skirts and tall spiky heels.  It was cool to see Las Vegas but I was happy to get away from the sweltering heat!

Last night we stayed in a hotel in Gallup, New Mexico.  Right now I am in the car in Albequerque, New Mexico.  We are on our way to Fort Worth, Texas.

About To Leave

The last time I woke up this early was for a biology final a year ago.  However, this is not saying much because I purposefully do not sign up for classes that start earlier than 10 o’clock and I have been sleeping in until one in the afternoon on average this summer. 

Yesterday I packed up what I will need for a month.  Packing is my least favorite part because I always get that feeling that I am forgetting something.  I am going to load everything into the car and head for Corvallis. 

The plan is to first get the camera equipment from KBVR-TV, drop my stuff at the hotel, then meet up with the team.  Today they are having a media day, where they have invited newspapers and television stations to look at the car and interview the team.  I will get some footage of this and also pick up my cool team shirts!

Preparing for trip

Hey!  So, it is almost time for me to leave on my trip, just five days away!  I am going to be gone for most of July to make a documentary of the Oregon State University team’s experience during the 2008 North American Solar Challenge.  I am travelling with them the whole way, from Corvallis, Oregon to Texas, then from Texas into Canada for the race and then back to Oregon to return home!

I will have internet access periodically on the trip, so I will try to write in this blog as often as I can to keep everyone updated of my experience.

I put up some links you should check out.  You can see the schedule of where we will be and you can also check out my first documentary of the team.  I made a documentary for a class focusing on how the team is helping the environment.

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