Firstly I have to update you on my driving skills in Santa Fe. I’m so good now that the tourismo’s follow me ‘cause they think I know what I’m doing. Kelly and I have it down to a science. I keep the gas pedal on the floor, she looks right, I look left and we just go. There’s no speed limit and no lines on the road. We understand that street signs and the occasional traffic light are only a suggestion. Quite often the traffic light doesn't work anyhow. If you're on a red light and no one is coming the other way it's OK to go thru. And the roads have huge holes in them, everywhere, so you have to dodge them. Sometime’s we’re 2 cars across and sometimes 3, sometimes there’s horses, scooters, bicycles, pedestrians but you just have to ignore all of the above. If there’s any hesitation at an intersection then it automatically becomes your turn to go. We call it the '4-way go’ procedure. At one point a scooter was approaching from the left and I decided I was there first so I floored it thru the intersection and launched the poor little Peugeot into a 2 foot 'dip' in the road. The scooter guy just stared at us while we flew thru the air and it took about 10 blocks for Kelly to compose herself and stop laughing :-) So our day involves me white-knuckling the steering wheel and Kelly hanging on tight to the HSH (holy-shit handle). It’s very exhilarating :-)
Saturday morning was the first official day of practice at the Sauce Viejo Airport. Kelly and I got up with the guys at 6:00am (OMG) had breakfast and headed out to the airport. Well, actually Kelly and I sort of doddled behind and got there just when Chad took off. After numerous reports of the tight security (you’ll need your passport, parking pass, pitt passes, etc.) we just gave the Policia with the guns a big smile and a finger wave and we sailed right in ;-) It was windy and cold! So we drove the 20 minutes back to the hotel and picked up long pants, socks, shoes and jackets for the boys. Back to the airport, another wink and we were in again. Each team only has 45 minutes of practice time and that’s it. Then it was time for the ‘official check-in’ which consisted of labeling the planes, weighing the planes, measuring the planes, etc., etc. (Snore) From there Kelly and I made a quick stop off at the servicimo for junk food. We sat in the car and ate our lunch and then we decided to go back to the hotel for a siesta. On the way we drove up the road and visited the nearby town of Gelvez. Apparently nothing much happens in Argentina on a Saturday. The only thing on the streets were kids and dogs so we were able to explore without any traffic. Halfway back to Santa Fe we realized we weren’t going to be able to make it back to the hotel and then back to the airport for the opening ceremonies so we drove around the town of Sauce Veijo. When we arrived back at the airport all the teams were ushered into a holding area. It was just like the Olympics. The weather was now sunny and warm. We had a cute little model in tight clothes and high heels (I’m sure the photos will be blogged by the men) who carried a sign that read ‘Canada’ and we were all paraded in before a huge crowd of locals that had been standing out in the heat for hours waiting for this big event. Bands played, speeches were made by politicians and local dignitaries, there were excellent kite flying exhibitions, fly-overs by the Argentina AirForce, parachuters, a 3D R/C display and much fuss. It was really fun and we took lots of pictures. At the end we headed back to the hotel where we all met up, had a drink and ate dinner at the hotel.
Saturday morning was the first official day of practice at the Sauce Viejo Airport. Kelly and I got up with the guys at 6:00am (OMG) had breakfast and headed out to the airport. Well, actually Kelly and I sort of doddled behind and got there just when Chad took off. After numerous reports of the tight security (you’ll need your passport, parking pass, pitt passes, etc.) we just gave the Policia with the guns a big smile and a finger wave and we sailed right in ;-) It was windy and cold! So we drove the 20 minutes back to the hotel and picked up long pants, socks, shoes and jackets for the boys. Back to the airport, another wink and we were in again. Each team only has 45 minutes of practice time and that’s it. Then it was time for the ‘official check-in’ which consisted of labeling the planes, weighing the planes, measuring the planes, etc., etc. (Snore) From there Kelly and I made a quick stop off at the servicimo for junk food. We sat in the car and ate our lunch and then we decided to go back to the hotel for a siesta. On the way we drove up the road and visited the nearby town of Gelvez. Apparently nothing much happens in Argentina on a Saturday. The only thing on the streets were kids and dogs so we were able to explore without any traffic. Halfway back to Santa Fe we realized we weren’t going to be able to make it back to the hotel and then back to the airport for the opening ceremonies so we drove around the town of Sauce Veijo. When we arrived back at the airport all the teams were ushered into a holding area. It was just like the Olympics. The weather was now sunny and warm. We had a cute little model in tight clothes and high heels (I’m sure the photos will be blogged by the men) who carried a sign that read ‘Canada’ and we were all paraded in before a huge crowd of locals that had been standing out in the heat for hours waiting for this big event. Bands played, speeches were made by politicians and local dignitaries, there were excellent kite flying exhibitions, fly-overs by the Argentina AirForce, parachuters, a 3D R/C display and much fuss. It was really fun and we took lots of pictures. At the end we headed back to the hotel where we all met up, had a drink and ate dinner at the hotel.
Today (Sunday) was the first official day of competition. We were all up at 5:45am (yikes) as Chad was first Canadian to fly about 7:30am. They each fly once per day during the contest. They all did very well. Tomorrow they fly in the afternoon (yeah)!
Kelly and I drove back with a stop at a local indoor shopping mall. We found a McCafe (yes, McDonalds) that knew what a latte was so we sat and had one. Yummy. Now we're back at the hotel, sitting around the pool, and the guys are starting to drift in. 
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