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Katherine & John Capture Lighthouse for the Blind Road Rally Trophies
For 6 years now, the British Car Club of Sarasota has run a road rally featuring blind or limited sight patrons of the Lighthouse for the Blind. For several years, KC and John manned checkpoints for the 70+ mile road "race".
For the last 3 years, KC & John have joined the race, KC in her 1990 Mazda Miata (which replaced her 1988 Jaguar as a sportier car!), and John in his lovingly restored 1976 MGB. We've placed most of the time. This year, KC and her friend Michelle took 2nd place in the Braille division, and John and his friend Ed took 4th place in the limited sight division.
The road rally driver depends upon the navigator to read the cryptic (translate that MYSTERIOUS) driving directions in Braille or large print. The course might feature instructions like, proceed until you see a large black arrow -- with no idea how many feet or miles you have to drive to see it, hoping you don't miss it. We don't dare take bathroom breaks except at the specified checkpoints, or the time will count against us!
The rally ends at the Sarasota Yacht club with a nice picnic lunch. We really enjoy it. And the participants from the Lighthouse for the Blind range from teenagers to very senior citizens, most of whom sign up again after they have tried it once. New sources of friendships!