Enough though Palmdale, California is about as far from Calgary, Alberta as you  get while still staying on the West Coast of the US, we still ended up driving down there. Non-stop. That's right kids, we were in a loud, slightly beaten up Hertz Ford Econoline cargo van that displayed a distinct pull to the left at highway speeds (breath) for just over 25 hours straight. It was an enjoyable journey through some great countryside, but it was LOOONG. Everyone was happy to get into Palmdale...then we realized that the airplane still wasn't quite done. I'll throw down a few thousand words here quickly (don't show these to the hotel please):

On my insistance, we brought everything but the kitchen sink to California. Soldering irons, laminating epoxy, yards and yards of fibreglass about 25 lbs of balsa, and much, much more. This is the first time I've ever gone to a contest and not left anything at home :)

Here's Josh and Sarah finishing off the booms (they hadn't been done at home). Note drill bits, monokote, bulk back of chips - we were well prepared!

The ironing board was pressed into service as an elevated work bench. We almost had the wing saddle arrangned when the wing bolts jammed in the blindnuts behind them, and then the nuts broke loose of their plates and were spinning freely. Grrrr....

Getting closer to being done, but things still weren't finished. Then that elevator servo started acting up again.

Even though we were mentally and physically exhausted already from driving through the night (not to mention not sleeping for 46 hours before we left), we had to pull another all-nighter. Then, suddenly, we were finished. It was almost too much to hope for, but EVERYTHING WORKED. We were going to be ready for the qualifying rounds the next day! I suddenly found a second (fifth?) wind, and we were off to the flying field for the first non-official flights.

To the competition!