I'm on my way to the Dakar Rally today (www.dakar.com). I'm sending this e-mail out to all my friends and family that helped me get here, and to keep you in the loop on my travels. I'll be gone till 1/21/08, and will try to update you on my trip on a daily basis.

My fiancee Rachel and her friend Allison brought me to the airport and sent me off after a chicken sandwich at the bar. Leaving Rachel was really hard, but Allison was so good to us both, and helped us get through it.

 I am waiting to board my flight right now, Lufthansa 457 to Frankfurt.  Volkswagen is flying me business class on a Boeing 747-400 Niedersachsen, in seat 12K.

 I will be VW's guest on this trip and will be following its four Race Touareg diesel 4x4s on the 5,700 mile race down the northwest coast of Africa.

Right now I'm watching them load cargo onto the plane  underneath the business class section.  This 747 uses a neat FMC loading system to lift cargo sleds up into the hold.  It is impressive to watch, and I can see how people ship cars on these planes now.  The cargo door is as big as a single car garage.

The flight should be around 10 hours, and looks like it will be pretty full.

I'll report more when I land in Frankfurt.