Artemis Rally: Jessy and Alicia Take No Prisoners! Part 1 [pics & video]

I’ve learned many things about myself in the past few weeks, but the two that stuck out most were that many people underestimate me and I underestimate myself, a lot. Yes I am quiet; yes I am shy; yes I have a red neck side; and yes, I am a woman. As a woman, I already have a lot stacked against me in the automotive industry but I also found out that I love proving people wrong! People that know me best know that I can have a smart mouth, I can be sassy and I don’t take crap off of anyone, and I might cuss a lot!! I know that I still have a lot to learn and that I learn best by soaking up everything and then going off on my own and trying those skills. When John Paul Eller came to me last August while we were on an adventure in West Virginia and asked me to be a part of a new all women’s rally he was putting together the following year, of course I said Hell Yeah! Alicia Diggs and I knew we were meant to do it. We had been on the waiting list for the Rebelle Rally and we knew we needed more time together to train. Everyone that knows us knows that we are some hard working women and but we live thousands of miles away from each other. How are we going to pull this off? So with Rebelle on the back burner and as competitive as we are, it was time to prepare for the Artemis Rally. 

As we tried to step up preparations for the Artemis, we did not have a bunch of information on exactly what we were going to be doing in this rally. We had basic information and we asked a lot of questions, but still it was kept pretty secret and no one was going to get an advantage. While there was a team that was from North Carolina and were familiar with the terrain,  we also learned later that some others had competed in the 24 hours of Uwharrie competition and it was similar event. But, we were determined to get in practice on things we have never tried before to make sure we were a bit prepared.  With limited time together and knowing what we were up against we went In head first and learned from everyday mistakes and pressed forward. We never gave up! Even when we are slapped in the face with our mistakes, we learned fast and were determined to be better the next day.  We only had ourselves to beat and be the best we fought to be. 

I honestly doubted myself…a lot. Mostly because of the unknown. As I sat in an airport in Denver, Colorado, while the plane was late every hour for 5 hours…it seemed we were not going to make it to the Rally at all,  and I became more upset  by the minute. How was it logistically going to be possible to get to North Carolina and be ready, when the jeep, truck and  trailer were in Orlando, Florida, and we had to be there the next day? I was a wreck and shed many tears but Corey assured me we were getting there one way or another. Letting go of my control issues is not easy for me. It’s hard for me to depend on anyone since I had been let down so many times in my life. It’s definitely a trigger for me and my mouth and emotions get the best of me A LOT!!! After a 5 hour delay and change of flight crew my tears stopped as I was boarding the plane to take off FINALLY!! I am sure Ricky (Alicia’s husband) was less than  pleased to have to get up at 2 am to come to get us at the airport an hour away from him. But all the moving parts were coming together! We made it to Orlando, and now I just needed a few hours of sleep, but my mind was in overdrive. It was going to be an early start to drive the 9 hours to get to Hickory, NC. 

Thankfully we had packed the jeep before we flew back to Colorado for the ModernJeeper Adventure in Moab. It made it much easier. We arrived back in Orlando,  all we had to do was get up and get on the road. No major or minor hiccups eased my nerves and calmed me down a bit. I was so tired but fired up that I could barley close my eyes for the drive there. We made it safely and in one piece as we had to unload all of the support, media, and my jeep off of the trailers and then find a secure area to leave tow rigs in. Then we repacked everything Alicia and I needed into “Funshine” and the rest was up to Corey, Ricky and Pam to get their jeeps situated for our race. Pam Ammon came to support us and captured all the media , while Corey and Ricky were there to support and chase us for any mechanical support needs. Alicia and I haven’t had much mechanical time with the new JL Turbo so we thought it was safer to have help in case we had issues. My locker and a few other electronic gremlins had been plaguing FunShine for months and we had no time to get her looked over. She was holding up for now, so it was time to eat and get some sleep!!! Then it’s GO time!!

We had to be at the starting line by 8am , pick and load up the canoes, go through a tech inspection and prepare our gear! All of the teams sat down to breakfast and a driver’s meeting to start our secret mission for the day! After getting our breakfast down, it was time to start our first instructions of doing our social media and how we are to send in information to get our points.  We are handed our scroll for the first points to acquire, then its time to load up in convoy to ZRO_Delta for our shooting challenge.  We opted to go as the first victims, I mean competitors. I was pretty confident in my shooting skills so I had no worries. We were timed as well as awarded points for hitting the targets. It was a breeze but the guns kept jamming so it didn’t go as I expected…and the target was sideways and down a bit. Should have had them correct it but I was under the impression this is how they “challenged” us. Apparently I could have had it moved, so my bad. Lesson learned! The AR 15 was a lot better but I was still upset with myself. Guess those years of not being at the gun range showed.  It wasn’t my best performance but we couldn’t dwell on it. Off to the next stop of challenges!

Our field challenge consisted of 4 parts. We all were handed our scrolls with our tasks and a few rules. A timed tire change which consists of jacking up the Jeep, taking the tire off, running the tire 20 yards around a cone and back, then put the tire back on. We had a bit of trouble but made good time and killed it. Next was a dead pull with a Pull Pal. We had to assemble a the device then set it and dead pull the jeep with our Warn winch. I was again upset with myself. I have used a pull pal but didn’t remember how to quickly assemble it. We stumbled with it, which felt like a lot of time wasted but we got it and made it work. One to the next challenge which was axe throwing! With the hard back board and a variety of axes, we had 9 tries at making something stick!. If you happen to hit the bull’s eye it was a big score. We did ok but it could have been better.  Then it was on to the Warn winch car roll over challenge. Timed from start to finish to turn a car over on its lid or on its tires. We flipped it onto the tires. We did amazing and got the 2nd lowest  time.  On to the canoe challenge as we followed each other down a paved road to a lake and boat ramp. Unfortunately, our canoe broke at the start. The front seat had broken from its mounting point as we pushed away from shore in a “stampede” style start…and it was a mad dash of canoes! It was both hilarious and made me frustrated at the same time! We did ok but it was the craziest start line that ever was. I laughed back at it and learned a new strategy for next year. I mean it was pretty dang funny to watch again. But you know us girls…we are VERY competitive. It was a part of the rally that will always be talked about!

Now this next part we kind of knew was coming….Our next scroll contained a massive list of waypoints and tasks….with no cell signal or wifi service to plot! Talk about making a mad  dash….but not until we loaded up the dang canoes yet again, and it wasn’t going to be the last time!!!  We read and struggled for a few minutes and ended up doing a little too much backtracking to get our points, but we were getting some! FunShine was not a happy camper after that race (I may have pushed her pretty hard a few times around rough dirt roads and some light crawling, but the MetalCloak suspension and Adventure Rack Systems kept things smooth and secure), but we did our best and we did take that damn canoe off a few times (necessary for some tasks) but we made it to our first camp area for the evening, where everything was set up for us, including tents, and we could relax and have awesome chicken tacos and some libations! We sat and talked with the other teams and got to know each other a little better…and then it was a shower and off to our Glamping tent!! What an AMAZING FIRST DAY!

Stay tuned for Part Two to find out what the next 3 days of the Artemis Rally brings. There is much more to come! Thanks to Painted Dog Overland for the video!

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