State forest permits were arranged, the rain held off (or they close the forest :( ) and 14 like minded people were found.
There are no maps of this state forest so we would be driving blind. The reccee the week before was cancelled due to hurricane force winds and torrential rain. The forest ranger admitted he hadn't been into the forest since the storm so there may be some trees on the tracks.
We needed a key to enter the forest and the gate had to be locked behind us. If anybody wanted out before the end the trip leader would have to drive them to the gate and lock it behind them. Don't ask about emergency vehicle access...
The tracks were nice and bumpy. I like bumpy. There were big spiders that I wasn't allowed to touch as well.
Lots of diversions were needed for fallen trees. If we had a chainsaw we would still have been busy clearing the tracks. It was easier to either pull them out of the way or to make another track around them. There was almost no sign of the track we made.
At one point we were leaning over a lot. Through one window I could see sky. Through the other only the ground. My special seat has a six point harness so I wasn't going anywhere. The driver said it was nice and safe. But then my cooler fell over! All that lovely milk to drink getting shaken up! How far can we lean over and be safe? Now I can see ground and sky in both windows. Phew. Change of nappy please.
The forest is used by horses & walkers a lot. Vehicles are rare because you need a permit and it's often only granted to clubs. So the tracks were often overgrown. Walking would be very difficult. Now we have pushed back the worst of the vegetation. In one place we had to retrace our route. There was a 4 foot sapling in the middle of the track. All 15 cars drove over it going in. It was still standing after all 15 cars went back the other way, each one driving right over it. Must be tough to have been in the road and still grown to be 4 foot high.
Mmmm lunch time. What will I have today? Bleugh. What is this vegetable risotto stuff? Yukky. I'll spit it all out over the driver, that will be funny. No I won't eat any of it. I guess I'll just have the milk that got shaken up.
Later I helped supervise a wheel change for someone with 18inch wheels. Sharp rocks and 18" wheels don't mix very well.
I'm starting to get tired. All this bumpy bumpy stuff is fun, but I need my afternoon nap. Maybe if I shout out to the driver he'll get the message and let me sleep. Maybe I'll need to shout that I'm tired for a long time before I can sleep...
When we got home my driver noticed that the rear spring was not looking quite right. He said some very bad words.
Yawn, time for my nap, where's my bed and my teddy bear?
Mini-me
