153: ALA 1

Post number 112. TGA (6/6) had hit a readership and there were requests to put it to the test. So I did a bit or research and found an itinerary. It had no cliffs and there was no snow out there but when my friend said she would bring Champagne suddenly forest paths and country roads were calling us.  So here I was, on a cold icy Saturday morning, packing an icebox. 

'It's 3 degrees out there. And I don't think it's going to get much higher than that. So no need to pack a lot of ice in that icebox.'

My husband said to me, then added:

'But you're lucky. It's going to be dry and clear. Sunny even.'

That was lucky indeed as this had been planned weeks before. I packed the scones, the strawberry jam, the cream and the vegetarian canapés and a flask of boiling hot coffee. The vehicle was ready, waiting outside the door, cumbersome and completely out of place in our street. I got my proper hiking boots on, a wooly hat pinched from one of my daughters (one was in bed, one across the ocean and one at a friend's for a sleepover so no-one was going to miss it). I had three copies of the itinerary: a printed one, a screenshot and the digital version. Ready. Steady. Go.

I started the adventure vehicle and drove it down our street towards the carpark where we had agreed to meet. Suddenly in front of me someone stepped off the pavement and stopped right in front of my vehicle, facing me, arms wide open. This woman looked cool and fashionable wearing a black hat with a floppy rim, a long oiled rain coat the proper shade of green and hiking boots. She was carrying a jute tote. Was she fleeing a posh hunting-party picnic?  Then I recognised my partner in Adventure Practice Level 1. I couldn't beep as I had failed to locate the horn before taking off. Passers-by looked on bewildered, their eyes darting from the woman in the floppy hat to the out-of place vehicle and back. I stopped the car - and the Saturday morning traffic - and she opened the door to climb in. We greeted each other laughing and exclaiming loudly. I was certain people on the pavements (worried in case I ran them over) were desperate to join us. I would have been. 

We carried on driving together for about 450 meters to the agreed spot to meet the others. We were soon waving and shouting again as the next accomplice made her entrance in the car park, looking the part too with her trekking attire and small backpack. She almost did not make it and so we cheered twice as loud. Our other two fellow-explorers arrived by car and managed to create mini-jams before finding a place to park.

We loaded the picnic baskets and everyone climbed onboard. The clatter and the noise of the conversation was echoing against the sides of the vehicle. Catching up on the latest gossip from work, tales of holidays in far away exotic lands and about books and series and movies. I was trying to concentrate on the driving. I had had some practice and it is easy enough to drive yet I soon noticed that we had long queue of cars behind us! I was thinking that maybe that was the point.

We arrived in the small town where Saturday is market day but we still managed to find a deserted carpark just off the main square and we parked there. We're not the silent type of walkers and wildlife was not going to stick around for us. Some cows and sheep were intrigued and watched us pass by them noisily as if we were some kind of weird train ... We were deep in mud walking around the windmill and almost skidded and fell in the wet grass but we finally made it back to the carpark in good time, feeling refreshed and invigorated by this long hike through woodland and fields. The front of the vehicle served as a table top and we laid all the cookies, scones and canapés on it. The Champagne was perfectly chilled and was popped open to loud cheers (that did not alert the local policemen). Champagne corks love the outdoors too as they can pop unrestricted and go sky high. We drank to our health and to our little adventure number 1, beginner level. 

Till the next one ...

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