Heading out…
‘C’mon kid, let’s roll. Its time to cut a track and hit the open road’, cried Jack, ‘hook on and lets go!’
Who do you think you’re calling a kid, buddy? I’ve got a couple of years on you, so just settle down, straighten up so I can hook on behind you and we can get outta here’ replied Jilly.
They were both getting a little itchy to get on their way, back out on those country roads, heading…. well they weren’t entirely sure yet.
The woman was yet to confirm where they were heading for the first night out. She wasn’t always one for sticking completely to her plans they’d both learned, and they loved that about her.
Who ever knew where they would end up! A loose guess was usually best.
Finally, Jilly was hooked up and Jack was pulling out onto the road. He never really felt like he was heading off on a trip till they cleared the city and were in the forest, or on outskirts roads, you know, heading SOMEwhere.
They’d left later than planned, again, not much unusual there. Plans are always good but it’s also good to be a little flexible, just in case.
Rolling through a forest and getting well out of the city outskirts, both vehicles settled in to a nice cruise rhythm. Jilly’s electric brakes were working well when needed and Jack was easily pulling her along the roads. They made a good team, he decided.
It had been touch and go for Jilly since she had come into their little family, and as far as the woman was concerned, the jury was still out on whether or not she was here to stay. She still had to prove herself after a few hiccups and a fair amount of cash, ok maybe quite a few hiccups. Hopefully this trip would be the one where she proved herself once and for all.
They drove for hours, the woman pretty fixed on getting to a certain place before they called it for the night, but as the sun set, and the storm clouds gathered further ahead, it was time to find a place to camp for the night.
Having been in the same area a month or so ago, it was an easy call to return to where they’d camped before, although it had been a pretty tight location - easy with just a 4x4 and a rooftop tent, a bit more of a challenge with the camper on the back, and in the dark.
Luckily, on the way in the woman spotted a campfire burning just off to the right, and realised there was much more space to spread out and camp.
“C’mon buddy, let’s find a place to setup for the night” she said, driving the Jeep into the camping area.
It was easy finding a level spot to park the camper, so Jack was released from camper duty. Jilly behaved well, lifting her roof easily so camp for the night was setup in no time.
‘Nice work Jilly, said Jack, you did well today”. He could tell Jilly was pleased with the praise, she’d tried hard today and liked being part of a team with Jack.
“Thanks Jack”, she said, “so far so good. Im excited to be on this trip, I can’t wait to see where we get to tomorrow”.
‘Ok’ thought the woman, ‘we didn’t get as far as I wanted today so it will be an early start tomorrow’. Checking the weather app on her phone she quickly realised how lucky it was that they had stopped for the night. A storm had set in right where she had intended to be.
The dirt road leading to her destination would have been dangerous in the stormy, dark conditions… a potential nightmare waiting to happen…
It was going to be an interesting drive the next day, and it had been a long day today so after locking up Jack and securing the camper for the night, she called it a day and hit the hay.
“Rest up Jack, tomorrow’s going to be a bit of fun” she thought as she drifted off to sleep.
