Always remember to gas up!!

[AfricaWim]

Jnr: "Dad, you think we are going to make it back home OK??"

DadaMan: "Uhmm, yea sure, there's still a lot of K's left in this tank..."

The golden rule is to make sure you are gassed up before setting out. Before moving out I looked down the filler and decided it was OK "enough"....I am sure we will get to a pump before it gets critical......

I've had a full day dirt only adventure for Me & Jnr planned for a while, to get him ready for longer trips, but for the last month and a bit, were unable to hook up a day where the weather, time, and the to-do list allowed us to just take off. Today I woke up feeling all grumpy and irritated with the world....what a good time to force everything into lining up

As we set out he was all excited, no idea about sore bums , backs and crampy legs....only an adventure laying ahead...

"Come on dad, let's roll!!!"



The idea for today was to find old dirt roads in the Eastern FreeState (where we live), the rougher and less used, the better. I fed the GPS this info, trying to hook together as many far off dirt roads as I could taking us in a circle back home without doing the same road twice.

Good to go....let's go kick up some dust...


The Easter FreeState: flat/rolling countryside.



Nice wide gravel roads where you can keep the speed up..













Old school building, deserted a long time ago...

[GB]

Nice father and son ride!! Love it,

[funhouse]

Video games? we don't need no stinkin' video games! Great report.....Bruce

[AfricaWim]

By this time I was feeling Sooo much better....the quick fix answer to blues....the weather was perfect, with just a hint of storm clouds building, the roads were perfect and as far as we went there were birds in abundance...awesome.





For the first time Jnr said his butt was starting to hurt So we pulled over for more pictures!!



It was around here where we took a wrong turn and headed off in the wrong direction. The GPS just shrugged and "recalculated".... me pressed the buttons, but no answers were coming from Mr Garmin, my new toy that can pinpoint us anywhere on the planet...yes you still need humans, how else are you going to get lost!!.
I shrugged too, from here on we wing it, more my stylee ......our adventure can start for real now!!







All the hills in the distance are a good indication that we are nowhere near where were planning to go, so it must be a good time to take more pictures (lots of)!!





It was also around this time that the road started deteriorating, exactly the type of terrain we were looking for, just not here!!



More mountains this is not right. For a split second I thought about turning back.
Naaah....real men don't backtrack!!



2 1/2 hours into this trip and we've not seen any turn offs for quite a while. The road lies like a ribbon down in the valley. The GPS has us floating in air and refuses to believe we are on an actual road ..stupid electronic device....I am sure there is a link to a marked route further on...



The road was fun though...no complaints there!!

Then it stopped!!

We came to a small, mostly deserted, village and was told that this is where the road ends. This was a bit worrisome as it meant we had to backtrack, and I can clearly remember not passing any gas stations for the last 3 hours.....Mmm....this has the potential to get interesting.
I checked mobile reception and got a good signal, so at least we could call if we ran out of gas, not sure where the gas should be brought to, but at least we can give them GPS coordinates.....





An hour later we found telephone lines and a road sign....now things were looking up.......uhmm.......then the reserve light comes on ...how far does these things go on reserve??
Now if I only filled up this morning...

[AfricaWim]

If you are alone or with friends it would be something to joke about, but when you have your son with you it is not so funny, so some of the fun goes out of the trip, I slow down and pray that we find a connecting road Mr Garmin knows about ..... SOON.



RESULT !!
30 minutes later the GPS shows a black line crossing the emptiness it says we are on, and not long after that we find a road taking us to a main road.
SLOWLY we head to the closest gas station and the sound of gas gurgling into the tank was never sweeter .
Phew, my wife is not going to kill me after all............



We close in on town and not long after that we are home!!

Dusty and with sore butts, but also with mega smiles and memories that will last forever.



One more like these, where I will do my best NOT to get lost, and we can start planning longer trips......I can't wait!!


Wim

[KHVol]

Great riding with your son isn't it ? In a few years you will be slowing him down but he'll still wait on ya with a smile

Tks for the report

[AfricaWim]

You bet. He is all rearing to go wanting to know when we are going to do the next trip!!

[minnesh]

Originally Posted by HammerD0wn

The first adventure ride with your son is always memorable!!!.

great ride.
when u in kzn drop me a mail imn from pmb and thers some good placers to ride here.

[Ponix]

wow! father and son ride love it.

[AfricaWim]

Originally Posted by Ponix

wow! father and son ride love it.

One if many great trips we've had together, really should do another write up ...looking at these pictures I can't believe how he has grown up...

[Rider2205]

Love this report. Have been there myself, on reserve with that gnawing feeling that the day may get a lot longer and more complicated than expected! Great photos, beautiful country!