ED Memories: July 30, 2023

Sunday, July 30, 2023 

Hard to believe it, but it's been 10 days since we got the cars and we've already had lots of adventures and still another 10 days to go! 

We grab early breakfast at seven, and then have a little downtime waiting for Andrew as he works on his Instagram post. He knows he needs to slim down his work for that, but he feels the pressure of creating content up to the level that he has been. It's tough, balancing capturing the experience, reporting on it, etc. I remember when we first talked about posting to Instagram during the trip we thought maybe two or three posts would be it, but Andrew has really gotten into it. Although he enjoys it, I think he also feels a duty to it, and his quest for quality certainly has him working hard! I'm not stressed though, as he is doing great service to the trip, to me, and to people following along. 

Once the work is done, we head down the mountain towards the coast in search of fuel. Arriving along the coastal road reminds me of the south of France big time, from years ago when I was there. We're on a narrow two-lane road full of traffic, with the beach on one side (and the Mediterranean of course), and steep hills on the other. We don't mess about long as it is way too hot. We yearn for the quiet roads and cool air of the mountains. Or at least I do, feeling pretty scorched at the moment. The top goes up and the air conditioning goes on ... relief!

We try setting up my GoPro with his phone, but it just doesn't seem to be working. One of these techie type niggles that eats up time and Andrew's frustration with it is palpable. Thankfully, he gets it working and we carry on.

As we head up a particularly tight single-lane road, we discover that it's mountain-biking Mecca, extremely narrow and rough. Can't say I'm enjoying it one little bit. Occasionally some plants rub against the side of the car and I fear for scratches remembering what happened to our Jeeps way back when we were canyoneering in the Escalante.

Andrew has another surprise in store for me though, and as the road ends and we park  (after I check closely for scratches - phew, none!), he reveals that we are now at an old NATO communication station. It's covered in graffiti and has a really strange vibe to it. But it's really cool.

Next it's time for some proper filming, with cameras mounted on both cars, along with Andrew says it's going to be an excellent piece of road. I can tell he's particularly looking forward to this, and his single-minded directorial vision that produces good stuff is in full force. I'm ready, my stuff is ready, and I'm pleased to be instantly actionable as he desires. 

Sure enough, we hit an incredible stretch of road, one that is worth driving up and down several times. More than just switchbacks, this is esses, an off-camber hairpin, several banked turns, and all within an amazingly smooth road surface. Wow!

We grab a snack stop in a lovely churchyard whilst Andrew searches for a rifugio for tonight. He finds one only 30 km away, with what looked like a sketchy road up to it, but paved. We make a beeline.  Turns out it's sketchy indeed, about a kilometre of dirt road with some really tricky ruts. My anxiety jumps into high gear at the thought of scuffing the car up.

Side note: somewhere during our transit of the Passo Giau I had picked up a visible scrape on the front lip of the car, and I don't want any more (I remember when it happened: it was downhill, braking hard, and just as the point of max braking, there was a little dip that dragged the nose of the car down a little further, and with suspension fully compressed I heard the scrape sound. I had to shrug it off as just the cost of doing business, driving these cars the way they are supposed to be driven, and it's a little comforting knowing that that strip of black plastic is easily replaceable and not very expensive. I figure when it gets banged up enough over some years of ownership, I can just replace it).

Still, I am full of trepidation as we slowly navigate our way along this new challenge. Andrew is calm and collected about it, and usefully goes first, trailblazing and figuring out the best lines to take.

The car is so stiff that it lifts front or rear wheels off the ground at times, keeping it flat. There is some delicate balancing of throttle and clutch, as we have to be really careful not to scrape our 'chins'. At some point we build some little pebble bridges that allow us to creep over the rain gullies, 

At one point, I think / hope that the car is getting a bit confused by the heat, action of the car, angles … I don't know, but I get a warning light on the dash. A bit of googling seems to indicate something related to oxygen sensors, which I know from past experience can be flaky in adverse conditions. It goes off after restarting the car, and hasn't yet returned. It did indicate 'driving permitted' so we shall see. A little unnerving.

Finally, by taking a lot of care, and going very slowly, we make it through with both cars unscathed. Phew. 

With the cars safely parked, we chow down on a delicious dinner at the rifugio; a bit different this time around as it is just a single offering as opposed to the choices we have had  at other dinners we've experienced in the past. No matter though, as it is absolutely delicious. Perhaps it's something to do with the relief of making it up that road, but the food tastes particularly superb to my palate. We have a potato leek soup, plus some antipasto, fried ricotta, spinach medallions, and then frittata with roast potatoes - absolutely delicious. To top it off they bring us a dessert consisting of pannacotta with candied oranges - little mini ones on top in ... brandy, perhaps? Amazing. 

I'm super content, and it has been a damn fine day. Time to hit the sack. Oddly, to me, we have an extra person in the room with us tonight. Apparently that's quite common, what do I know? We get ready for bed outside the room because the fellow is already asleep, but as a bonus I managed to have a nice shower which is most welcome.

~ Luke

p.s. You can read the full, no-holds-barred accounting of this day at gtschronicles.com.