First time off road with Elise
A perfect opportunity came up: the Land Rover Club Holland organized a 4x4 holiday exhibition in Loon op Zand, NL. Prior to the exhibition Niels experienced his first night in the car! It took a few minutes to transform the backseat into a spacious sleeping bed, but I managed. With the clouds vanishing and the stars shining bright, a well deserved beer, a well prepared salad, some hot tea and music from the car radio were enjoyed before closing the eyes.
The next morning you could that the sun was going to shine today, but not just yet… Waking up was fine, but it was still freezing 5°C and the temperature in the car was not a slightest degree warmer. In the sleeping bag all was fine but only the nose that was breathing in cold air felt like it would freeze off…
After some hot coffee the royal bed was quickly transferred into a backseat and Elise and I could drive towards the exhibition. The best part of the exhibition was the off road trial around the lake. Since it was the first time really off road, we decided to take it slow and follow the blue paths (blue = beginner, red = experienced, black = a no go). After about 15 minutes enough experience was build up to take on a small water basin marked as red. Not much to it and so we confirmed our own experience! Of course this would mean to take on the first red path ahead… But on a one-way red lane, coming around the corner… The steepest hill I ever had to drive up on. Is that possible? First attempt, low first gear, diff lock… failed half way… Second attempt, more speed, smoking tires, burning rubber… failed half way… Hmmm… After some advise, low second gear, diff lock, third attempt… All the way to the top! The true beast came out of Elise, easily she conquered the mountain and giving me an enormous adrenaline shot. So much fun on a perfect day! Driving back home I checked the damage, only thing to break was the fuel gauge pointing completely at ‘Empty’… Or is the fuel tank really empty…