This is usually the time of year when I come out of blog-hibernation.  Girding my writing loins for the inevitably too few posts I’ll manage, thanks to Copperstate euphoria.  Lists are made, mechanic contacted, excitement barely contained, plans finalized etc. etc.  However, 2018 promises to be a year of change, thanks to unexpected family circumstances…….

Last year’s vehicular shenanigans resulted in the decision  my navigationally challenged cousin would take over all organizational activities for 2018’s entry (optimism is my middle name, clearly).  After all, as the Jensen was on track to be finished well in advance, it seemed the most sensible plan.  Application time arrived, so I dutifully forwarded the information his way, with a few of those heart-y things to make the handover less formal.  Time ticked ever onward, and as the end of 2017 became imminent, I chucked a couple of emails his way to confirm he had all information needed.

The response was muted, to say the least.  Actually, the response was non-existent, but England is eight hours ahead of us, and they do like to celebrate Christmas and New Year in a far more exuberant fashion; so I assumed he was recovering from an overdose of Christmas pudding or stuck in a badly fitting, ugly Xmas sweater – rendering it impossible for any keyboard reply action.

I waited until the early days of 2018 and ventured once more with a simple question about the actual state of Orangina (not as pretty as Oregon, lacking in beaches), and less than 24 hours later, an email appeared.  Short & sweet, rather like cousin dearest, he laid out a few minor concerns about the car actually reaching it’s first being finished line, and then immediately launched into the real issue.

“We’re expecting 12 lambs this April”.

Suddenly the picture of lederhosen he’d sent last year, and I immediately shared with all of you, made perfect sense.  It wasn’t so much of a cultural exchange or appreciation moment, I’d been given the early warning signs of his somewhat existential midlife crisis.

Harry has become a shepherd.

Now, he’s not completely alone in this kind of left field decision – after all, you can have your shoes repaired by Daniel Day Lewis when he’s not winning Oscars, or possibly find out Bruce Dickinson is the pilot for your next package holiday…but I had never pegged dear cuz to have such an alternative streak.

Once I’d wrapped my head around the image of him in a flat cap, whistling off key to a dog called Shep; rather than squeezed into skinny jeans, trying to grow an Oasis ‘do’ to capture his inner child whilst embracing Kale on everything I realized that no Copperstate this year equaled the opportunity to find as many alternative events as possible!

There really is no downside, dear reader.  The back end of 2017 included an excellent adventure known as Targa California, followed by the totally insane SoCal TT. Best news of all, I was joined by a REAL navigator.  My dear friend Kelly, is both a huge car enthusiast and can tell her left from right…it’s an extraordinary experience.  If we found ourselves slightly confused by the directions, it was clearly author error as inevitably we’d be surrounded by a number of other entrants also trying to work out if its not too late to try navigation by constellation.

So, to whet your blog reading appetite, we will be Driving While Awesome in February, exploring the Central Coast of Cali with a bunch of excellent reprobates in April and hopefully back on the list for both Targa and SoCal TT later this year…..stayed tuned!