Equipo Williams

A family post on a recent adventure. First, Sydney’s take:

My Dad Is An Idiot

Well if you know my dad, you know he does stupid things sometimes.  Here’s an example: we were on our way out of Pan de Azucar National Park and all of a sudden we see a flat beach.  We all wanted to drive on the beach, so baba drove on to it.  Well he realized that was a bad idea pretty fast.  But when we tried to get off Haruka Maru sank half a foot into the sand.  We got the shovel and the recovery boards and got to work. The first thing we did was dig out the sand around the tires. Then we put the recovery boards in front of the tires so when we drove out we were driving on something hard.  The first time we tried to drive out we got pretty far but then we got in a ditch. Mama drove while Audrey, Baba, and I dug and put the recovery boards in front of the tires, and it was only the forth or fifth time we got out.

Next, Audrey’s view:

The Reasons My Dad Is An Idiot And How A Stupid Choice He Made Turned Into An Exciting Adventure For All Of Us

The first bad choice he made was to go drive out on the beach. We wanted to experience it and we all thought it would be fun. I had always wanted to try it because you see it in every car commercial and I thought it looked exciting. The second bad choice he made was to throw out there the possibility of Syd and I getting to drive on the beach. After that, as you well know, there was no stopping us getting out on that beach and getting the chance to maybe drive Haruka Maru for the first time. The third bad choice he made was actually driving out onto the beach. However, as soon as our three ton car got out on the soft sand, he said

”You know, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea”

No, no it was not.

We decided to head back because we didn’t want things to get too bad.

On the drive back, as all of you heard and/or have foreseen, it stopped. Haruka was barreling up the sand back towards the road but, because of the whole three-tons-on-soft-sand thing, she sank. Into the sand. About a foot. We all gave a good sigh and got out to use our recovery  boards for the first time. We were all scared that first time, because if we couldn’t get her out, Haruka might be there for a while. Baba shoveled the sand out of the way and I shoved the board underneath the wheel. Mama hopped in and after about fifteen seconds of the car revving and making really loud noises, it lurched forward. It went about two hundred feet but sank again in the next patch of super soft sand. 

So, we dug the recovery boards out from the sand because they got pushed in by Haruka, and did it again. And again. We had done it three times before we were anywhere near the hard packed sand. The third time Haruka started, the boards were so deep that Syd actually fell over trying to get them out. After the third time we had to wait because the transmission was too hot. We started shoveling because the car was in extra-deep this time and we didn’t want to do this any more times than absolutely necessary. The boys took a quick pit stop then we started again. This time we got so close to the packed sand but the back wheels dug into the sand at the last second. This last one was fairly quick and we didn’t have to do too much digging. Baba got in again and once he got to the hard sand, he was NOT going to stop. We walked the stuff up to him and Haruka and put everything back in place. 

Then we headed off, unscathed in body (except for my hands and legs which were FILTHY) but satisfied that this didn’t happen in a place where it was too important and that we knew we could do it if we had to.

And for balance, a rebuttal from Marcus:

It Was Fine!

All’s well that end’s well, I say. The kids had an adventure, learned new skills, and got some exercise in. We were never in an any real danger: there were plenty of passing cars, and a town a few kilometers down the street. We were out of the sand in half an hour, tops. We had a great time.