An eventful day

Yesterday was a day of mixed fortune but one which ended happily. We stayed overnight at Jonathan’s flat to save driving to and from the Marsden in one day because Ray was tired after the weekend course. Our return then was leisurely so it was natural to stop off at Romans Garage between Mitcham and Sutton so Raymond could view the Ferraris, Alfas and Bugattis. He was in his element and as I was sitting in the car, asked if I could join him in looking at what was a unique collection of cars.

We had driven up in the Jeep. As a car its strong points are that it is very rugged. It has taken us along the dirt roads in Finland, camping throughout Europe and is wonderful for loading up with all manner of items when we are going to the boat. It copes with rough terrain so easily but its electrics and locking system are in the steam age. Whereas if you leave a light on or the boot open (with an interior light) in the Mercedes, a safety system opts in and turns it off, this never happens in the Jeep. However, we don’t always want to park the Mercedes in places where it can be scratched so we were in the Jeep.

Raymond came excitedly out to the passenger side and asked if I would like to go in and he locked the car. The showroom staff were very enthusiastic about their vehicles even though we were only looking out of interest. Then it was time to go and we realized that the car keys were locked inside the Jeep. It is not possible for that to happen in the Mercedes but it has happened more than once in the Jeep and as it is so solid it is a car thief’s nightmare. However, having sheepishly admitted to the Garage staff our predicament, they set to and attempted to retrieve the keys while we stayed in the showroom. Most modern cars can be broken into in about two minutes but the Jeep has extra safeguards. However after 20 minutes someone from the showroom presented Raymond smilingly with the keys saying that someone had had a misspent youth and we were after all in South London. We had been having nightmares about going home by train and returning with the spare keys.

We drove home very happily and in the evening were rewarded with the sight of several deer on the lawn and later just two of them under the apple tree being stalked by a young fox who wanted desperately to play. So ended an eventful day.