Pair of what I'm not sure. This is Ben and his bosom pal Pritch who take it in turns to outdo each other. Ben is back on leave and as a bit of Dad Son bonding we decided to go for a walk. As usual he couldn't help himself when he met up with his best mate and they both ended up spending the night engaged in what I believe is called on the lash where they drank lots, ate lots and slept little. This is obviously the best form of preparation for a long days walk which is why they turned up at Rock HQ an hour late, dehydrated and smelling like diseased rats.
Undeterred we set off, I was a bit surprised at their lack of kit, but they made up for their sparsity of equipment with bravado and enthusiasm. That was until they realised there had been a teensy weensy breakdown in communication and what they thought would be a gentle stroll before finding a suitable watering hole where they could top up their falling blood alcohol levels and desire to eat red meat was in fact going to be a gruelling training day for The Great ToDo, or The Offas Dyke Ordeal. I had planned to go to Knighton from Rock HQ and time permitting walk back again, a journey of 40 miles cross country, mixing a bit of road in and cutting a few corners it would be close to thirty. I didn't think we would do it all, on the 12-1-08 walking one way took all day so chances are Tracey would track us down in Rene a few miles short of home.
However these two super fit examples of humanity, despite their hangovers pushed on and amidst merry banter and rabbit killings (it was a mercy killing it had myxomatosis, however all Ben and Pritch saw was yours truly picking a cute bunny from the hedgerow and in their eyes brutally killing it, it took half an hour to calm them both and prise them apart as they hugged each other in horror as I promised faithfully not to kill anything or anyone for the rest of the day ) we made the half way point by just past beer o'clock which gave these two a bit of a dilemma, should they push on and make the return journey or rock into Knighton the centre of everything and sit it out in a pub awaiting rescue by Rene. Unbelievably common sense prevailed and we walked back making Rock HQ just before five where we revived ourselves with coffee and ginger cake. The diet went well today as these two forgot to bring any calories for consumption and I did the Dad thing and shared my sandwiches and coffee so they didn't pass out from hunger.
Joking aside it was a great day. Great that my work is flexible enough to work a few hours before and a few hours after so not losing any leave. Great that I got to spend a very interesting day with Ben where I learned a lot about his life in the Army, the island of Cyprus and his ambitions. Pritch learned that our family outings really are endurance tests and manfully rose to the challenge, even making it back in time to go Rugby training, if he mentioned he was Captain for Hereford he mentioned it at least twice. A great day in the torrential rain which lasted as long as the walk and one which showed my fitness is returning even with the fifty pound spare tyre around my waist. So a big thank you to these two, they made a fat old man very happy today.
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