BJC JeepHers Drive to Yelagiri - 14th October
The discussion on the 1st ever JeepHers drive was initiated couple of months back in the JeepHers whatsapp group but took shape into a solid plan only in the last week of September. Yelagiri, a hill station is approximately 178 Kms from Bangalore with 14 hairpin bends and an ideal venue for a one day drive. We decided to spend the day at ‘The Thrill Valley’, an adventure club, which had lot of games for both elders and kids. The initial date planned was Oct 6th and we had just a week’s time to make all the arrangements. Being JeepHers we were not willing to settle for anything less and wanted the best of T Shirts and stickers designed exclusively for the drive. One of the JeepHer took the initiative and got them printed and ready all in a week’s time.
The recce was conducted on 4th October under poor and wet weather conditions. As per the weather reports heavy rains were predicted on the weekend too and it was felt that it would not be safe to drive in the hills due to poor visibility. Reluctantly we decided to change the date to 14th October. We were determined to go ahead with the plan and we set out for the drive along with some of our friends. One of the Jeeper Husband accompanied too. We allowed him to be part of the drive only if he accepted to be the official photographer for the trip which he accepted wholeheartedly as he was the only male member among 10 JeepHers and 2 JeepKids.
We started from Attibele at 7:45am and the first stop was Murugan Idli at Krishnagiri. We put the photographer to the job immediately and we posed for pictures showing off our bright red t-shirts with slogans “JeepHers go places”, “JeepHers Make it Happen” and “Bengaluru JeepHers”. After we tucked into a sumptuous breakfast, one of the JeepHer came up with an idea of a Jeep formation. Now with only 4 Jeeps what could we form???? We decided to form the letter “W” representing the women. Nothing is impossible if the women make up their mind. In no time the letter “W” was formed and our photographer went up to the terrace to take an aerial picture.
After spending more than an hour at Murugan idli we started off for the drive in a trail. Driving through the scenic beauty of the hills, eucalyptus trees and clean fresh air with lots of monkeys adorning the route was a treat to the eyes. We reached The Thrill Valley by 11 and were welcomed by the ever-smiling staff members with a refreshing lemon juice.
There were many options for games, which we chose and started to explore the games. Not to forget some more work for the official photographer with more poses. We tried all Zip line, Zurfing, ATVs, Target Shooting, Burma Bridge, etc with lot of screaming, screeching, laughing and coaxing each other to participate and monkeying on the trees for a photo session before lunch.
We assembled at the dining hall by 2pm for lunch. The lunch was a classic example of “Oota from your Thota” (food from your garden). The taste and aroma of the lunch still lingers in our tongue.
Post lunch we decided to shake our legs to some peppy music to digest the heavy food. The two JeepKids entertained us with some impromptu dance numbers and challenged us to perform with them.
Well… all good things must come to an end …. Time to start back home now. We had a round of piping hot ginger tea before we started our return journey with a promise to have another JeepHers drive soon.
– BJC JeepHers
