So "the day after" came and the boys were eager to leave. So we did and in a big way I was also quite eager to show them the car.
" Wow, is this a sports car?"
" Well, it kinda is."
" Wow, it goes to 260km/h!" Pointing at the speedometer.
" Nah that's just bluffing, to make you think it goes fast."
" So how fast can it go?"
" Not really too fast."
" Not too fast? So it's a sports car that doesn't go fast?"
" Yes it's a sports car that doesn't go fast"
So there we go, a full day, Boys' trip. In a way, if they are older, it may have been a bachelor's party. Anyway, I thought they probably don't have much chance of getting out of their little village, so I wanted to take them along, to see the mountains, the river, the monkey, the golden needle flowers and the stars. Yes our final destination was Mt. Sixty Stone (again). To start, we arrived at Donghe to get some of the famous meat buns. They weren't hungry, so we continued our way into the Dong-Fu route, a very twisty mountain road but one with spectacular view. The front portion of the route was particular exciting for me, because it's a two lane twisty mountain road with not much traffic and I am eager to try my car's handling here. However, having two monkeys onboard, I wasn't sure how they would take it.
Just as we are getting started, Bolin seemed to have a particular concern.
" Did you get gas?" Bolin asked.
" No worry, we've got plenty of gas already."
" Are you sure? Will we run out of gas?"
" What's the matter, you seem to be really worried about gas. You ever run out of gas before?"
" Yeah, once my dad drove his car to town for gas and we didn't make it."
" So what did you do? Push the car?"
" I don't want to push the car."
" Well, that's what we will do, push the car if the gas runs out!"
" I don't want to push the car."
So I guess there was some bad experience there.
"Do you get car sick?"
"Nope!" Said both of them with pride.
"Are you sure?"
Sure enough, after about 15~20min of aggressive mountain driving, one was really not feeling well, slumbering over and holding his head down. I rolled down the windows (realized that they are more used to fresh air than AC) and it helped a bit, but not much. We made it to the first stop which was only about 1/5 the way and the Webber was not holding it too well. Nothing came out of his system, but he definitely wasn't too keen on curves.
"Webber.... how are you doing?"
" ...... "
" Are you ok?"
" Nope."
" How nope?"
" Very nope."
So we stopped again, right under a sign that says "10km to Fuli Township". The kids just squat there, not moving, especially the morally defeated Webber.
" Oh come on pussies, get up and man up!" I said. " Either you get back into the car or walk the rest of the way, and get kidnapped by the monkeys!"
So we continued.
"So where are we going?"
"Mt. Sixty Stone" ( Which sounds like Mt. Sixty Egg in Chinese)
" I thought we are going to Yuli?"
" If we have time, but I don't think we will."
" So when are we arriving at Mt. Sixty Egg?"
"Soon"
" How soon?"
"Soon"
"So Webber" Pointing at the beautiful mountains "Don't you think the green and mountains and blue sky are beautiful?"
"Nope, I see them everyday, don't feel anything special"
"Ok..."
And we continued. After having some ice cream and fed some Kois in a pond, we finally arrived at the foot of Mt. Sixty Stone.
"There's going to be more twisty roads, really narrow and tight corners!"
"Oh no, are you kidding me?" Webber complained.
"Nope, it's going to be really twisty and very high!"
As we climbed, Bolin said," Where's Mt. Sixty Egg?"
"What egg?"
"You said Mt. Sixty Egg?"
" No there's no egg!"
" I thought there are eggs on this mountain when you said Mt. Sixty Egg!, eggs that cost sixty dollars!"
"What kind of egg would cost sixty dollars?"
"I want eggs that cost sixty dollars!"
It was a long trip up the mountain.
" I was here last night you know, and saw some snakes on the road."
"Really? You came here last night?"
" Yeah, I saw a Umbrella stripped snake last night"
"I am not afraid of snake. The only think I am afraid of is spiders" Said Webber.
" Spiders? What about mountain roads? You afraid of mountain roads" Since Webber had such a bad experience just now.
" Yeah, spiders and twisty mountain roads"
"So which is worse, spiders or mountain roads?"
" Mountain roads...."
Great piece of information, will definitely come in handy down the road. It's always good to know kids' weaknesses.
We arrived at Mt Sixty Stone and Bolin was finally convinced that there is no egg here. The flowers are in full blossom and I said I will buy them some dried flowers so their parents can cook them. That's better than leaving without eggs that cost sixty dollars.
I wanted to visit this tea farm that I've been buying tea from and perhaps the kids will appreciate good tea too. They did, loved the flavor and appreciated its goodness, one cup after another. They were also excited about the basketball hoop, and played basketball. Then they saw the badminton rackets, and played badminton. Then they saw the big friendly dog, and played with the dog. They enjoyed all the "unimportant" things despite surrounded by gorgeous landscape and golden needle flowers, but that really all that matter, that they were really enjoying themselves.
It seemed that the clouds love to follow me around and it lingered while we were at Mt Sixty Stone too. Upon seeing a spot of sunlight, I quickly took the boys up to the top of the mountain where I shot my stars the night before. They were excited, not about the flowers and the great scenery. They were excited to role play commandos while holding the hiking cane that I let them use.
"Phew phew!"
"Fire in the hole!"
The entire valley echoed their voices.
"Keep quiet, you are disturbing all the other folks in this quiet valley!"
After some unwilling shots that I took of them, disrupting their role play, the clouds once again moved in and we decided to have an early dinner and headed back to the tea farm where we had made reservation.
Since we were back early, the kids wanted to play with the dog again. However the dog is now on leash because more guests will be arriving for dinner. The dog was calm and lied on the ground, and the toddler daughter of the tea farm owner came and displayed her severe cast of "princess syndrome" as we call it, meaning she's extremely spoiled. She wasn't really talking very nice to the dog and was stepping on the paws with her foot. The dog probably was used to her roughness and didn't even flick. Immediately we told her that it was not right and she needs to respect all animals, and the two boys was teaching her a lesson on animal cruelty.
Next we sat at the table waiting for the food. The little girl walked by us and said with an attitude , "The dog is my little brother, this is my home, I can do whatever I want!"
Speechless, we looked at each other. The girl then walked away. A few seconds later, Bolin said, "It's ok, us adults shouldn't mind the little girl".
I love being with these kids. They often remind me of what's really right and how we should react to difficult situations with open heart. I then thought more about this, and realized that since what they think is what we taught them as adults, how is it that we forget what we preach? I think as we march further into adulthood, we need more time to reflect and reset our mind to find the true north, get our bearings right before we continue. That's what this trip is about.
The food was great and Bolin liked everything, also tried his best to finish the food. Webber, however, as a little picky.
"All the ingredients are local, organic and fresh!" said the tea farm owner proudly.
" Especially the winter melon. It has the flavor of tapioca, very unique!"
"Oh, of all food I only dislike winter melon" said Webber. "No it's great, you should try some!" Said Bolin.
Seeing that encouragement isn't working.....
"Ok Webber, if you don't try at least one piece, we will take the long mountain road back home instead of the shorter route"
Thinking really hard, he said, "Just one piece?"
" Yes just one."
"What if you bluff me?"
"I won't"
"Just one?"
And he did. Like I said, it's useful knowing kids' weaknesses.
And that was almost it. The cloud got thicker and thicker and it was also raining, there was almost zero chance of seeing the stars let alone meteor shower. We headed back, through the shorter route, but just as twisty.
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