The time had finally arrived for the boys to get up at stupid o'clock and head to the 2022 Camp Quality esCarpade...
Retro Rock-It was ready and raring to go...
Damian's lovely wife Tricia got up early to see him off and get some action shots of Retro Rock-It heading up the driveway...
And heading off up the street at around 3:45am...
It was pretty dark as Damian headed off...
Stopping by to collect Jason from his house...
Before hitting the road towards Parkes... Funnily enough, as they headed through Brisbane they came across Sharky and Jim in the Pineapple car, before getting separated a short time later as Jim turned right following his GPS, and Damian turned left following his prior knowledge of the way to the Western Freeway...
The boys got to see a lovely sunrise...
Before heading up through Cunningham's Gap...
And down the other side where they found a foggy morning waiting for them...
They were the last car to sneak past this wide load on the way in to Warwick... Sharky and Jim in the Pineapple car got stuck behind it!
The lovely church going through Warwick...
And there's always time for a selfie!!
Lots of interesting vehicles out and about on the trip...
Painted silos in Yelarbon...
The roads were open, but there was still plenty of water along the sides of the roads!
Arriving at Goondiwindi, Retro Rock-It found Purple People Eater had already arrived...
After the others caught up and had some breakfast and a coffee, it was time to cross the bridge into NSW...
And straight into some roadworks!
Jason found some Retro party mix... figured it was a good omen!
A water crossing on the highway... the photo doesn't do it justice - the water on the left was pretty deep, and immediately after it was a MASSIVE pothole... good times!
An old train bridge (still in use, of course).
Stopped at more roadworks seemed like a great time for a photo of Purple People Eater out the back window!
Fuelling up in Narrabri...
Hitting the road again, Damian took over the tail-end-Charlie position...
Every highway should have a T intersection!
Found one half of Saturn...
No stopping at Coonabarabran... not after the last time!
Jason had a quick snooze while Damian kept the wheels turning...
And past the other half of Saturn!
Regular blog readers would recognise that this is where Damian and Angus had trouble with the busted pulley and serpentine belt... no such issues this year!
And eventually arriving in Parkes...
Time for a refreshing beverage...
And of course, a group selfie!
Everyone was pretty tired after a huge day of driving... after dinner, it was time for an early night. Tomorrow will see the boys drive the remaining 500km or so to get to Albury, where they'll settle in for the evening and then head to scrutineering first thing Saturday morning!
