Bimmers' Day Out: Three BMWs Out on a Cloudy Sunday
(Prologue: When it comes to cars, three is better than one! Although this thread is supposed to be about my car, I took the liberty to report here an exciting day involving three cars. And since all three were BMW F30s anyway, we are still pretty much on topic here in this thread.
)
After another long and boring period of inactivity on the driving front, finally managed to have a good outing. Well, in fact, it turned out to me quite an exciting outing actually. This is a story of how this otherwise mundane Sunday suddenly and unexpectedly turned out to be quite a memorable one!
The "Working from Home" routine has slowly but surely taken over my weekends too, and given the work routine and the general situation outside, my driving has reduced to almost negligible levels. Even this Sunday was supposed to be a "working Sunday" and hence there were no other plans. However, due to cancellation of some scheduled events on the work front, on Saturday evening, I realized that, all of a sudden, I had a free Sunday the next day. I pinged a few friends checking if they would like to join me for an impromptu Sunday drive. Thankfully, my close friends and bhpians,
RSUDARSANAN and
robimahanta replied in affirmative, and an impromptu driving plan got finalized in no time. After some quick message exchanges, we decided to drive to Vani Vilasa Sagara Dam (
https://goo.gl/maps/p2ZzSZgCmSVagqna9), which is about 180km from Bangalore. The reason for this choice was supposedly good roads, including some fast six-lane highways and then some scenic state roads.
As always, it was the drive that was more important. The destination was just some excuse!
Now
RSUDARSANAN drives a BMW 320d (F30), and
robimahanta also drives an F30, in the 328i guise. And of course, I would drive my F30 320d too.
Thus, by pure chance (and certainly not by design), this turned out to be a BMW 3-series drive! We had three 3-serieses, all three F30s, roaming around on a cloudy day, soaking in the sporadic showers, enjoying the beauty of the lush green landscapes, and "joyfully" enjoying every corner along the way.
The weather was as perfect as it could be; picturesque clouds and some rain here and there. Add some mild breeze and pleasant temperatures to that mix. Could not have asked for better driving conditions. As the destination was just an excuse, we did try driving around some random diversions too, and that just added more fun to the story.
As it turned out, Vani Vilasa Sagara Dam was actually closed for visitors due to the covid precautions. However, that did not make an iota of difference to our thrill of the drive and the enjoyment of the journey. After all, we were lusting for the journey and not the destination. The highlight of the drive for me was three of my favorite cars cruising down the highway, carefully and almost rhythmically gliding around each other as we passed each other depending on traffic conditions. All three of us were driving at roughly the same speed and in similar style (safety first; we all drove in safe and careful manner) and that meant I always had the other two cars in my view somewhere, and it was a sight to behold!
Suddenly the otherwise mundane Sunday had a story to tell.
I will let the pictures tell the story now.
The trio arrived at the destination, and parked on the side of the road.
We climbed some steps to the top of the small hill and reached the entry, only to find that the dam was closed for visitors.
Nevertheless, there were great views all around.
Views of windmills on nearby hills...
And views of lush green landscape all around, like this!
A small but colorful temple at the bottom of the climb, right next to where we had parked.
We came back to our cars and then drove further on a road that goes around the dam (not knowing where it would take us), and found ourselves at this beautiful location.
Loved the views from this point.
My car parked next to this viewpoint.
Robimahanta's 328i looked beautiful as always. I still can't get over how cool these wheels look (BMW Style# 397).
A random shot of my car...
To be followed by another random shot.
RSUDARSANAN proudly posing next to his gleaming 320d.
The last random shot of my car parked there.
Who says BMWs can't do off-roading? Just kidding. Keen eyes of
robimahanta found this beautiful locale on the side of the road.
And in the true spirit of "journey over destination" we took a U-turn to enter this mud road.
And now it was
RSUDARSANAN, the seasoned recce'er who spotted another location for a photoshoot, somewhere away from the road.
We took another U-turn, traveled some non-existent roads, to reach this spot.
I loved the location. The cost of reaching this place?
Some thorns and bushes scratching against the car while we did some tricky maneuvers. Thanks to full body PPF, I had no worries though.
A parting shot of all three cars where you would least expect to find them - an off-road trail!
Now on our way back to Bangalore, a quick pit-stop at a Cafe Coffee Day.
One issue with this plan was there was no decent lunch place either at the destination or on the way.
So we just drove back home, and had lunch at our usual place in Bangalore. Our "convoy" back in the city.
The "Bimmers' Day Out" continues to a coffee shop post lunch.
In the meantime, it rained heavily, and our convoy got a thorough rain-wash (only for the dried mud to show up later).
Hot coffee to wrap up what turned out to be a very memorable day.
And in the end, some desserts as the "icing on the cake", quite literally, to end this daylong journey :-)
Thank you for reading!