Today, we fulfilled a wish for the children that they had been expressing for a long time. Ever since Moab they wanted to drive around with an off-road vehicle. So we waited for a chance and it seemed to be here. With a landlord you can rent quads and jeeps and drive around in special areas. And unlike in Switzerland even children can drive here with 125 cc quads.

So I called the day before to clarify what vehicles we need (depending on the age and size of the children) and wanted to reserve them. The woman said, that's not necessary, they have enough "bikes" and since it's off-season, we do not have to make an extra reservation. We should just come and see what fits.

The hour drive to the store then passed quickly and we arrived hopefully. But then came the first disillusionment. They only had 2 bikes for children and one of them was broken. My reference to the information from the previous day was then taken with apologies, but that did not help us. We had the choice of either just riding a bike and a 6-seater jeep for the rest of the family, or waiting for 2 hours until a group came back who had 3 kids bikes. In order not to disappoint the children, we decided to wait and took much of the time to sign the many forms. It was mainly about liability issues and insurance conditions.

While we waited outside, we found two dogs in a car. The owner was on a bike tour and we noticed that the car was still in the shade, but this moved quite fast. It would not be long, and the car would be completely in the sun. The dogs had some water and the windows were a bit down, but in the blazing sun this would not be enough.

We informed the owners of the shop and they said they were trying to reach the dog owner but it was not that bad. We saw it differently and I also told them that if I saw the health of the animals in danger, I would call the police. But it turned out quite differently, because suddenly the events rolled over.

The first thing we learned was that the group with the dog owner was also the group we were waiting for to take over the bikes. But unfortunately, two of the group's children had an accident and one had broken his arm and the other broke a few ribs. This not only delayed our start time, but the dogs were suddenly in greater danger. While the store clerks tried again to reach the dog owner we looked, if we could somehow open the doors. And indeed, Zoe was slim enough to reach the door latch and open the door. So we could cool down the car and provide the dogs with fresh water. Thus the danger was banned.

Then the next bad news came: due to the accident, the disengaged mechanic had to wait with the recovery of the bikes until the police and the Rangers had logged the accident. There was no chance to get enough bikes. In order not to have to pull off empty handed, we bit into the sour apple and took the last bike and the 6-seater Jeep.

The ride was very exciting and the kids had their fun. Even if they would have wished to not have to take turns and everyone can ride their own bike. We as parents were happy to not have to end the day with an accident.

P.S .: The dog owner was super friendly and glad that we had opened the door. He apologized and acknowledged the mistake. There is always the risk of something happening and then a shady spot with a little bit of water is simply not enough. So the day ended but reasonably lenient for all, because it could have come much worse ... for the dogs and the injured children ....