Friday 1st March 2013

Looking back at the shots I took at the beginning of the week, I find it incredible there is such wild landscapes, so empty of the modern world, just a few hours drive away. As we headed up the narrow road from Buttermere, all there was, was the narrow strip of tarmac we were travelling down, above us and below was just untouched wilderness. Behind us the sun was setting, and we watched as the shadows from the western-most peaks rushed over the valleys. Beside us, a waterfall tumbled from a peak above us, but as it is always in shadow, it was almost totally frozen over.

The next morning, we woke up and began to pack. We had thought of leaving before dawn to get some miles under our belt, but in the end decided to stay for breakfast. Once the car was loaded we set off through the town to Workington and then along the A66 to Penrith. During the night, fog had rolled in, so we had to drive for the first hour through banks of mist and fog, at least until the sun had burned it off. Traffic was heavy, and for a while we got stuck behind a tail of cars behind a lorry, and then looked on, horrified, as a MPV tried to overtake it in dense fog. The driver had to slam his brake on to avoid a head-on crash.

As the sun shone through the mist, the scene was stunning, but we had agreed the night before that the day was just for getting home, not for photography, and I stuck to it. We drove on. We came to the motorway, and turned south.

We had to make the decision by the time we got to Preston whether to head over the moors on the M62 or head down the M6. This would decide which way we would go round London to get to Kent. Thing is there would several hours between making that decision before finding out if it was a wise choice. In the end we decided to head over the moors to Leeds and then down the A1 and M11 to join the M25 just before the Dartford crossing.

As we headed east, the clouds rolled in, although it did not rain. Traffic was OK and so we made steady time. In truth, once we turned south, traffic was light and remained so. We were always thinking that we would see heavy traffic over the next hill or round the next bend. But no. We crossed the Thames before three and so could relax as it was just an hour home. We stopped off at the Medway services for some dirty food: Burger King with fries and onion rings and fried chilli cheese. Very dirty.

We then headed for home on the last short leg home. Sadly, there was no warm feline welcome for us, as they we in the cattery until the next morning. So, we put the kettle on and made a damn fine cup of coffee.

Next morning, I headed to the cattery inbetween work to collect the cats, and there is nothing more joyous than driving along with all three cats singing, OK, meowing along. Its amazing how quickly they bounce back from being abandoned in Stalag Cat XV to being home and demanding food. Attention. More food. More attention.

Life was back to normal. Normal will continue until Monday morning when I head to the snowy north and Denmark again.

Sigh.