Saturday 27th May 2017

Mum's birthday.

And the parting of the ways. After some 13 and one half days, Tony was to leave us early in the day, being dropped off at Glasgow Airport to pick up his hire car so he could do at least two more weeks exploring of the highlands and possibly islands.

Jools and i slept poorly due to the heat in the room and heavy duvet which might have been made of magma for the good it did us I ended up the last hour of the night on the sofa staring at the ceiling, waiting until it was time to get up. We only had a carrier bag with a change of clothes and toothbrush and paste, so, no packing to do. I try to check on the news, but Premier Inn supplies, free, one of the worse internet connections, in the hope that you will pay £5 to upgrade. I won't give them the satisfaction, so struggle on having to reconnect every 5 minutes or less, before I lose my final patience and log off.

We meet Tony in the restaurant for breakfast, he has been packing for ages, deciding what to take and what to give to us to take home so he can collect later. I would love to have given him more time, but even with clear roads the trip down south to home would take eight hours, and with it being a bank holiday, it was likely to take much longer.

And then we had to drive half an hour in the opposite direction to the airport then turn for home once there. Such is life, but we knew this was the plan, so no worries on that part, we just wanted to get on the road and started. Wheels at quarter to eight I told Tony, and fair play to him, he made it, taking just one pair of shoes and a pair of flip flops, he had repacked and presented us with a large bag of unwanted items.

We programmed the car sat nav and drive out of the car park, along dual carriageways, round roundabouts, onto motorways and then to the airport. Here it was then, farewell, for now. But it was a good parting, we are sure we have held Tony back on occasions, and now he could walk to his heart's delight, I hope the Highlands were ready! He takes his two bags, waves and is gone. I will see updates on Facebook from time to time, so will be interesting to see where he goes.

We program the sat nav for south, I engage all horses and we pull away, next stop: England.

THere was lots of roadworks out of Glasgow on the M74, so we seemed to make slow progress, but once they finished, the landscape changed, the road climbed and became wild and untamed again, even if the hills were topped by turbines (not ours). The road climbed and climbed, traffic was light so we made really good time, climber to a thousand feet and then beginning the gentle descent into England.

We stop in Carlisle for some candy and a toilet break, so I fill up the tank and we are ready.

The motorway was still fairly empty, and we had sunny intervals so we had wonderful landscapes until we turned off, taking the A66 over the Pennines into Yorkshire. There are two roads we could have taken; this one or the M62, but that would have meant taking the Manchester ring road, and the traffic chaos that would mean. Says a lot about that option that made the mostly single carriageway A66 the better option. There are dualled parts, and on those we could engage all horses to get past trucks and or caravans, as the road climbed over the backbone of the country, with views to the edge of the known world. Apparently.

Now that we were back in the modern world, the car could pick up DAB, so we had Huey to play the soundtrack for the journey, at least for three hours, and that meant the miles passed quickly, even on the roadworks on the A1 south of Scotch Corner which go on for miles and miles, and are there for the most part, not apparent reason at all, now that the heavy work had been completed.

At least we were moving, which is more that could be said about the northbound side which was one long jam. And pretty much all the way south into Lincolnshire. It was going to be a very long day for those right at the back of the queue.

We encounter the only jam of the trip south of the M62, a small shunt between two cars meant miles of tailbacks on both sides as people rubbernecked. I hope the people in the accident were OK, of course. South of Doncaster, we went back up to cruising speed, and pretty much stayed there for a hundred miles through Newark and into Cambridgeshire.

We stop at a diner we like near Peterborough, so have the main meal of the day: huge burgers. and lots of coke. Feeling refreshed, Jools took over the driving, and I maked our progress in the atlas, turning the pages as we went south.

Both the M11 and A1 were jammed, so I find a way round them going through Hertford. We drove through another corner of the country we had never visited before, and very green and leafy it looked too, with a smattering of churches.

Even the delays the matrix signs told us to expect near to Dartford really didn't amount to much, meaning we got through and into the last country of the trip, Kent. I have described the drive along either the A2 or M20 many times, so I won't bore you with them again, but in the early evening, traffic was light, and we arrived home at half six, pulling into our street and to my surprise finding a parking space outside the house.

Home at last.

The back garden has grown mad since we have been gone; the lawn is full of Yellow Rattle and the beds full of poppies crowing madly. And the air was full of busy insects, now that there is so much for them to feed on in it.

We unload the car, then while Jools sorts through the washing I go to Tesco for supplies, which is good as the Cup Final was one, meaning it was pretty empty, and even had stocks of what we need. Although, not sure what it says about Dover, but they were nearly out of cider!

Back home, we sit down to watch the last 20 minutes of the football, so witness Arsenal win it again with a goal a few minutes from time.I was unmoved.

Anyway, time for dinner; insalata caprese, something light and healthy counteracting the afternoon diner burger.

And that was it, holibobs nearly over, however, it is a bank holiday weekend, so Sunday and Monday off to decompress.