Cousins Tour, Day 2

So after I had posted last night, I went to wash my hands and the tap sputtered at me and nothing happened - no pump!  The Swan Whisperer looked at it, but to no avail, so we baled some water into a crate to have available, and went to sleep.

In the morning, we found we really liked the truck stop we were at, and had breakfast in the café there (excellent!), and used their facilities. The Swan Whisperer had another look at the pump and made it work, sort of, but it obviously needs to be replaced sooner rather than later, and the car battery is not charging as the alternator, whatever that is, is borked. One flood too many last night, probably.   And have you seen the weather forecast?  So we rang up the campsite we were booked in for tomorrow night and asked us if they could take us tonight as well, which they could.

So we drove here as the weather  worsened and worsened, and really have done nothing since.  I had a nap, and we ate risotto, and that's about it. In the morning we can use the showers and loos here, which seem lovely and warm.

Meanwhile there is a bit of a lull in the storm just now, long may it last. It was very noisy an hour ago!  I hope we sleep.

Cousins Tour, Day 1

I just wrote a long post all about today, and it has vanished!  Bugger.

We set off late, and should, in hindsight, have gone down the M3, which would have been quicker. Plus we got stuck in a massive traffic jam on the A3 due to emergency gas works, or something of the kind. By the time we had stopped for lunch, in a random services on the A31, we were running about an hour late.

But we made it to my cousin's in the end, and it was lovely to see her and her husband again.  The road to theirs was very wet, though, and even worse coming back.  I hope they are not cut off, or worse, by morning.

We drive on to try to get to our stopping-place for the night, but couldn't get there because the main road was closed, and so was the side road the Satnav found as an alternative.  So we sadly rang them up to say we couldn't make it, and came back to a truck stop near Yeovil where we had planned to spend Wednesday night (and probably still will).

It is too dark to see what it is like, but there are plenty of other motor homes parked up, and we are dry and snug after scary driving through floods and the car battery saying it wasn't charging....  It still has 2/3 charge, though, so not too drastic yet, and the habitation battery is fine.

The Swan Whisperer is cooking sausage and mash, and there is beer in the fridge!  I have just realised I have forgotten the wine, though. Bugger.

The Cousins' Tour

Well, if Philippa Gregory can call the Wars of the Roses "The Cousins' War", then I can call our forthcoming tour "The Cousins Tour!"  This is because we are planning to call on no fewer than three cousins from various branches of the family during it! 

We are off to the West Country, and will, I hope not be blown away other than by awesome scenery.  We spend tomorrow night in Somerset, then off to Cornwall for three nights, then back to Somerset, and finally back to my parents for one night.  We're taking them out for the day on the Friday, and then we are going (if it's not too wet) to a Rally!  We haven't done that before and are not sure whether we will enjoy it, but hey, why not?  We don't have to do another one if it's too ghastly, but in August there is a weekend devoted to grandparents and grandchildren, and it might be a perfect opportunity to take The Boy with us.  Boy Two is still a little young, we think.

Anyway, the real reason for posting this is to tweak Networked Blogs so that, I hope, it will post my updates during the tour (mobile signal permitting - data isn't a problem this time) in a timely fashion!  Photos will have to wait until I'm home again, or Thursday, anyway, so posts will be updated after that.

Serendipitous Fire Engines

We had arranged to meet friends this afternoon at One New Change, the big shopping centre behind St Paul's Cathedral.  But yesterday, when I was browsing the Internet, I came across this article.  I did a bit of further research, and found that there would be vintage fire engines displayed outside St Paul's Cathedral during the afternoon, and then there would be a procession leaving from Dowgate Fire Station in the early evening.  So I promptly contacted my friends and said look what's happening, and, indeed, when we got there, they were busy looking at the fire engines outside St Paul's.

We had a splendid time looking round, and talking to the firefighters, who were dressed in vintage uniforms.  Several other people were also dressed in 1940s fashions - one woman's legs were covered in tattoos, which we didn't think was actually very authentic, but still!  I was reminded that this was how fire engines were, in my youth, when I was a little girl visiting my grandmother in London - they rushed about with bells ringing, and huge wheels on the back for the ladders.

When we had all had enough, we wandered back to One New Change and took the lifts up to the sixth floor, where there is a roof garden and wonderful views over London, especially of St Paul's - the lifts are designed so you see nothing but it as you go up!

Then it was getting dark, so we came away and walked down towards Dowgate Fire Station, stopping for a cup of tea en route.  On our way, all the fire engines drove past us, to much waving, going back to the fire station where they were joined by others - all privately owned and immaculately maintained - until 6:05 pm, at which point an air-raid warning was sounded.  Sadly, this could only be a hand-cranked siren, as they were afraid that people would be scared of the real thing, what with terrorist alerts and so on, but when it finished, the fire-engines all drove off, bells ringing madly, followed - and we thought this a lovely touch - by a modern engine bringing up the rear.

So we came away and took a 133 bus back to Brixton and then a 37 up the road, and I cooked dinner for us all.  It was a lovely afternoon out.

Tea on Bury Hill

We were spending Christmas with my parents, now rather old and immobile (my father's word - he prefers it to "frail"), and, as we wanted to take the motor home out for a run anyway, we invited them to drive somewhere with us where we could have a cup of tea and look at the view.  My father suggested Bury Hill, a local landmark.

So we piled into the van and drove off.  My father sat in the front passenger seat, and my mother and I and the dog sat in the back.  First mistake was not having brought the dog's bed, as the poor dog found lying on the floor struck rather chill on his underneaths, and was reluctant to settle, but eventually he did, mostly on our feet.  The back seats are not exactly comfortable to drive - I expect the window seat is fine, although my mother said she couldn't see out of the front very well - but the side seat is difficult, as there is nowhere to brace yourself, and only the seatbelt keeps you from being flung into the stove when the Swan Whisperer takes a corner too fast!  However, I managed to stay put, and we arrived at Bury Hill only to find that they have moved the car park and you can't really see anything now!  And the Swan Whisperer discovered the hard way that the reversing sensors only actually work when the reverse gear is engaged, not when he is freewheeling - luckily, not much damage!

The Swan Whisperer took the dog for a walk, which took rather longer than he expected, and we had got bored and made the tea by the time he got back!  We had brought hot water in a Thermos, and then boiled it up in the kettle, plus teabags and milk, biscuits (a Christmas present from my middle niece, which are absolutely delicious) and Christmas cake.  So we drank that, and then, at my father's suggestion, took the scenic route home, although it was getting dark by now so we could see very little.  Then we had piled the used crockery into the sink, where it rattled all the way home, and the lid didn't fit securely so it fell off and hit both me and the dog, and spent the rest of the trip squashed on my foot underneath the dog!  Not exactly comfortable.....

But the parents enjoyed themselves, to the point where my mother has asked if "next time" we could take a picnic lunch and make a day of it.  Which we certainly can, only we will put some water in the van so we can use the loo, and also do the washing up! 

2015 Christmas Trip, final day

It was cold this morning, although the rain had stopped!  We were glad for the heating in the van - the bathroom can get too hot if you aren't careful, but that's not bad when you're showering with as little water as possible. 

The Swan Whisperer went for a walk before breakfast, and then we set off.  We had heard that the queues going into France could be horrendous on the major roads, and wondered whether they might not have blocked off some of the more minor crossings, so decided to compromise and take a main-road crossing.  This meant driving through Belgium, and the Satnav took us mostly on country roads, which was lovely - we love French country roads, but don't often go on Belgian ones.  We stopped briefly in Ieper (Ypres) to see if we could see a bakery, but couldn't, so we moved on an d eventually had rather a late lunch in a services on the A25 in France. 

We were not held up at the border - some cars were being pulled over, but we were just waved through.  And, as I said, we stopped at the next services for lunch, and then drove over to Dunkerque where we got lost!  For some reason Google Maps insisted that the Auchan hypermarket was not where it in fact is, and it wasn't until we asked it for their petrol that it found the right place!  The Satnav never knows one supermarket from another, so it wasn't being much help, either.  Anyway, we got there in the end and did our shopping, and then got petrol, but what that Auchan doesn't sell is gas, and we needed to replace our "Cube" of Butagaz.  So we drove down to the one at Calais, which not only does sell it, but we could empty our grey water there, too, which was useful. 

And so to Eurotunnel, straight through, and a two-hour run home.  And now we have emptied it, and it will be taken home and put back into storage until the next time!

2015 Christmas Trip, Day 5

The weather was lovely this morning when we got up, and we went for a walk down to the river, and then back along the main shopping drag, stopping off at the supermarket to buy bread, milk, etc.

There is a car-ferry that crosses the Rhein between Königswinter and Bad Gödesberg, so of course we took that,

and drove through Bonn, which is fairly uninteresting, before heading out on the motorway towards the Ronquières Inclined Plane, where there is a car park giving specific permission for overnight parking (1 night). We thought it was very dull to go the same way as we came, which was out fault for not having planned the route ourselves (not that there really is much choice), so when the Satnav said it could save us 6 minutes we said yes please, but in fact it was only another motorway. We stopped at services at a place called Jülich for lunch, and should maybe have explored there, it looked quite interesting, but we drove on and it was quite a long way to here. And it is raining!  So we are parked up for the night next to the lift, which is quite noisy.

This holiday has been all about transport - the first night we parked up by the Strépy-Thieux lift, then we had two nights next to the barges and passenger ships on the Rhein, last night was all about the trains, and now it is all about the canal lift again.