On the Road Again... Again

Looking ahead to 2016. Might as well see about getting some value out of my US Visa! So far have 8 years left! But where to go? Claire would like to look at the North East, New England.  Whilst I am not attracted to much of R66, I do like the idea of the big skies and red rocks of the western movies. So I had better get working on it.

After an aborted attempt last year when Dora wasn't dapper enough, but the Maidstone ride was full of Harleys, I decided to have another go with the Rocket! "Red Pepe" must be allowed as I haven't had an email telling me that I can't take part. So.... This is my sponsorship page.

From Glencoe, our next stop was going to be three nights at Loch Ness Glamping . The journey between the two sites was about seventy miles. But with an arrival time of 4pm, we had about 7 hours to do it. Even in Scotland in the pissing rain, we'd be hard pressed to find something to do. The first stop was in Glencoe Village to take some photos of the River Coe bubbling long, and then for breakfast at a small shop cum coffee house cum cafe - Crafts & Things. Not dog friendly inside and too wet to sit outside, so Reggie stayed in the car.  😔 We liked the look of some decorated mirrors in the Charles Rennie Mackintosh style and Claire bought a couple. Photo to follow, but mirrors are difficult to photograph without acting like a mirror! So maybe not. Once away we passed the Corran Ferry, and into Fort William on the A82, right through and on towards Spean Bridge.   Neill and I stopped here on the Ashes Tour in 2013, and it was raining. At lea...

Found this one courtesy of a friend on Facebook -  http://thewanderingwasp.blogspot.co.uk

The idea was originally to set off Friday morning and drive up to the Carlisle area for an overnight stop. Given the hassles and massive tailbacks that are associated with the Dartford Crossing, I added another overnight on Thursday to get part way along the road so that we would have a pretty easy day on Friday. Yeah! Right! I chose a Days Inn near Baldock in Hertfordshire as it was cheap and dog friendly.  We packed the car and when Claire came home there were a few bits to do and we set off. Luckily later in the evening the traffic wasn't too bad through the toll tunnel at Dartford. We made good time and were soon checking into the motel on the A1 service area at Baldock. Reggie was okay in the car and despite a bit of noise he wasn't too bad overnight.  The odd bark and growl when people made noise in the hallways. As we left in the morning we saw this car in the car park. Pity the van parked so close to it! Friday we set off on the A1 route up to Sc...

By sheer accident I saw a new blog I've not seen before and it is a big one.....  http://bobkatsjaunt.com/

After staying in two different pods this year I can draw the conclusion between the layouts.  Cooking: The Pod at Lee Wick Farm in Essex, where we stayed at Easter, is laid out with a table and two chairs and small kitchen on the left as you enter. It came with a microwave, fridge and kettle etc. The Loch Ness version has a cupboard and kitchen unit but no sink and no microwave but did have a fridge. Seating: Lee Wick had a futon on the right as you step in. Loch Ness had the wet room. Services: as mentioned the Loch Ness wet room is inside the door as you step in. At Lee Wick, the toilet/washbasin is at the rear left. It's not a shower though unlike Loch Ness. Sleeping: both were setup with double beds on arrival. Lee Wick layout After staying in both variants I found that the Lee Wick setup was far better. The only seating in Loch Ness was the bed. The weather and the the midges mean that sitting outside...

Today was the first day back at work. Only a half day to start with. After meeting with occupational health it was decided that I'd start back for two short days for two weeks, then for the next two weeks I'd add a work from home day. Then from then in two week lumps, add another day until I am back full time. Today was pretty much okay. Later train in to miss rush-hour and then back just before it starts again in the evening.