On the Road Again... Again

We try not to go anywhere over the bank holiday weekend. If the weather is good, the roads where we live are gridlocked. So as an exception we are off to Suffolk to stay for two nights at a Caravan Club CL near Darsham.  This is a new one for us. It's Friday to Sunday. So we will be at home for the bank holiday Monday.  The CL isn't all that fat off the A12 and so I hope it won't be too noisy.  At least this s the single carriageway section.  There are places to visit in the area from Pitch 13 at the CL. We are on the new site alongside the CL itself. It looks very rustic from the website -  https://barnabeesholidaycottages.co.uk/index.php/new-caravan-site We need to be away early Friday to make the most of the day. On the way up we need to look out for the petrol station where we bought the very cheap diesel on one of our previous journeys up that way. Of course, we have to expect the the Dartford Crossing will be usual nightmare.

We try not to go anywhere over the bank holiday weekend. If the weather is good, the roads where we live are gridlocked. So as an exception we are off to Suffolk to stay for two nights at a Caravan Club CL near Darsham.  This is a new one for us. It's Friday to Sunday. So we will be at home for the bank holiday Monday.  The CL isn't all that far off the A12 and so I hope it won't be too noisy.  At least this is the single carriageway section.  There are places to visit in the area from Pitch 13 at the CL. We are on the new site alongside the CL itself. It looks very rustic from the website -  https://barnabeesholidaycottages.co.uk/index.php/new-caravan-site We need to be away early Friday to make the most of the day. On the way up we need to look out for the petrol station where we bought the very cheap diesel on one of our previous journeys up that way. Of course, we have to expect the the Dartford Crossing will be usual nightmare. Write-Up here.

Woofy is a bull lurcher that has been in kennels and lately in a foster home for over 275 days. He really needs to have a home of his own.  He is currently at Kent Greyhound Rescue .

When we bought the new phones there was an offer to claim a free pair of Galaxy Bud FE earphones and a Galaxy Fit 3 smart band. Of course we both applied ASAP. Mine arrived yesterday.  Claire's  due tomorrow.... She is quite miffed. Straight out of the box the Fit 3 connected to the phone and we were off. No messing like with other smart bands we have tried over the years. It looks okay too.

The front garden has two raised beds and I like tulips. So I took a couple of photos of them.

Well.  After the work done the other day to get Suzi Triplo ready for the weekend, the local Kettle Club UK organiser cancelled it!  It gives me more time to ride her and see what I need to do. It does seem to have a problem pulling the revs in top gear.  I was struggling to make 60mph on the national limit roads the other day.  I might have to book it into Cheriton Motorcycles and see if they can see what the problem is.   Fuelling? I guess I could still have a ride over the Rye and see what and who is there.

Putoline TT Scooter Strawberry Scented 2 Stroke Oil I have been using this for a few years now. I bought it as it's low smoke and for the added although unnoticeable smell of strawberry! There have been no problems and it is intended for use in more modern engines. So in an old girl like Suzi it should be perfectly okay.

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) is proud to announce International Ride To Work Day 2025. Set for Tuesday, 10 June, MAG calls on riders across the UK to hit the roads and showcase the power of two wheels. Fewer Emissions!!! As the Government shapes its Integrated National Transport Strategy (INTS), MAG is leading the charge to prove that mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles are vital.  They are a practical, sustainable transport future. With congestion clogging Britain’s roads and emissions targets looming, this is the moment for riders to ride loud and proud. MAG’s vision - submitted to the INTS call for ideas - highlights how motorcycling slashes traffic. Motorcycles cut emissions and give people real travel choice: urban and rural alike. On 10 June, riders will turn that vision into action, demonstrating how two wheels ease gridlock, from London’s rush hour to Cornwall’s winding lanes. “This isn’t just a day—it’s a movement,” says Colin Brown, MAG's Director of Campaigns & Po...

With the first Kettle Club local run to the bike meet at Rye due on Sunday, I needed to get the bike on the road. To start the new year off I took a photo of the odometer. Firstly,  I had to remove the old Motobatt and get it charged up.  Secondly,  give her a wash and brush up to get rid of the accumulated filth from sutting in the garage over what seems a long wet winter. Thirdly, pump up the tyres. Sitting in the garage the front tyre was down to 13psi and the rear 16.5psi. With the battery on charge it was barely registering 1amp and it seems that it was too flat to recover.  So I ordered a new one from Tayna for next day delivery. I would be out so in two days would have sufficed. It arrived on time. So today. Once back from my volunteering job at greyhound rescue,  I had the new battery fitted. With the petrol tank sounding a little empty I decided to get a can out of the garage and go to the petrol station and fill it. ...

It started back on Thursday the 17th.  We were due to go to my brother's house to see the family and in the morning I had my usual visit to the the greyhound rescue. Firstly, as there were some workmen working in the barn at the rescue I was cancelled.  I was still in bed enjoying a lie-in when Claire called up to me. Reggie had been in the garden and she saw him eating something.  It looked pink.  I dressed and ran down.  Checking a few crumbs on the deck it looked like the "cakes" of poison we put under the decking as we are awash with rats.  Their runs and tunnels go under the raised beds in the garden into next door and far and wide.   Earlier picture of Reggie! I don't like the idea of poison as I feel it might get into the food chain.  Rats are particularly hunted by foxes locally. Also, any dead ones will be eaten by carrion birds and we have lots of crows, jackdaws and magpies. I don't want to be poisoning whole species of wildlife....

A great resource for the city of Canterbury.  It's £4 to park per day. At midnight a new days ticks over and so it's £8 to overnight in the aire. It has fresh water plus grey/black drops. No electric hook-up. The fee also includes the bus into the city centre. Today we were there to drain the grey water tank and to empty the toilet cassette. Whilst there we took the bus into the city centre to do some shopping.

Friday we set off for one night away at a pub stop. Our first and another night off grid.  Claire had succumbed to the cold I had earlier in the week. But she still wanted to go. The TomTom took us on some random route that saw us avoid the coast road through Hastings and Bexhill. We even crossed the A28 by one point. I am certain that going to Ashford and onto the A28 would have been quicker.... On the way we stopped at Jo's Cafe at Brookland on the A259 for a takeaway coffee in our own mugs. Whilst there we had a bacon sandwich.  A half and half. One half brown bread and the other white for me! This is a regular stop when we are out of the bikes.  As it was there was a race day at the model car circuit next door and the parking in that area was full of motorhomes. We arrived about 1.30pm and there was plenty of space in the car-park. Only a Belgian registered motorhome in the back corner.  I parked on front but with plenty of room between us and for them to get out...

As one of the old systems programmers used to bawl at us when we had a problem; RTFM! Driving home Tesco yesterday I had a problem, or so I thought.  When I stopped in traffic or at a junction the engine cut out. As soon as I lifted off thr brake it started again. We have stop/start on the Nissan but nothing else stops. In the Ducato, everything stops. Even the DAB radio. I must have pressed the button when I gave the dash a quick polish with a cloth whilst waiting for the car at the pump in front to sort themselves out. Then I noticed that a green A light looking like the button appeared on the dash. DOH! Thank you Stan Cross for the RTFM advice.

I have booked four nights in La Nublière.  That should give us time to charge up all the batteries in case we need to have a few off grid stops on the next part of the trip. I have been looking at Route Napoleon. It runs from near Cannes to Grenoble. Napoleon Bonaparte escaped his exile on the Isle of Elba and returned to France. On March 1st 1815 he set off to march to Paris. For most of the way the road is numbered N85 with some departmental sections be Dnn85. It's easy enough to follow on Google Maps but less so in My RouteApp which also uses Google Maps. I have created lots of routes that  need to be uploaded to the TomTom website and shared to the Camper Max. I have mapped out the route to take, but so far I haven't planned any overnight stops along the way.  I also doubt we'll go all the way to the coast. Reggie is getting older and he doesn't like the heat. Staying in the mountains will be much better. I think for once we'll see what happens.

This weekend we are going to try a pub stop.  It will be our first as we usually stop at small sites with no more than 5 pitches or larger Caravan Club sites. It was a last minute decision to get away for a few days and today, Thursday, would have been ideal but Claire had a massage at 2pm that meant the travelling time would have been too late to benefit.  So instead we are planning to go tomorrow morning after the workers rush hour and see what time we arrive at the Beachy Head Hote l.  Hopefully there will be plenty of space. I dropped them an email and they said to come along and just pop into the bar when we arrive.  From the overhead photos it does look as though there is plenty of space in the car-park. Fingers crossed.

Typical!  It was Phil's turn to go to the game and not mine. Twice this year I have missed the game to say "I was there!" The thrashing of Manchester City 5-1 and this memorable game. At least I could see it on Amazon Prime! Next week we defend this lead in the Santiago Bernabeu.  I feel confident that we will come away with an aggregate win!

What an effing palavver! Samsung Galazy S24FE. An app to copy stuff from the old Motorola and that's about half an hour you'll never get back. Then the ten to fifteen hours to setup all the apps again! Then when we have spent a few hours getting things setup... All the phones I have ever had and it goes back a long way, the SIM card goes in with the contacts facing down in the little holder. It's like that in the Motorola G50 but not in the S24FE!  It goes what you might term on its back!  That wasted half an hour! The Samsung Smart Switch app works pretty well though. It does copy stuff over but it's then a huge task going through all the apps to enter passwords etc and getting them to work. https://www.samsung.com/uk/smartphones/galaxy-s/galaxy-s24-fe-blue-128gb-sm-s721blbdeub/ As it has been out a while we got the 256gb model with a huge discount. It's a shame that there's no expansion slot for an SD card. I opted for the charcoal colour one and Claire the li...