InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

It looks as though DFDS are axing routes all across Europe.   Firstly we knew that the LD Lines ferry to Spain had been chopped, then in the email exchange I had with them I found out that Tilbury to Gothenburg had gone too. Earlier I had a look on the public website and the only alternative for us in southern England, Harwich to Denmark was also finished. The options now are very limited thanks to this and Scandinavia is getting to be difficult to get to! Valhalla in  '15 is doomed. That's unless the propsoed Norwgian Seaways crossing to Bergen finally materialises and if Regina Lines actually gets off the ground next year.

I left work at a little after 4pm to get down to the Tower of London for the Roll of Honour.  I wanted to be there to hear as they read out the names of our relatives, Charles and William Devall, both who died  on the Western Front, The journey was a little delayed firstly as the Circle Line was having one of its "problems", i.e. late and/or cancelled, and so I had to get the Metropolitan Line to Aldgate and walk down the Minories. The crowds in both directions were pretty heavy and once at the Tower, they had closed the lower of the walkways cramming everyone into the upper one.  Once I had found space there I could see and test the digital camcorder, I found that although I could see, the sound was pretty rubbish. I wanted to hear the names read out. I did a test video of the Guardsman bugler and although that seemed okay, the announcer was muffled. Apparently he said that the Roll would start at 4.55pm. I decided to move, threading my way through the s...

Plan B is pretty much the stuff that Plan A is made of, except different.  We have decided to "see" more of the "must see" sights/sites so the five nights after Punta Gorda have taken on a different complexion. So instead of heading south we have decided to go to Orlando so we can visit Epcot and maybe one of the less thrill seeker parks and then across to Canaveral to have a day at the Kennedy Space Center.  Until I started entering the hotel locations and sights into Tyre I didn't realise that they aren't too far apart.  This year, the drive to Key West was out longest drive and that was from Weston near Fort Lauderdale. Half a day in both directions although that included stops to see the Dolphins and to eat. The longest run this time will be from the east to west coasts on the penultimate day, Port Canaveral to Clearwater Beach. Of course, plans are there to be changed...... Plan B

Not mine! I guess I am in a minority. I don't have any ambitions to ride Route 66. There. It's out for all to see and discuss. I would like one day whilst I can still ride to have a go at some stretches, but not from Chicago to the Pacific. I am one year into a ten year US Visa so I guess I still have time. I would like to do the parks in the West to see the likes of Yellowstone and Yosemite and the cowboy films landscapes. Anyway. I'll make do with Florida on 2015 with R&R and a trip to Epcot and Cape Kennedy.... This is my brother's blog:  http://dmd66.blogspot.co.uk

Movember is back. My brother has dropped out this year and it is just me to do it. I had created a team for us but it's now a one man outfit. http://uk.movember.com/team/1541393

Don't get me wrong. I love a seasonal market as much as the next man. Strasbourg is supposed to be one of the biggest, but I find myself thinking "wouldn't it be better if it was warm?". I've not got my head around actual Christmas Day away, but coming more around to the idea packing the car and heading to the Mediterranean for a week starting on Boxing Day. Of course we'll have the cat to get looked after.....

Thank you for submitting a name for the Roll of Honour at the Tower of London. We are delighted to confirm that your nomination will be included at the ceremony on 28th October 2014. The list of 180 names will be read from the poppy-filled Tower moat at sunset, starting at 4:55pm (16.55). The names will be read the order in which they were submitted and validated. We regret we are unable to make changes to the reading lists at this stage. At the end of the reading, which will take about 20-30 minutes, an Army bugler will play the Last Post. If you would like to watch, you can get a good view from the area in front of the Tower ticket desks on Tower Hill. We are filming the ceremonies and an archive site where you will be able to view the videos is currently under construction, we will let you know when it goes live. We are also adding the lists of names being read each night at http://rollofhonour.tumblr.com/ so that they can be seen and remembered from anywhere i...

From Oliver Rose, MAG National Clubs Officer:  One thing at MAG we're obviously concerned about is the latest statistics from the department of transport that show the rate of young people taking up biking (based on test passes) is significantly down. As reported in July 2014 Government figures released last week show that in the year 2012-2013, 3,333 18-year-olds completed the practical motorcycle test while in 2013-2014 only 216 did. This is something we'd love to see change, and one of the things we feel may be affecting the figures is the combination of tests required to get a full licence (the result of the EU Driving Licence Directives, and their implementation in the UK). We're looking to put together an expert working group who can help us get to the bottom of this concern. We are looking for approved instructors and their employers who can assist us. If you're in a position to help in anyway drop me an e-mail to oliver.rose @ mag - uk.org If it’s not for y...

The trip today was to see the poppies, some 880000, that have been hand made and planted in the moat surrounding the Tower of London. We took the HS to Stratford and changed to the DLR to Tower Gateway.  The exit is across the road from the Tower and we could see the crowds of people viewing the display plus the long queues for the Tower's ticket office and entrance. The display has no straight edges as it represents the blood of those that were killed in the battlefields across the globe, mostly on the Western Front and Gallipoli. It is sobering to thing that each poppy represents a soldier fighting in the British Army that was killed fighting for his country. A debt we still owe to those that paid with their blood. http://poppies.hrp.org.uk

Back in 1991 on my first ever visit to Florida, one of the trips I made, with friend Carol Belcher from Burger King HQ, was made in her Ohio registered Toyota Corolla, and we went to Orlando, staying on International Drive and we did two theme parks, Universal Studios and Epcot. Not being a great scary ride fanatic, I thought Epcot was a really good day out.  So what better place to go and see what has changed. So accordingly, I have been onto my favourite booking.com and looked for reasonably priced hotel within east reach of Epcot that gets decent reviews.  Enter the Rodeway Inn Maingate. A chain motel looking place.  Booked for two nights to give us a whole day at Epcot or whatever else takes our fancy...... As usual it is "pay later, free cancellation" and meets my other requirements of being over 7/10 in the reviews and has free parking and wifi! Back of the net!

A few days and I have made another slight amendment.  This year the Mustang only proved to be a PITA as the boot (trunk) was only able to take a single large suitcase and the small hand luggage case, as long as you put it in by some sort of luggage contortionist way. On the way back to the airport and the day before, we had two cases and one had to go onto the back seat!  This wouldn't be a problem if we had a fixed apartment or hotel, as we have some days "on the road" maybe the Mustang isn't going to be the right vehicle. Head has to overrule the heart!   So it was back the travel sites to see that would be an alternative. Or take one case maybe? This year we had booked a Dodge Charger and then didn't need too much persuasion to trade up to the Mustang.  The Chargers we saw there looked pretty good and the Highway Patrol was using them too, although I doubt they had the box standard rental car model. So what to do? The two companies that came out the cheapest ...

So once the week in Punta Gorda comes to an end we have to decide what to do for the other 5 nights before the flight home. Currently we have started to look further down the Gulf Coast and so I have a booked a couple of nights near Naples. but the wanderlust to see more things has started to bite and although at the time of writing there are 221 days to go. Currently I have the Fairways Inn of Naples and Wyndham Garden in Fort Myers Beach that leave a single night to look at.......

Had another look today to compare Alamo's rates and some of the other sites such as Travelsupermarket.com etc. and the rates seem to have changed magically overnight! Incredible I hear you cry, but no, don't titter (© Frankie Howerd).  I checked Fort Myers first to see if it was a cheaper site to Tampa and the Alamo rate for the Mustang (yes I know) came out at $631.50 for the fortnight including all the insurance stuff.... I was so surprised that I emailed them!  I asked them if there were any nasty surprises on collection! So that ought to be the car sorted!  The offer says "Ford Mustang or similar", The similar might be the Chrysler 200.  That looks to be pretty much a good alternative, but the Mustang is, well, a Mustang. Chrysler 200  

Looking for a car for the trip. Doesn't need to be the Mustang we had last time but something that can take two cases and be kinda comfortable. And American? This year we went with Alamo. The 16 days of the rental was about $850. So when I logged into my account with Alamo for the same weeks except on 15 days rental I naively thought something around that ball park. I hadn't expected the Mustang to come out at nearer $1100! They can swivel on that.  Why did I look for the Mustang considering paragraph one above? Only because a mundane Impala or similar was showing at over $800. My winter project will be to watch around for a better deal. Maybe one where they give a f*ck if their car breaks down.  AAA cover is extra. For the daily rate x 15 I can join the RAC in UK for a year at the highest level! Logging out, clearing cookies and then trying as a new customer is maybe a single solitary dollar more! Looks like a different search is needed..... Any suggestions?

Döra is booked in to Laguna on October 31st for the 10000 mile service. I'm quite a bit short on miles at the moment, but with a ride out coming up in a few weeks I might get to 8000!!!

After breakfast on Sunday we decided to head south to the Baie de la Somme, and to Le Crotoy in particular. A couple of years ago we had a short visit there on the way back from Normandy. Although the obvious non-motorway route was to go down the D940 coast road to Le Touquet and Berck sur Mer, TomTom had other ideas and we ventured away from the coast into nowhere, or the hinterland between the N1 and the coast. In the end a road closure actually forced us back to the coast road in any case!  The first stop had actually been on the outskirts of St Leonard, the town that adjoins Boulogne. It was to fill the tank with refreshing French diesel. At €1.242 - litre I was saddened to only get €60 to fill up the pipe. There is a flap to stop overfilling. That price equates to about 98p a litre! At home at the local supermarket it is about 34p a litre more!!!! After eating out twice the day before we decided to have a picnic instead. The weather was good with temps around 22C and so we sto...

After breakfast on Sunday we decided to head south to the Baie de la Somme, and to Le Crotoy in particular. A couple of years ago we had a short visit there on the way back from Normandy. Although the obvious non-motorway route was to go down the D940 coast road to Le Touquet and Berck sur Mer, TomTom had other ideas and we ventured away from the coast into nowhere, or the hinterland between the N1 and the coast. In the end a road closure actually forced us back to the coast road in any case!  The first stop had actually been on the outskirts of St Leonard, the town that adjoins Boulogne. It was to fill the tank with refreshing French diesel. At €1.242 - litre I was saddened to only get €60 to fill up the pipe. There is a flap to stop overfilling. That price equates to about 98p a litre! At home at the local supermarket it is about 34p a litre more!!!! After eating out twice the day before we decided to have a picnic instead. The weather was good with temps around 22C...

Way back in the spring we went to a free travel show at the Dover Ferry Terminal and as usual entered loads of competitions to win cruises and holiday. In the end we did get a lucky a free night at the Youth Hostel in Boulogne sur Mer. Over the last thirty or more years I have stayed at loads of hostels in mainland UK and across in Europe. Most have been really good and some average but none have been a let-down. In some places, they are really cheaper alternatives to hotels but you have to choose well. Also at the show was a small stand from Douai (pron. Doo-eye) in the Nord region of France. Although we had forgotten the leaflets and what they had to offer we decided to go and have a look. The run down from the Shuttle was pretty good and the Insignia cruised along without a hiccup. Douai though has little to offer! The tourist office furnished us with a map and we saw there were two trails and so we chose the shorted one, estimated at an hour, plus had a quick detour into the market...

Way back in the spring we went to a free travel show at the Dover Ferry Terminal and as usual entered loads of competitions to win cruises and holidays.  In the end we did get a lucky, a free night at the Youth Hostel in Boulogne sur Mer. Over the last thirty or more years I have stayed at loads of hostels in mainland UK and across in Europe. Most have been really good and some average but none have been a let-down. In some places, they are really cheaper alternatives to hotels but you have to choose well. Also at the show was a small stand from Douai (pron. Doo-eye) in the Nord region of France. Although we had forgotten the leaflets and what they had to offer, we decided to go and have a look. The run down from the Shuttle was pretty good and the Insignia cruised along without a hiccup. Douai though has little to offer! The tourist office furnished us with a map and we saw there were two trails and so we chose the shortest one, estimated at an hour, plus we had a qu...