On the Road Again!

I planned to leave around 3.30pm for the three hour drive across the south to Wantage in Oxfordshire. The destination is Off Grid Power Solutions to have work tomorrow to make the van more off grid usable. Over the morning, when I woke with terrible stomach pains, we put all the stuff I need for two days away from home.  So, everything was going far too swimmingly up the motorways and around the M25. As usual, despite the A3 junction work being completed, everything slowed to walking pace.  TomTom was actually working at this point to say that the M4 was blocked in several places. Without a co-pilot I had no idea where and why. Instead the route changed to the M3 and Bracknell to the M3 and Hook near Basingstoke. I stopped at Fleet Services to check everything was working and th n set off again. Across country to Reading on the M4 and then Reading Services where I had planned to stop.  At Reading Services I had avoi...

Today I am driving the van across to Off Grid at Wantage so that they can start work early tomorrow morning. Apart from local driving it's the first time I have gone anywhere solo in the van. Okay, I have driven to the storage quite a few times, and to Canterbury, but this is about three hours. I have emptied the van of everything not needed so that the guys doing the work don't have to do it. It leaves them a pretty much blank canvas to work on. I assume to work under the seats in the van, they will remove them. We'll have to wait and see. Offgrid Power Solutions

When I posted this picture on another social media platform, I had people commenting on the cap. Mostly asking if I had ridden it. The answer is no. I haven't ridden any of Route 66 on a motorcycle. Others simply trolling. The truth is. I have driven all of the Route 66 possible in Arizona. From the border with New Mexico to crossing the Colorado River to a section in California. We did it in a Dodge Charger SXT. Photographed near Lake Havasu. The original cap came from the Hackberry Stores. It "went missing" off my desk in 2020. I was lucky to be able to buy the exact same one, same colour, grey, on eBay. The trip was ten years ago. May and June 2016.

It's Day 24 of " Take the Lead " where Reggie and I walk to try and raise money for the charity St Mungo's. I put our names down for a mere 26 miles in April, using the Strava app to keep a record of the walks.  But. I keep forgetting to start it. Or worse, turn it off after a walk, then having to delete it, thus losing genuinely acquired miles!!! This was the case last week.  Turned on when I left Arsenal station, and off when I got back there. All good. Then after walking to the train I forgot and it came out at 78 miles!!! The three genuine miles lost. So how about a donation to a good cause? Justgiving will take any currency.... A single £ or $ or € will be appreciated. Paul & Reggie's Fundraising Page . As well as donating you can see updates on our progress.

With the car in the garage for its annual service, we decided to take the bus into Folkestone. The journey takes about 30 minutes. Thanks to being senior citizens we travel free on buses after the time people will be going to work and school. We got the bus around 1030. POSH. Anyone remember that? We live on the South coast of England. Folkestone is only about 5 miles to the east.  So "port out, starboard home" is the order of the day. If you know, you know. Firstly, a stop in Boots for Claire to use up some vouchers, and then down the Old High Street. The Old High Street has lots of blue plaques explaining what businesses occupied each building in the 19th and 20th centuries. It's now very arty now, and the plaques show that it used to be where the working class lived and worked. A stop at a bakery to get a huge cheese scone and a cake that looks like a pork pie.... Our next port of call was the bus stop at the bottom of the hill by the harbour. T...

Back to the late 90's. Two buffaloes at Woburn Abbey.....

I guess we have to be thankful that we got three years use out of this Belgian pet passport. We had a couple of AHC's in 2022 and 2023 before we got this one in Bruges. It saved us around £400 in AHC's over the intervening years. The EU has sealed the loophole that allowed us in Great Britain have one to travel. But they seem to have dropped the usual bollock when it comes to having 27 countries fall into place and publish details properly. For our SP26 trip we already have an AHC and this pet passport will record his rabies jabs. The AHC will need completing by a different vet before we come home.

The nail hit on the head. Don't fall for the bullshit. As soon as you see an award ceremony, you know it's a mutual arse kissing event, and a chance for some actor to talk shite. Make your own minds up, don't listen to some "elitist" that is paid to play a part.

Reggie recently. Another complication to the trip is that Reggie's rabies vaccination needs re-doing before June 20th 2026. When we had the original dates for the holiday, I was going to get both his pre-return worming and the rabies done in Belgium a day or two before we came home. On top of that we have the enforcing of the rules surrounding the use of EU pet passports for those non resident in an EU country. That means us British, and or course, any EU citizens that live most of the time outside an EU country. So we have a £99 Animal Health Certificate that cost me another £47.50 to change the date and language, and the rabies needing to be done. I had already booked a vet's surgery in a nearby town, San Vicente de la Barquera, to do the rabies jab. They quoted €40.  Our own vet where Reggie has been going since we had him quoted £140! At today's exchange rate that's €160! So we are pretty much set. Of course, a lot of the trip we will embark on depends on Trump...

Another evening meal. Roasted Ratatouille Spaghetti from the Slimming World cookbook. Vegetarian and tasty. Plus it's very filling with plenty of veg, fibre and protein.

What a turn out at this month's Meldrews Sunday at Jo's Café at Brookland in Kent. Sadly I had to go in the car. The V-Strom is Sorned* and on top of that I am still in the post hospital "no riding" period. This turnout was the best for a long time. * SORN - Statutory Off Road Notice. Vehicles with this registration shouldn't be used on public roads.

I finally heard from AHCOnline in the week after a few emails and one from them to say I had emailed the wrong address! They can change the date on the AHC I had ordered for the trip but it would cost.  I said yes, and so now we have a new AHC with a new pickup date and also for the new destination of Spain. Another expense on top of changing the dates for the ferry out and back, and for the first nights in Spain.

After the pretty much last minute winner last week away in Lisbon, when Kai Havertz stole in to score in added time, and a terrible gutless performance at the weekend, all attention was on Wednesday, and the Emirates Stadium. What a poor game. Neither side took the opportunities the opponents gave them. At the end of the day the day, neither team needed extra time! Thankfully, Sporting failed to force an equalising goal. The Arsenal team only seemed to wake up in the last twenty minutes, coincidentally, when Sporting had to throw everything forward to get a goal. Arsenal held on and could even have stolen this game as well in added time. Now we are to face Atletico Madrid in the Semi-Final.

Going home day. Up early and breakfast, then jobs done. During the night we had more rain and high winds. But Reggie was asleep pretty much all night without me having to walk around outside in my pants..... The plan was to be away before 10am as the TomTom and Google Maps had us looking at a journey of four hours and seven minutes and two hundred and forty eight miles. Amazingly for UK roads and the last Sunday of school Easter holidays we hardly had a hold up. Apart from a few miles at each end, the majority of the trip was on motorway!  The M54, M6, M1, M25 and the the M20. We were actually away at 9.45am and two hours later we were pulling into the Newport Pagnell Services. These are Welcome Break services and "well behaved dogs" are allowed inside the main building. So we went in and got a coffee from Starbucks. The caravan parking seemed not existent as following the signs we ended up by ...

Overnight we had rain at times, lashing down at times, and high winds. We were only up a few times with Reggie wanting to do his ablutions. But by getting up time I was still tired. I had a lie in. I had the cab booked for 2pm and with it raining on and off, I wore my raincoat. Good job.... The cab arrived on time ..We'll come back to cabs later. It took about  ten minutes to drop me off by the visiting fans entrance at the back of Lidl.  I got lunch in there before going into the ground. A small pizza about the size of my hand and a millionaire shortbread for those that are interested. The wind and rain carried on intermittently all game. The sun also made an appearance. The game was generally scrappy. Neither side could cope with the swirling wind but Shrewsbury scored the only goal with a looping header in the first half.   I had booked the return cab for 5.15pm. There were quite a few people waiting. Gradually the numbers dropped until just me and two lads. I cal...

Almost a last minute decision to come up to Shrewsbury this weekend. We had enjoyed last weekend's visit to Colchester and Suffolk.  I get to go the football and Claire has a relaxing day without me. I checked that Phil could take over the Arsenal ticket and then bought my ticket for the Oldham game at Shrewsbury. Next, I checked that the Caravan Club CL at Betley Park had room. It costs £25 a night including 10kw of electric. Booked. We set off around 10.30am. The TomTom route was via the south of London on the M25 to the M40, then M42 and M54.... We made good progress. Then with TomTom connected the traffic info showed a problem around the services at Clacket Lane, and again around the A3 junction. Time dragged on. We shouldn't have been bothered by the M25 being closed eastbound where it turns north by the junction with the A21 and M26. Except it seems we were. No logical reason for both hold...

The ticket arrived yesterday and so that worry is off the table. Amazed that the post office managed to get the envelope, posted first class, on Tuesday. As with Colchester last week, the site we are on is the nearest to the football ground but is too far to walk. I have been looking at buses but they aren't that easy to see where they go from and how close they get to the ground.   Roll on Saturday.

"Was a sunny day, not a cloud was in the sky" It's the first day this year we have had some almost summer weather. It's April 8th and the temperature was nudging 20°C. I checked the Bluetti and it was showing 86% full. So out with the folding Allpowers Solar Panel and plugged that in. The panel is rated at 100w and so to get 80w peak input seemed pretty decent. It was moving between 70w and 80w for the hour and a quarter it took to get the battery up to 100%. It's the first time the panel has been out since last summer.

I had an email from Warners Show about camping shows we hadn't booked for. We are already planning and booked to go to Norfolk again. Then I saw on the Motor Caravanners Club (MCC) that they have a club area at the Newbury Show . There's a small discount for staying in a club area. We decided to book a club pitch. By then we should be able to exist off grid for a much longer time than we have at rallies at the moment. I printed the ticket and it is also on my phone in the Eventbrite app.  I still don't trust the phone when we are out and about.

Another trip is planned for next week. So soon. By then Mr Trump's war might have pushed the price of fuel even higher.... This time to Shrewsbury. Another Oldham Athletic away game and the last chance this season to see my old team. I last went to their old ground that I was sure was in the town centre. This would have been about 60 years ago!  I had a look on a few of the camping and park up sites and found Betley Park CL just to the south of the town centre.   It was a bit of a faff to book on their website after I thought I had booked on the "CL Booking" app. But once done the emails and confirmations arrived pretty quick. The football ground is down that way too inside the A5 loop to the south of the town. Hopefully within easy travel time. On Google Maps it doesn't look like it's all that far. The CL website says that there is a bus stop outside. When we check in maybe they'll be able to...

The final day of this Easter Bank Holiday. "Where are we today Claire?" If you know, you know... We were up earlier to get away as close to 9am as possible. The plan was to get the "jobs" done and get away. I did the black waste with Reggie tagging along. He was off lead and he ventured away to check out what might be living in the barn. The destination: The Tiptree Jam Factory Tea Room in Tiptree, Essex. The TomTom took us on the A1120 route that we are used to and we made good time around Ipswich and back down the A12 past Colchester before Tiptree. I had checked it was open on Bank Holidays. It was. I parked in the overflow parking lot. They have a marquee in the garden that is dog friendly. Access is through the usual tea rooms and the small Wilkins museum. We ordered the Tiptree Breakfast and tea and coffee. Reggie didn't settle so I took him back to the van and ...

So Day 4 comes and boy was it WINDY! This weekend is supposed to host "Storm Dave" but up in the north and Scotland. We were parked up nose into the wind. But it didn't stop the gusts rocking the van quite violently. We also had the Remis blind on the roof light above the bed rattling.  We survived. Reggie survived. The plan for today was to go to Claire's sister's house after lunch.  She only lives 4 miles from Waterpump CL, but there are several ways to get there, some of them along sketchy roads. So that was the one TomTom chose. We had a pleasant few hours there catching up and having some homemade apple cake. Once we were away, TomTom chose a different way back. Although this was slightly longer it was on better roads. After a cup of coffee, we had a walk across to the pub. It was about ten to seven and it was closed. It did look like someone was in the kitchen though. Claire tried the door...

The plan for day 3 was originally to stay at Colchester Country Park and maybe go into Colchester to have a mooch around the castle etc. Although the site is okay, the distance to the centre was too much, and of course the traffic noise. It was LOUD! So in the week I emailed Sarah at the Waterpump CL, where we were booked on Sunday overnight, to add a second night, Saturday, as well. The altered plan meant we would have normally meant being off for 11am, but we were booked until Sunday. In the event, we had all the blue jobs done, and the waste water drained in good time. But where to go? I had thought Aldeburgh, but Claire thought with it being Easter, then it could be packed. So she suggested Snape Maltings. Nice walks, culture in the form of art works by famous sculptors, and a really nice dog friendly café. Once onto the A12 heading towards Ipswich and with a quarter of a tank used we decided to fill up at our fa...

The reason for coming up in the van for the Easter holiday weekend was for me to go to the football at Colchester United. On Google Maps the walking distance would suggest at least 45 minutes to an hour walking.  I decided on a cab each way. I tried to book a couple in advance with no luck. They have Uber but they aren't reservable in advance. It was Easter. It was Good Friday. Kick off 3pm. When we checked in the young bloke that handled it said definitely a cab. I phoned the one on the site's info sheet. The number took me to an automated system. I booked cabs in both directions. Come 2pm, or a little before, we headed to the entrance and the cab was already there. So soon after 2.10 he dropped me off by the ground. He said the return pickup would be at the same place.  All the updates about the cab were sent by SMS to my phone. I had a walk to Wendy's to get something to eat for lunch but the queue out of the door was too long. I opted for Greggs instead. A sausage roll,...

We got away around 1230. A little later than expected.  The site at Colchester Country Park was a 2pm check in. We made good progress until the Dartford Crossing and even then the usual catastrophic traffic jams weren't too bad. It would make is safer and allow everyone to move more quickly if trucks over 7.5 tons were restricted to the left tunnel.  The site reviews show it is close to the A12. It is. We were allocated pitch 78. The A12 joining road was only about 40 yards away. Yes. It's very noisy.