On the Road Again!

Yesterday I filled the fresh water tank and added 120ml of Puri Sol. Leaving it overnight to clean any impurities in the tank. I ran some through the pipes to both sinks as well. This morning I pulled the van back on my neighbour's drive so I could hook up to the house mains electric with a drop lead I bought years ago abd never used. It kept the batteries topped up whilst I ran the taps to move water from the fresh tank to the grey. Then I could fill the fresh again to rinse out the remaining Puri Sol. It worked well and I then drove to Canterbury New Dover Road P+R where there's a motorhome aire and also a service area.  In total we were carrying 190kgs of unnecessary weight.  Dumping the grey was easy enough as the grid is easy accessible and our drain is amidships. Whilst it was draining I had the tank filling up again, and the taps open. It's essential to clean out all the Puri Sol.   To empty the fresh tank I had to park acro...

Today we had Molly booked in for the MoT test.  We got it out from storage after the fortnight it's been in there. Of course,  it started first time.   It seems the area is spider central. Both door mirrors are covered in webs! We will sort that out, a brush and hose....! The MoT? It didn't happen as when I got to the garage, Molly was too long for the test ramp. They did try and the back wheels would overhang the end of the ramp when it was raised for them to get underneath. Panic. I called around a few places with the right length ramps.  I tied the two suggested by the first garage.  One couldn't do it and suggested the other one that had been suggested earlier.  They couldn't fit it in until 4.30pm the day before we go away!  A bit late! I booked it in case I couldn't get anywhere earlier. Then I  called Choose Leisure where we got Molly from, and they suggested the garage across the road from them where they get all the Mot's done. ...

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.

We went to Canterbury for a short rip today to go to Marks & Spencer to look at trousers for me, for the upcoming birthday party for Claire's cousin.  It's not until June but we will be barely back from Spain and France and we go in in about three weeks. One of the downsides of a Peugeot/Fiat based van is that there is a known problem with the passenger airbag ECU. This is caused when the engine battery gets too low andthe unit fails.  It seems on the face of it that maybe they need to change the ECU to have a fail voltage lower than 11 volts!  But I guess it's an earner with the unit being anything between £300 and £600 to relace, depending on where you get one. # So I like to make sure that the engine battery is kept topped up. We have a single solar panel on the roof and this charges the leisure battery and also, via a split charger some of the sun's rays trickle charge the engine battery.  So far so good.  Touch wood and other superstitions etc. We decid...

This year's pantomime at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury was Aladdin. Apart from COVID years we have been every year since 2013. There are only a few pantomimes that can be performed, and so we probably seen a version of Aladdin before. Each year the format has to fit the story but within that there are many things they can do with the script. Of course Ben Roddy was back to play the Dame. If you want to know about panto, Google it. As usual the music was managed by Chris Wong, the musical director for 29 years. Again there were the usual gags, plus many new ones, some for kids and many only the adults would understand. Next year it will be Beauty and the Beast! So we get good seats I have booked for my birthday again! I was amazed how many seats were left for the matinee performance - 8. The theatre seats 1200!! Luckily there were two in the circle with an aisle seat!

The first ride out of the month took me to H's Café at Kent Motorcycles on th A2 near Canterbury. I was undecided where to go until I reached the Kent Cricket ground in Canterbury. Either Robinson's Foundry or H's. In the end H's was chosen. There were very few bikes outside on a chilly blustery day. After a coffee inside I decided to retrace my steps almost and fill up at the Murco in Stelling Minnis.  I forgot to kick off My Ride and so only have the outward journey mapped. In the end after Elham Valley I decided to head home as it began to sprinkle with rain. By Lyminge it had stopped but the road surface in places retained what water had come down and it was a little slippery. So altogether another 40 miles or so chalked up.

The 2022 pantomime is Sleeping Beauty. Tickets have been on sale recently and I bought ours yesterday.  Same seats at this year but not on my birthday this time. https://marlowetheatre.com/shows/sleeping-beauty-3/

"Oh no it isn't" Jack and the Beanstalk. The story showing how even the thickest most gullible boy can win the girl and be a success. Until reality TV it was just a fairy story...

What was supposedly a quick ride out to fill Vera's tank before the ride up to Sutton tomorrow seemed  to take forever  Once on the road I decided to pop into Robinson's and collect the spare keys that the previous owner had dropped off. That went okay. Then I went in search of the Go Outdoors shop. Except it wasn't where it was the last time we went there. Instead there was a branch of The Range. Mission aborted. On the way out of Canterbury I encountered a lad on an illegal e-scooter. On the corner is the local headquarters of Kent's finest men and women in Blue. One at Six Mile Garage I filled the tank. £7.35 at 1.319 for 95 Unleaded. I went into pay. The bloke in front wanted to pay some cash and some card.... By the time I got to the front the lad behind the counter wanted to charge me £40. No way José. It seems someone in front had paid my pump. In checking pump 8 still had my sale in it. I agreed to pay £7.35 and it's up to them to sort out what happened! I t...

Finale Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. Another excellent production again.

Today Claire was meeting her sister for lunch and a quick look around the shops... Reggie and I went to take her and have a walk and lunch ourselves. First stop was the Dane John park in the drizzle. The park is inside the city walls and has several monuments. Pictured above. After Reggie had spied a squirrel and tried to follow it up a tree I needed a coffee. Luckily, the Don Juan cafe in the little kiosk was open. This is quite unique as a South American cafe. I had just a lattè, but the menu includes different choices from Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia.  I had planned to have lunch in a pub across the city but with it drizzling, I checked the doggie pubs website and found the White Hart . A quick call confirmed that dogs are allowed in the bar. In fact it was nearer than I had imagined. Back at the car park as I waited to cross the road, just 200 yards eyes right, there it was.  We were first in at 1230. I ordered a steak and ale pie and chip...