On the Road Again!

The ride has become a drive! Claire coming with me and we will take Reggie for a trip abroad.  He's done glamping already! As a result of the Insignia being off the road for longer journeys, I had to change the car on the Eurotunnel booking to Claire's Corsa and whilst I was at it, I changed the time of the crossing to an hour earlier. This means that we will get to the Campanile Hotel an hour earlier whilst the restaurant is still open. If the dinner is as good there as it has been on the countless other Campaniles we have stayed in over the last thirty years or so, then we will be happy. Reggie sadly will have to the guard the bedroom. He'll be okay with his bone and a couple of beds to jump on. Charles is buried in the cemetery near La Chapelle Armentières and the journey is only about 60 miles from the Eurotunnel exit and about 59 miles from the hotel.  Deplanques CWGC Cemetery from Google Maps Saturday is the 12th, and actually my Mum's birthday...

The Insignia suffered a little damage when I dropped off the edge of a Scottish narrow road. The front left mudflap hit the ground at the bottom and the upward force pulled the inner wing off its mounts and the tyre wore a hole in it. Even though I pushed it all back the damage was done.  I pulled the flap off and whilst it seemed okay it needed fixing properly. I booked it in to the Vauxhall dealers yesterday and they checked it out. Not too bad. No serious damage. Then they gave it a test ride and checked the rear brakes. They showed them to me and I saw the pads are a bit close to being worn out, so I said do them at the same time. Then we noticed that one of the rear springs was broken!  The strut is okay but the spring is actually broken. To be honest I never noticed any handling problems. It needs replacing too. So it is booked in for the 18th September to be done.  £££££££! I can drive it for local journeys where there are no big bumps that might c...