Drive Louise, drive!

Sarah and I are, one again, carpeing the diem and doing a Thelma & Louise. It’s hubby Simon’s birthday and my card reads : Happy Birthday Simon, have a great day. Ps I’m kidnapping the wife at midnight!

So at 23.45, having left home undecided on what to bring (and therefore bringing all 3 outfits, an extra charger for my phone and Vesper to charge the extra charger…) I arrive in Knaresborough a tiny bit excited. It seems strange being here without small people jumping on me, clinging to me leg saying “don’t gooo” or begging me to play jump on the trampoline, although Sarah assures me she’s had suitable heart-wrenching tears from Lottie, saying “you don’t have to go mummy, you can watch it on tv!”

Slightly reassured to see Sarah has as many bags as me (one full of essential food & drink), we pack the car and we head off – her last words to Simon are “be nice to Lottie, she thinks I’m leaving home” and her first to me are “please don’t make me drive in London!” So she takes the first stint and I’m quickly reminiscing of days 18 years ago, when Sarah drove me about in her blue 1.0 Talbot Samba named ‘Jarv’ (after Jarvis Cocker) – I’m immediately at ease. We chat, a bit, and I doze off around Loughborough. I wake at Northampton as Sarah pulls in feeling tired. I take the wheel and we plough on.

Wild animals – look out!

With the M1 shut from j13-11, we take a detour around Woburn and wonder what is behind the 3-mile wall beside us… A leaping tiger? A giraffe about to peer over the wall at us? Or Ben
Fogle talking us every mile of the way? Scenic as this is (at 2.45am) we drive on, into the delight that is, Dunstable. All I know of this place, is that my estranged husband was born here. And after seeing the revellers falling out of the clubs at 3am and some interesting seating manoeuvres on a bench off the high street, I’m not keen to know anything more! So we find our way back to the M1 and are on our way.

Navigating the North & South circular with ease (they’re empty) we’re on Wimbledon Park Rd in no time. The plus side of arriving at 4am, apart from being 529th in the queue, is that you can park right by the gates to the common. So we have minimal distance to carry out multiple bags, camping gear, electrical equipment, food & drink. (Sarah opts to wear her Panama hat, one less thing to carry).

So at 4.15 this morning, as the sun rises over SW19, we pop up our Khyam 2-man with consummate ease and get our heads down to catch up on some zzzzzzzs.

ttfn /Rxx