Back on board

So here we are once again, back on board for the last trip of this season. We are heading back to Packet Boat Marina for the winter lay up. We had hoped to go down the Oxford and then the Thames to Brentford as a change from once again doing the Grand Union via Milton Keynes.

However, a detailed calculation indicated that it would be a bit tight and we are now also expecting grand daughter Alice on board for the last part of the trip. This will mean meeting up when she joins us which may take a bit of time. Also, after next weekend, much of the Thames is closed to navigation as the locks undergo their winter stoppages and so, if we ran behind time, we would be stuck wherever we were until the spring!

We drove up this afternoon - we had to stay in Wadebridge until noon so that we could support the new Memory Friendly Worship that is sponsored by Churches Together. In any case, it is a really good occasion both for those with memory loss as well as their carers.

For most of the journey it was wet - even when not actually raining there was a lot of spray from other vehicles. Mostly it was light rain but driving it was rather tedious. Still, it was a chance to try out the windscreen wipers on our new car which has an automatic facility, with sensors to detect when there is rain and how much.

Yes, we replaced our main car on Monday - the first time for over thirty years when we have not had a new car as our main vehicle. The change was planned for after Christmas but when visiting the dealer a couple of weeks ago for a brake check after the MOT Mike was shown a 'very low mileage' used car with only 1825 miles on the clock. With a substantial reduction compared with the new car price we eventually decided to go this route - nothing ventured and all that! It is very similar to its predecessor, still a Peugeot 2008 but the next spec up. This model has a head up display for the speed - another novelty as well as a complicated ventilation and heating system and a proximity detector highlighting when the car ahead is too close.

With slightly slower traffic in the spray we took perhaps 20 minutes longer than estimated plus a quick comfort break at Michael Wood services. In the end we turned into the car park for Hillmorton marina just before five o'clock.

Just before we came off the motorway heavy rain arrived and it continued whilst Mike unloaded the car. Of course, as soon as he had finished, the rain stopped and there was a bright sunny sky for the last few minutes of daylight!

We will not be moving far tomorrow as on this occasion Mike will do the car shuffle at the beginning and take the car down to Packet Boat. This means that we can be just that bit later arriving there with still enough time to do the winterising tasks before leaving the boat to the mercies of the cold weather. By the time he has driven down and then come back on the train via central London, it will be early afternoon.