Best laid plans..

Tuesday 21st July

I should have learnt by now that not all of my planning goes to..., er, plan. The morning started with a bit of a hangover (strangely, I thought, as the amount of wine consumed the night before did not equal such a headache), but I had been prepared and most things were already packed.

Apart from an 'whoops I've forgotten to do' email to work, I arrived at Mand's just 10 mins after the expected eta. This was when my plans started to unravel.

An emergency phone call from my Mum who had been waiting for a hospital appointment - and at short notice had found out one was available immediately, ensured that my Dad would not be able to take me and Mand to pick up Lizzy. Luckily as Mand isn't so precious about her car (I didn't want to leave mine at the campervan place), we unpacked my car and transferred everything into hers - and went on our way.

Arriving at Campers Away, we saw Lizzy, primed and ready for her trip with us. After a smooth transaction with the owners, Tod and Naomi, they left us alone with Lizzy. Unable to shut her side door, Tod soon came back to show us how - 'be firm' he said, and then we were on our way again. That is, we were, but first we had to find reverse. Eventually reverse was found and we were finally on our way - at a maximum speed of 50 miles an hours - the traffic on the M5 loved us.