Travelling to Devon

View Larger Map

 
We set off in good time, last Tuesday, 7th Sept, to drive to Devon.  We could have done the journey in a day but it only takes one hold up and we could have ended up driving down narrow lanes in the dark – not much fun with the caravan attached.

We stopped to eat our packed lunch at a motorway service station. Some of these provide a special parking area for caravans (of varying quality). Otherwise we park in with the trucks. Oddly enough, we like that!  The bays are big and wide, the trucks park neatly within their bays and are quiet. We have strict laws which limit the time in any 24 hour period which truck drivers may be on the road so there are always a few trucks with curtains drawn round the cab while the drivers sleep and the rest are eating or cleaning their windscreens.  It’s fun to recognise trucks from all over Europe.

In the main car parking area, people are often careless about parking and we are spared the loud domestic arguments about choice of stopping place and/or choice of food and/or general outbursts of bad temper. As for the children, released for the first time in hours to run free – I can’t blame the kids but they can be a loud and unpredictable menace, running wild. I can’t see why some people travel if they find it so stressful.

We stayed a night in Gloucestershire at a tiny place called Ham. We chose it for it’s location but were delighted with the site and the surrounding countryside. We could just see the River Severn and there are lots of places worth a visit nearby. Next time, we will spend a few days there. We’re stopping there for a night on the way home at the end of September and will take photos then.

The next day we drove on. The only event worth mentioning is the torrential downpour we drove through. It was the worst rain either of us have ever driven through and we couldn’t even see the road markings. The only thing to do was drive slowly and pray – I think Poseidon did well out of that!

We arrived at Elburton in good time to get set up with (hopefully) an unobstructed view of the appropriate satellite for TV reception.