I'm off today on a trip which is sort of a holiday, and sort of a business trip to look for a place to live in in Scotland.

I'm only going as far as Welwyn Garden City today though. The big journey is tomorrow.

I am now in Walthamstow.

I have spent the night at the hotel in Welwyn Garden City. Or W.G.C. as the cool kids who make the road signs call it.

It wasn't a very restful night, there were drunks running up and down the corridor banging on each others' doors till 4am.

And I'm not talking about me for a change.

I've driven 420 miles today, I'm exhausted. And in Scotland.

That was good going. I drove from Dudley to Edinburgh on my own several years ago, but that was "only" about 290 miles. I stopped once for a w*e w*e.

I've just done some more calculations and 20 years ago me, my brother and sister shared the driving to drive nearly 500 miles to Torridon in the north of Scotland.

I think we stopped 3 times.

Butterfield wrote:

That was good going. I drove from Dudley to Edinburgh on my own several years ago, but that was "only" about 290 miles. I stopped once for a w*e w*e.

I stopped twice for that purpose.

I averaged 50mph for the whole journey (including two ill-advised off-motorway detours to avoid traffic) and 57mph for the first 3 hours (Welwyn to Knutsford services).

Now I've got that post-very-long drive feeling that imaginary objects are coming up at me

I can't be doing with this sort of thing on a regular basis. I think if I like Scotland so much, I'd better live here.

We had a holiday in a place called Achintraid which is up near the Isle of Skye, the cottage owners moved there from Suffolk, they did the move themselves driving a Van up there regularly for a number of weeks. How they did that trip every week is beyond my comprehension....once in 20 years is plenty for me to do that drive.

600 miles!!

Zarniwoop wrote:

We had a holiday in a place called Achintraid which is up near the Isle of Skye, the cottage owners moved there from Suffolk, they did the move themselves driving a Van up there regularly for a number of weeks. How they did that trip every week is beyond my comprehension....once in 20 years is plenty for me to do that drive.

I keep catching myself planning to move my stuff here the same way, and then sharply telling myself not to be so foolish, and to hire proper removal people.

I'm going to rent a small storage cubicle here so I can leave a supply dump for my many future visits.

Fangirl Three wrote:

I'm off today on a trip which is sort of a holiday, and sort of a business trip to look for a place to live in in Scotland.

I'm only going as far as Welwyn Garden City today though. The big journey is tomorrow.

I'm doing this exact same thing again. Except I'm going to Dumfries rather than Glasgow.

This is the last trip on which I'm using Welwyn as a halfway house, I worked out that it's only 3 miles closer to Scotland than my parents' house where I've been staying. When I lived in Zarnichester, and had to be home by 9am on my return day otherwise the neighbours would nick my parking space, Welwyn made sense, but it doesn't any more.

I had the most awful journey till about 10am today. It was raining so hard on the M6 around junction 3 that water was gathering in huge puddles at the side of the inside lane. I had to stop at Corley for a w*e and an egg sandwich till the rain stopped.

It was all right after that though, I had my quickest passage through Birmingham ever. And I realised that every time I go past Hilton Park Services now I will think of Butters and his assertion that he has never stopped there

Fangirl Three wrote:

And I realised that every time I go past Hilton Park Services now I will think of Butters and his assertion that he has never stopped there

And it's near there, at Junction 10, where once again our journeys will cross paths, though mine tomorrow (or today as it'll be when you read this), when I travel back to North Yorkshire and cross over the M6 at that junction en-route to the M1 beyond Derby. They're doing lots of roadworks around junction 10 of the M6 at the moment - I think they're putting in a new wider bridge roundabout thingy and upgraded sliproads, so I'll probably be faced with delays again.

Where this silver Citroen is is the exact spot where Fangirl and I's paths cross - me atop, probably stuck in traffic, and Fangirl below, hopefully having done more like 60mph+.

https://goo.gl/maps/KEuwjEuN9WscG3PFA

I have actually turned off at J10 before, to go to the Tesco which is a couple of roundabouts down the A454. It doesn't have a petrol station but there is a Texaco just up the road.

I went over Junction 10 a few hours ago - as it was a Sunday evening I didn't get stuck in any traffic and didn't even have to stop at any of the traffic lights. I managed to glance down at the M6 carriageways and briefly thought to myself "Fangirl went under here yesterday" before zooming off through Walsall and beyond.

Junction 10 is becoming the spiritual centre of the NHOTW.

Junction 10 on the M6? I was there last Wednesday.


And Thursday as well, thinking about it.