Its a long drive to Cornwall.

Having packed most things yesterday I transferred the contents of the fridge and our toothbrushes to Sally-Van while Van-Man walked Lottie.

We set out at 10.00 but Van-Man’s delight was short lived. We avoided the road works in East Grinstead but the rod we chose was blocked by an accident. We could see people walking in the road and gesticulating so Van-Man did a three point turn. I was impressed that he could swing Sally-Van around so easily but then she is less than 6 metres long.

We carried on via Copthorne and found the M23 flowing smoothly. As we arrived at Cobham services the traffic on the M25 began queuing.

“Great,” I said ironically. “I’ll be practicing my low gears.” I still find it hard changing down as the intervals are closer than in our car.

After a comfort break I drove into the slow moving queue on the M25. By the time I reached the M3 we had been on the road 2 hours, twice as long as normal. The 303 was better but was slower than normal due to the heavy traffic. We changed drivers in a lay-by before Solstice services.

As we went around the roundabout before Stonehenge the queue to the single file road had backed up around the corner.

Van-Man took the next junction to divert around the problem.

“Let’s eat at Woodhenge,” I suggested.

By the fishing lake

“Good idea,” Van-Man replied. “It’s nearly 1.00.” there was no space in the tiny car park so we stopped on the verge behind another van. Van-Man gave Lottie a quick walk enjoying the sunshine while I prepared cheese crackers.

“A family were interested to know what sort of dog she was,” Van-Man said on his return. “Lottie promptly searched them for food.”

After a short lunch stop Van-Man drove off again. “We’ve already lost a lot of time,” he said. “I told the site I’d be there by 5.00.”

It was busy by-passing the Stonehenge stretch but we had to queue to rejoin the A303. It looked very slow moving. It was slow all the way to Honiton. Normally we can cruise Sally-Van at 60 to 65 mph but we were down to 50 with long queues at each roundabout and queues to filter into each single track stretch between dual carriageways. It took 2 hours to reach the M5.

I drove from Honiton with Van-Man fretting about the time. Fortunately I was able to cruise at 65 after crawling along to join the M5.

Van-Man phoned the campsite but was told reception would be open until 6.00pm. We swapped in a lay-by near Victoria junction. Even though the traffic was heavy through Quintrell Downs we arrived at the campsite at 5.40.

Evening Ducks

There was nobody there but a message instructed Van-Man to call the tackle shop where the owner of the campsite was working. We fed Lottie while waiting for somebody to arrive. The site was small but in excellent condition. Eventually the owner arrived, apologising. His wife was on maternity leave so he was working alone. We were not the last to arrive he told us, a camper van had phoned to say they were running late. Van-Man picked a level site which had water as well as electricity.

After pitching we walked Lottie around the field and past the fishing lake. It looks a quiet site. Tomorrow we will see the grandchildren so peace will be welcome tonight.  The camper Van arrived at 10.30. It was a long day for the owner.