Many Miles And A Sale :-)

Wow, what a busy few days we have had!

On Monday we drove up from my mother's place in Milton Keynes back to the van in Higher Poynton.

Once we settled back into the van I switched on the TV in the front of the van ... nothing!  Just a red power light glowing back at me.  I checked a few things myself before calling in the expert, Elaine's brother Trevor, who happens to be a bio-medical engineer and fixes complex medical equipment that go ping.  After a few checks he gave the monitor the thumbs down, the problem being that it was completely dead!  As the tv monitor also doubles as the reversing camera monitor and fits above the cab in a moulded plastic aperture, I was going to have to buy exactly the same unit to replace it.

On Tuesday the van had been booked in for a damp and habitation service by the new potential buyer at an Autotrail dealer at Knutsford.  The service had been booked in for 12.00 so I was up early searching the web for a new monitor.  I found one near Wakefield, so I rang the very helpful chap and said we would be up there early arvo to pick it up.

We arrived at the dealership on time but didn't realise the habitation service took 2.5 hours and not the 30 mins we had expected!!!   So, we walked around and around the motorhomes and had lunch in the cafe there, to pass the time away.  By 14.30 we were informed that the van had passed the service with no problems and had absolutely no damp ingress, as I expected.

We then set off up the M6 then onto the Trans Penninne M62.  As per usual there was very light traffic on the motorways ... breathe in!!

We arrived at the warehouse at about 16.30, hooked up the monitor and hey presto ... I would be able to reverse safely again!  All for an all up price of £400.00 .....gulp!  Never mind, better to fail on me rather than the new prospective owner ... who had now turned into the buyer of motorhome The Manly Ferry, as he was happy with the results of the habitation and damp check.  So, that was it, the old girl was sold ... which we were happy and sad about, but we must let her go as we need to move on ...

Rather than drive back to Higher Poynton on the motorways we cut across the Pennines in Yorkshire and Derbyshire.  It was a most spectacular drive.  We arrived back at the site at 19.30 - we had been on the go since 10.00am and were well knackered!  We decided that a trip to the local chinky was in order, so did that and settled in for the night!

We were up early on Wednesday as we had another road trip planned but this time we took the little Citroen C3.  We had to visit the animal shippers in Shropshire to sort out some stuff with them then drive to Shrewsbury, where we had planned to meet up with some very dear friends from Byron Bay, Australia, who are over here on a 2 month house swap holiday.  They were heading to North Wales from Devon so we thought that Shrewsbury would be a good, central place to meet up.

We also decided that we would book into a hotel for the night so we could have a few bevvies and not have to drive back to Higher Poynton.  Our friends were also staying at the same hotel.

The amazing thing about the hotel was that it was dog friendly ... you just have to love the UK!

The red sign above the bed read 'pull for assistance'!!  I rang reception and told them we had been married for quite a few years so we should be OK, but thanks for the kind thought ...

We met up with our friends and went into town for dinner and a huge catch up ...

This morning we had breakfast with our friends at the ungodly hour of 08.00!!

After brekky they carried onto North Wales whilst we went to check out Shrewsbury.

In Shrewsbury we found Clive of India, who was an MP for Shrewsbury after coming back from India and fighting with the damned French et al ...

This was an amazing building, built in 1526, yet ...

... it had a lift!

We went for a walk down to the river to see if we could see any narrowboats ...

None around, but the river did look very appealing and calm ...

We loved the railway station ...

And the streets were full of amazing buildings.  This is the loggerheads pub ...

... and this is their sign.  Ooh er missus!

We had to leave at midday as we had to take the doggies for vaccinations at their vet in Stone. 

Whilst we were driving cross country to Stone we spotted a sign for Norbury Junction and as we were well ahead of schedule we went down to check out the boats.

We met up with and had a good chat with Graham and Jill from NB Armadillo 

Please note, toilets were not mentioned in the conversation!

The vet visit was painless for the doggies but painful for my wallet, as usual (especially when Elaine insisted on getting them roast chicken for tea, as a reward for being good dogs)!

After the vet it was back to the van for our penultimate night aboard ...

Tomorrow we will finish emptying out the final bits and pieces before delivering the van to its new owners at York on Saturday.  After that we will then catch a train back to Poynton to pick up the C3 and from there we will head to Elaine's dad's place in Macclesfield. 

So, all we have left to sell now is our lovely little Citroen C3!  We have had this terrific little car for just over 2 years and it is a great little runabout.  However, before we sell it we are in the planning stages of another little adventure!  This could mean that the blog could be up and running on a regular basis again ... just as you thought it was all over.

Sorry, Reader!