Martindale

Unless an aircraft is involved with its associated deadlines, I find it near nigh impossible to sort myself out and start the journey at the time planned and today was absolutely no exception. Yesterday I felt I was ready because I had sorted everything I needed and only had to transfer the pile of stuff from my house to the campervan but of course, it took much longer than expected so the departure time kept creeping back. My view on this, of course, is I'm simply mirroring the current procedures in airports right now, so my van was forced to wait at Gate 1 for ages before it could even begin to taxi to the roadway.

Today is Saturday and I need to be in Ullapool at 0930 on Tuesday morning to catch my ferry to the island and I have given myself three days to drive the 500 miles, which is more than enough really...and there lies the problem. Today was an easy drive to my first stop in the Lake District so there was no real need to leave at 2pm when 4pm is available...and so it was! Then came the first surprise of this trip.

The journey was faultless with the M6 virtually empty all the way, which was so pleasant and refreshing to discover given the M6 to Manchester is usually Hell on Earth. I had a short stop for a snack at Lancaster services which was - yuk! If one must have a burger I would always choose Burger King over McDonald's any day, but their disgusting attempt at food today was undoubtedly the worst BK I have ever tasted, truly awful, or perhaps I simply chose the wrong place to stop.

I arrived at Ullswater in the Lake District just as the sun was sinking to the horizon and although I wasn't treated to a stunning sunset, the light was pleasant with even a soupçon of midge, which gave me my first encounter of this trip. These aren't real midges though, because they don't really bite all that much and prefer to drive you insane instead, so after capturing a few shots on my proper camera I headed back to the van and drove the two miles to where I'm staying now - a National Trust car park that allows overnight stays for campervans and motorhomes. Toilet block included - how posh is that?

So that's it then, the first footprint of a new adventure where I hope you'll join me to discover the sights and experiences that await. As always, the photos on here are taken with my phone because it is easy to 'snap and post'. Tomorrow I continue the journey to Ullapool with my second stop somewhere in Scotland, but where will that be? You will have to wait to find out.Read more