Saul Junction with Ali

We were feeling very lucky indeed. Having waved goodbye to our friend Tom on Sunday, we cruised back to Saul Junction on Monday to meet Ali who was driving down from the North East in Martha Motorhome!

Martha had only just passed her MOT, having spent several months at a garage getting all manner of things repaired and replaced. It was a long drive down for Al, especially in a left hand drive van on his own. However, as a professional HGV driver, if anybody could do it, it would be Al. He arrived safe and sound but with a few complaints about our out of date sat nav, that had directed him down the wrong single track lane 🫣

The furries were overjoyed to see their funcle and after a stretch of his legs, a steak burger and some whisky with Will, Ali was feeling a lot better and looking forward to his mini break.

It was raining the following day so we decided to take a drive to Cotwolds Distillery; somewhere we never would have had the chance to visit without Martha. The company started off making whisky and expanded to include gin. The tour was very slick, with an introductory video and viewings of the warehouses used to make the spirits and mature the barrels of whisky. Our guide said they enjoyed people asking questions that gave them a chance to show off how much they knew. Will has visited more than a handful of distilleries in his time and it became rather awkward when he asked questions the guide didn't know the answer to 🤐 To round off, we got to taste the various offerings in a nicely decked out lounge with the other 14 visitors. The signature gin and whisky were already poured for us, but the drinkers were free to taste the contents of any of the other bottles behind the bar. The drivers were given little bottles of the signature spirits and got to choose four more to go in a special little sample bag. Neither Will nor Ali were very impressed by the quality of the whisky but Will liked the gin and bought a bottle and a proper gin glass from the shop. We all enjoyed the experience and topped the day off with a pub meal and a little walking tour of Gloucester for Al.

The following day brought sunshine and a cruise to the Tudor Arms at Slimbridge for lunch. Al was good at steering Rainboat, but did find the pace 'a bit slow'. We'll remind him of that the next time we get stuck behind an HGV 😂

Thursday came around and it was time for Al to head home, but not before we video called our Dad to wish him happy birthday! 🎊 He was on his little yacht Louisa, in Amble marina, getting ready for a sail with Sarah and the dogs. Vicky is always sad when Al leaves, but it was really great to spend some time together. Now that Martha is up and running he'll hopefully use her to visit us again soon!Read more