In search of the prodigal me.

The past few weeks have been slightly odd. Last year the summer months were busy and interesting. In June and July we were in the States - New York, Washington for 'the 4th' , Atlantic City, Long Island, New England. We knew it would be our last long-haul road trip for some time paid for out of Gill's final months' salary as a worker. We do have plans for a trip to New Zealand, but that will have to wait until we are closer to our state pension age, or when we've downsized the house. Last year we also managed a couple of summer trips in the UK and had the excitement of A level results day and our youngest's preparations for university. At the same time I was writing-up my MA dissertation. So in no time at all, suddenly we were making last minute arrangements for our big trip; time had rushed by.

This summer, for the first time since I retired, time has hung heavily, we've really had a tedious few weeks. Circumstances seemed to conspire against us getting out and about. We left the van for the bodywork to be repaired at Camperuk in Lincoln. We thought it would be there for a couple of weeks. In fact it took five weeks for all the components to arrive from Germany. Then we were stymied by the weather. The early summer months were pleasant enough, but August and September have been rainy, unseasonably cold and generally miserable. So rather than being busy and active we've ended-up pottering about - neither of us are too happy just pottering. We did build a new shed and have continued our gradual process of de-cluttering the house, but it all felt like just watching the days go by before we headed for Greece in late September. All the while my brain seemed stuffed with cotton wool. I pick-up a book, then lose concentration after half a chapter, my memory went fuzzy, words eluded me, the names of people and places slipped my mind. Without having a focus and a sense of purpose time drifts away. I read the blog posts I wrote just a few months ago, and I don't recognise the positive, good humoured person who wrote them. I hope the prodigal me returns once we hit the road.

Another difference from last year is that whereas taking-off for a few months was a really exciting prospect, right now I feel a bit apprehensive about our next trip. Partly I think concerns about Gill's Dad weighs on our minds. He is is now 91 and has just lost his driving licence on medical grounds. It's great he can still live independently, but will he be OK while we are on our travels, It's a bit of a worry. 

Then there is the trip itself. Our original plan had been to reverse last year's jaunt by travelling through Western France, Northern Spain and Portugal on the autumn leg, then return home via Southern Spain next spring. But the overriding organising principle for our travels was to visit new places, and doing the same journey, but counter-clockwise did not seem adventurous enough. Then someone posted-up Peejays Greek Stopovers, and we decided to go to the Peloponnese and Sicily. Since then, current affairs seem to have made our planned destination the centre of world attention, but not in a good way. First we had the banking crisis; now we have one of the biggest humanitarian crises of recent decades unfolding on the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean. Does it make sense to drive straight towards it - another lingering doubt.

Nevertheless, despite all of the foregoing, travel arrangements are all sorted, the van is spruced-up and ready for the off, last minute shopping lists have been made and the final glitch in our plans overcome at the last minute...

The last minute glitch....

You may be thinking, that's a handsome looking glitch, and it is indeed. Anyone following our blog will know that our ebikes our very much a secondary means of transport, not just there for the odd jaunt but things we rely on to go to the shops and  scoot about without having to constantly find parking spaces big enough for Maisy. You will also, as avid readers of Heels for Dust, know we have been plagued by problems with the electrics on the bikes. After we returned home in the spring both machines went back to where we bought them to be fixed. In all fairness we've used them quite a bit over the summer and they have been trouble free. About ten days ago I decided to clean and lubricate them. When I took a soft cloth to clean the mud from the bottom bracket two plastic rings dropped off and neither bikes' electric motor would work. The fact that identical components failed simultaneously on both bikes was uncanny.

With only 10 days before our tunnel crossing and two lumps of inert grey metal on our hands, as you can imagine we were both feeling very grumpy. So 'outraged of Buxton' here phoned Amps ebikes, UK suppliers of Wispers ready for a row. I suppose being used to robot customer care phonelines and off-shore call centres having your concerns dealt with by an interested fellow human-being is actually a rare and refreshing experience. I got straight through to the owner. David Miall listened to the problem, was upfront about there being a moulding defect two years ago in a batch of the failed components  and suggested a solution. He would mail two new parts to us and recommended we take the bikes to a specialist in Bolton who would fit them and check the bikes thoroughly. He even offered to reimburse us for the cost of the repair. Good man!

I phoned Ian at the North West Electric Bike Centre. After an initial cagey greeting followed by a confused exchange where he mistook me for an aggressive salesman who had been hounding him for weeks he too was sympathetic, and even though he was busy with other work agreed to look at our two bikes straightaway when I told him about our impending trip to Greece. Yesterday we collected the bikes - they are fantastic,working  better than when they were brand new. David Maill had mentioned to me that he thought Ian was one of the the best ebike engineers he knew. I just dismissed this a placating flannel, but I think he may be right. So, a big thumbs up to Ian and David. Two days to go, just the garden to tidy and the lawn to cut. The long range forecast for Eastern France and Switzerland is looking sunny - what is there to feel apprehensive about really? Nothing of course, time to get excited like a big kid!