Smudger Snippets
Created | Updated Nov 29, 2007
I suppose it's because I have so much time on my hands these days, that all these memories come flooding back to me.
Our Break Away
Well here I am on my own for a wee while, Mk2 and her niece are away, up in the club in this park we are staying at for a week, just to get away from it all. Mk2 decided we needed someone with us to help push her wheelchair around as well as being company for us. I am glad she did, really, as some of the wheelchair slopes around here are quite steep, and there are a lot of them as well. The static caravan we have has been converted for disabled folk as well; and it is really clean and tidy, which is a lot better than the last time we did this a few years ago, when in fact we only stayed the one night and left early the next day due to the fact that it was so filthy! In fact, the holiday company concerned on that occasion wrote to us agreeing that it was dirty, and gave us a week's free holiday in one of their top-of-the-range caravans! We took them up on that offer, and in the end we did have a really good holiday after all.
All that seems a life-time ago now, it was ten years really, and this is our first break since then; so it has been a long time. All the doors in this caravan are wider than normal and are sliding doors as well, which is ideal for wheelchairs. Not that Mk2 needs hers inside here, it's mostly for when we are outside, as she can not walk very far before she gets short of breath. This is our third night here and it's a lot quieter now, as the folk in the next to us left today. They were having parties right through until around two in the morning, which kept us all awake and annoyed us as we came here to get away from all that!
Anyway, enough of all that, we are here now and are going to make the best of it, even though the weather is not all that good. Our drive to get here was interesting to say the least, as it was the first time we had ever used that sat-nav we bought recently, which I was hoping would get us here without any problems, but then again: when did anything go right for us. It planned our route no problem, and indeed had worked everything out for us in advance, even the distance and the time it should take were shown on the screen. The problem came as soon as we crossed the Forth Bridge, as all the roads on the other side of the bridge were being dug up for road works which also included building new roads, so all traffic that had crossed the bridge was being diverted onto narrow country roads. This was bad enough in itself but got even worse when we met large lorries coming towards us!
The fact that Mk2s niece knew the way to this place was of no help, either, as the detour took us so far off our route that she had no idea where we were. In the end we arrived here OK, and that was the main thing for us. We were booked in for five nights, but on the third night Mk2 did not feel very good at all, so we started to pack everything up, and left early the next morning. So once again, I set the sat-nav to take us home, but this time I had to avoid the motorways as Mk2 never feels safe when we are on them.
This turned out to be quite enjoyable as it took us through some beautiful scenery that we would never have seen from the motorways. It also made the drive a bit more interesting to say the least, as there were some sudden hidden corners and contours on the road. This was not totally new to me as I spent my driver training days in that part of Scotland when I did my ambulance training down there in the border region. So I had a good idea of what to expect, as back then they had us driving those roads way above the legal speed limit, which made it somewhat different. All this was done under supervision of course, and only when they thought we were capable of doing it, and we had pace cars along with us. So it brought back some fond memories for me as I drove these roads once again.
I mentioned earlier that the scenery was fantastic, but not quite the same as it is in the Highlands of Scotland where I come from. I have some very fond memories of driving though the mountains when I used to drive up and down the A9 every weekend during the time I worked away from home. I must admit, at the time I took it all for granted, and used to get really annoyed when I got stuck behind tourists who drove slowly to take it all in, or even take pictures from their cars as they drove. My attitude soon changed however, upon my return from working overseas in Russia for several months.
On my first drive home up north after I got back, I actually took my time and drove a bit slower to appreciate all the scenery all around me. This was a far cry from the desert sand and bland hills that surround the city of Baku, although there was of course the Caspian Sea. That in itself was quite amazing, as you could see its effects all around the coastline where the sea is rising and flooding all the coastal areas. I used to drive along this road to the site every day, and could still see a table and chairs sticking up out of the water, the small cafe or bar itself must have had the foundations washed away, as it stood there listing to one side, and all that was left showing was a bit of one wall and the roof. Even the road I drove to the site to was flooded in some places, and a route around these flooded areas had been cut out by large lorries and buses that had climbed up onto the bank at the side of the road.
Ah! once again I have drifted away of course, as I started writing about our break away, it just goes to show how certain things stick in your mind, and come back to you at the most inopportune moments. I must admit I find myself doing this all the time, and starting to say something, then forgetting what it was I was going to say in the first place.
As I mentioned before, we ended up coming home one day earlier than planned, as Mk2 felt unwell, so we packed everything up and headed home early. I must admit I was not all that disappointed really, as I was missing our adjustable bed, so had not been sleeping all that good myself. On our trip home we set the sat-nav to take us home using the scenic route, and stay off the motorways, yet the sat-nav had other ideas, so I ended up switching off, and just kept on the road that I knew would lead us to the Forth Bridge.
We both really enjoyed our break away, as it was good just to break up the normal routine that we had gradually slipped into. It's really easy to do that, and the weird thing is, we never really notice that we are doing it. I found myself just laying around the house and sleeping all the time, and never had the 'get up and go' I used to have. Mind you, I think it was my medication that caused that to happen, and it was an effort even to fight this feeling of constant fatigue. Now we are home again, and although we enjoyed our wee break away, it is great to be home again.
