After breakfast in the Little Chef next the the Travelodge, we made our way to the house of the chap who has bought the Imp. He came back from work and took us to find a hire car and then we drove back to his house to swap all our stuff from the Imp into the hire car (a Vauxhall Astra). It all just about fits but its a tight squeeze. For a car that feels like its twice as big as the Imp, it has no more storage room. And so it was time to say goodbye my trusty steed. It was a bit sad but given the mounting problems it was time to park it ready for some love and care. Driving off in the Vauxhall felt most unfamiliar. It feels too tall but its quiet, soaks up the bumps and even has a radio.
We drove South to Bourne to visit Mike Pilbeam at Pilbeam Racing Designs. Ros and I had met him and his wife on a visit many years ago. We spent almost two hours chatting about cars and things and Mike bought us all an ice cream when a van ventured past. Unfortunately there was only one racing car in the workshop at the time. The boys would have liked to see a bit more but made do patting the bookkeeper's big black Labrador.
From Bourne the navigator sent us through some small roads for about 10 miles before getting us onto the motorways. These flowed very well all the way to Solihull where we got off into a traffic jamb. However, we were soon at my Great Uncle and Aunt's house and were welcomed in. After a good dinner we put some washing in the machine and got the boys off to bed. The end of another big day.
I've been following your updates almost all the way. My first reading was actually day-2 so there wasn't much to catch up with when I started. Good to meet you and the boys when you were about to leave Stockholm. It seems like you've had a pretty good trip after that too. Congratulations to a well deserved, and probably hard to ever challenge, price for furthest drive.
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