Eek, that sounds like those Final Destination films which always kind of scared me even though they were really gimmicky! In fact, I’m finally finishing off my road trip posts – you know, the road trip Ben and I took back in September? Yeh, I wanted to spread those out and I’m definitely managing to do that!
Our previous night had been in rural Oxfordshire on the banks of the Thames and we’d visited Stonehenge and Salisbury. But our last day’s drive was rather uninspiring compared to that one to be honest! We just drove our way out of the countryside and onto the motorways (where we got caught up in a motorcycle rally!) up towards the Peak District.
By this point, the car had done nearly 1000 miles of driving in around a week’s time so we were glad that we’d given it a bit of a service before we left. We’d chosen to take mine – a Hyundai i30 – rather than Ben’s – a BMW 1 Series (yes, he is that person) – since it’s a little bit roomier and more comfortable for long journeys. It had recently had its MOT done (make sure yours is up to date with this MOT expiry checker here), and we did a full check over of all the lights, exterior and interior, made sure that it had plenty of oil (as well as diesel before setting off on the first day) and that the tyres were all properly blown up. In the past, my car has had a couple of tyre problems, such as the tyre pressure being really off in one tyre and not staying up – turned out I had several thorns and a screw in it, no wonder! We’ve also had a tyre blow on us one time – we were in Ben’s car coming out of Meadowhall shopping centre on our way down to Stratford-upon-Avon to meet our friends when it burst. Fortunately it happened when we were off the motorway as I dread to think what that would have ended like, but it was such a hassle. Unfortunately we were pretty much stuck till about 2am and we finally got rescued, but the weekend away was off as we’d missed the play we were travelling to see that evening. Anyway, since that occasion, we’re always very careful to make sure that the car is up to scratch and ready to travel.
My car’s actually been into the garage a couple of times lately due to a strange banging noise when I brake fairly hard, but after having the brakes taken apart and put back together it seems to be fine. I’m always wary, but it’s recently had a 40,000 mile service too and that was completely fine (apart from my broken back windscreen wiper – oops) so it definitely gives you more peace of mind when setting off on road trips. Especially as I took it over for my yoga retreat a couple of weeks ago which was quite a drive!
So anyway the final destination was the cottage in the Peak District where we stay often with our friends Charley and Frankie, whose parents own the cottage – it’s almost like a second home to us now! We spent the evening there with them, playing board games and eating good food as usual, before heading back up to Yorkshire – it was a good halfway point to stop and I can never say no to a night in the Peaks with our friends!
Ben and I woke up early that morning and the sun was out, so we jumped out of bed (read: I was dragged out of bed kicking and screaming by Ben ;D) and went for a walk down the lane. The cottage is so isolated and it’s lovely – no one else around! It gave us a chance to snap a few photos of the cottage in the sunshine plus a few of my outfit, despite it not being groundbreaking – just one made out of the clothes I had at the top of our bag since we were at the end of our trip!
And finally, FINALLY, I’m finished with the road trip posts! You know, only a week before we go to Florida 😀