Menoopsadaisy Dandertongs

Well, I arrived at Aitch's about two hours over the original ETA. There were incredible delays on the way, not to mention a couple of misdirections (so much for sat-nav). Anyhoo... the drive was scenic, if a tad frustrating. 

It did mean I arrived in not the best shape. Not having managed to fit in a recharge (for Grey AND myself) en route from New Lanark meant it was pretty much six hours straight driving. 

Too much! It ought to have been half that. My spine was totally seized, and I couldn't straighten up when I alighted. Frankly, I was in a mess. Thank heavens for sanctuary to be found with good friends. My aim is to be on the road again by tomorrow morning... but that will depend if the healing continues at the pace as per the time of writing (Wednesday arvo). Been doing physio and micro-stretches, heat therapy and anti-inflammatory pills and rub. Some work is being done to adapt the driving seat to something that will serve me a bit better... but also the very clear lesson learned that I cannot - CANNOT - drive for longer than two hours maximum per session. Probably 90 minutes would be the ideal time. Another element of the setup is that I had everything arranged on the floor of the van - for safety and ease. But bending to cook and clean etc., was not a good plan. Aitch has some stuff that we are going to see if we can adapt at the back as well. 

Anyhoo. That's taken the edge off the excitement a bit but not dampened the spirits entirely! Just a fast learning curve. A bit of self-knowledge and acceptance of limitations. Which is what this trip was to be about anyway.

Lots of positives; we have been enjoying cricket and tennis together, as well as the garden, the village - and the pouring rain that brought lots of freshness to the parched countryside. 

Interesting, too, was using for the first time the home charging cable I had purchased. It has a monitor so that I can pay the appropriate amount to whomever I am drawing the power from. This only works at the 7kWh rate, so a bit slow, and a full charge would likely take about a day - but that is not what it's for. This is for those times one is not driving in any hurry and just want to top up half a charge or so. 

I actually took a 60% charge up, from the 22% on Grey to the 81% we closed off at. We did this in two shifts, for a total of fourteen hours.

This was really handy, and as long as folk are accommodating (and know their provider's per unit rate), I will never be stuck! The only reason I wanted to charge en route was to not have to take so much draw from Aitch's power, but there was plenty in the 'tank' from New Lanark to get The Grey to its destination - even with all the re-routing and back-tracking that had to be done.

I noted at the shutdown on arrival that we had travelled some 98 miles (which I think ought to have been closer to 60) and that, at this stage of play, we are achieving three miles for each kWh used. This, in case you are wondering, is rather excellent for a panel van. Of course, I do not have the full load on it yet, so that is likely to decrease somewhat. 

Anyway... it's a process of adapt and drive! There will probably not be any more update posts until next Thursday, the way things are going - but if you are on the instathingy or keep watch on the tubular, I may appear there in between times. Remember that YTube is not all about vids. There is the community page also, which has posts similar to blogs.

Right. That's where it's at. A broken down old grey wummin in a very unbroken and handsome Grey Van continue to get acquainted. With the help of friends and loved ones!

Thanks for sticking with us. YAM xx