Arrived

We set off on a leisurely drive to Cornwall at 08:30. Breakfast in Kendal and dropping an excited pooch off with her carer left us with one little errand to do - so off we wandered.
Mrs IttH had collected her new car yesterday - and almost immediately the tire pressure warning had come on. When Id got home I confirmed a nail in the tyre and a slow puncture. The really nice sales chap said pop it in and theyd put a new tyre on - a 10minute job making a 20minute detour (& yes the realist in me knew this would be an hour...)
We pulled into the garage just after 10am - and a litany of excuses, fibs and incompetence later, as the clock passed 13.00 (and we still had 330miles to go) i found myself in a workshop again giving a Service Manager the mother of all dressing downs* - lets just say i got my point across in a way he and pretty much everyone else in the building understood - 10 minutes later we set off with the job done and the service manager hiding in his office. Fortunately in future we can simply go to a local main dealer. In the space of 18hrs they've taken Team IttH from super happy customers to never coming back. There's a lesson in there....

So now - a later than planned but leisurely drive to Cornwall....
40minutes south we ground to a halt on the M6 - a quick google told us the worst - motorway indefinitely shut - three wasted hours later we emerged from the back lanes of Cheshire a mere 5 miles down the motorway. Birmingham was rush hour gridlock. Bodmin was complete fog.

14hours after setting off, a total of 10hours 15minutes in the car - we pulled into our really rather spectacular hotel**. We'd phoned to cancel dinner reservations and later to check there was a night porter. Thankfully the bar was open.

*20 years in construction and manufacturing, running my own factory for a decade - i can do loud and clear - but i really really dont like to anymore. That Kelvyn has left the building.

**Alverton Manor started as a country retreat, but became a convent in the 1850's and was extended in wonderfully gothic style.