Hitting the Road from LE to JOG*!
Not to mention the feet, feet, feet, feet ....................
by AllistarSeptember 6, 2005
Well, 56 books, 1057 miles and seven weeks later, we (that's Rob and She, Allistar's mum and dad) can truly say, "we done it!" And what an experience!
I can honestly now say that Britain is an amazing country. We have glorious scenery, a busy rural population and some great characters, although possibly more hills than absolutely necessary! The journey was such an epic for us (we came back with over 700 photos!) that all I can hope to do in this article is give you a flavour!
I set out with the aim of releasing at least one book every day. As space in the camper was limited I hoped to be able to pick up more books to release in charity shops along the way
and this proved quite easy, with even some extra ones for special places. More difficult was being able to access the BookCrossing website for registering and releasing! We had a laptop with us but were surprised at the large areas of the country without a
mobile signal. I guess we are spoilt at home and I certainly don't blame people for not wanting them everywhere. Anyway, in between screeching to a halt in a layby when we spotted an aerial and slow motion dial-up connections in hotels I managed until the
last couple of weeks and then finally made release notes for the last ones when we got home. The tally so far is 6 journals from 56 releases, so thank you to jeff-stevens, Pink-Princess, ossidiseppia, lilian01, maddensue and chapelkid for their messages. Let's
hope these new members enjoy our little community! Many books were left in hotels/campsites so hopefully people on holiday may have picked them up and some will re-appear in time!
Our stopping places ranged from a wonderful hotel for my 50th birthday, through a fair representation of Fawlty Towers to an empty field beside the A7 with breeze block loo building!(See Photo) Though to be fair, most of the campsites were excellent. We progressed from complete camper-van novices to levelling-block experts and the meals we produced on our tiny cooker had to be seen to be believed (sincere thanks go to whoever invented packet meals!) We consumed an inordinate amount of wine but it would have been nice to have been warned that supermarkets in Scotland don't sell alcohol on Sundays!
Favourite memories of the places we passed through? Here you go, in no particular order:
Favourite characters:
Who says there's no such thing as Serendipity? I'm still a firm believer!
* Lands End to John O'Groats
Editor's Note: For background information, click here.
I can honestly now say that Britain is an amazing country. We have glorious scenery, a busy rural population and some great characters, although possibly more hills than absolutely necessary! The journey was such an epic for us (we came back with over 700 photos!) that all I can hope to do in this article is give you a flavour!
I set out with the aim of releasing at least one book every day. As space in the camper was limited I hoped to be able to pick up more books to release in charity shops along the way
and this proved quite easy, with even some extra ones for special places. More difficult was being able to access the BookCrossing website for registering and releasing! We had a laptop with us but were surprised at the large areas of the country without a
mobile signal. I guess we are spoilt at home and I certainly don't blame people for not wanting them everywhere. Anyway, in between screeching to a halt in a layby when we spotted an aerial and slow motion dial-up connections in hotels I managed until the
last couple of weeks and then finally made release notes for the last ones when we got home. The tally so far is 6 journals from 56 releases, so thank you to jeff-stevens, Pink-Princess, ossidiseppia, lilian01, maddensue and chapelkid for their messages. Let's
hope these new members enjoy our little community! Many books were left in hotels/campsites so hopefully people on holiday may have picked them up and some will re-appear in time!Our stopping places ranged from a wonderful hotel for my 50th birthday, through a fair representation of Fawlty Towers to an empty field beside the A7 with breeze block loo building!(See Photo) Though to be fair, most of the campsites were excellent. We progressed from complete camper-van novices to levelling-block experts and the meals we produced on our tiny cooker had to be seen to be believed (sincere thanks go to whoever invented packet meals!) We consumed an inordinate amount of wine but it would have been nice to have been warned that supermarkets in Scotland don't sell alcohol on Sundays!
Favourite memories of the places we passed through? Here you go, in no particular order:
- The splendour and energy of Cheddar Gorge
- The single-track A roads through North Scotland
- The moorland, from Exmoor to the Forest of Bowland to Northern Scotland, it was all exquisite
- The quiet, spiritual haven that is Findhorn
- The hills opening out to the sea at Bettyhill (N. Scotland)
Favourite characters:
- The campsite owner who had lost her husband to Bowel Cancer and who repeatedly boiled the kettle for a group of German campers with no adaptor
- The old man walking his dog who accompanied Rob for a good half hour giving him a history lesson
- The Scottish sheep farmer bottle-feeding a lamb even though it had now cost him more in milk than the lamb was worth
- The couple on the next table at the posh hotel who turned out to live two miles from us in Surrey!
Who says there's no such thing as Serendipity? I'm still a firm believer!
* Lands End to John O'Groats
Editor's Note: For background information, click here.
