I’ve come to the conclusion that packing for a holiday gets worse the older you get and although not quite as old as me, Maice feels the same. Sunday, it took five hours with a break in between for some ‘keep me sane’ Prosecco and with some re-packing at 6am on Monday morning I finally managed to close my suitcase. There was no room for the Dorset Knobs but I took them in another bag just in case Maice had room in her case.
It was when I dragged my case down the stairs that Milly got a bit skittish and went into hiding. They know don’t they, pets, that something is afoot. I kept telling her she too was off on her holidays, to Weymouth, but she didn’t seem that impressed. I packed the car with all her stuff, and honestly, for a wee kitty she travels with a lot of baggage. I arrived at Purrfect Cattery twenty minutes later than anticipated due to the fact that I drove up and down Chickerell Lane a few times looking for number 499. I’d been before, months ago and thought everything looked familiar but I was kidding myself. Turned out it was 499 Radipole Lane I needed! I settled Milly into her luxury apartment and waved her goodbye but she looked so sad and forlorn when she looked me in the eye with her one eye. They do that to you don’t they, pets. Give you ‘the look’ that makes you feel really guilty!
I went to pick up Maice and all her luggage’s (notice the plural here, and wondered if she’s going on the same holiday as me) then it was back to my place to pick up my luggage (note the singular here) and that was it. We were off. We took the obligatory ‘holiday selfie’ in the car and drove off, SatNav Steve firmly clamped to the windscreen. We didn’t need him until we got closer to the airport so we put him on silent and listened to the radio. We tuned in to Jeremy Vine on Radio 2 who just happened to be discussing boils on the bum! It was quite riveting really but when the conversation started to get quite graphic we decided a coffee was in order and turned off at the next motorway cafe.
SatNav Steve’s dulcet Australian tone soon sprang into life and he made every effort to guide us to our hotel without any deviation or mishap. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Having missed two turns (I blame his accent) we spent ten minutes driving round numerous roundabouts trying to get back to the right direction and narrowly avoided being hit in the rear by some guy who was far too close to my back end. I could see him through my mirror, shaking his fists and his lips became distorted so can only imagine he was hurling abuse at us. I wouldn’t mind, it wasn’t my fault. It was the fault of this male ‘white van’ driver who’d cut across all four lanes of traffic and then cut in front of me so I had to make an emergency stop. Honestly, some drivers just shouldn’t be on the roads. I think we confused SatNav Steve with our detours but despite the obstacles we encountered, we eventually found our hotel, the Crowne Plaza.....more by chance really!
We checked in, did a quick recipe (predictive text....should be reccie) then sat on the bed and indulged in a snacklet or two that Maice had brought. Actually, the amount of food Maice had packed was more like a full buffet for twenty, we certainly wouldn’t go hungry and what with the gin and tonics provided by our friend Jane we were well sorted. Maice started to get fidgety by 7pm so we went for a wander to check out the nightlife in the hotel which was zilch, so went for a walk around the car-park and ten minutes later we were back picnicking in the room. To ease our excited boredom we decided to watch a bit of telly.......but even that was too much for our brains. We’ve come to the conclusion that after University Challenge, Connect must be the most difficult quiz show on TV. We scored a double whammy.....getting ‘nil points’ in both ‘Connect’ and ‘University Challenge’. What duffers we must be!!!
To ease the boredom some more we unpacked our bags and then re-packed them, moving our Singapore arrival clothes to the top, just in case we can’t check in straight away and also hoping to decant some stuff to the back of the car. I must say the lovely tidy room we arrived to looked like a bomb had hit it, but at least we were successful in our mission with Maice managing to find room for the Dorset Knobs!
Unable to remove the image of Milly looking at me as I waved her goodbye I contacted Alison at Purrfect Cattery for an update. Apparently after a bit of hissing, she’d ventured forth into her new surroundings and was now settled, having just tucked into her supper. Phew, I could go to bed happy, all being well in the world of Milly.
And so to bed. Alarms set for 4.45am and that was it. Lights out and here’s hoping for a decent nights sleep before our adventures truly begin.
This is A & M saying ‘night all’........xx