delicagirl
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Hi All.. As some of you know I left Somerset in mid May and planned to stay away till mid September. Two nights ago i was in my beloved isolated dead end valley in the Lakes writing and sun bathing and reading and chilling and loving it. I then headed south to visit my lovely cousin and on a fast dual carriage way just north of Kendal there's a really loud cracking noise (i thought something truly horrible had broken). I immediately stopped and realised the rear passenger tyre was shredded. So I call out the AIB recovery guys who "will be with me in an hour". I could see no barrier so sitting in the van seemed the only option. As a lot of traffic ignored my red triangle I moved it farther and farther back. It was very scary. I finally spotted a barrier further back and waited behind it, buts its frightening watching your vehicle almost rammed many times. Andyjanet (ex AA guy) told me to call 101 immediately. So i did and the police arrived shortly, coned off the road to prevent an accident and were lovely. The cops said they would much rather prevent an accident than sweep up the consequences... so if you are ever in that position 101 gets you through to police who will attend if they consider it a danger. I would never have thought of that without Andy. The rescue guy arrives, he gets up on the van roof, gets the spare, changes it, and off i go again in about an hour.
I drive on happily to Manchester and 2 hours later I cant get into gear. I call the lovely Andy again and he surmises that the clutch may have died, or the cable snapped. So ... i call out the AIB recovery again !! I am once again on a dual carriage way, but in between two sets of lights so traffic's not as fast, but i put out the emergency red triangle - Again !! (They are only a few quid and really worth having.) Recovery tell me that we need to look at the possibility of local repairs so i call 2 Mitsubishi garages who say that spares may take 10-14 days to arrive - and since i'd rather my local garage work on it, then recovery to my Somerset home seems the only option. So.... a flatbed truck arrives. The driver decides after loading me on it, that its not a strong enough truck for the weight of my van , and another truck arrives, but the 2 drivers are still not happy with the weight, so we drive to their depot to let the boss decide. The drive there was an unstable nightmare with the truck, van and me swaying about all over the place because i had filled both water and fuel tanks the day before. The boss was a camper owner and so I learn how to drain all the water from my van (250 litres - a fair old weight) and its put it on an entirely different heavier truck. Finally at 5.00pm we leave Manchester, stop at the worst services on the M5 where i am so ravenous i eat a Burger king and chips !!! OMG what muck - and we get back home at 11.15pm last night, drop the van off at the local garage (who know its coming and will look on Tuesday) and i stagger home with a carrier bag of emergency foodstuff and here i am home at last. Its not the way I planned to come come, but, I'm home, and in one piece.
AIB recovery garage in Manchester - GM Recovery - were exceptional. Their concerns about the safety of me and the van were paramount - staff were professional and caring and I was delighted with their service.
Because i have been away for so long, its really weird to be home again - i'm not balancing well when i walk round !!! Having been in the van for 105 days and every time i move in the van the water tanks create a gentle ripple and soft swaying and my body has compensated for that and now i am on terra firma its not a happy body at all !!! That will pass.
I cant remember where anything is in my kitchen cupboards, and feel like i am in someone elses house.
I'm looking out the window and realising the view wont change in the morning- shucks.
But in the M5 services shop last night where i bought some food - the till operator asked "been anywhere nice?" and my face lit up- "Oh yes" i have been to many many nice places, and met many many interesting people and i am smiling right now thinking of some of them. More of that later.
Thank you AIB and the Recovery call centre and GM - a fabulous service.
I drive on happily to Manchester and 2 hours later I cant get into gear. I call the lovely Andy again and he surmises that the clutch may have died, or the cable snapped. So ... i call out the AIB recovery again !! I am once again on a dual carriage way, but in between two sets of lights so traffic's not as fast, but i put out the emergency red triangle - Again !! (They are only a few quid and really worth having.) Recovery tell me that we need to look at the possibility of local repairs so i call 2 Mitsubishi garages who say that spares may take 10-14 days to arrive - and since i'd rather my local garage work on it, then recovery to my Somerset home seems the only option. So.... a flatbed truck arrives. The driver decides after loading me on it, that its not a strong enough truck for the weight of my van , and another truck arrives, but the 2 drivers are still not happy with the weight, so we drive to their depot to let the boss decide. The drive there was an unstable nightmare with the truck, van and me swaying about all over the place because i had filled both water and fuel tanks the day before. The boss was a camper owner and so I learn how to drain all the water from my van (250 litres - a fair old weight) and its put it on an entirely different heavier truck. Finally at 5.00pm we leave Manchester, stop at the worst services on the M5 where i am so ravenous i eat a Burger king and chips !!! OMG what muck - and we get back home at 11.15pm last night, drop the van off at the local garage (who know its coming and will look on Tuesday) and i stagger home with a carrier bag of emergency foodstuff and here i am home at last. Its not the way I planned to come come, but, I'm home, and in one piece.
AIB recovery garage in Manchester - GM Recovery - were exceptional. Their concerns about the safety of me and the van were paramount - staff were professional and caring and I was delighted with their service.
Because i have been away for so long, its really weird to be home again - i'm not balancing well when i walk round !!! Having been in the van for 105 days and every time i move in the van the water tanks create a gentle ripple and soft swaying and my body has compensated for that and now i am on terra firma its not a happy body at all !!! That will pass.
I cant remember where anything is in my kitchen cupboards, and feel like i am in someone elses house.
I'm looking out the window and realising the view wont change in the morning- shucks.
But in the M5 services shop last night where i bought some food - the till operator asked "been anywhere nice?" and my face lit up- "Oh yes" i have been to many many nice places, and met many many interesting people and i am smiling right now thinking of some of them. More of that later.
Thank you AIB and the Recovery call centre and GM - a fabulous service.
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