We had a fantastic morning, trying to get ourselves out of Leicester and into Doncaster. First stop was the cattery where Black Cat affected the most excrutiating look of despair and abandonment. I felt like such a bad mother. After a number of escape attempts and a fair bit of scrabbling we managed to get away and eventually found ourselves on the motorway.
On the motorway. In the middle lane. Going at a fair old pace. When Pete put his foot down and nothing happened. And as we were on a slight incline we ever so slowly ground to a halt. But Pete handled it all wonderfully, of course, and managed to get us onto the hard shoulder. Where we waited for 45 minutes for an AA man. In the drizzle. The highway patrol men stopped by while we were there just to reassure us that we were in “the safest place” and that they were going to train the camera on us. Which they didn’t. Scum. We didn’t even get picked up by a real AA man in the end either. Just some grizzled looking man in a van that had an AA approved sticker on it. He bodged it well though and we got to Donny in one piece.
Mini sorted us out with a bizarre parking spot round the back of the building. I was slightly concerned by the fact that the beer and renegade tents were only about five metres away from us. But we’re out of the driving rain and gusting winds, and most importantly we have an electric hook up which is just so incredibly nice I’m never going to want to be without one again. Which may make me a bit grumpy at Bungay, but I doubt it.
I managed to get stuck standing in a car park for two hours again. Funny that. But I got my very own Mr Bollocks for it, and later got the amusing story of how Pete had been requisitioned to drive to the station to pick up a man who wasn’t there. And then to the airport to pick up a man who, it later transpired, had made his own way to site. Poor Pee.
We faffed around a bit when Alby and the Germans turned up, trying to get them settled in the camp site/quagmire. In the middle of my running back and forth getting stuff together for them I passed Emily whose eyes leapt manically in my direction as she screamed in good harassed fashion “Are you looking for a job?!?!11′. Err, no, sorry. But you made me feel suitably bad. Then after a quick trip to Asda (which is all of a minute away) we got stuck into some sitting around in the hall. I proceeded to smile at/wave to/hug/greet/squeal at a number of people, and Alby and I tried juggling but gave up quite soon due to general ineptitude. There was supposed to be a ‘Welcome Show’ at 9 in the big top so we dutifully went over there a bit beforehand to scope it out. And found The Queue From Hell snaking round the beer tent. We joined. And waited. And waited. And waited for about 20 minutes before it started moving. But then everything went horribly horribly European and the queue disintegrated into a huddled mass. And there was pushing and eye gauging and name calling and everything. And by the time we got in there was no space left. But the people behind us didn’t believe it and kept cramming themselves in around us. It got very sweaty and irritating very quickly so we opted to leave before the show started. From the sounds of it we didn’t miss a great deal. I haven’t heard a single person so much as mention it yet.
I gave up on the day before the renegade started too. I think it was the custard creams that did me in. And the long lazy slouch in the jugglers’ bar upstairs where I managed to finally meet Lizzah’s other half. He didn’t say a single word. Just looked moody and cool at me. Which is fair enough. I don’t think she keeps him around for his conversational skillz. We also managed to find Jim who I last saw on my wedding day before he decided to bugger off around the world several times. And he’s much the same, except now a stinking student and beneath contempt. Still, it’s nice to find out what actually happened to him.
The van was marvellously warm after five minutes with the little fan heater on, and surprisingly quiet. I heard a delicate murmer of gentle, companionable conversation eminating from the beer tent before I drifted off to sleep for the night.
Very nice.