Off to Aberdeen next weekend

[qprdude]

Round trip of around 1100 miles. Up on Saturday/Sunday, and back on Thursday/Friday (ish)
Car to be vacuumed/ washed/ fluids and pressures checked. MOT being done on Monday in Aberdeen and any repairs that are needed. Need to get that silly code from DVLA for the loan car insurance. What a pain.
Some rusty pipework and accumulator spheres at the back, so I expect to need to take out a mortgage.
A320/M25/M40/M42/M6/M74/M73/M90/M80/M9/A9/M90/A90 job done.
Might come back down the other side for a change, depending on when I can set off.

[Stickyfinger]

Enjoy the drive and cruse control , did the trip a couple of years back, the C5 is the car for it

Melrose - Hawick - Gretna Green is a fantastic road if you have the extra hour

[qprdude]

OOps, I might have miss-timed the run somewhat. Just realised that the return will coincide with the British F1 GP at Silverstone. As it is more or less slap bang between the M1 and the M40, there is likely to be some traffic problems on both motorways at some point The most likely scenario is that I leave on Friday and stay overnight somewhere, which puts me in the Silverstone region around mid-day on Saturday, qualifying time. Is there any way I could miss the potential traffic without too long a detour?
I've done the cross country route from Edinburgh to the M74 a couple of times. It would be nice if I was alone but SWIMBO is not a fan of driving, never mind on the twisty bits. Also done the Galashiels run from Edinburgh to Newcastle . As del would say, the world is my lobster.

[Stickyfinger]

M40 will be clear, more reps run that road mid week than go to Silverstone

[qprdude]

MMm, you sure. I seem to remember sitting in a 6 mile tailback at junction 11 a few years ago during the GP. I'll give it a try then as I don't really like the M1 much.

[Stickyfinger]

or just check the live traffic with Google Maps on the way down.

[Peter.N.]

We have recently returned from a 2000 mile trip around Scotland, mainly the far north. I used to do all sorts of preparation for a journey like that, now I just get in and go. We averaged an indicated 63.4mpg in our 406 Hdi estate, actual measured mpg was about 58, still not bad though but it would probably bore you to tears to drive like me.

Peter

[qprdude]

I'll be looking for anything in excess of 40 mpg peter! I always start out with the best intentions but tend to get swept along.
Hope you had a good holiday this year.
We are doing the trips in the opposite direction now that we have moved to Surrey.

We do something similar. When we lived in Kent we always came to the west country on holiday, now we live here we go to the north of Scotland.

We love it up there, beautiful scenery, very little traffic and few people. We have been every year since the '70s. We couldn't go last year due to various health issues and I suffered withdrawal symptoms

Peter

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

Mmm, Scotland, makes me wistful. We get there most years but this year's an exception. Sounds like our driving styles are similar Peter

[van ordinaire]

Aberdeen? Did that a few years ago when I took 2CV to the Shetland Classic Car Show, apart from bits of A1M, don't remember any motorway south of the border.

Off to the Outer Hebrides w/e after next but in the Jeep [partly because I'm going via "Jeep Jamboree" and partly because (if it comes to it) it's a more comfortable tin tent than the C15 AND there are a couple of beach accesses which the C15 just wouldn't make - or, at least, make it back!] & if it weren't for the detour through Bradford it would be the A1 again.

[qprdude]

Arrived Aberdeen. Easy run North with only 10-15 minute delay around junction 29-31 on the M6 on Saturday. Usual tailgating and got too close. Two write off's I suspect ,and a long queue of traffic because of stupidity.

[qprdude]

1158 miles at 42.1 MPG
Not the most frugal engine, but quite a rapid journey in places. Quite a bit of traffic and masses of road-works on the M1 South. Reminds me why I normally use the M40/M6.
Back with a new MOT for the princely sum of £9 (wiper blade)
Why do cars always seem to run better when the have just been tested and washed?

[vborovic]

When you wash the car, you make it lighter (the dirt comes off) ...

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