Today's adventure

 I've done nearly 10,000 steps today and 8500 of them at an unreasonable speed! David described my pace as Julia-esque - Julia is about 5ft 10inches and has the longest legs - I do 2 paces to her one ...

This morning we left the boat just after 7am and walked flat out to Foxton along the towpath - there is a path across the fields that is probably shorter, but it rained heavily last night and so we used the towpath instead. In parts that didn't help as the puddles were frequent and had to be avoided. We should have left a few minutes earlier and it would not have been such a rush...

We had a bus to catch from opposite the Black Horse pub at 7.50, and a train from Market Harborough at 9.05. The bus got us there in plenty of time, with about 50 minutes to spare. We were hungry so a call to Julia, aka the Market Harborough encyclopedia, revealed that there was a path we could take that let us do a quick walk to Waitrose. Off we went and back we came and still had time to eat the wraps we bought. Verdict: the hoisin duck ones without duck (pickled cabbage instead) were rather yummy; the mozzarella, tomato and basil ones were pants; in my view wraps are overrated - too much wrap and not enough filling. I'd rather a sandwich, but the only vege sandwiches were egg and cress.

We were on a mission to get to Langley Mill to see Ian and Irene to pick up their motorhome for our adventure. They met us at the station and it was so lovely to see them.

Irene was complaining (when isn't she?) about the back of her heel being very sore. So once we got back to their boat, I massaged down the back of her calf. She said it hurt, and I believe it did, but she did say that it felt better when she started walking again after lunch. (NB I instructed her to massage it 6 times a day for 5 minutes. When I phoned at 4.30, she hadn't done it even once ...)

She had made a very yummy vegetarian lasagne, so I forgave her, and I need to get the recipe. It had aubergine and zucchini, neither of which David eats but he did and declared it delicious. I wasn't surprised as he can tell if he likes a food simply by looking at it; so when it doesn't look like its full self, he decides he likes it ... Examples: pumpkin soup, pumpkin and or kumara in a pasta sauce, pumpkin and or kumara in a chilli or a curry. Now it's zucchini and aubergine in a lasagne! Yay!!

Ian had made delicious garlic bread, and for dessert we had banana cake that Irene had made - she gave us the remaining cake ... She is lovely and kind, even though I give her a hard time!

We had a comprehensive training session on the Jameison motorhome - very well conducted and we were extremely attentive. We know how hard it is to lend out your motorhome, so we were keen to learn as much as possible and to take excellent care of it. It is a beaut - to the extent that David has said if ever we decide to change ours then the layout of I&I's is ideal.

And they have kitted it out really nicely and it is so tidy in the garages. I hope David took note ...

And did we take any photos of being with them - no. Did Irene - no. Both of us are very remiss...

We had a good drive back - on to the M1 and then down to outside Leicester and on to the Ring Road. The satnav then told us there was a traffic jam ahead and sent us off on an alternative route. From being on a motorway and then suburban city streets we ended up going through a dubious area of Leicester with multiple speed bumps and out into the countryside. We drove through Blaby, Oadsby and Wigston, then Saddington, across the canal right next to Mick and Julia's old field end mooring and down Debdale Lane. The motorhome is no longer beautifully clean on the outside ...

Approaching Saddington, I think. Photo taken and sent to Ian and Irene to reassure them that all was well - the trip was longer than they or we expected, but it's the vagaries of traffic here in the Midlands.

Parked up at Debdale - not as clean as it was when we left Langley Mill, I'm afraid.

Tomorrow, after we have packed what we need, done a Waitrose shop in Market Harborough, we will be on our way. 

More news about where we are going and why in the next post or two...