Long Day

Yesterday was a very long day. A very very long day. Mum made us get up at 4.30 in the morning. Now, I know Alfie usually gets us up at that time, but that’s just to go outside and then we go back to bed. This time it was ‘Can you carry this, Wilma?’ ‘Have you packed your bed, Wilma?’ ‘Can you bring this for Shadow?’ That really is not what I expect at that hour. She had this crazy idea that just maybe if we left early enough, not only could we make the most of the cool part of the day, but if we kept driving we might get all the way there. We’d stayed at a hotel near the Dartford Crossing on Saturday night. Thankfully Shadow was not ill and has been steadily improving. Anyway, we’d checked in for the Channel Tunnel by 6.40am and arrived in France by 9am French time. Then we drove… and drove… and drove… Mum said it was not so bad as it was Sunday and the roads were much quieter.

Service Stations

Every two hours we had a stop for Mum to give us a break and keep giving Shadow little meals. She put 20 litres of fuel in each time so she could go into a service station for the toilets whilst we were under the cover of the canopy and then parked again so she could get us both out to stretch our legs, give us a drink and give Shadow a little food. It worked pretty well really. As we got further south it was all getting a bit hot, so we were happier in the air-conditioned car. It actually got up to 33 degrees and quite honestly no one wants to put their paws down on the tarmac when it’s that hot. Mum always parked so our side of the car was away from the sun and found any little shade there was. She said it did her good to have to stop as often that often and meant that the journey wasn’t too bad all round.

600 miles

600 miles later we arrived and you should have seen how happy Dad and Shadow were to see each other. She’s been smiling ever since. We went for a lovely little walk to show Shadow round as it’s her first visit and then I showed her where the water bowl is and where we sleep. It’s great to have her here for company.

Rest Day

Today is a rest day and Mum says she doesn’t want to so much as see the car! We’re off again tomorrow to go to Italy. I’ve asked if we can go to the top of the hill for a walk today, but it will have to be when it’s not too hot. I think Mum fancies an ice cream too.

Love

Wilma

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