Leaving Salisbury

I suppose being the two eldest boys it is not surprising that both Richard and I inherited Dad's unlimited ingenuity in 'do it yourself'. Dad's type of do it yourself required the accumulation of a large horde of 'stuff'. Every time a job is to be done the 'stuff' is looked at carefully to see exactly which part will complete the job in such a way as to be indistinguishable from the expensive and ready made professional looking alternative.

That sort of philosophy was behind the last job to do before I was ready to leave Salisbury. My nephew had kindly donated his old mountain bike to me. Well! His old one it might have been. For me it is probably the most sophisticated bike I've ever owned with front suspension and more gears on it than a heavy haulage Scanny truck.

A cheap piece of wood, a flexible plastic bucket and some of my old sail boat rigging were soon modified, skillfully combined and lashed onto the recently purchased rear wheel pannier carrier.

Tanya, with surprisingly little resistance was deposited in this 'superbly constructed' doggy carrier. A trial run was completed and announced a great success. Sadie now has the 'quick attach' dog carrier safely stored in her rear garage. The bike meanwhile sits securely on the bike carrier hanging off Sadie's rear end.

That was it. The last job. Time for me to leave. I have been coming and going from Richards comfortable and welcoming home since my arrival last December. This time though, leaving was hard. I was setting off on the BIG journey. It was quite an emotional wrench which was not helped by Tanya  attaching herself to Jurate, Richards carer, whom we had all grown fond of. A couple of stern words were needed to persuade her canine ladyship to exit the house and take up position in the passengers seat as Sadies co pilot.

Finally wheels were rolling and overall a good day ensued. I did not travel far and ended up having some quiet and reflective time in and around the Krishnamurti centre at Brockwood park just south of Winchester.

A good meal with Sadie secure, and in motorhome lingo, wild camped on a roadside verge in the middle of woods adjacent to the centre gave a pleasant ending to the day.

An interesting pastime when in such a 'wild camp spot' is to imagine what goes through drivers minds as they come down the road and catch sight of this 'different thing' that has had the temerity to invade their very own and familiar local driving landscape. 

Wild camping on a wide grassy verge on such a road where overnight traffic numbers can be counted on one hand is OK. At the side of a main or busier road? 

No, I don't think so.