So far so good, with the first leg of the trip getting under way without much of a hitch!
I could just be being a little optimistic, but this might not be as trying as I expected! The night at home and the seven hours in the car on the way to Souhampton were really not too much trouble at all. Granted I had to repeat everything every five or ten minutes, and listen to the same conversation over and over again, Mum telling me what a good driver I was every time I overtook someone. This was usually shortly before proceeding to tell me to ‘fuck off’ about something else (her Tourettes is coming along nicely!) and then telling me how much she loved me in the next breath. She only had one real paddy at Luton services when she decided that she would rather be at home and was heading back. When asked how she intended to get there her quick retort was ‘I don’t know but I’ll do it on my back if I have to’. I chose not to conjure up that image.
The funny thing now is that on some occasions, Mum is the one who is reminding Dad of the short term stuff and not the other way round as it has been for so long. He struggles more with the day to day stuff and every now and again it’s Mum who has to remind him. Although as soon as we reached Southampton, Dad knew exactly where we were going, and guided us straight to the hotel on the quayside, and then to the oldest pub in Southampton for dinner.
I can see one of the Azura’s sister ships moored up at the dock from my bedroom window as I write this. We set sail this afternoon, and I have to say I’m starting to feel mildly excited about the whole thing.
Not entirely sure how easy it is going to be to post once aboard, as communications are limited (or expensive). But will keep plugging away!!