We wanted to do something nice for Joeys 14th Birthday on Sunday so what better than a "Long" drive in his car, but where? Lets go up to see Granny Jean and Grandad Jimmy in Scotland! Good Idea!
Our preparation for the weekend consisted of fitting side deflectors and checking the oil and water, All was OK so Saturday about 1045 we nervously set off on our way.
There was no need to be nervous as the car performed really well and very soon we were in Washington Services near Newcastle where we met this nice policeman. He came over to say how nice the car looked but added that the front numberplate was too small ! Arghh Enforcer was right, He said we should change it when we get home so I will get off to Portland tools on Monday.
After a quick fill up for the car we worked out we had averaged 34 mpg on that tank full so we are pretty happy with that. Pretty soon we were on our way to the A68.
Wow ! What more can we say Lovely Weather, Open Roads, Beautiful Scenery.
The only problem with roads up this area is the speed cameras, They a pain in the arse at the best of times but whoever was in charge of the placing them must have been in a really foul mood the day he did it!!! Every one seems to be placed in the middle of long straight "Overtaking" bits Arghhh, So it encourages people to overtake on more risky short straight bits. Does this person enjoy his work I wonder?
Speed cameras apart it is a lovely route the A68.
And the Car ran perfectly !
Hardly any Traffic !
In no time at all we arrived at the Scottish Border so time for a quick photo shoot......
So it was Goodbye England, See you tomorrow.
Next stop was Kirkliston where Joeys Grandparents live. I have to say the roads in and around Kirkliston are an absolute disgrace they dont just have potholes they have Bloody big potholes. You cannot drive a car like the Robin Hood round without worrying if you will wreck the car in the next gaping hole that you come across. Come on Edinburgh City Council get your act together!!! Quick. Footnote. I have written to Kirklistons local councillor so lets see what reply I get (If any)
They also have a pretty major car parking problem in their street so they end up having to shuffle cars around so they don't get blocked in. The original plan was to drive the Hood up their lowered path and park it on the hardstanding just in front of the house. I was pretty sure before I got there that this would not work due to the limited ground clearance we had availiable. In the end Grandad put his car on the hardstanding and Joey parked the Hood right outside the house. We intend to cover it up overnight so it should be OK.
Looks pretty cool out there doesn't it?
Here is Joey with "Two" Tremendous Engineering Achievements ( The Bridge and the Hood )
South Queensferry really is a lovely area to view the Forth Bridges, we often come down to look at the views. The Hood certainly provided another source of interest to the visitors.
Here we see Joey soaking in all the scenery and no doubt happy that he does not have to dream about having the Hood on the road now!
Right lets get off and buy some Haggis and Cluty Dumpling.
The next morning dawned a bit grey and misty but thankfully no rain ! Grandad took an opertunity to have a sit in the car, he was very impressed with it even complimenting us on how well we have done. (Now those of you who know Jimmy will realise that he does not usually give out compliments so we must be very honoured this time). I took him for a quick drive to Winchborough this road is surprisingly OK not too many holes in it.
Then it was loading up time (Did not take long this time) So a quick picture with Granny Jean and Grandad Jimmy and we were on our way again.
It was a bit cooler travelling today but with the heater on we were fine we went down the A1 this time which follows the coast down, Again there was loads of cameras most of which are in the middle of the straight bits. But there was also some lovely scenery made all the better by viewing them from the open Hood.
Joey suddenly went a bit off colour and Buzzing slightly we quickly realised we were passing a Nuclear Power station, 
"Hold your breath Mate"
There was definately more roadworks this route!
Near Newcastle we stopped for a Drive through MacDonalds, Joey offered to pay for it, I was amazed until I realised it was £10 that Mrs Richie (Kirkliston) had given Joey to give to Katie, Doh!
When we put in our Order only to be told that this particular MacD. was running a trial service and was not selling Chicken Premiers, Big Tastys and quite a number of other Favourite's were off the menu!!! I think it was a knee jerk reaction to all the critiscism that they have been getting lately from the "Healthy Eating Campaigners".
I wish these people who don't like MacDonalds just bugger off and eat elsewhere and leave us alone!!!
Spotted this Dodgy Character while we were there! Would you trust him with a Tenner?
Fully fed we set off again and here we are on the approach to the "Tyne Tunnel" we were looking forward to going through, just so we could hear the noise and it was worth it the Hood sounded brilliant. I kept it in second gear and fell back to leave a gap and accelerated, Wow it sounded brill.
There was another bloke doing the same he had a souped up Nissan Pulsar GTI which also sounded good we had a quick chat and off he went at the lights, traffic slowed my lane down but as soon as it got out of the way we acccelerated after the distant Nissan. We were followed by a bit Audi which was right up our tail end there was a quick gap so I pulled in to let him go past then followed him and we both caught and absolutely flew past the Nissan He turned off at the same juntion as us and we exchanged waves and parted company, Brilliant!
Next stop on our agenda was to visit Joeys Grandad in Law Alan in Castletown. After a very welcome Coffee and relax we showed him round the car and he tried it for size. He was impressed!
I took him for a quick blat round which impressed him even more. Soon a crowd of kids came for a look and Asked all the usual questions which was nice.
It was at this point that we showed Alan under the bonnet and described the difficulties we had overcome with some of the bits. Joey Then "Closed" the Bonnet Mmmm.
After we left Alan we settled in to a nice cruise down the A19 we had covered about 20 or so miles and while we were passing a particularly buffeting Lorry we both noticed that the bonnet was lifting up slightly (Lucky we have the straps on the side. A quick stop at the next layby confirmed that Joey the plonker had indeed "forgot" to lock the bonnet down at Alans What a Dickhead !
About this time The car suddenly started spluttering up a long hill, we had covered 163 miles some of that "Quite fast" so I realised we were very short on fuel. Just over the ridge there was a petrol station so we did not need to use our spare can.
Shortly afterwards came the only Car problem that we suffered all weekend when the top hinge came off the left hand Wind Deflector, Oh well Joey needed a Toilet stop anyway so a quick tighten of the grub screw and it was sorted.
Now it was just the last leg and we made it home about 7pm ish. Tired, Windswept, Partly Deaf but Very, Very Happy. We had driven the car 700 plus miles in 2 days it was comfortable warm, and great fun.
It was indeed a "Happy Birthday" for Joey.....
