Wednesday 4 September – Houston, we don’t have a problem.

 A long, tiring day, mainly spent in the car.  We sadly left our little cottage about 9am and made our way across North Wales to join the congested M6 to Scotland, driving through almost constant rain so that every time you passed one of the gazillion semi-trailers heading north you almost lost visibility from the water they threw up.  At times all this was compounded by heavy winds.  And summer ended just four days ago.

There were a couple of lighter moments.  Just before Carlisle we took the off-ramp and stopped for morning tea at “Farmstop”, where they have a great range of delectables as well as a store that sells everything from stationery and books, mementos, clothing, fresh meat and even wine and beer, prompting John to purchase a couple of bottles with labels that just about sum up his life to this point.

We then resumed our journey, diverting into Carlisle for a look-see but finding it too wet to get out and explore, and passing road signs that reminded us of home.  We even passed a truck that proved that Elizabeth’s dad Alex has returned and is running a successful sawdust and woodchip business.

We finally arrived at our destination, the little village of Houston, not far from Glasgow and Paisley, where we will spend the next two nights in another delightful cottage while catching up with some of Elizabeth’s relatives and visiting her dad’s childhood home.