Postponed from just before Christmas last year, today, we made the pilgrimage, 113 miles south, to my Brother’s.
In a change to the normal travel arrangements, we took Robert, instead of making the journey by train. There were really two main reasons for this! First, neither of us are totally comfortable with jumping on public transport at the moment – even though we’ve been double-jabbed! Second, and maybe more practically, we had all the Christmas pressies to pass on – that, in itself, would have been almost impossible to do by train, because of the number of gifts!
We left just after 9am and decided to use the Blackwall Tunnel (rather than the Dartford Bridge) simply based on the recent reports of extreme congestion near the latter. ETA, courtesy of Google Maps, suggested an arrival time of 11.18.
Our journey went well, but it’s fair to say we’ve got out of the habit of experiencing traffic congestion in general. As we approached the Tunnel, we joined the queue! And that’s where we sat for a good 20 minutes, with the remaining 10 miles of our journey, taking almost 40 minutes!!!
We arrived on time and were soon catching up with the family. Neil had laid on a superb Curry (all home-cooked).
Wow! What a lunch!! Superb, in every respect.
With lunch out the way, Neil and I discussed CCTV cameras (as we’re about to invest in a high-end system on the house) and I’m 99% sure based on his experience together with excellent advice from good mate, Ralph, we’ll go for the Arlo setup.
Gridserve, Braintree
We left just before 2.30 in order to beat the traffic (famous last words!) and to take our first drive over to Gridserve – a new purpose-built charging forecourt near Braintree that sported 30 chargers (yes, 30!) and 6 Tesla Superchargers.
We had a hassle-free journey there and were soon plugged in and whilst we enjoyed a brief ‘pit-stop’ at the integrated Costa, Robert was on a full charge using one of Gridserve’s 350kW chargers. In truth, we probably could have made it home without charging, but even with the eNiro’s superb range, it would have been tight!
We were home just after 5pm. It had been a great day, and in spite of the congestion, it was a pleasant drive – and surprising to see how much the London landscape had changed since we last were in the area. It’s always good to see my brother and especially so, given how long it’s been since we last saw each other – back in August, 2018, by my reckoning.
I got into blogging quite late in life, not publishing my first post until 2004 – well into my 40s! My lifelong love of technology and communication (in all its forms), together with a fondness for the art of writing seemed to be the perfect combination to contribute a few words to the online community. But I’m no Samuel Pepys! If you’re looking for deep and meaningful comments on a variety of subjects, then you’ve arrived at the wrong site! I only pen for pleasure! On average, my posts appear about twice per month, covering family & friends, cinema visits, eating out, holiday experiences and techy stuff. Oh, and as this is my hobby, there are no sponsored links nor adverts here – it’s all done with love!
I hope you find it enjoyable, interesting and occasionally, even helpful!
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