A Day Out
We had a rare day out together on Thursday, as we travelled across country from Berkshire to Somerset.
The skies were full of clouds, some white and billowy, others grey and heavy, and yet others high and wispy.
There were a few very brief showers, and we were aware that the road surface might be slippery after so many weeks without rain.
Every so often we came across signs that advised drivers to maintain two chevrons distance. White chevrons are painted on the road approximately 40 metres apart as a guide to maintaining a safe stopping distance from the car ahead. It is a way of attempting to prevent rear-end collisions. In poor weather, four chevrons distance is required.
I found this comment: ‘I was once on a road that had this sign. I had to do 110 mph to catch up to be two chevrons apart from the car in front of me.’
It was followed by ‘Have you ever seen what happens when 2 chevrons get together?’
The answers were:
‘Citroens are born,’ and ‘They turn into a Corporal.’
It took us about two and a half hours to reach our destination, where we picked up the item we were collecting, and then we drove home again.
It wasn’t an exciting day, on the busy motorways, but it made a change. We didn’t talk much, apart from commenting on the areas we were travelling through and discussing the names of the hills (Quantocks) and what National Highways traffic officers do.
We also noticed a bevy of Bakers Dolphin coaches on the road, ten of them in about twenty miles. We concluded they were on their way to a coach convention. 😉
Bakers Dolphin is a coach operator in the south-west of England. It has been in existence since 1889 and has won awards for its services. It is one of the largest operators around. I’ve never seen them before!
We were able to go out for the day because Susannah had come home earlier than anticipated. Although she was ‘working from home,’ she was also on hand to serve Jellicoe and Herschel their meals and provide company and chews to Gilbert and Roxy.
Those clouds are lovely.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at the variation in cloud cover.
ReplyDeleteThat is unusual name for a tour company.
ReplyDeleteI thought so, too.
DeleteLovely skies and a nice outing-Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteIt was a nice day for a drive!
DeleteI love the clouds. You already know how much I like looking at the skies when they change. Very cool pictures.
ReplyDeleteThe skies were quite changeable.
DeleteLovely pictures of the clouds and it's nice to get out for the day.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
It's unusual for us to be 'just us' without other people and animals . . .
DeleteI'm back because I've just seen your comment on 'CJ's' blog.
ReplyDeleteHappy 59th Anniversary to you and Barry :)
All the best Jan
Thank you, Jan. That's very sweet of you.
DeleteI had no idea...during our recent trip to the UK, I was too busy navigating traffic circles to pay attention to the chevrons, but I still recall my driver's safety course which taught me I should always follow at least two car lengths behind.
ReplyDeleteThere may not have been any where you were driving - they're not all over the place. Judging two cars' length is not as straightforward as it sounds, is it?
DeleteNice cloud pictures. We don’t have signs like that in the U.S. at least not around here
ReplyDeleteThey're not everywhere - it's pretty random.
DeleteA nice break from routine!
ReplyDeleteI wish our roads had warning signs like that on the roads.
There's quite a lot written on our roads, one way and another!
DeleteThat was quite an outing to pick up an item....must have been special or especially needed. The chevrons are interesting. I don't believe we have them here...we do, however, have rumble strips in area before stop signs that might otherwise be missed (and more and more often, rumble strips along the sides of roads and along the center lines).
ReplyDeleteRumble strips are quite alarming, I find.
DeleteAlways fascinated by chevrons but had the unfortunate habit of watching them go under the car as we drove. That really is a slick clean coach.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why we don't see chevrons more frequently - time and money, I suppose.
DeleteA good day to be out and about!
ReplyDeleteThe chevron comments made me smile.
Good to see that coach trips are still going on. It's not quite "public transport" (which I am a fan of, when/if it works...!!) but still good to keep quite a few individual cars off the roads.
It was surprising to see so many from the same company in a brief period.
DeleteWhen living in Somerset we use Baker's coaches as they were called then, they had amazing destinations, we loved all the continental Christmas markets.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting - they're a well-established firm.
DeleteSeems like quite a journey to turn right around and drive back.
ReplyDeleteWe used to do twice that distance twice in one day to visit our son at university.
DeleteI know a bit about long distance UK buses but I've never heard of that company. The bus livery is quite attractive.
ReplyDeleteYou should have stayed off motorways and made the journey more interesting.
The livery is attractive, I agree. As for avoiding motorways, we just wanted to reach our destination quickly, not go for a cabby round the countryside - another day, maybe. 😉
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