On Friday afternoon, Mrs Red and I slipped off the surly bonds of care and did an impromptu runner. Taking nought bar a toothbrush, (each) a double sleeping bag, and a dog-eared copy of Readers Digest, we jumped into my van and made our exit, stage south.
Bear with me a moment here while I digress, but Readers Digest went tits up at Chrimbo, Boooo!!
It has now been rescued, and is back on the shelves. Wheeee!!!
OK. Back to the story.
We wended our way south in a dawdley fashion until, (after about an hour's driving) hunger pangs kicked in. Feeling frivolous, we decided to push the boat out a bit, and before you could say "Egon Ronay" we were in a McDonalds, which strangely enough was in an Asda, which in turn was in a retail park in High Wycombe. (Pronounced, according to Mrs Red "He Weecoome")
I ordered
a la carte, but when a pretty young thing asked, "Would you like to go large for 30p?" it seemed rude to refuse, so I didn't.
Soon, my appetite was quelled, and with it, (For now at least) My wanderlust. We decided to find a quiet spot to pitch camp. As we drove from the retail park we passed a cinema, and on a whim we went to see a film called 'Cemetery Junction'. What a Great film!!! It's a laugh out loud, home-grown comedy. Set in the early 70s, it was a real nostalgia trip for us.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemetery_Junction_%28film%29The Cinema in High Wycombe is unusual in that you have to look at a seating plan and decide where you want to sit before you enter the auditorium. What's that about?
We came out of the pictures at about 11pm and decided to call it a day. What with all the food she'd eaten in McDonalds and then all the sweets and ice cream she'd insisted upon having in the cinema, Mrs Red was running out of steam. (She is getting on a bit now) So we found a quiet spot and hit the hay.
Mrs Red went out like a light. I spent an hour or so looking up into an incredibly starry sky (No sign of volcanic ash) and thinking about the 70s.
Eventually, sleep began to draw me into it's soft folds. I didn't surrender easily, I was reluctant to let the moment go.