The first job was to take the dogs for their morning walk, then it was time to sort out some breakfast. I was just about to put some bread in the toaster when on the spur of the moment I decided to go round to the riverside cafe at Daylock Marine - I don't often eat fried things which resemble a heart attack on a plate, and I'd already had one cooked breakfast that weekend, but I figured if I had another that morning then I wouldn't need to stop for a meal on the way home. Anyway, it's nice to treat myself sometimes, and even nicer when I can sit in the sunshine by a river with lovely scenery to look at. It was very peaceful sitting there with the dogs so it was with great reluctance I drove back to the site, but before I made a start on packing things away I had a final walk round with the camera and took a few more shots round the lakes.
One of the best things about being on my own is only having my own stuff to put away, and wherever I put it that's where it stays, so once I made a start it only took just over an hour to get the van completely packed up and ready for the road. A few minutes drive away from the site was a lovely riverside walk at Huntingdon, so I headed for there to give Sophie and Sugar a final run before hitting the road for home. By that time the clouds had all but disappeared, leaving a bright blue sky which was perfect for photographs, so the camera came with me for one last time.
From the car park near the main road the footpath passed a large playing field then followed the river, passing through an area of trees and shrubs then crossing an expanse of open grassland before disappearing into another wooded area. I walked to the far end of the grassland before turning round and retracing my route back to the van - it was very peaceful along the riverside, and with no passing boats the surface of the water was so still that in many places it looked just like a mirror.
Back at the van I settled Sophie and Sugar on their beds, put on one of my favourite cds which I could sing along to, then set out for A14 which would lead me to the A1 and northwards towards home. Just over an hour into the journey I pulled into a roadside petrol station to get some fuel - the dogs were quiet in the back of the van, so with a couple of cans of Coke to keep me going I made it all the way back home without stopping again. Reality kicked in when I pulled up outside my front gate, and within half an hour of arriving home I was loading up the dishwashers at work as though I had never been away!
