Kempers wash up

[Jerry & Di]

Phew
What a weekend for us oldies.
Bad news for Art and Mark. Art had his white F totaled by a BMW not giving way. Occupants shaken but not broken.
Mark deserves a medal. Picked up his car late Fri pm, left Sat at 01.00 for Dover docks. They wouldn't let him in so he slept in the car!
All went well until Sun morning when it seemed like a hose let loose. Total water loss. he was behind us so I didn't see. He then had to scrape the car off the road, low loader it to an ex MG-R dealer, get a hire car to Calais, then swop for a UK hire car, race to Dunkirk to meet us for the last ferry back. He has to get the hire car back to Exeter this am, and sort out the pieces left behind. He seems to have taken it in his stride, but I would be furious.
Fantastic trip, respect to Adrian and Dawn, and the Belgium guys. Rock concert outside our bedroom window. Boney M Never mind, puts us in the mood for C t C disco. Gave out some Coast flyers to those coming.
Road book on Sunday was daunting for Diane, at one point she was going to jump out and get a taxi home, but she conquered it fantastically, and we were one of the few to complete the whole trip without cheating. (Like putting in the destination in satnav, and driving to the finish.)
Drive to the ferry a bit scarey, topping out at 115 mph, camera flashes
Home at 03.30......................sleep..................coffee

[SWMG Admin]

Too much for me in such a short time methinks as im'e a wimp, ;D

Gutted for Art and poor Mark,i wonder if problem will point to garage where Mark just had job done? very sad end , Dave

[Jerry & Di]

Forgot lots of things - like the individual wrapped Belgium MGF chocolates for each person.....mmmmm
Have taken orders for the cubby box, looking for an export agent now ;D Highest price offered was £45
Belgian MGF lady wanted my exhaust, and wanted to know if I was an agent for Mike Satur
Pedestrians don't have the right of way on a crossing, but bikes do
Belgian pave is rough, I can see why UK mfrs used to test in Belgium!
Really professional organisation, sponsored by some advertisers ( got to learn some lessons here RL)
Lots more, but probably bored by now

[blueroadster]

Home again safe and very tired,but I've got this nasty feeling that I've forgotten something-oh yeah my car!As far as I know,it's still at a MG dealer in Leuven waiting to be assessed/fixed.My wife had a phone call this afternoon from the Belgian AA asking where the keys were!!!When I left the car the dealership was closed (Sunday afternoon) so I had to put the key and remote in an envelope with my details and post it into a mailbox outside the building,there was no letterbox on the building itself.I can see this going tits up!
I'm too tired to be angry or sad and I'm OK,poor Art and his wife (Christine I think) lost their 04TF and ended up in hospital-but not seriously injured thankfully.Huge thanks again to James and Fiona for their help and to the others who stopped to help/show support.I'll update this when I get more news.Mark.

[SWMG Admin]

Fingers and toes crossed for you Mark, still can't believe this happened to you, when you come to a bit, what do you think happened?, was it just a hose do you think? have you told garage who did the work what happend,what is/was there response,Dave

[Floozy]

Sounds like you had a great, if busy , time Jerry - look forward to pics and snippits as they flood back to you

Mark, that's so totally unfair, pay a fortune to get it fixed in time then it all goes tits up!

[Jerry & Di]

floozy said:

Sounds like you had a great, if busy , time Jerry - look forward to pics and snippits as they flood back to you

Mark, that's so totally unfair, pay a fortune to get it fixed in time then it all goes tits up!

Took my OBD11 tool with me, had to use for a cat fault on a TF. Good job I had done cam belt, hoses etc before we went. This trip took no prisoners, I think we all came out of it (except poor Mark) well. The timetable was tight, it would have really been better over three days. Adrian is planning this already for next year when we go on to do the Stelvio, Ferrari visit, and drive on roof of FIAT building
The car looks like a WRC competitor, mud all over it from single track farm roads. Car was really good on these roads, handles well, good grip on loose surfaces etc. Lots of local out to watch
Took around 50 pics, don't know how to share them?

[Floozy]

have you registered with something like 'photobucket.com'?

.... I shall post separately about your diagnosic tool

[Jerry & Di]

Oh, and another thing.
We couldn't use our VISA cards on Sunday at unmanned petrol stations when we were belting for the ferry. We had to "mug" a local, who used his card and we paid him in Euros ;D
He said he couldn't use his in Germany. So much for EU commonality

[SWMG Admin]

Oh i do love Wales ;D

[Sallie]

I assume Jay and James both got back in one piece. Been no sound from either of them telling us of their great adventure. Hurry, we want to hear more!
Sal

[Mike H]

Sleeping all day probably Sal.

Nice to know where their priorities lie! ;D

[Fiona]

I think I remember Jay saying something a while ago about staying on in Belgium for a few days as she was going to make a bit of a holiday of it.

Perhaps she can't bear to leave the chocolates behind....

[blueroadster]

Jay and James were on the ferry back with us,Jay was going to stay with her mum in Chichester and James was staying somewhere before returning to Minehead,so I guess they will be in touch later.

[Jerry & Di]

We counted them out, and we counted them back again.
Andie was going to stay another night!