Good news and bad news
Well the trip to Glasgow was a nice one. Josh and I packed up my car and we made he journey through the Dales, the Lake District and up the motorway in good time.
Over the next three days we had a good look around the city centre, which is really quite big. We tried out some amazing cafes and the shops. It's a much nicer place than I was expecting, if I'm honest.
On Tuesday we went up to Loch Lomond an explored the surrounding area, and on Wednesday we went to the Auchentochen whisky distillery. It was similar to the one we went to in Aberdeen last year, but I find it really interesting so it was good to see how another place does it. I bought some glasses and everything.
And so to the return journey. It went without a hitch until we turned off the motorway into the Lake District, retracing the route we took on the way up.
The twisty and very narrow road along the side of Ulswater lake was very greasy from the rain. I was only doing 25-30mph when I hit the wet manhole cover on a right-hand bend. The car started to spin and, because the road was so slippery, it just slid exactly as if it was on sheet ice. It spun to the right and the front end smashed into the solid rock face at the side of the road with an incredible bang. Then it spun around again and came to rest in the middle of the road.
The driver of the car I had been following very kindly helped us to push it to the side (the engine started but it wouldn't go into reverse) and only then could I inspect the damage. The entire lower front end was shattered all over the road, the driver's side of the front impact beam was caved in and the bodywork had damaged the alloy wheel and burst the tyre. But the passenger side looked almost completely fine, the airbags hadn't gone off and nothing was leaking. If the gears had worked I might even have been able to change the wheel and drive it into the village.
After the kind man took me to the nearby petrol station and I'd argued with the AA and insurance company, neither of which would help (WTF?) my dad got his friend at KAG in Bradford to send his recovery driver. This meant it was 9:30 by the time we got back.
My car is now being assessed at KAG. I don't know if it's written off as it's not worth all that much, but I'll have to claim for it I think. That means a £400 excess (which I don't have) at a time when I'm moving house. If it's written off then the insurers will pay out, but I'll have to find, buy, tax and insure another car all over again, and it'll be a long time before I can afford to do that.
So that's this holiday successfully spoiled.
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