Kitty, Stephen, & Willow Lose Their Way

so.................. last time...........

"Kitty and I had hardly got home and got our jobs done when we were off again..... this time we were back to Thornborough Henge to celebrate the Autumn Equinox or Mabon".

..... and so we were off again, Kitty and I (and Stephen too) ..... this time heading up the A1 on a Friday lunchtime in September.  but Stephen SatNav didn't seem to know that the A1 has been altered several months ago even though I had uploaded new maps *groan*.

there we were.... driving along.... and I realise we are near junction 50 and thought that we should be coming off at J50.  but Stephen said that we had to go on another 4+ miles before coming off.  so...... being very dependent on the modern technology that is the SatNav to get me around, I listened.

the display on Stephen showed us grass-tracking and nowhere near the A1...... but obviously we were on the motorway (Kitty isn't really built for grass-tracking... and I'm not really brave enough to try it anyway).

'Stephen', I said, 'where are we going?'  ......

'in 100 yards turn right' said Stephen.   'we are on the motorway Stephen..... we can't turn right!!'  I replied.

'in 100 yards turn left' he said.  'there isn't a left turn Stephen we are on the motorway with no slip-road anywhere near never mind 100 yards away!'

 'turn around when possible' was his reply!   'TURN AROUND???   we are on a MOTORWAY!!!'  was my yell..... as if my shouting at a SatNav was going to make any difference whatsoever.

so...... what do you do when your SatNav gets all confused?  you have to make a decision.  but maybe I made the wrong one as I decided to come off at junction 51 and work my way back along the minor roads.  with hindsight I probably should have got myself back on the A1 going south and come off at junction 50.... but we make these decisions hoping that our intuition doesn't let us down like the SatNav just did.

so here we are with the A1 now on our left and trying to pick our way along the little country roads that are North Yorkshire at its best.  and now what does Stephen say?  'turn around when possible'.... 'turn right.... turn left'.  and what do I say?  'oh shut up Stephen!!!'  I was tempted to throw him out of the window .... but I thought he just might pick up a route to our destination.  "did he?"  I hear you ask.  NO...... he didn't...... so for miles I carried on along country roads trying to find a signpost for Thornborough Henge....(English Heritage seem to have abandoned the beautiful site in favour of more 'money-making' site such as Stonehenge.... *sigh*)..... so no signs will point you to Thornborough Henge.

after what seems like an eternity but was probably only 30 minutes Stephen finally picked up a route for me.  by now I am really panicking as I was meant to meet friends at 2pm so that we could save spaces for those who had to work Friday and couldn't come until late Friday night or Saturday morning.  not only were we celebrating the Equinox but we were celebrating someone's 50th birthday.... so it was a big occasion.  by now it was 2.30pm.  I began to recognise the scenery as I had been for the Beltane celebrations in May... so I started to relax and before I knew it I was greeted at the entrance to the Henge by a man with a long grey beard in a high-vis jacket (no.... not Father Time.... but Cat.... a lovely man who volunteers to greet people and show them where to park).

none of my friends had arrived so I waited by the gate talking to Cat and a lovely fae-like lady for around half an hour before I decided to park up and get the kettle on.  one by one friends started to arrive..... each one telling the story of being sent down to junction 51 by their SatNav instead of coming off at junction 50!!!

next time I'll make sure I write down travelling instructions and use a MAP.   in the words of Sir Alan............. Stephen!...... you're fired!!!!

more adventures soon :-)

blessings, Willow x