I will say that I was against the idea of us driving all the way to Sunderland (5hrs with stops) then staying there for 5 hrs and then driving home (6hrs due to 54,000 people all having obviously parked in our car park and going out the same one way system as us.).
I have to say here and now that I feel it was an amazing feat of stamina for my friend Mark to do this all on his own with no assistance from anyone else.
Once away from the centre of Sunderland the journey got easier, the miles flying by as we travelled along the A1(M) well I assume they went flying passed, by the time we left Sunderland and I had got a little stroppy in a man way about how sure I knew the directions, despite the fact that I had never been to Sunderland before (I was right too!).
I woke up at one dark and somewhat dingy service station to find a lonely Northerner sitting behind inch thick Plexiglas mouthing that they had no toilets there. So back off to asleep till the next service station. On arrival it was a little spooky, apart from the large row of HGVs there was not a sole in sight. There was a faint glow coming from the doorway of a small and tatty enterance That no matter what you did to it would never be the most welcoming of sights, even in the bright sunny afternoon in the middle of summer, so at 2.00am on a cloudy and windy night it didn’t really shout ‘come in all travellers and feel at home’ it sort of said ‘well you can come in if you want, just don’t blame us for what happens when you get in here!
I thought it best that we at least went in in pairs, just in case…
I followed Mark in to a dim and dirty hallway, noticing that all the shops were closed and shuttered, I took no real notice of this though as my attention was taken by the ongoing alarm that rang through the building. Strange noises got louder, the light seemed to dim and the whole place seemed a little threatening. A this point I decided that I did not actually need the toilet that badly and it would definitely last another 2 1/2 hours cramped in the car. Just to ensure Mark’s safety I hung around in the entrance way. Fortunately it was not long before Mark emerged and we were able to leave, even the long row of HGVs appeared threatening, it felt that at any moment the ‘Happy Moto’ staff and lorry drivers would lurch out trying to grab us back into the Zombie world we had narrowly escaped. I was extremely glad when we got the doors locked and back out on to the road.
