InvictaMoto's Family Travels

It looks as though DFDS are axing routes all across Europe.   Firstly we knew that the LD Lines ferry to Spain had been chopped, then in the email exchange I had with them I found out that Tilbury to Gothenburg had gone too. Earlier I had a look on the public website and the only alternative for us in southern England, Harwich to Denmark was also finished. The options now are very limited thanks to this and Scandinavia is getting to be difficult to get to! Valhalla in  '15 is doomed. That's unless the propsoed Norwgian Seaways crossing to Bergen finally materialises and if Regina Lines actually gets off the ground next year.

Plan B is pretty much the stuff that Plan A is made of, except different.  We have decided to "see" more of the "must see" sights/sites so the five nights after Punta Gorda have taken on a different complexion. So instead of heading south we have decided to go to Orlando so we can visit Epcot and maybe one of the less thrill seeker parks and then across to Canaveral to have a day at the Kennedy Space Center.  Until I started entering the hotel locations and sights into Tyre I didn't realise that they aren't too far apart.  This year, the drive to Key West was out longest drive and that was from Weston near Fort Lauderdale. Half a day in both directions although that included stops to see the Dolphins and to eat. The longest run this time will be from the east to west coasts on the penultimate day, Port Canaveral to Clearwater Beach. Of course, plans are there to be changed...... Plan B

Back in 1991 on my first ever visit to Florida, one of the trips I made, with friend Carol Belcher from Burger King HQ, was made in her Ohio registered Toyota Corolla, and we went to Orlando, staying on International Drive and we did two theme parks, Universal Studios and Epcot. Not being a great scary ride fanatic, I thought Epcot was a really good day out.  So what better place to go and see what has changed. So accordingly, I have been onto my favourite booking.com and looked for reasonably priced hotel within east reach of Epcot that gets decent reviews.  Enter the Rodeway Inn Maingate. A chain motel looking place.  Booked for two nights to give us a whole day at Epcot or whatever else takes our fancy...... As usual it is "pay later, free cancellation" and meets my other requirements of being over 7/10 in the reviews and has free parking and wifi! Back of the net!

A few days and I have made another slight amendment.  This year the Mustang only proved to be a PITA as the boot (trunk) was only able to take a single large suitcase and the small hand luggage case, as long as you put it in by some sort of luggage contortionist way. On the way back to the airport and the day before, we had two cases and one had to go onto the back seat!  This wouldn't be a problem if we had a fixed apartment or hotel, as we have some days "on the road" maybe the Mustang isn't going to be the right vehicle. Head has to overrule the heart!   So it was back the travel sites to see that would be an alternative. Or take one case maybe? This year we had booked a Dodge Charger and then didn't need too much persuasion to trade up to the Mustang.  The Chargers we saw there looked pretty good and the Highway Patrol was using them too, although I doubt they had the box standard rental car model. So what to do? The two companies that came out ...

So once the week in Punta Gorda comes to an end we have to decide what to do for the other 5 nights before the flight home. Currently we have started to look further down the Gulf Coast and so I have a booked a couple of nights near Naples. but the wanderlust to see more things has started to bite and although at the time of writing there are 221 days to go. Currently I have the Fairways Inn of Naples and Wyndham Garden in Fort Myers Beach that leave a single night to look at.......

Had another look today to compare Alamo's rates and some of the other sites such as Travelsupermarket.com etc. and the rates seem to have changed magically overnight! Incredible I hear you cry, but no, don't titter (© Frankie Howerd).  I checked Fort Myers first to see if it was a cheaper site to Tampa and the Alamo rate for the Mustang (yes I know) came out at $631.50 for the fortnight including all the insurance stuff.... I was so surprised that I emailed them!  I asked them if there were any nasty surprises on collection! So that ought to be the car sorted!  The offer says "Ford Mustang or similar", The similar might be the Chrysler 200.  That looks to be pretty much a good alternative, but the Mustang is, well, a Mustang. Chrysler 200  

Looking for a car for the trip. Doesn't need to be the Mustang we had last time but something that can take two cases and be kinda comfortable. And American? This year we went with Alamo. The 16 days of the rental was about $850. So when I logged into my account with Alamo for the same weeks except on 15 days rental I naively thought something around that ball park. I hadn't expected the Mustang to come out at nearer $1100! They can swivel on that.  Why did I look for the Mustang considering paragraph one above? Only because a mundane Impala or similar was showing at over $800. My winter project will be to watch around for a better deal. Maybe one where they give a f*ck if their car breaks down.  AAA cover is extra. For the daily rate x 15 I can join the RAC in UK for a year at the highest level! Logging out, clearing cookies and then trying as a new customer is maybe a single solitary dollar more! Looks lik...

After breakfast on Sunday we decided to head south to the Baie de la Somme, and to Le Crotoy in particular. A couple of years ago we had a short visit there on the way back from Normandy. Although the obvious non-motorway route was to go down the D940 coast road to Le Touquet and Berck sur Mer, TomTom had other ideas and we ventured away from the coast into nowhere, or the hinterland between the N1 and the coast. In the end a road closure actually forced us back to the coast road in any case!  The first stop had actually been on the outskirts of St Leonard, the town that adjoins Boulogne. It was to fill the tank with refreshing French diesel. At €1.242 - litre I was saddened to only get €60 to fill up the pipe. There is a flap to stop overfilling. That price equates to about 98p a litre! At home at the local supermarket it is about 34p a litre more!!!! After eating out twice the day before we decided to have a picnic instead. The weather was good with temps around 22C a...

Way back in the spring we went to a free travel show at the Dover Ferry Terminal and as usual entered loads of competitions to win cruises and holiday. In the end we did get a lucky a free night at the Youth Hostel in Boulogne sur Mer. Over the last thirty or more years I have stayed at loads of hostels in mainland UK and across in Europe. Most have been really good and some average but none have been a let-down. In some places, they are really cheaper alternatives to hotels but you have to choose well. Also at the show was a small stand from Douai (pron. Doo-eye) in the Nord region of France. Although we had forgotten the leaflets and what they had to offer we decided to go and have a look. The run down from the Shuttle was pretty good and the Insignia cruised along without a hiccup. Douai though has little to offer! The tourist office furnished us with a map and we saw there were two trails and so we chose the shorted one, estimated at an hour, plus had a quick detour into t...