113 TO ELLAND ROAD AND BACK...

We had an eventful weekend a couple of weeks ago. First, there was an early dart from work, then a trip to Leeds in convoy with R&R in their Kuga to see The Human League live - they were simply outstanding.

Before making a long journey, I did the usual basic checks, including the oil, screen wash, and tyre pressures, which gave me an excuse to test my new digital tyre inflator. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm sad, but I'm okay with it.

The usual process is to use a little analogue gauge to check the tyre pressures and a 12v tyre inflator to approximate the correct PSI. I connected the air hose with the new unit, and the digital screen tells me the current pressure. I selected the desired PSI, and the unit did the rest - brilliant. 

All four tyres had different pressures, one being low and another very high. Thanks to my AA Digital Compressor, they are all exactly right. 

Back to the trip, we missed a trick by not bringing Mitch and Hayley's walkie-talkies. I was following R&R, and it would have been helpful to know exactly where they were on several occasions!

The trip to Leeds was straightforward, except it was at rush hour on a Friday in December, so there was a lot of driving close to people who I'm convinced downloaded their driving licences off the internet. 

The following morning at 4 am, after just 3 hours of sleep, we left Leeds and headed to Dumbarton, 200 miles away. The roads were empty, and Abbie didn't miss a beat, quickly gobbling up the miles. The Bluetooth transmitter meant that the music and satnav were taken care of, as was my arse with the memory foam seat cushion! 

The following day, we headed back 'doon the road,' making the journey from Balloch to Liverpool in 4 hours, stopping at Gretna for coffee. At no point did I worry about the little car; it just kept on without so much of a murmur. 

So that is another 500 miles under Abbie's belt. The weather was terrible all weekend, but she felt surefooted no matter how much rain there was. It was a combination of the excellent Uniroyal Rainsport tyres, the replacement rear bushes, and the correctly fitting shock absorbers.