It’s the bank Holiday weekend, the weather is glorious, the suns beaming down and the birds are singing. It truly is weather worthy of slapping on the suntan lotion, sunglasses and for the brave people getting out those pasty winter legs. (I am not one of the brave ones).
Bank Holiday Travel….
Families all across Britain are out in their gardens enjoying the rare sunny weather, children are playing and BBQ’s are on the go. We, like many other families,are sat in a sweltering car in a traffic jam heading from Leeds to Scarborough, were I think practically everyone else is heading by the look of the queue ahead.
My husband who is the driver for the day is deeply regretting not stopping at the last service station (because he needs the toilet) and the kids are complaining about the Supermarket own brand Diet Coke I have been handing out! OK, maybe I shouldn’t have cut corners trying to save cash on that one.
Looking out of the window all I can see is car after car and people getting out of their cars to get refreshments from the boots of their vehicles, whilst on the Motorway may I add.
My husband had spent a few hours before we set off making a compilation of his favourite songs to play in the car whilst on our journey. The funny thing is it doesn’t work in our CD player. So, he is having to endure listening to my 80’s music instead, this appears to be winding him up ha!
My youngest son has turned the back seat of the car into a portable version of his bedroom, with gadgets and gizmo’s everywhere. How our poor car battery will cope! with the additional charging required to keep his moving bedroom powered throughout the journey.
With his headphones on, my son is in his element. My husband keeps getting ridiculously excited when the car in front starts to move, even if it only is at a snail’s pace and for about half a yard.
My Husbands face is a picture!
When an articulated lorry attempts to pull in front of us my husband’s face is a picture and some very choice words flow quite loudly from his mouth.
I am slowly running out of in-car excitement when all of a sudden the song ‘Gold’ by Spandau Ballet comes on the radio. This instantly changes the mood for a short time and sparks in-car karaoke.
Even though it seems to be only me singing , very loudly and to my family’s extreme embarrassment, I can tell because the car windows close rapidly . The dog in the car at the side of us with his head hanging out for air even looks fed up! (I don’t think the poor pooch can hear my singing).
After a further 30 minutes without moving the need for the toilet is now getting more desperate and the bushes by the side of the road are looking very inviting.
My husband’s conspiracy for what is causing this traffic jam from hell has gone from an accident ahead to a fire after seeing a cloud of thick black smoke in the distance, only to realise the smoke was coming from a Steam Train out for a Bank Holiday. (This made us all laugh, another no no when you need the toilet!)
What Games do you play in Traffic Jams?
To my horror, my husband decided we were going to play charades, I don’t think he has realised you actually need space to act out the charades, but he continued with the game anyway. At this point I was losing the will to live!
We started to move and pass two cars on the side of the road that have broken down and wonder if this has been the cause of the traffic jam?
Sadly not, as there is still no end to the traffic just car after car. Without a toilet break in sight I was sat with legs crossed, joining the other thousands of Brits with their buckets and spades attempting to get to the seaside for some Bank Holiday fun. Our journey from Leeds to Scarborough by car was supposed to take 1 hour 33 minutes and it actually had taken us just over 3 hours in total with the bank holiday traffic jams.
I suppose the morale of this story is set off a little earlier to escape the massive influx of people heading to the coast over the bank holiday weekends.
I have to ask myself why do we do this, queuing, waiting for hours to arrive at the seaside? I suppose it’s because we are British and that is how we roll!
Hi! Stopping by from Mom Bloggers Club. Great blog!
Have a nice day!
Thanks, that is very sweet of you!
I hate going anywhere on bank holidays for that exact reason I don’t think there is much worse than hours sat in a hot car. As for games we are stuck playing eye spy with my daughter on any journey so that would be what we ended up doing.
I am never ever doing it again. We did manage to find a roadside cafe with a toilet eventually! I used to Love eyespy as a kid.Thanks for your message.
Oh man, bank holiday driving SUCKS! Did anyone get to use the loo in the end? Hope the trip was worth it in the end. I concluded many years ago that any long drives should be done in the wee hours of the morning, or at the dead of night.
I spend far too much time in my car as it is, doing silly short journeys around south London. Two miles can sometimes take the best part of an hour. It is crazy! Especially with a toddler and a preschooler on board.
Big sympathies for your bungled car journey. I would have been rocking out to Whitesnake if it was us!
#BrilliantBlogPosts
I definitely will not be driving on Bank Holiday again! I did end up getting to a cafe by the side of the road for drink and toilet break, although in the ladies there was only one toilet in order with a queue of over 20 people. I did nearly go to the mens but I stuck it out! Two miles taking nearly an hour is ridiculous.Thanks for commenting!
haha… thanks for the morning laugh! My husband never wants to go far for bank holidays and I am always trying to negotiate a trip further afield! Having been stuck with a full bladder in a traffic jam I can say it’s a pretty miserable experience! Thanks for linking up with #YorkshireFamily
No problem! I am taking a bottle next time ha! They should make porter potties for the family car or do they? Thank you for commenting Rachel X
We were coming the opposite direction! I posted a status on Facebook warning family and friends not to bother trying. That was around 11.30ish we reached the York roundabout. X
I wish I had known, albeit we were going away for the week but traffic on the way to Scarborough is terrible. I suppose it shows what a popular destination it actually is. Timing is everything when going for the day though.
My parents live just off the A64 right at a point where the traffic is often very bad so I’ve suffered that dreadful traffic to the East coast many times! It’s never ever worth it lol.
We went to scarborough last week – mid week- and still ahd a little bit for traffic from York. My mummy sympathises with the bladder issue, she had to pee at the side of the road! YUK!! #YorkshireFamily
I also had a bad trip with my family on bank holidays as in your story, I hate to sit in the car for hours with the hot weather, it’s like torturing me.