TYRED AND EMOTIONAL. ....2 DAYS OF TRAUMA AND A SWEDISH BLOWOUT.

Wed 1st.june 2016

Tuesday
The day started well with more lovely sunshine and a forecast of 24° but then I hit the roadworks  where they had left something like a triple sleeping  policeman, 12" high at 20mph.
Derek who was following said I  went 4ft in the air. The resulting return to earth shook us rigid and I was convinced that major damage was done. Happily the only casualties were the cycle rack number plate which is now attached with cable ties, and the clothes racks in the shower which dislodged their contents onto the floor......the the GF decided to turn on the electrics, incl the water pump, and as the falling clothes had caught he shower handle,  pulling it on,  she managed to subject a lot of clothes to a shower.......been here before.  Shutting everything down limited the damage to a mere wetting rather than a soaking.....hey ho.
No major damage was evident, although the cycle rack must have been subject o an incredible  force and was worrying ......
Rest of the day was another monotonous drive, no elks, until 30 miles from STENO the landscape changed dramatically and the campsite was a joy........on a lake, lovely scenery,  just what we came for.....could have stayed here for 2 days rather than Stockholm. .....
Wednesday
Another bright and sunny morning.......
I was in front on an undulating,scenic road,  unlike the last 10 days, when I realised that Derek  was not appearing in my mirrors.  Pulled over to wait and when they didn't appear after 5 mins, turned back. ....just as the phone rang to say that they had had a blow out and where sitting on the road behind us. Others had stopped when they saw them and a lot of others  from our group  and other motorhomers on the road slowed down to offer assistance which was heartwarming to say the least. We contacted the Swedish breakdown service and the AA in France who were brilliant in coordinating events and liased with the Swedes to set up an account of £1000 credit to cover the cost of recovery which was likely to cost 5000 SEK, about £500....so top marks to Safeguard Ins (our insurers too) and the AA. The rescue truck arrived in about 2 hours, removed the the wheel and to D to a depot for a new tyre ...1300 SEK or £120..
Luckily, D had stopped before the tyre completely left the rim otherwise the resulting flailing would have removed a large chunk of plastic bodywork and maybe damaged the shock absorbers. So we sat on the E4 amongst very heavy traffic for another hour until they returned .
Setting off in high spirits, in 2 km we discovered the E4 to be completely shut down due to a major accident so another frustrating delay and then the Tomtom figured a way round that all the locals knew anyway.....so single track road with 45 tonne lorries in each direction....hey ho.

So our 3 hour drive became an 8 hour drive. Everybody was fantastic and D&M entertained all  and sundry to say thank you. Excellent campsite at SOLLEFTEÅ,again lakeside.

Played bridge last night and lost but refused to part with any money on principle.....so still ahead, and with the prices around here it's just as well.