Recent travels

Recently I have gone along with my husband Steve on some work trips again. I used to nearly always go with him both to help out and for company on long trips. That came to a halt during the last few years of Steve's mum's slow downward spiral when I stayed home to be her prime carer until her death in December 2014. There was a lot to take care of after her death due to the fact that she had kept every birthday and Christmas card, every invoice from every store she ever telephone shopped at since the flood. Going through a departed persons belongings is not something that can be done quickly. It has to be done carefully just in case there is something important in amongst all the papers that have been tied in bundles, carefully wrapped, placed in an outer bag and tied again. Most of it does get burned as its sorted. Bank statements going back to wartime and all sorts of useless documents. Letters sent and received. EVERY letter ever received. Some charming loving letters from wartime and a few sweet letters from her nephew Michael when he was at boarding school, writing to ask his aunt and uncle to send him some sweeties. Every photo ever taken. You would not believe how tightly and cleverly all these items can be hidden away.
Even though I am the daughter-in-law, it is still an emotional job and after plodding away at it for a month or so, I had to slow it down to a measured amount a week so that I could return to some sort of life of my own. It is now fourteen months since Caroline Mary Belt died at the age of 94. I have nowhere near completed sorting out her papers that were so tightly stored away. Now, I just take a handful out every few weeks and hope to eventually get to the end.
Even though we were not always on the most friendly terms, I was for sure the one she would call when she felt unwell or when something private needed doing. I may not have been her number one loved one, but I know for sure that I was her most trusted and dependable choice of person. Still after all this time I find myself close to tears writing about all this. One can only do ones best and plod on day after day through whatever life throws at you.

So now and again I can now drop everything and join Steve on a work trip because I do not have to make any complicated arrangements to leave home any more. I am more or less free again, to be my own person and a wife/companion once more.

Last week our work travels took us from our business premises and off through the channel tunnel in one of our work vehicles. Karlsruhe in Germany and on to Markdorf close to the border with Switzerland for deliveries. It was Fasching in Germany so that was quite fun to see all the people dressed up in a variety of costumes for the traditional pre-lent fling and I would say more than a little over indulgence.

From Markdorf we drove back into the Black Forrest for our second overnight stop near Hinterzarten.

Thick snow fell during that afternoon and into the night to leave a foot of snow. Thankfully the road for cleared for us to start our journey the next day. The one place we had to pick up goods was a scrap metal yard in the flea market of Saint Ouen in Paris, very close to where the recent terrorist shoot out was that was the main news item a few weeks before. The last delivery due to an unexpected change of plan had us driving back toward and a little beyond Bordeux before we were finally able to head along the long road home.

 

To make the journey pass quickly we take several audio books with us and that is a help and a half with the endless motorway miles. My husband and I are best friends as well as husband and wife and love to be together and so the work trips are improved with the company of one to another, sharing a coffee, a meal or an overnight stop. We both love to travel together and are both Cartophiles which is a name we use to describe people who, like us, love maps.

Yes, it is nice to get home again and sleep in our own bed, but we both enjoy travelling even when it involves work.