July 1: Ferry to Dover, Up the Motorway

We broke camp at Ostende on a clear morning. We boarded th ferry about 9:15 AM for the 10:15 sailing. The sky was clear and the channel was as smooth as a lake- you could have water skiied on it. Out on the channel a little fog made the horizon hazy but the sky above was almost cloudless. It was probably as good weather as the Channel ever has. At about 2PM we docked at Dover after a good view of the famous white cliffs.

The customs official only asked how long we would be in Britain, what I planned to do with car before leaving the UK, and whether I had any gifts for persons in the UK. We were at the edge of Dover headed out at 2:45 PM.

We drove northward following the AA route which took us through the Dartford-Purfleet Tunnel (2/6 toll) and through the outskirts of London. It was rather hectic since it was about 5PM when we hit the developed areas around London, but with the AA map and with Brenda as navigator we sailed on through smoothly.

We reached motorway-type roads where we saw no Bed n' Breakfasts or hotels so we decided to drive on north on the M1, a splendid 6 lane divided highway. We continued on the M45 and A45 to Coventry, reaching there a little after 8 PM. We drove around about an hour looking for a suitable hotel and finally found one after we had given up and were driving out of town about 9:30 PM.