Goodbye!! - Em's final blog!
11 days to departure and this will be the final blog from me for over five weeks! It's getting a bit close now and since coming back from Norway my thoughts have never been too far away from our departure date on April 1st. our five weeks of pulk pulling, extreme cold and 18 hour long days of trekking and living in close proximity of the 'other two'!
Last Friday we took part in our final Annie Othen show on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire. This was a two hour extravagansa and both Al and I managed to shame ourselves during the first hour as we took part in the Red Nose day quiz. Our 60's & 70's entertainment knowledge seemed to let us down, perhaps understandably, however our ability to distinguish ten different animal noises proved a little tricky too with us incorrectly guessing thesheep noise. Our suggestions of a goat and calf seemed a little pathetic to say the least! The remainder of the show proved a little more rewarding and we have built up a good relationship with Suzie the producer and Annie, to whom we would like to thank for their support!
Saturday was a fantastic day. Our full breakfast at the infamous Alfonso’s got us off to a good start and we were flying high! Our lorry pull practice session went so well that we decided to pull two lorries and that seemed fine to...or at least until 1407 hrs! With the lorries flying down the
drive way at Squab we thought that our loyal supporters were going to start throwing tomatoes at us for such an easy task, however, this soon changed. As the front wheel struck a ridge in the driveway and we came to a fantastic stop! However much we tried we couldn't move the lorries - to the point that I thought the old man (dad) had put the handbrake on...so with a little help from Tony engaging the first gear, we were able to carry on. Thank you so much for the support to those of you who turned up - that was really appreciated!
The final part to the day involved us gathering at the Fox in Leamington for the Welsh drumming of the English (joke - it was a cracking match to watch) and our leaving bash. We had around thirty people descending on Leamington for what was a relatively low profile affair and I think with a little bit of Rio's thrown in for good measure we all had a brilliant night.
So that's it - our final piece of news before departure date. I can't believe that we have got here at last, after so much planning, money being spent, training weekends and discussions with everyone that you talk to. The really heartening thing is the fact that we have raised around £30K for charity and we have gained about half of our £57K entry fee.
I am going to just thank a few people in advance for supporting me whilst I shall be away. All of the guys at the business who I have full confidence in to keep the Squab ship sailing in a straight line and in particular my family - running a business has all sorts of pressures and without my brother, father and mother I wouldn't have even contemplated this! Thank you.
Finally on behalf of all us I am wanting to thank our sponsors and in particular our friends for humouring our every discussion about this quest...we can't wait to come and tell you all about it!
Last Friday we took part in our final Annie Othen show on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire. This was a two hour extravagansa and both Al and I managed to shame ourselves during the first hour as we took part in the Red Nose day quiz. Our 60's & 70's entertainment knowledge seemed to let us down, perhaps understandably, however our ability to distinguish ten different animal noises proved a little tricky too with us incorrectly guessing thesheep noise. Our suggestions of a goat and calf seemed a little pathetic to say the least! The remainder of the show proved a little more rewarding and we have built up a good relationship with Suzie the producer and Annie, to whom we would like to thank for their support!
Saturday was a fantastic day. Our full breakfast at the infamous Alfonso’s got us off to a good start and we were flying high! Our lorry pull practice session went so well that we decided to pull two lorries and that seemed fine to...or at least until 1407 hrs! With the lorries flying down the
drive way at Squab we thought that our loyal supporters were going to start throwing tomatoes at us for such an easy task, however, this soon changed. As the front wheel struck a ridge in the driveway and we came to a fantastic stop! However much we tried we couldn't move the lorries - to the point that I thought the old man (dad) had put the handbrake on...so with a little help from Tony engaging the first gear, we were able to carry on. Thank you so much for the support to those of you who turned up - that was really appreciated!
The final part to the day involved us gathering at the Fox in Leamington for the Welsh drumming of the English (joke - it was a cracking match to watch) and our leaving bash. We had around thirty people descending on Leamington for what was a relatively low profile affair and I think with a little bit of Rio's thrown in for good measure we all had a brilliant night.
So that's it - our final piece of news before departure date. I can't believe that we have got here at last, after so much planning, money being spent, training weekends and discussions with everyone that you talk to. The really heartening thing is the fact that we have raised around £30K for charity and we have gained about half of our £57K entry fee.
I am going to just thank a few people in advance for supporting me whilst I shall be away. All of the guys at the business who I have full confidence in to keep the Squab ship sailing in a straight line and in particular my family - running a business has all sorts of pressures and without my brother, father and mother I wouldn't have even contemplated this! Thank you.
Finally on behalf of all us I am wanting to thank our sponsors and in particular our friends for humouring our every discussion about this quest...we can't wait to come and tell you all about it!
March ‘07