Friday, I travelled back to South Wales for Mum’s funeral. I’d set the alarm for 5am, woke at 4.30, so got up and got on with it. I was on the road by 5.30, hoping to have a leisurely drive, and be able to fill up with petrol and a coffee once I got to Cardiff (capital city of Wales). My only concern, was maybe being a lone car at that time of day on the motorway. No danger of that! I’d just got onto the motorway and was immediately stuck in traffic. After an hour, I’d gone about 12 miles. It took another 30 minutes before I was clear of an accident. I read this morning that 5 people were injured in an incident on Friday morning, and I’m assuming it’s the one I was stuck in. I wish them all a speedy recovery, especially the one seriously injured. Copious roadworks, and traffic and a journey that should have taken 2 and a half hours, took 4 hours. I arrived at my kid sister’s house with 10 minutes to spare before we left for the crematorium.

It was a nice service, and everyone was (mostly) well behaved. There were some tears, but also a lot of messing around afterwards which I didn’t think was appropriate. Maybe it’s just me? My brother and his adult brood were going to the pub but thankfully my sister and partner didn’t want to join them, and we retired to theirs for a nice quiet lunch.

The journey home was no better than the journey there in that I got onto the M4 and was immediately in stationery traffic. It took me an hour to drive the 14 miles to my junction, in stop start traffic in sweltering heat. No accidents, simply the usual bottleneck at Newport. West bound traffic was fairing no better. If the Welsh Assembly Government really want to make South Wales attractive and viable for business and tourism, they really need to sort out the bottleneck at Newport which frankly, is mainly a dump. I can say this, I lived there for 10 years – the outskirts anyway.

I stopped very briefly at the services where I join the M5 and carried on in terrible traffic and temperatures that frequently reached 31C. How I regretted not having AC installed when I’d bought my car initially. Tempers were frayed, and it showed in people’s driving. I was in no hurry, just wanted to get home and out of the heat. Again, it took me 4 hours for the journey. In many ways, not a good day, however it was nice to see my kid sister for a few hours and we now have closure.

I got home, unloaded the car, dumped everything on the dining room floor, and hit the shower for a very long, cool shower. Man, it felt good. Once downstairs, I found my son had already put the oven on and was making us dinner. He’s a good lad.

I ache this morning, from the drive, and I doubt I’ll ever do a round trip again in the same day. It’s not a huge distance, however it only takes an accident, or roadworks, or sheer volume of traffic to turn it into an arduous journey and I’m not getting any younger. The train might be better, however they’re prohibitively expensive most of the day, and you’re captive to strikes, delays, and maybe not even getting a seat. No wonder there’s so much traffic on the roads.

This morning we have wind, and a smattering of rain, and we’re forecast a wet and windy weekend with falling temperatures. Well, I won’t hold my breath. Have a good weekend.