We were up early, loaded up the two cars and decided to head for Cheltenham for the first part of the journey. I didn't have to worry about finding my way because I followed Ronal, who found his way okay with the help of Claire navigating and a map. We got to Cheltenham okay, unloaded the equipment in the centre of the shopping area, then Ronal and I went off to park the cars. They'd found a spot with benches so that I would have a comfortable spot to listen to them. It was a fine day and I enjoyed myself. I listened to them playing and now and again went walking around the town. It was lovely. Late afternoon we loaded up the cars and looked for a place to eat. We ended up at Sainsburys because they were doing a 2 for price of 1 meal offer in their cafeteria, so the four of us had a meal for under £10. Then we started the next leg of our journey which ended up being a real nightmare. They were playing at Southport International Music festival next day so we had no choice but had to travel that far in one go. It's probably just as well I didn't know that earlier otherwise I wouldn't have enjoyed our time at Cheltenham quite so much!!!
Following Ronal's car was okay until we hit the M5 motorway. Then because of the fast traffic and the amount of cars it was impossible to stay together. Claire was travelling with Ronal and I had Aquiles with me but he was useless as a navigator as he fell asleep almost as soon as we left Cheltenham! I would have been okay except that when we got to Birmingham, the M5 went in two directions and I had to make a split second decision which to take - unfortunately I chose wrong which meant I ended up doing 200 extra unnecessary miles! I tried to nudge Aquiles awake but couldn't do so in time and when I said I may have made a mistake he said "you'll probably be okay" and carried on sleeping!!!! He regretted that later when he realised the extent of my mistake.
We kept going and I couldn't understand why I couldn't find the M6. We ended up at Nottingham, and by this time Aquiles was awake and realised how badly we'd gone wrong. We stopped at a Services and he went into the shop to look at a map and he said we had to drive towards Leicester and hopefully would find the M6. Meanwhile we'd been communicating with Claire in the other car via our mobile phones. They suggested we go back to Birmingham but we were both reluctant to do that as it was quite far and I wasn't convinced I'd get it right even then! We drove all the way to Leicester without finding the M6 and by this time Claire and Ronal had already arrived at Southport. We stopped and bought a map and found our way eventually to the M6 but still had a long way to go to get to Southport. Once on the M6 it was easier, but traffic was phenomenally heavy and as it started to get dark my eyes were really strained, because all the red lights were blurring and there were so many lorries. If I thought that was bad it got worse when it started to rain. From Stoke on Trent to Southport it was a nightmare - the red lights blurred even more in the rain, and we were surrounded by big lorries front, rear and side, all doing 80 miles an hour and only yards apart. I never thought we'd get there in one piece. Even Aquiles was worried and managed to stay awake. He kept me awake and watchful by telling me all about his family in Peru.
We finally reached Southport at midnight and found our way to Claire and Ronal by a series of calls via our mobiles. That night we stayed with a Chilean family, friends of Aquiles - Claire and me in an upstairs bedroom, Aquiles and Ronal on their lounge floor! Next day we decided to find a cafe for breakfast rather than impose on the Chileans who we'd kept awake by being so late the night before, and found one called The Lemon Tree, offering excellent breakfasts. Aquiles chose what sounded like an enormous plater - with steak, gammon steak, black pudding, bacon, sausages, chips, peas and egg for £3.75. When it came we all collapsed laughing as it was a small plate and the steak pieces only one mouthful in size.
We then had a quick look around the town - a lovely seaside town - before making our way to the festival stage and organisers for them to do their sound-checking. As a member of the band, so to speak, I was allowed in the backstage area and even issued with a voucher like them to get free soft drinks and coffee in a nearby bar! We watched all the events that day and when Qosqo did their set on stage, I had a brilliant view just a few yards from the stage, having taken on the role of band photographer and took several photos of them on two cameras. Afterwards we watched the other events and during the course of the afternoon got chatting to two of the dancers - Ellie from Puerto Rico and Maria from Colombia - and Ellie invited us all back to stay at her place for the night.
When the festival was over we piled into our cars and followed her back to her house. We were all drinking and having a laugh in her conservatory when her husband came home but luckily he didn't mind. We all went to a nearby Chinese takeaway and got meals which we took back to the house to eat. Then eight of us piled into Ellie and her husband's cars and they drove us all into Preston where we went to the Caliente Club. We got there just in time for the beginners salsa class which I joined in and thoroughly enjoyed. Afterwards was a general dance to Latin music and it was a most enjoyable evening. We got back to the house around midnight and being such a large house they could easily put up four extra with no problem. I had a very comfortable sofa in an upstairs sitting room.
