Road Closed

 We had a leisurely start to the day. There was no hurry. The first item of the day was the "cousins' call" on Zoom. We had the most of the usual suspects and had a nice chat about all and sundry... jabs, boosters, Aussie lockdowns (or the release thereof), masks, and all the usual general silliness that makes the calls such fun.

Late morning the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox headed out. We were due to meet J&T in Chiddingfold for lunch. This is usually a 40 minute drive, but not today. There were traffic controls at a junction near Boxgrove which added and extra five minutes or so to the journey. The we found the A286 was closed near Duncan and had to divert off down some single track roads. These meant numerous dips into passing places to accommodate oncoming traffic. It also meant hitting a pothole that went all the way down to earth's core. The Gorse Fox was amazed that the wheel stayed on... in fact it remained intact and inflated, somehow. This diversion must have added a further 10 minutes to the route. Further along the (now rejoined) A286 we were caught by more roadworks just south of Petworth. In the end it took us just over an hour to get. to The Crown Inn.

J&T were already there and we sat down for a coffee before lunch. The chat started immediately and didn't really stop until we left around 16:00-ish. We caught up on subjects from health, jabs, family, relationships, entry-level schooling, holiday plans, to Christmas plans. As usual it was easy conversation accompanied by good food. Saturday lunchtimes don't get much better.

The Gorse Fox chose a different route home. This was far more successful and, including a stop for petrol, was still significantly quicker than the outbound route.