Had to make a decision last night...continue swilling Guinness at a stoopid rate cause the race is rained out tomorrow...or.....try out merry ole England....

Hummmmmed....n....hawwwwed....winner...the Iphone weather app. Better odds of a rainout than a race day tomorrow. So I went online to see if maybe a ferry is out there that will go to England direct.....my current bookings were for a late night departure on friday night....to Ireland to catch a ferry in Belfast, then to Stranraer (Scotland) where I then need to ride to make it to London in time to drop off me bike....tough odds on a good day...now that I understand the motorways odds went down that I would make it soooooo I took a peek and sure enough a berth opened up for today to get to Heysham England...lil north of Liverpool. I booked it...would save me some grief.

Soooo that decided let me hosts know, said thanks n cheerio and all that as they were awesome, and packed up and headed into town to waste a rainy day...and OMG it was a rainy day...had to put the pants on tooo. It is fun riding there in the rain though. Lot of wet campers milling about wherever you looked it seemed. So I ended up in Douglas after a bit did a lil shopping....then settled in at a pub for a while....wandered over to a coffee shop and then it was time to hit the ferry....you need to be there an hour and a half before launch...good thing I gave it a little extra time as there were bikes in line already. I got in the line hopped off and found shelter inside....the wait went quick and next thing you know the indy 500 again bikers....start your engines....had to run out to get started up and the flag man started the race. Lord help you if your bike breaks down....

This ferry was bigger then the last one so getting on was not like in Larne...actually had a lot of room..so you park hop off...and in two seconds they have it lashed down....up to the club lounge and have a seat....and look at the stormy sea....yayyyyy......

Apparently force 5 winds blowing....yay......started looking for barf bags..they got nuthin...ahh well....ya big boats in stormy seas...and I heard its gets bad on these crossings was sorta not a good thing in my eye.....but got comfy and had some tea n cookies to start the journey....of course right out of the gate the WIFI failed...so no a good connection a spotty connection....ack. Was tryiugn to upload pics n stuff....

Least I did plan ahead a bit I went online and found a hotel in Blackpool...looked like it was right on the coast so I ordered up a seaview room and was set. Looked about an hour from the dock. the ferry landed about midnight soooo about 1 I should get there....

Well the crossing seemed pretty good the stabilizers did work as the waves were noticeable.....the boat was pretty full too.....glad I got on it. So its about a 4 hour crossing...it went fast for the most part but I really wanted to know if it was raining out...sure enough they close all the windows so you cant see out as you are docking...crap.

We all head for the bikes on cue but for some reason I think Capn Stuobing had a hate on for bikers cause he made us wait and let every one else get to the car deck first....the troops were getting restless....there was talk of mutiny. Apparently thats just not the way its done over here. Finally the gave the bikers the go ahead and I still didn't know if it was raining....so I took a chance.....no rain gear on....get to the bike deck and sure enough I can see its pouring out...frig.

So had to hop on the bike get it moving, the pandemonium wasn't that bad actually and near the exit door went to the side to park and gear up...least it only takes a couple of minutes to do that..I was not alone...another guy was doing amazing things with garbage bags to cover himself.....whatever works I say.....

So hopped on all covered up and let b****in Betty tell me the way...frig I lose count of the roundabouts...I would be so lost without a GPS.....in the dark ...in the rain that I did...sheesh. But at least not many folks were on the roads...so got to twist it a bit in an attempt to find me bed....here however it seems on the bridges they have fairly big metal expansion joints. So...if your honkin on it....hit a ramp with a corner on it...all of em do....soon as that front tire hits the metal of the joint..is slides towards the outside of the corner...then the back tire does too..at speed thats about 6 inches till it hits traction again I think...that puckers the sphincter a wee bit more than I like....if there were any polyps in there they gone now..........

So I found Blackpool...was I ever surprised...its like an English Vegas it seems.....sort of where all the bachelor parties are held. Neat looking place did not expect it at all.... no one on the streets though...so I managed to twiddle around till I found me home.....long day...in the end. Just wanted to hit the hay. Checked in and in all honesty..the guy was a twit....and I ended up in a room without an ocean view....on principle only I went back down to express me displeasure and he was totally....not helpful....mentioned they could reduce the bill tomorrow. .... I had made my point stuck up the hand and went up to pack it in....

Tomorrow a nice leisurely drive to London...looking forward to it...what to see???? Isle of Man was awesome....tough call to leave....