17 June 2022 A 5 hr drive back to Watford.

London bound again! Back to deposit the Doctor. It takes a good 5 hours to reach our Watford base. To optimise the drive, I slotted in a pit stop where we can do lunch and some leg stretching.

Stafford Castle and our lunch place is almost right smack in the middle of our journey. 

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The drive back to Watford takes a grand 5 hours, excluding stops. I decided to do hourly breaks to take the strain out of driving.

We set off from Glan Morfa, Anglesey at 9am. We route past the sea, Conwy on our left to reach our 1st stop in Macs, Holywell. It was just off the expressway where we had coffee and hashbrown. Then it was 1.5 hour to Brewers Fayre in Spitfire Cl, Stafford. It was a slow lunch but we were well rested.

Onward march, another 1.5 hr, we took a. very short break at Roadchef , Watford Gap, along M1. It was tiring for all, much more for Pat driving.

We pushed on for the last leg, another 1.5 hr, to drop Hopey off at her house. Then we were bound for Century House where Homely Premier Apartments are. Now at 5pm, we lost our resolve to stay sane and headed for the wrong building. With some help from passer by, we got to our apartment.

Homely is a totally contactless from booking to check in, no concierge and no contact serviced apartment. I did not like that it is among the industrial park, far from town center with no grocers. Windows were locked and it was such that we could easily be locked out of our apartment and main building. There was nothing welcoming including the decor. Among all our stays, this big has one of the worst bed, with 2 singles pushed together to become 1 double bed. It was well furnished but no lift. blah.

After settling down, we picked Dr H up for dinner at Miller and Carter in Rickmansworth. It was a very fancy place in a park with exquisite service. I even had to sign a waiver regarding my allergy.

Miller & Carter Rickmansworth - excellent service, food and ambience

We had a long dinner and left at 9.30 pm. Pat was bushed from the driving. H came over with laundry for washing decided to crash for the night. The kid wore our clothes but was completely happy camping around. It was nice to have her for the last night of our holiday.

If there is anything that is remarkable, it would be the sheer stamina Pat displayed for the trip. We even managed to skirt the M1 Toll Rd though we ended up in a needless jam. An accident had happened at the other side of M1 slowing curious drivers at our side.