Day 6

Rain…Rain…Rain and more sodding rain…..

Having checked the weather forecast last night, Sam decided that his flip-flops and singlet might not be best for his walk today. So having dried his socks out from yesterday in his friends oven (that’s what he thought they did up there!), he dressed in his full wet weather gear and took on the full force of the elements.

With the incessant tapping of the rain on his hood like Chinese water torture, and the constant shuffling of his thighs rubbing together, causing enough friction for him to need a lightning rod, Sam strode on. Unfortunately, Sam had sadly forgotten about the soggy bit of paper now residing in his trouser pocket. The rather important piece of soggy paper just happened to be Sam’s mobile phone bill, which was now overdue for payment.

Sam at this point would like to thank the very helpful lady in the Post Office, and also T-Mobile for being very understanding - not!

So with a route that took Sam towards Doncaster via a very small country road that wound its way up and over huge hills, and in the pouring rain and howling winds, with flooding occurring all over the region, and severe weather warnings being issued, Sam struggled on completely cut off from the rest of the world.

As we all tried to contact, all we got was: “This call can not be connected….beep…beep…This call can not be connected….beep…beep..”, the worry began to set in. “What could have happened to him?”, “Where could he be?”, “Did he have a shandy last night?”, “Was there a pie shop on this leg of his journey?”. Luckily, all was well, and a very wet and bedraggled Sam phoned a brief message in later in the afternoon – “Scotty, ring me back on this number.”, as the beeps of the payphone rang out.

So, calling him back, he was able to phone in his day’s report (which mainly consisted of expletives that can’t be printed here due to the risk of getting the site blocked by most people’s internet security). Sam recounted the drudgery of his days walking, and how bad the weather was. Having started out early knowing that he had a long old way to walk to hit Doncaster today, he got part way down the road and realised that his waterproof had been breached! Stopping a little later to remove his t-shirt and ring it out (this time because of the rain, rather than the sweat), Sam continued with only his base layer and waterproof.

Stopping to pay his mobile phone bill and take on provisions (more Kit Kat Chunkies and a wagon wheel), Sam dug deep and using all your kind words of encouragement continued. As the weather broke, Sam’s spirits lifted and he bravely put one foot in front of the other and made his way to Doncaster where he intended to get himself a beer.

Desperately in need of a bath and a couple of days off (to let the chafing subside and sensitive areas recover), Sam got back to his friends house and called in proper. Finishing his first week buoyed by his progress, and having got so far down the country, Sam was looking forward to a weekend off, but has already started planning next week (including a stop at Melton Mowbray – home of the pork pie!!)

Great effort Sam, keep it up.