we headed upto the Macedonian border, after stopping the night just north of Thessilonika, in a service area that only last year looked brand new, due to the care of the staff, but now due to the high fuel costs & no money coming in (we was only 2 parked overnight) it was looking grim, & they can only afford 1 security guard for both services on oppisite side of the dual carrigeway !! 45 mins for the greek side, but a small problem with green card on the Macedonian side cost us €250 per truck 
& 4 & half hrs still it was a "clerical error & to cap it all the remote locking packed up on both trucks, only to find out from the customs guy that no central locking works at the border due to a signal blocker !! 
got up to the Macedonian / Serbian bit & got a strange look from the female customs officer claiming she had never seen a English truck before !, I then told her it’s a Renualt which is French 
, then the custom guys doing the ATA carnet, wanted every bit of paperwork we had, which we didn’t really need to produce, as the bloke didn’t have a clue how to fill it in & wouldn’t let us explain what pages he needed to stamp & tear out, out of pride I suppose 
then eventually they tell us it will cost €30 each truck to get it back, we was both on the same & only carnet !! 
thats a 1st to get charged for them doing their job 
sod em !! up into Belgrade for the next 2 nights (hotel) then head out & back up through Hungary & into Europe again 
no dramas out of Serbia we made the services just before Vienna, Gottlesbrun, used to stay in the hotel when on F1, really nice place, great food & newly designed parking area for trucks, more spaces 
, next day we ran to Ramstien again, which turned into a night of catch up with 3 of the Redburn lads we knew from touring with bands, Saturday now & after having a good 12 hrs off, & breakfast, we hit the road to Calais via Lux for the cheap 1500ltrs we could get in our tanks
no dramas on route, got into the yard with 27 mins to spare on a 15 hr spread then into my pick up for a midnight rendeavous with my wife, 2 & half days of stress later, due to buying & selling our house, then it all went ■■■■ up, so we didnt buy or sell I travelled upto Market Weighton where I spent the next 4 nights,(2 off them in Pock on the pizz) then on the sunday 16.00hrs off up to Edinburgh, do it all again & stop for 2 nights, 1 each in hotel & cab, Tuesday night boat, Cairnryan to Larne, then drive south to Dublin on the newley completed A1, makes hell of a difference in time now craic on round Dublin on the M50, to the N7 where we parked up nr the hotel, The very large City West Hotel, 1 night in the hotel hotel, demo finished at 17.30, then get to Dublin Port for the boat & the 20.00hrs to Holyhead, off the boat just after midnight then ran to Deeside Ind Park for a few hrs kip, before heading to Lymm truck stop for a £24 truck wash then into Haydock Park Racecourse, 3 nights in the hotel here then Monday at 18.00hrs left for Llantrisant, but by 20.30hrs just as I was at the roundabout at the bottom of the M50, my 1st breakdown the water pump bearings gave up & lucky for us my mate ran down dropped his & returned for my trl, while I waited on the scrappy bit of land that used to be a restaruant for our fitter to replace the buggered parts & a lot of coolant !! then I drove straight to the hotel in my unit, but due to Take That in Cardiff, all hotels close by was fully booked so it was Bridgend for a night 
Wednesday took us across to Brands Hatch for the last in the UK, got there to find the hotel full, but Thursday & Friday night we was in mind you Thursday night had a prom on, i’m glad we went out that night to another pub on return I bumbed into 3 ex F1 lads I used to work with on Honda & FOM, now 1 on Fuel truck other 2 on GT cars, so a couple of days watching F3,GT’s & Formula Palmer (i think) tear it up Monday we shipped out Dover Calais, on the new P&O Spirit of Britain, very nice but for how long 
heading to Valkenswaard, just south of Eindhoven, just for 1 night (hotel) then after demo off to the north nr Zwolle, Steenwijke, not for from Assen, & the GP was on 2 nights in the hotel here, then Sunday after breakfast, get on the road for the trip back to Blighty, no dramas just alot of traffic (bikes) from the GP, Calais was no problem, back on the Spirit of Britain again then into Dover as 3 other ships were off loading I was the last one off after 6 trucks was held on board to make space ■■? by the time I got out my mate who was parked on the other side to me, called me on the cb that he’s gone up Jubilee Way & he was at the top, as I got off the ramp of the boat, the A20 was ramed, so up the A2 it was, caught standing traffic at the M2 but nipped down the old A2 one jct & missed the problem loads more at Dartford crossing, but then flew round to M11 & A14, night in cab at yard then into the Machines HQ to tip the 5 excavators for the last time back to base, into pick up & home…until the middle of July
keep the pictures coming mate!!