T minus 3 weeks and counting

Well – three weeks today and Chadders and my good self will be slowly meandering down to Portsmouth in the Sundance Kid.  It has been some time since it was just the two of us on the journey down and it is fair to say that the antics and 'angry rants’ from the member of the Ginger Royal Family that is KL will be sorely missed – let’s hope he makes the journey next year.

There is considerable change this year what with the previous Chairman standing down and not attending and his red-eyed protege, JT, also taking a sabbatical – how will we cope when the Pisstergeist comes a-knocking on Friday or Saturday evening looking for someone to possess and vomit copious amounts of alcohol back up in bizarre and strange places?

If my memory serves me correctly this is the first year when there have only been three people in our LM party (1992 there were only two but that was before Pikey’s recruitment drive) – clearly the credit crunch has bitten hard for some.

Nevertheless, this year promises to be a ‘bobby dazzler’ with some new features and gizmos and some consolidation of our tried and tested favourites.

In summary….

• The motorhome is now the only way to travel – Lucy has been upgraded to a slightly larger vehicle, the Sundance Kid, with additional curves incorporating a lounge area in the rear – Chadders and Sniffer are the nominated drivers once more;
• There is still a television within the Kid, although this year there is no sexy rooftop motorised satellite dish with which to wile away the hours fiddling around to get it to work;
• However, in order to take full advantage of the World Cup Sniffer has purchased his own Portable Digital Satellite System which works a treat;

Also works with a Freesat HD receiver – anyone got one to bring ?

• As there are only three members of the party this year there are no additional cars – Joey is actually meeting us at Portsmouth so will only be making the French part of the journey in the Kid;
• In order to combat this we are all bringing push-irons to put on the back of the Kid to travel around the surrounding area by different means (before anyone asks there is a book already running as to who will fall off first either by being drunk\careless or knocked off by some vein-popping psychopath in a Caterham);
• Draught beer is still being explored although it is likely that we will end up with a combination of supermarket beers (don’t you just love those Red beauties and the sweet taste of a nice cold Desperado……) and a dabble at real ale.  Spirits are likely to make a comeback this year which is always dangerous;
• Two pitches at Houx Annexe have once again been booked so with the help of some Police tape (don’t you dare forget Chadders !!) we will have a spacious area with which to drink, cook, eat AND if last year is anything to go by, sing and dance to some classic 80s music;
• Next year is the year we are planning to go further up market by booking a pitch at Houx in order to guarantee electricity for next year’s ‘lady’;
• Grandstand tickets have been procured once more as they were excellent last year – definitely the future although we should try and make even more use of them this year and watch some of the races on the Saturday morning;
• As you saw in a previous blog post I have decided to rent a Kangaroo TV for this year just to see how good they are – I’ve heard some great feedback from people who’ve used them at some of the F1 races so I’m hopeful it will prove a worthwhile investment this LM;
• It is highly likely that we will resurrect the ‘Guitar Hero’ challenge (kindly arranged by Chadders) as per last year although we will miss the dulcet vocals of JT this time around;
• I suspect it also won’t be the same without watching Pikey’s cum face (sorry driving face) when he’s playing Grid on the Xbox360 driving around the LM circuit (video to be posted shortly).

So, without further ado it’s on to the proposed draft menu for this year’s dining delights.  As well as the usual breakfast and lunch time treats I am proposing the following for evening meals:

• Beef Rendang (staying on the menu by popular demand);
• Sniffer’s Luxury Fish Pie (we can now have fish without Pikey going a strange colour and throwing up his lower intestines bit by bit);
• Thai Chicken Jungle Curry;
• Last, but by no means least, Potato Hash (as if we could forget it !!).

Let me know what you think chaps.

Lastly, a photo to epitomise Les 24 Heures Du Mans….Bring it on !!