Give us a break!

So...I woke up in Manchester feeling ill and knew I had got what Will had got. I couldn't face breakfast even though the full English looked fantastic.

We had received a notification earlier to inform us that our journey back to Penrith was not going to be plain sailing either as there were no trains north from Lancaster.

We headed to the station and I went to the customer services to ask about our options. I was told I could get the 10.26 to Oxenholme and then transfer to a bus service. Great, except as I looked at the time it was already 10.28!

Will said the train had been delayed until 10.28 so we dashed through the station to platform 14 only to get there too late.

We caught the 10.55 and got off at Lancaster. People were being directed to buses from the station and we headed that way but were stopped by an announcement saying ;

'If you are going to Oxenholme or Penrith stay on the platform.'

I asked one of the staff about it and he said we were to catch the next train to Oxenholme and change there for a bus to Penrith.

" And when is the next train?" I asked.

"Oh, it will be in an hour."

Sod that! Will and I jumped on the bus going to Carlisle and messaged my son Nathan to get him to pick us up there. I also asked him to bring two COVID tests with him because we were going to see my Mum later for the last time before heading home to Australia. We got to Carlisle just after the time we would have been getting on the train to Oxenholme from Lancaster.

Nathan met us and we headed back to Penrith. Will and I tested ourselves in the car and finally after avoiding it for three years, we both tested positive for COVID.

It was the icing on my Unhappy Birthday cake!

The upshot of all this is, we have had to postpone our return flights for a week until we recover. Will is already feeling a bit better but I started with it after him so I still feel pretty rotten.

At least we can't do too much while we isolate so I guess we got the 'break' we wanted!