I didn't know how much response to expect for the "Mystery Drive" idea when I was planning it, but I was very pleased when a total of 10 cars turned up at Sarn Park Service for the off.
Several new people came along including Dennis from Carmarthen, Fred from Cardiff and Brian and Kath from Llantwit Major (the mystery drive almost took them home!).
So we set off at 7:30 for the drive.
It
was only about 10 minutes later that I found out how difficult it is to lead 10
cars, and it was only thanks to Clive and Penny's help that we made it home in
one group. It wasn't much of a mystery to them anyway, because they've lived and
worked in the area for years. We made several unscheduled stops to regroup and I
lost my way a couple of time, but the best part of a mystery drive is that
nobody knows where they're going, so nobody can tell if the leader gets lost:-)
I'd
handed out a list of clues for people to try to identify landmarks along the
way, most of which were pretty obvious, but some no so. I also handed out an
envelope to each car with the destination and a map in case we got split up. We
eventually, we ended up in Southerndown for a "comfort break" and for
me to collect the food orders to ring ahead to the mystery pub. We made quite a
stir pulling into the car park and only just fitted in in one row.
After some exhilarating driving, trying not to miss the 9pm meal deadline, we ended up at the Pheasant in pen-Y-Fai. This is actually about 1.5 miles from the start as the crow flies.
Everybody seemed to enjoy the drive, even if it was a bit faster than I would have liked, and the meal went down well thanks to the very attentive staff at the Pheasant. This might become the venue for some future meetings.
So thanks to all those who turned up, especially Fred, Dennis, Brian and Kath. Thanks also to Clive and Penny for helping to guide the flock home.
Hi Ho Silver