Abi road

This is the second time we've attempted the London dash on a Friday, with me picking up Dan and Abi from their mum's after school, giving them just enough time to get changed and grab their stuff, and attempting to be on the motorway by half four.

Abi's already sussed that some judicious pre-loading of her iPad will give her four or five hours of uncriticised viewing of iCarly, so she's very happy to simply install herself on the back seat and get on with it. Dan and I listen to music but this time rather than compromising on Green Day or Muse, we decided we'd listen to all the albums in The Beatles' mono boxed set on the journeys there and back.

It went well; this evening; we managed 'Please, Please Me', 'With The Beatles', 'A Hard Day's Night', 'Beatles For Sale', 'Help!' and 'Rubber Soul'. Plus, the Google Maps app, which, I have to say, is superior to Apple's offering, steered us clear of the M6 Toll and down the M5 to reach the M40, thereby missing an incident on the M42. Thus, we arrived in Worcester Park, happy and relaxed, at eight fifty-five, exactly as predicted at the start of our journey!

And after a quick hello to my mum and dad, we headed down the road to the Rupali restaurant for a curry, with my dad joining us for a beer. Here are Dan and Abi, en route, re-enacting the cover to The Beatles' 'Abbey Road'.