My annual 2000 mls road trip

[MercedesDriver]

Epping 4.15am
It's still dark, car was loaded yesterday and I only hope I haven't forgot something.

1,2,3,4 all in and we are ready to go. Sat nav estimates 1h45min to Folkestone and there are no reported accidents. Perfect. A406 A13 M25 M20 should be a nice ride at this time of a day.
6.05am Folkestone
Hello, we are R train. There is a slight delay and instead of 6.50 it is scheduled for departure at 7.05. Just enough time for Costa and a nice dog walk before start. I'm still thinking if I had packed everything and have that strange feeling something is missing. I know, I've remembered, Swiss army knife, that's missing. Never mind, we'll survive without it.
Boarding. Ups, wrong turn we are supposed to follow high vehicle signs. Thanks to small turning cycle of german cabs I don't have to reverse. I was pointed to the lane 12 and the green light is already on. Great since girls are already asking if we are in France. Switch to km units, Right hand drive, thank god I don't have to leave the car and stick the labels on front lights.

Coquelles 8.45am
Immediately I sense the difference. We are on a highway and there is so little noise coming from outside it's so smooth. Why we don't have such roads, why??
I've told myself before starting this trip, I wont push it, I will enjoy every single mile and try not to break speed limits for too much +10km/h top, not more.
Belgium, it's good it wont take too long to pass it. It's still early in the morning and the cow manure odour is overwhelming. Head hurts of it. Less than half of tank is gone, I still have almost 3/4 of it. Totally new experience for me. I usually had to fill in Belgium but luckily not this time. Happy bunny, happy wallet.
Germany, no limit. No, no. Not too fast. The other me is complaining how slow we are and it's getting him bored, he is annoyed, he pushes the good one and takes the control of loud pedal. 160. No, you will not, I am fighting back to 130.
Check engine light is on. Wtf. I feel no difference in engine running, I'm checking the messages but there is none. Must be some sensor missing the signal or is it DPF regeneration? Will this little engine light be lit while regenerating? I have no idea, this my first diesel. I'm telling myself it's something not so important and we continue further. Think, think what it can be. Yes it's loaded to the brim and that other bugger was pushing it, but so are the others. And they are fast and we are not. But this is a diesel, so are the others. I can only see this orange engine light, nothing else. At least the traffic is light, it's good we went for a holiday now and not like in previous years at the beginning of August.
Still on British fuel and we are passing Frankfurt airport with 1/4 of a tank left. Next stop will be at some services out of autobahn. 1.13eur for a litre of Shell fuel save is a good deal. Check engine light is off. Uffff, it was something temperamental.
Finally B&B hotel near Erlangen. It's exactly 4.45pm. 'Nough time for a tea and a sightseeing of Nurnberg before a nap.
4.30am fire alarm in a hotel and it's not a drill.
To be continued....

 

[Freedom]

THE worst enemy of everyone is engine check light. It's like, is poking you in the eyes.
Hoping it stays away from your car and your holiday.
I'll gonna have my portion of such a adventure in August, just a little bit more miles then 2000

 

[MercedesDriver]

First, photos previously missing.

...Continued
5.10am Germans response teams were fast in their reactions. 2 fire engines, 1 ambulance, 2 police patrols were on site within 5-10 minutes and at the end it appeared to be the false fire alarm and we were allowed to get back in our rooms. Plan for today was to pass Austria and enter Italy.
Traffic through southern germany to Austrian border via A3 was light, without speed limits, and traffic. The only difference I've noticed compared to previous years is that germans have made a road block in opposite direction for passport control much further in german territory which has caused a long queue of several miles.
Driving through Austria is tiring as usual because of frequent change of speed limits and countless number of tunnels.

Check engine light is on again and I'll deal with it in Italy.
4pm Union Lido Camp, Cavallino Treporti, Italy and it's hot, properly hot.

After bulding a tent, OBD was plugged in and the error is P0087 - fuel pressure too low. After some googling and reading posts on different forums I came to a conclusion to book a car with a local garage and change the fuel filter at first instance hoping that this will sort out the problem. Italians were really good, did the read out of codes, confirmed the error code and suggested that it could also show up because of faulty fuel pump or some of injectors or sensors are not working properly. They also said that it would be reasonable to change the fuel filter first and see what happens then. £80 out of pocket and the difference in engine running was instant.
10.30am and it's time to start the return journey through northern Italy, Mont Blanc tunnel till Annecy where we will spend a couple of days. Weather is about to change with forecasted thunderstorms in next couple of hours (later we heard from other campers that our camp was heavily struck by a tornado and a lot of them suffered a lot of damage on cars and camper vans). Seeing the destruction it left is devastating. http://youtu.be/gBNjLEmFQpU
I hope they will recover for next year as it's really a lovely camp and this was our second year there.
2pm start of an hour queuing for entrance to Mont Blanc tunnel. 43.5 eur toll.

Arrivederci Italia and Bonjour France. So far so good no check engine light on, it seams the problem was only with clogged fuel filter.
5pm Premier Classe Annecy-Sud

12 degrees outside temperature and I think I'll frieze.
Annecy (old city) is very nice with a lot of pricey restaurants and bars.

The rest of a trip was more less business as usual with the only difference that we got a half an hour earlier train than booked which was nice.
It's always nice being back home.
And, yes, no check engine signal after fuel filter change.