Ah! Where to start! Hmmm ..... ah-ha .... At the Beginning!
Well, the Removal company finally turned up at 6.30pm on Saturday 29th, should have been early Friday morning, and knowing the fact we were leaving the following morning worked through the night and the early hours in order to get us packed, and at 3.30AM we finished! YUP! 3.30AM!!! Went to bed at 4.00am only to find that we couldn't sleep and at 5.00am were still annoyed at the Removal firm turning up so late when they NEW what the had to do. 
After having less than 2hrs sleep we awoke at about 7.15am and took the dog for a walk, came back had a Shower, etc and checked the car over one last time, packed everything in the Roof Box and the Back seats, Woofy jumped in the back, we got in and drove around the corner to say our last farewells to the Mrs. Family, and then at about 9.35am we were finally off for the trip from Braunton to Plymouth. 
We had a good journey as far as Plymouth until we hit a 50mph 'Average Speed' controlled zone, which delayed us by about 10mins, drove through the centre of Plymouth itself and eventually arrived at the dock, having phoned ahead to say that we would be 15 mins late, at about 11.35am. Drove straight through and onto the MV Bretagne, showed Woofy to his Kennel for the next 24hrs and went straight to our Cabin. Knowing that the Mrs doesn't like sailing, I booked a Commodore Cabin with all the trimmings and we settled into the cabin just as we were about to depart.
The voyage from Plymouth to Santander went like a dream, the sea was like a 'mill pond' all the way. The Cabin aboard the Bretagne was fantastic, loads of room, TV/DVD player, Tea/Coffee facilities and the Mrs felt very comfortable. 
Ah! I almost forgot, there was also a FREE Mini-bar, so I was very comfortable during the journey. 
I was given set times I could visit and exercise Woofy at 3pm, 6pm 10pm and then 8.30am which they allowed a good half hour each time, however the exercise 'area' leaves MUCH to be desired and I think they need to sort something else out, like maybe utilise the 'Helicopter Landing Pad'. The rest of the facilities on-board are fantastic, with two cinema screens, various lounges, bars and restaurants, and we dined at the self-service restaurant where we had a lovely meal.
The next morning we had a complimentary continental Breakfast served in our Cabin which was superb and relaxed until our arrival at Santander. We left the Bretagne and started our journey across Spain ... well almost ... after a detour right through the High Street and down a side road, as the road signs are typically Spanish and tend to take you in the wrong direction unless you are used to them ... which I am ... However I forget!!! 
Eventually we got onto the A-67 and followed it down past Torrelevaga, and towards Palencia, even though the Sat. Nav wanted to take us via Burgos .... this time of year with all the Snow around ... NO CHANCE am I going via Burgos! And in any case I didn’t want to go all the way AROUND Madrid, so that’s why I chose to head towards Palencia instead.
We passed Palencia without any hitch and headed on towards Valladolid and then turned onto the A-6, which in turn became the AP-6, which then turned right onto the M-50 towards Majadahonda towards Mostoles were we had booked a room at the Ibis de Alcorcon. Needless to say the Sat Nav again wasn’t spot on!
Having arrived just outside Mostoles, we wanted to be Alcorcon side of the Avendia de Portugal, instead we were Mostoles side of the Avendia de Portugal and half way along it!! And as the road runs between Mostoles and Alcorcon and is over 2km long with loads of roundabouts ... yup! You guessed it ... within striking distance of our 1st goal, we got lost! 
We spent 45mins or so driving up and down this road and having asked various Policemen which way to go and getting confused with what we thought they were saying, which was ‘Madona’, with what they actually way saying ‘McDonalds’ ... well, we ended up having a Police Escort to the Hotel. 
We had a lovely stay at the Ibis Alcorcon, the staff were very friendly, the food was lovely and they are more than happy to allow your dog to stay in the room with you. The room was basic and without Tea/Coffee facilities so in the morning I had to go down to the restaurant and get 2 coffees, however they didn’t charge us for these! With regards to the Hotel, the car park was flood lit and quite secure in that they had staff 24hrs at reception and security, and there was an electronically controlled gate monitored by cameras, hence they noticed our Police Escort when we arrived ahem!
To be continued .....