The Drive..

[Matthew_]

Hope this isn't too dull but might be helpful for those getting used to RGPs and driving...
I did my first big drive since I was fitted with my lenses in November. Before RGPs I had to pack in driving almost altogether. No driving at night and half an hour max during the daytime. Since November I have been building up lens wear. This weekend I had to visit relatives down London way (well Romford way). So I drove from Glasgow to London - 900 miles. I was very unsure as to how the RGPs would be but it was OK.

Day One: Drove from my home, north of Glasgow down to Romford. It was a long old trek in Friday afternoon traffic. I was getting about 5 hours out the RGPs at a time. After this I was needing to stop, get a coffee etc. I spent about an hour at the service station, took out the lenses, drowned my eyes in systane and generally chilled out for a bit. I found when I got the lenses back in, I was surprised how comfortable they were. Again plenty of systane. On the second leg, my two year old son decided a marathon snooze was in order, so not wishing to wake him, we pressed on. Another 6 hours saw us to our destination, tired but comfortable. We arrived around 10 pm after 11 hours of driving and no dramas! I was really surprised.
The second day, after our visit, we started back up north. We planned to break the return journey with an overnight stop. But I had let my confidence get away with me. I did not take my lenses out when I was visiting my relatives, the perfect opportunity to rest them. At about 6pm my left lens decided it had had enough! It decided to eject itself. Dried out perhaps! Suddenly my eyesight was very below par. My left eye is the worst one at 6/60. By shutting my left eye, I could see better but lost the 3D effect of both eyes. It was dark on the road and it wasn't looking clever. We pulled into a service station and looked for the lens. No joy! Things looked bleak. We were about an hour from the planned (and paid for stop). I didn't bring a spare lens (doh!) and there was no way I could drive. My wife does not drive...My toddler doesn't drive....It was kind if depressing. I wondered how it came to pass that was completely dependent on this little plastic disc to do something completely ordinary like driving! We decided to console ourselves with a coffee and healthy burger. While we were sat
unwinding, we decided to have one last go at looking for the lens. We bought a £2 torch from the garage and headed back to the car. Miraculously, Ginny found it. She has amazing eyesight 6/4 both eyes. Anyway, quick examination of the lens showed that it was unmarked. I cleaned it up and gratefully popped it back in. I learned a very important lesson.
The rest of the trip passed without event. We stayed overnight in Pontefract and completed the journey on Sunday. Plenty of stops, plenty of systane and resting the lenses when we stopped for a while....
Silly boy!
Sunday was funny because the service statin we stopped at was taken over by loads of Japanese rally cars for some kind of meet up. Massive great 300-400 bhp cars. We got lost and ended up driving through the venue in our little Kia Piccanto 1.1 hire car. Poor thing! The rally drivers must have wondered who we were trying to kid!!

[Andrew MacLean]

Matthew

Well done! I am exactly like you: no matter how often people give me advice, I have to push the envelope to find out for myself.

I do the same thing in restaurants. The waiter brings the plate. "The plate is very hot", so I put my finger on it to find out just how hot! My fingerprint seared onto the plate, I know how hot is 'very'.

Things were ever thus: I did the same thing with lenses until I found out that 'take your lenses out and rest your eyes for at least an hour' really did mean 'take your lenses out and rest your eyes for at least an hour'

Still, I am glad that you made it through your journey without any serious mishap. A wife with good eyesight is a great boon for a man with KC! More than once I depended on Alison being able to spot the little shiny rim of my upturned lens in the light of a cheap torch.

By the way; the same aerodynamic principle that explains why lenses always land 'open side' up is employed by skydivers to remain stable in the air during freefall.

Andrew

[Anne B]

Glad you had a safe journey in the end i should think you are really pleased with yourself, that was quite a challenge.
As you son gets older you will find that he is good a finding lenses.
my 2 older children took it as a real challenge to find mummy's lens when i was trying them.
Sometimes they would argue over who was going to find it!!!

[Pat A]

Matthew
Hey there's got to be a better place than the Pontefract travel lodge to stay!

Glad you made it OK - but tell me, what would you have done if you hadn't managed to find the lens?

Just steeling myself to put mine in again..........!

[GarethB]

Good to know you got through your ordeal in the end.

I do think it is important to adapt to only having one lens just for such eventualities.

With just one lens in either eye I do get 6/4 so well in for the driving standard and I passed the Advanced Motoring test with one eye.

[Matthew_]

Fair enough! I must say I not there yet, driving with one eye I mean. Still I could adapt. Now I have done this journey, I am happy to do lot more. I think my non-travelling days are over. Just as well because I have a lot of work trips this year. I like the idea iof children being employed as lens seekers!
My son could probably do this already. He is always asking me if I have my lenses in or not, he is fascinated with them and he's only 2. When we stopped for petrol, he announced 'Daddy, we've stopped at pump 5'. He's only 2!

[Matthew_]

The Pontefract Travel Lodge was OK really. The only down side was a bunch of guys and gals who were using it as a stop over in support of a boozy night out. They got back at about 2am and preceded to have a party in the corridor until about 7! Amazingly my son slept straight through it. But boy did they regret it the next day! They were rough rough rough!

[Anne B]

Matthew, my kids will do anything for a piece of chewing gum

[samba_elite]

Almost everytime i read anytihng on here about RGP's it's good news sight wise,i wish i could wear them but alas there isn't a pair known to man that would fit me,apparently!?!?!

[Andrew MacLean]

samba

How about sclerals?

Andrew