It was ten years ago that Jedi News’ Caravan of the Force set out on an epic journey from London to Star Wars Celebration Europe II in Essen, Germany, with Jeremy and Maureen Bulloch joining us to raise money for Make-A-Wish.
The original blog posts from StarWars.com have since been removed, so we’ve gone back to our archives to pull our blog entries that were written (almost) daily by Mark Newbold and I whilst on the journey.
In addition to Jeremy and Maureen, the team on the Caravan of the Force included Matt Booker, James Burns, Mark Newbold and Dave Tree.
Read part one of our look back here. This entry covers day 2, July 20th, and day 3, July 21st.
Day 2: Saturday, 20th July 2013
After the excitement and hustle of Friday’s day one, day two of the Caravan of the Force tour was a far more sedate affair. Starting the day with a much-welcomed breakfast at the Holiday Inn Bexley Heath we left London on Saturday morning and headed the 60 miles southeast towards Rochester and the Holiday Inn, our home for the day. We had time aplenty to enjoy the hotel and make the most of the time to rest, relax and finalize the plan for the following days, which we knew would be packed.
On the late afternoon we travelled the short distance into Rochester and visited Rochester Cathedral and Rochester Castle, which was hosting an outdoor event with live music, fireworks, and a flyby by a World War II Spitfire. Full from a perfect Italian meal and with “Land of Hope and Glory” ringing in our ears we couldn’t have hoped for a better end to the second day.
Day 3: Sunday, 21st July 2013
Sunday, 21st July, day three of Caravan of the Force and a day that couldn’t have been more different from day two if it tried. An early start and with a full breakfast in our bellies we left Holiday Inn Rochester and made our way down to the coast to Dover, where we would board our P&O ferry The Spirit Of Burgundy and take the 90-minute journey to Calais. And luckily for us, thanks to James’ organisational efforts and the presence of Maureen and Jeremy, we travelled the only way the galaxies best bounty hunter and his wife would expect to travel — first class, with a champagne toast as we entered the thick fog of the Channel towards Normandy and the port of Calais. And not forgetting a blast of Cliff Richard’s Summer Holiday [a film that Jeremy was in] as we began our journey.
Arriving in France (and quickly adjusting to driving on the “wrong” side of the road!) we headed down to Lille where we checked into a very pleasant Holiday Inn and made ourselves at home with a light afternoon lunch before heading on out into Lille and the town garrison, where we were hosted by Arnaud Miralles and the fantastic and enthusiastic members of the French Garrison. There we spent a fascinating few hours as their guests, taking some spectacular photographs in the boiling hot sun and enjoying their great company.
Swapping gifts we all discussed the forthcoming show in Essen and made plans to catch up again in a few days. Heading back to our hotel we freshened up, managed to send some content back to our anchorman Justin LaSalata in the States who is looking after Jedi News in our absence and enjoyed a delicious evening meal and chat before a well-earned rest ahead of day four.
The goal of the Caravan of the Force was to raise the profile of Star Wars Celebration moving from London to Germany, whilst also raising money for Make-A-Wish. Our initial target was £5,000, and thanks to our sponsors we were able to raise over £20,000. Thanks to all those that supported our journey and gave to generous to help Make-A-Wish.
The trip was possible thanks to our sponsors — Holiday Inn, Hyundai, P&O Ferries, Toys ‘R’ Us and Vodafone.
