We'd travel to the Lake District and, once there, the four us would sample culinary delights at some of Cumbria's finest eateries.
What's more, we'd be going there in a BMW 1 series.
So, it was something of a shock that reality should bite before the theme tune to a 1950's OXO advertisement had been cued in my mind.
Teutonic efficiency may be an automotive force to be reckoned with, but it's no match for a couple of whingeing kids.
It was far worse than having them constantly ask "are we there yet". They were terrible before we set off, while we were travelling and once we'd arrived.
Our mission was to take in a few of the north west highlights of The BMW 1 Series Good Food Ride - 101 Great British Food Adventures and it started about as badly as it could. It's not that we hadn't woken in plenty of time to make our 10.30am coffee stop at the Lower Sizergh Barn, it's just that you don't much feel like climbing out of bed at a reasonable hour on a Sunday morning when the kids have had you up since silly o'clock.
Babysitting
Perhaps the title of the book should have been The BMW 1 Series Good Food Ride and babysitting service.
It was through some minor miracle that we were in the slick M Sport saloon with a fighting chance of making it to our second destination of the day.
It was a lean place to be, considering the day's foodie theme.
The compact five door saloon fits like a sports sock, with (only) just enough room for its family purpose and a turn of pace which leaves you wondering whether you wouldn't rather be travelling in something larger.
At least sitting in the driving seat gave me some form of distraction from the bickering going on behind me and plenty of time to carefully test the BMW's mettle.
There may be those who moan that the 1 Series is not a proper BMW, but this was the range topper. With three litres under the bonnet and BMW's trademark rear wheel drive, it certainly boasted the refined and sporting driving style I'd hoped for.
We made the Cartmel Village Shop on time despite having spared the M Sports' offering of 261 brake horse power.
Just enough time to load some lemon curd and sticky toffee pudding into the 330litre boot and we were buckling the kids back into the car for the journey to lunch at Lucy's of Ambleside.
Antithesis
Lucy's was wonderful: the complete antithesis of all things BMW.
The M Sport has a functional and stylish black leather interior, Lucy's has a charmingly English mix and match attitude to interior design. They even cater for unruly kids.
Pleasantly replete - two lamb Sunday lunches, one pizza and a sausage and mash kids' meal under our collective and expanding belts - we once again returned to the Beamer.
The clock in the well-equipped M Sport told us that Lucy's was so good that we were running late for our next - and final - destination.
The optional sat-nav equipment (not particularly easy to use and bloomin' expensive at £1,795) led us down a somewhat unconventional back lane route, which reminded me why BMW's are so good to drive.
It was dark and raining when we arrive at the Grasmere Gingerbread shop, but there was still a warm Lakeland welcome waiting for us. Fresh gingerbread has been baked to secret recipe here since the business was opened by local woman Sarah Nelson in 1854, taking advantage of the new world ingredients which arrived via the port of Whitehaven.
Its current owners send us on our way with sufficient supplies of gingerbread to keep the kids quiet for, well, at least five minutes. We then hit a traffic jam with no apparent cause and crawled back to reality with the rest of the day trippers.
Tantrums apart, we had as good a family day out as can be expected of people with young kids. The food was good, the car was fun and the kids, well, they were kids.
And I can heartily recommend it to anyone who can lay their hands on a BMW, a copy of the Good Food Ride{hellip} and a willing babysitter.
THE BMW 1 Series Good Food Ride is available from the locations in the guide or can be downloaded from 1seriesgfr.co.uk along with Taste Drive podcasts.
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