Re: Ellie and Me – T5 travels
Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2016 5:48 pm
The last leg(s)
After all of the excitement of the last 4+ weeks, it was time to be thinking about heading homewards. But there was one last side-trip to do.
My parents had rented a holiday cottage near Berrow, in the Malvern Hills. They've stayed at the cottage many times before and the owner, Jim (he also has an honesty based camping area, pitches for campervans/motorhomes and van storage), had kindly said that I could park the van up outside and sleep in it. Result!!
So I bid farewell to all of my lovely friends in Dent and set off for Worcestershire.
My 'fossils' (as I call them) were very happy to see me and after setting up, we went for dinner at the excellent Farmers Arms, Birtsmorton (http://www.farmersarmsbirtsmorton.co.uk/). The food was good, pub grub, the staff are both people- and dog-friendly and the beer is excellent!
The following day, we pottered and paid a visit to Ledbury, via the ruins of Bronsil Castle.
I'm shocked that I've never been to Ledbury before! It has has a significant number of timber-framed buildings, in particular along Church Lane and High Street.
One of my parents' little 'treats to themselves' when on holiday is a Greggs sausage roll for lunch. As fortune has it, Ledbury has a Greggs, and so we partook:
A dilemma for me with this photo: get the lines on the Market House horizontal, or get the road/curb horizontal? It would appear that I managed neither :-( BUT – I do rather like the fact that I managed to get the black and white pattern of the building reflected off the car windscreen in the bottom left-hand corner
Evening - and it was time for me to take my Dad for a pint, whilst Mum cooked – great to catch up with him and show him some photos of my travel on my tablet in the pub.
Lesson learned: Don't leave the 'fridge on the highest setting (7 (not 11)) when travelling – it's not good for the salad in there.
Heard: Owls hooting, whilst Dad and I had a 'wee dram' outside the cottage late at night – magic.
I'd decided to travel back home overnight on the Thursday, as the following day was a Bank Holiday Friday and I thought I might avoid the majority of the traffic. There was plenty of time to take Ellie for a nice walk on the local common before we left.
I'm going to skip over the journey back. Far from being easier travelling overnight, I was faced with numerous road closures, long diversions (which ruined my mpg, my anticipated travel time and my temper!) and the increasingly looming prospect of a 'normal life'. Hmmmppphhh.
In conclusion: I arrived home with a huge list of things to do/not to do, to add to/remove from the things I take with me, five loads of washing, an enormous pile of awaiting post (90% of which was junk – thank goodness) and to reflect on all of the wonderful experiences I've had (and to share them with you), but, above all, the desire that – I WANT TO GO AWAY AGAIN NOW!!
There are many good reasons to go on solo adventures – sometimes because you need to, sometimes because there is no option but to go solo – and, with a free mind and basic requirements it can be a fulfilling, almost spiritual, experience. For me, it's a battery re-charger and a way of confirming/advancing me as a person (sorry to go all new-age on you, but for me it's true!!).
Is this the end? Oh no – right now I'm planning my next trip. I'll be leaving soon.
I'll let you know how I get on. Hope you'll 'journey with me' (as one friend put it) in my next bog.
Hugs to you all (and we all need hugs).
After all of the excitement of the last 4+ weeks, it was time to be thinking about heading homewards. But there was one last side-trip to do.
My parents had rented a holiday cottage near Berrow, in the Malvern Hills. They've stayed at the cottage many times before and the owner, Jim (he also has an honesty based camping area, pitches for campervans/motorhomes and van storage), had kindly said that I could park the van up outside and sleep in it. Result!!
So I bid farewell to all of my lovely friends in Dent and set off for Worcestershire.
My 'fossils' (as I call them) were very happy to see me and after setting up, we went for dinner at the excellent Farmers Arms, Birtsmorton (http://www.farmersarmsbirtsmorton.co.uk/). The food was good, pub grub, the staff are both people- and dog-friendly and the beer is excellent!
The following day, we pottered and paid a visit to Ledbury, via the ruins of Bronsil Castle.
I'm shocked that I've never been to Ledbury before! It has has a significant number of timber-framed buildings, in particular along Church Lane and High Street.
One of my parents' little 'treats to themselves' when on holiday is a Greggs sausage roll for lunch. As fortune has it, Ledbury has a Greggs, and so we partook:
A dilemma for me with this photo: get the lines on the Market House horizontal, or get the road/curb horizontal? It would appear that I managed neither :-( BUT – I do rather like the fact that I managed to get the black and white pattern of the building reflected off the car windscreen in the bottom left-hand corner
Evening - and it was time for me to take my Dad for a pint, whilst Mum cooked – great to catch up with him and show him some photos of my travel on my tablet in the pub.
Lesson learned: Don't leave the 'fridge on the highest setting (7 (not 11)) when travelling – it's not good for the salad in there.
Heard: Owls hooting, whilst Dad and I had a 'wee dram' outside the cottage late at night – magic.
I'd decided to travel back home overnight on the Thursday, as the following day was a Bank Holiday Friday and I thought I might avoid the majority of the traffic. There was plenty of time to take Ellie for a nice walk on the local common before we left.
I'm going to skip over the journey back. Far from being easier travelling overnight, I was faced with numerous road closures, long diversions (which ruined my mpg, my anticipated travel time and my temper!) and the increasingly looming prospect of a 'normal life'. Hmmmppphhh.
In conclusion: I arrived home with a huge list of things to do/not to do, to add to/remove from the things I take with me, five loads of washing, an enormous pile of awaiting post (90% of which was junk – thank goodness) and to reflect on all of the wonderful experiences I've had (and to share them with you), but, above all, the desire that – I WANT TO GO AWAY AGAIN NOW!!
There are many good reasons to go on solo adventures – sometimes because you need to, sometimes because there is no option but to go solo – and, with a free mind and basic requirements it can be a fulfilling, almost spiritual, experience. For me, it's a battery re-charger and a way of confirming/advancing me as a person (sorry to go all new-age on you, but for me it's true!!).
Is this the end? Oh no – right now I'm planning my next trip. I'll be leaving soon.
I'll let you know how I get on. Hope you'll 'journey with me' (as one friend put it) in my next bog.
Hugs to you all (and we all need hugs).