Feeling inspired by the article that I’ve just read on Page 53 of the August issue of Motor Caravan Magazine about a couple of full timers I thought I’d better get on and write another newsletter. Apologies for not explaining in the last one why we were on our way back to the UK. The van has just passed its first birthday so it was due for a service. It also needed some repairs done whilst still under the warranty so we came back during May ready for the work to be done in June.
We travelled back through Spain via Madrid. After a long drive there is nothing more rewarding than a tasty meal out and being away from the Costas we knew that we would be eating our meal traditionally late. We were staying at a site in a little town called La Cabrera, just 60kms North of Madrid. We set off for a leisurely walk at about 7.30pm and stopped off at a bar for a sun downer. We lasted until 8.40 and were absolutely starving. Unfortunately even this was not late enough as the chef didn’t start food until 9.30pm! This was just too late for us so we had pizza from the freezer instead and reminded ourselves that unpredictability is part of why we enjoy travelling.
As you know from my last newsletter we enjoyed our first week in glorious sunshine and sadly that was the end of any summery weather for us here in England. We visited Mike’s son Lee who lives near Stonehenge for a weekend. On the Sunday morning between rainstorms I jogged over to the stones and got some great early morning snaps before all the tourists arrived. We left Cornwall on my birthday and headed up to Oxfordshire where the motorhome was due to be serviced. We stayed for just one night on a lovely little site at a farm at Bletchingdon near Bicester, just north of Oxford. The road through the village was a little on the narrow side and we met a huge articulated lorry on the most narrow part (of course). Because we are left hand drive I saw that we were only (no exaggeration) ½ an inch away as we passed each other. I was nearly sick afterwards. That evening it was excellent to catch up over a tasty meal with Colin and Dawn who we met on the Costa Brava. The next day we dropped the motorhome off at a specialist RV repair garage nearby and now homeless we packed our backpacks and started some serious visiting. We spent the first two nights with my parents where we caught up with all their news and as an added bonus my sister Liz popped in for a meal one evening as well.
From Stroud it was off to Beaconsfield for the weekend with Kate and her family. Since coming to stay with us in Spain they have had an addition to the family. An adorable kitten that had remained nameless for his first few weeks as they just could not think of a name for him. They eventually settled on Puck as Zoë had recently been in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at school. They all realised this was not such a good choice as the first time he jumped up on the kitchen table she shouted ‘Puck……..OFF!’ However the name has had to stay because he knows it now. On Saturday we had an outing to Hambleden a village that is used for on location filming as it is so unaltered and traditional looking. We wandered around the church, village green and enjoyed some local cider in the quaint little pub. We then drove on to Marlowe which was hosting a little festival. It was great to feed the ducks on the Thames watching the boats go by.
From Beaconsfield we headed up to Streatham to spend the night with my sister and her family. We then concluded the UK visits with a night with our friends Kate and Mike in Morden conveniently located near Gatwick.
Our friends Tim and Debs had very kindly invited us over to their villa in Florida whilst they were there for their summer holiday at the beginning of July. We set off a week before they arrived and had a marvellous time exploring a bit more of the State. Our first stop was Clearwater Beach on the West Coast on the Gulf of Mexico. We found a very kitsch 50’s style motel one street away from the beach. Mike negotiated one of his famous deals and we got an apartment for only $50.00 a night. It came complete with cooker, fridge, dining area and bathroom. Its top features must have been the mirrored headboard and original rosebud print bed linen. After a tremendous storm in the afternoon we had a wonderful evening in the very laid back town. Realising the tourist appeal of a sunset the American equivalent of the local council organise free entertainment and stalls every evening two hours before and after sunset at Pier 60. We walked along the pier, watched the sun go down and also saw dolphins and a variety of different seabirds. We had two nights in Clearwater and then headed inland and northwards to Ocala which is known for breeding horses. On the way we couldn’t resist a visit to ‘Lazydays’, the biggest RV dealership in North America. As well as having a good nose around we took advantage of a complimentary lunch with hot and cold drinks provided in the canteen. If you needed somewhere to relax there was also a large lounge with comfy sofas and TVs also serving free tea and coffee.
We managed to get the last available room at The Hampton Inn at Ocala as two opposing baseball teams were staying there. I thought it would be great to see some hunky baseball players and was slightly disappointed at breakfast the next morning to see my ‘hunks’ were actually all under 14 as it was Little League. They did look cute in their uniforms though.
We travelled back through Spain via Madrid. After a long drive there is nothing more rewarding than a tasty meal out and being away from the Costas we knew that we would be eating our meal traditionally late. We were staying at a site in a little town called La Cabrera, just 60kms North of Madrid. We set off for a leisurely walk at about 7.30pm and stopped off at a bar for a sun downer. We lasted until 8.40 and were absolutely starving. Unfortunately even this was not late enough as the chef didn’t start food until 9.30pm! This was just too late for us so we had pizza from the freezer instead and reminded ourselves that unpredictability is part of why we enjoy travelling.
As you know from my last newsletter we enjoyed our first week in glorious sunshine and sadly that was the end of any summery weather for us here in England. We visited Mike’s son Lee who lives near Stonehenge for a weekend. On the Sunday morning between rainstorms I jogged over to the stones and got some great early morning snaps before all the tourists arrived. We left Cornwall on my birthday and headed up to Oxfordshire where the motorhome was due to be serviced. We stayed for just one night on a lovely little site at a farm at Bletchingdon near Bicester, just north of Oxford. The road through the village was a little on the narrow side and we met a huge articulated lorry on the most narrow part (of course). Because we are left hand drive I saw that we were only (no exaggeration) ½ an inch away as we passed each other. I was nearly sick afterwards. That evening it was excellent to catch up over a tasty meal with Colin and Dawn who we met on the Costa Brava. The next day we dropped the motorhome off at a specialist RV repair garage nearby and now homeless we packed our backpacks and started some serious visiting. We spent the first two nights with my parents where we caught up with all their news and as an added bonus my sister Liz popped in for a meal one evening as well.
From Stroud it was off to Beaconsfield for the weekend with Kate and her family. Since coming to stay with us in Spain they have had an addition to the family. An adorable kitten that had remained nameless for his first few weeks as they just could not think of a name for him. They eventually settled on Puck as Zoë had recently been in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at school. They all realised this was not such a good choice as the first time he jumped up on the kitchen table she shouted ‘Puck……..OFF!’ However the name has had to stay because he knows it now. On Saturday we had an outing to Hambleden a village that is used for on location filming as it is so unaltered and traditional looking. We wandered around the church, village green and enjoyed some local cider in the quaint little pub. We then drove on to Marlowe which was hosting a little festival. It was great to feed the ducks on the Thames watching the boats go by.
From Beaconsfield we headed up to Streatham to spend the night with my sister and her family. We then concluded the UK visits with a night with our friends Kate and Mike in Morden conveniently located near Gatwick.
Our friends Tim and Debs had very kindly invited us over to their villa in Florida whilst they were there for their summer holiday at the beginning of July. We set off a week before they arrived and had a marvellous time exploring a bit more of the State. Our first stop was Clearwater Beach on the West Coast on the Gulf of Mexico. We found a very kitsch 50’s style motel one street away from the beach. Mike negotiated one of his famous deals and we got an apartment for only $50.00 a night. It came complete with cooker, fridge, dining area and bathroom. Its top features must have been the mirrored headboard and original rosebud print bed linen. After a tremendous storm in the afternoon we had a wonderful evening in the very laid back town. Realising the tourist appeal of a sunset the American equivalent of the local council organise free entertainment and stalls every evening two hours before and after sunset at Pier 60. We walked along the pier, watched the sun go down and also saw dolphins and a variety of different seabirds. We had two nights in Clearwater and then headed inland and northwards to Ocala which is known for breeding horses. On the way we couldn’t resist a visit to ‘Lazydays’, the biggest RV dealership in North America. As well as having a good nose around we took advantage of a complimentary lunch with hot and cold drinks provided in the canteen. If you needed somewhere to relax there was also a large lounge with comfy sofas and TVs also serving free tea and coffee.
We managed to get the last available room at The Hampton Inn at Ocala as two opposing baseball teams were staying there. I thought it would be great to see some hunky baseball players and was slightly disappointed at breakfast the next morning to see my ‘hunks’ were actually all under 14 as it was Little League. They did look cute in their uniforms though.
