The Long Road To Our Next Trip

Apologies for the radio silence since Christmas.   My hip replacement recovery went smoothly, and we FINALLY got Lo11y back from the workshop on 3rd March.  A large part of January and February was spent redecorating our rental flat in Kings Cross which turned out to be a far larger task than expected, but it looked a lot smarter when finished and we managed to get a new tenant in fairly quickly.  It did give us a chance to enjoy London, trying out new restaurants and bars,  and a few shows.  I’m sure it would have been cheaper to get a decorator in….

In late January we helped Colin’s sister Louise (who lives in Texas) celebrate her 60th birthday. After a night in a nice hotel in Faringdon in Oxfordshire, we had 3 nights on a 70 foot narrowboat on the Oxfordshire canal. We have to say we thought Tony (Colin’s brother in law) was slightly mad booking this in the cold wet weather of January, but it actually worked out well, particularly for me who had the excuse to stay on board in the rain due to my hip not being ready for jumping on and off the boat to do the locks and bridges. 

Once I was able to fly short haul again, we enjoyed a few days in early February catching up with family in Ibiza. Colin helped Issy (his stepmother) clear out her shed – he loves a good clear out – I’m not sure Issy enjoyed it as much, but she was very happy with the results.

Our plans were to set off the first week in April on our Baltic trip, so we took Lo11y on a trip to Sandringham Estate in Norfolk to check everything was in full working order after the remedial works. We are happy to say she passed the test and we had a lovely couple of warm days cycling to the coast, including fish and chips at Hunstanton, then a wander around the impressive gardens at Sandringham.  We weren’t sure if King Charles was still residing there after his busy week meeting there with Zelensky and Trudeau, but there were plenty of security cars around the estate.

On the way back we stopped at a nice National Trust Campsite by a watermill in Cambridgeshire.

We had another day in London catching up with Bina, who we’d met in 2018 on a cycling holiday in Japan.  We joined a guided walking tour of the City of London that was fantastic – so many interesting facts about the history and buildings that we’d normally walk past without a second thought.  We followed this up with a visit to a Van Gogh immersive exhibition that was also very enjoyable.

I also managed to squeeze in a catch up with some lovely ladies I used to work with in Luton some 20 years ago, then we had Mothering Sunday back in London with Colin’s family.

At this point, with just a week to go until the off, we had a tragic turn of events, with Colin’s mothers partner of ten years, Ross, passing away very unexpectedly.  It has left the family in a state of shock, and with Easter approaching the funeral was not able to take place until 8th May.

Obviously we didn’t want to set off only to have to make our way back to the UK for the funeral, so we delayed the setting off date by a month. 

Having an unplanned month to fill hasn’t been difficult.  We had a night in Bolton and were invited to a hospitality box by an old colleague of Colins to watch the El Crappico fixture of Wigan v Bolton.  It lived up to expectations of being a dire match devoid of any skill, but somehow Bolton ground out their first win against Wigan for 10 years. The highlight for me was seeing Wigan’s mascot Crusty the Pie.   Colin’s highlight was staying in a room at the hotel at Boltons Ground (The Tough Sheet Stadium – you couldn’t make it up…) which overlooked the pitch.  It was made far more enjoyable by the fact there was no football to spoil it.

We enjoyed the following day with unseasonably hot sunny weather walking and driving around the lovely countryside surrounding Bolton. We caught up with two of Colin’s mates (Mike & Steve) who were showing off their lack of angling skills to match Wigan & Boltons lack of footballing skills.

The great weather in April has meant we’ve been out on the bikes quite a bit on our own and with the two cycling groups we attend. 

We also had another mini trip in Lo11y, this time spending a couple of nights at a camping field near Oxford where we enjoyed a lovely bike ride around the Chiltern Hills. We then visited Brooklands Museum, an aviation and motor museum in Surrey, which is a fantastic place to visit. We even had a tour around a Concorde that is kept there.

We continued on to another campsite in Surrey near the RHS gardens at Wisley which we visited the following day. It's a fabulous place.

We ended up in West Sussex for Easter Sunday and to help celebrate Colin’s sister Sara’s birthday. She had her Serbian family over too, so it was a full on day.

I have also enjoyed catch ups with my Northampton girlfriends, then my school girlfriends at the Open Gardens day at Ashridge House in Hertfordshire.

Now into May, we had a meet up with my brothers and niece on a scorching May Day in London, then Colin and I took a cute little canal boat out for a day from Market Harborough to Foxton Locks.

With the ferry from Dover to Calais booked for 12th May, with a few days to be spent down in Sussex for Ross’s funeral beforehand, we have had to get ourselves organised with packing the truck for 7 weeks in Europe.

Ross's family created a perfect send-off for Ross. It was interesting to learn more about Ross's pilot career. He was one of an elite group of pilots flying Lightning jets during the Cold War. With a top speed above mach 2, it was his job to intercept Russian aircraft and missiles. Ross was always a quiet and modest man and when questioned about his past would just shrug it off as 'just doing my job'.

The day following the funeral we headed to Woolbeding Gardens, a National Trust property near Midhurst. We enjoyed walking around the stunning gardens and buildings. Towards the end of our visit Louise (Colin's younger sister) slipped on a grassy bank while taking photos of the beautiful plants. It soon became apparent she had seriously hurt her leg, so with the help of the National Trust team she was taken to Chichester hospital where she has now discovered she has broken her leg in five places! As we set off she is waiting for surgery to pin her leg back together.

We camped up the night before our ferry crossing at an Indian restaurant just a 10 minute drive from the port on Dover. They allow motor-homes free overnight parking if you eat in their restaurant. We got chatting to the owners of the camper van next to Lolly - a lovely couple from Liverpool (Everton fans) & we ended up spending the evening in the restaurant with them. The service & food were excellent & we thoroughly enjoyed the conversations and the company of the other couple.

We set sail to Calais in the morning for a smooth & sunny crossing. We’re loving being back on the road . Our first stop for a few days is Ypres in Belgium - to be continued.