Entry tags:
Complete Travel Log from July 3rd to July 14th (aka road trip through hell)
Just a summary of the Road Trip from Scotland, through England, Wales, Somerset and back up.
I've put in notes on the Travelodges we stayed at as well - each marked with 1-5 ♠ - the more the better of course
This entry has, as always, been crossposted with LJ and IJ
Day 1 - July 3rd - Friday
Route: Dunfermline (Scotland) to Newcastle (England)
Plan of the day:
Leave no later than 9AM, drive to Newcastle with a stop at Alnwick Castle to see where some of Harry Potter was filmed. then head to Newcastle, book in, find Terry near the railway station.
What happened:
The heater kept losing heat. Nicci checked it, restarted it, but it kept dropping. Question of the morning: Why's the carpet in the hallway squelching?
Right, turns out the radiator was leaking. so we had to wait till 9 to phone someone who could fix it. that done, we finally headed out. It was roughly 10ish before we left the big ASDAs after putting on petrol.
Alnwick Castle was... not terribly interesting. So I'm either getting used to castles or it was just boring. Also, I prefer places where I'm allowed to take photos inside, which of course, you can't.
It started raining when we left, so we were soaked by the time we got back to the car. Nicci's hubby wanted to visit a bookstore and after many woes on parking (entry/exit was narrow and parking was steep).
So, not the most fab start, but you can't expect everything to go according to plan. Really, you can't XD
We managed with some trouble to find the Travelodge (note, on this one - GPS did show the right way)
We met with Terry - it was fun to see him for real after all those years *grins* - and off we went to find food. finally we settled with Pizza Hut - not the best service, though even if the guy servicing us was a bit flustered and stressed out, he was also pretty cute *g*
We snug Terry into the Travelodge room and I had no idea how happy we'd be to have the damned fan with us as well -- because the room was boilingly hot after a short time. It might have helped if we could have kept the window open but we couldn't. Outside across the road was a pub, not to mention that at 7 they started up road work right below *sighs*
Travelodge: Newcastle Central
Parking: Underneath the TL, £5
Rating: ♠
loud, stinky and a sucky couch XD
Also, never EVER book on a Friday/Saturday nights - it's stag night central
Day 2 - July 4th - Saturday
Route: Newcastle (England) to Carlisle Todhills (M6 southbound)
The day went more or less according to plan O.o *laughs*. We went into Newcastle to visit Forbidden Planet and a couple of other shops. I bought a few mangas for my newphews and one for Becca. I almost bought another Jack (TW version) *grins*
We checked out of the Travelodge and went on to Vindolanda (old Roman excavation site) and the Roman Army Museum just down the road from Vindolanda. It was great having![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
historyterry along as a guide as well.
Carlisle want okay - had a bit of driving around to find the B&B thathistoryterry was staying at. Worse was the fact that when we went out to the Travelodge to book in, it turned out they'd changed the road from an A road to a motorway. So in order to get out there, coming from Carlisle, you have to go past the Travelodge, a good few miles out to turn around and come back on the right side of the motorway *sighs*.
Yeah. Fun.
Stil, we went in, had dinner at a pub across the road from the B&B - said our goodbyes tohistoryterry - or rather, see you on Friday XD
Travelodge: Carlisle Todhills (M6)
Rating: ♠ ♠ 1/2
A bit hard to get to, but otherwise okay
Day 3 - July 5th - Sunday
Route: Carlisle Todhills (M6 southbound) to Barrow-In-Furness
We went from Carlisle with a little trip to Cockermouth, just because it IS funny XD. Down through the Lake District. I'd like to point out, we should probably have chosen the other way down through it because "Arrrrrgh, fecking nasty narrow windy drop-you-over-the-edgeroads" (note to self, ignore flist suggesting alternate routes XD). Much fun was had, just ask nicci_mac. Ended up in Wyndemere, a town that is a bit too touristy for my taste
Note: Do not go there in high season, on a weekend with great weather. Too many people.
Eventually we came down to the Travelodge, hoping that we could do a bit of shopping in the 24H ASDA - which turns out only to be a 24H one Monday-Friday... *rolls eyes* - anyway, we found a Chinese take-away and managed to get something to eat.
Travelodge: Barrow-In-Furness
Rating: ♠ ♠ ♠
A bit outside everything, but otherwise quite good.
Day 4 - July 6th - Monday
Route: Barrow-In-Furness to Chester Central
We went out fairly early and shortly thereafter pulled into the South Lakes Animal Park. Brilliant place, by the way. Especially the feeding of the tigers, which is done on poles to keep them fit and to keep their instincts natural. Apart from that, there were lemurs all over the park *g* - well, the ordinary ones were a bit of a menace, but entering the enclosure that holds the other kinds of lemurs, that was fun. Easy to take pictures of, because they were all sleeping in the heat. And it WAS hot.
nicci_mac, her hubby and I all got sunburned. Becca didn't because she was, the insane girl, wearing her black hoodie *rolls eyes*
We then went onwards towards Chester. It was hell finding the Travelodge because it's along the side of a roundabout where you aren't allowed to park. And the car park along the road is insane with its £9 fee O.o - We went out to find a place to eat, and ended up with pizza express -- not exactly my kind of place, but it WAS food.
We were back at the TL in time to watch the first episode of Torchwood. Little did we know where it would lead. Hey, even Becca ended up watching it. And she's never been into TW.
Travelodge: Chester Central
Rating: ♠ ♠
Lousy parking £9!, overworked service and undermanned - on the upside, this one had a good couch and A/C XD
Day 5 - July 7th - Tuesday
Route: Chester Central to Cardiff, Atlantic Wharf
Northern Wales was magnificent! Beautiful view and not too narrow roads although they were a bit windy *g* - We stopped for NOTHING, going through the Brecon Beacons - you know, something you DO learn from watching TV XD
We went for a bit of a walk, took some pictures, went out to eat (ate at a bar in the Red Dragon Centre next door -- good and fairly cheap food) and then returned to the TL to watch TW - by this point Becca was pretty focused on it as well LOL
After that, we went down to the wharf again to take some shots in the dark. Of course we stalked a few TW locations as well -- finding one entrance to the Hub *g* the information centre one. Unfortunately the Roald Dahl Plass was fenced off due to a food festival the next weekend and that meant we didn't get to jump up and down on the invisible lift *pouts*
Travelodge: Cardiff, Atlantic Wharf
Rating: ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠
The only thing about the car park are the bloody bumps! At least the TL takes care of the parking fee.
Day 6 - July 8th - Wednesday
Route: Cardiff, Atlantic Wharf to Glastonbury
We packed our stuff and made sure all was right before nicci_mac and I went off to the Red Dragon Centre next door for the Doctor Who Exhibit.
Oh boy, did we have a LOT of fun XD - There was a set up with Daleks with a button you could press and they'd start up and there were lights/lasers and more, and the Dalek voice still freaks me out! I swear, I only pushed it five times! *laughs*. Also? Since mid-January, I've had an order with play.com for the new Ianto Jones figure - which still hasn't been shipped -- they keep pushing the date *pouts* However, the first produktion of it, it turns out, is a limited 1.000 units - numbered. And Scificollector UK is the sole seller of that. Guess what they had in the Doctor Who store at the exhibit... Yes, I came home with a Ianto Jones XD. I am sure I could hear Jack cheering from his box in my suitcase in Dunfermline XD - No one wants to know what they got up to in the luggage on my way home!
So, we had a lovely chines buffet lunch afterwards, wherenicci_mac's hubby and Becca joined us as neither of them were particularly interested in the exhibit.
Eventually we headed off to Glastonbury, which isn't the most impressive place. A tourist trap and the Tor's not particularly impressive either. I mean, on top of a day with so much fangirling, it would have to have been 10 times the size and covered in glitter for me to be impressed XD
Travelodge: Glastonbury
Rating: ♠ ♠ 1/2
Good parking but Glastonbury itself is bloody boring!
There's a Morrison's super store down the road as well.
Day 7 - July 9th - Thursday
Route: Glastonbury to Alcester
We did a quick shopping trip to Morrison's and then headed up towards Alcester. The drive was okay and we made it into Alcester in the afternoon.
After checking in, we left Rebecca to it and went into Stratford for a pub dinner. We parked at a church right in the centre and walked across the town square to a pub where we got pretty good food and fairly good beer too.
We took a wander around the place, Shakespeare's house etc and of coursenicci_mac's husband managed to find a Games Workshop hole-in-the-wall store *g* -- We left him to geek about for a while as he hadn't been making all that much fun of us about the DW/TW fangirling thing earlier in the day... much *grins*
So, we dropped her hubby off in Alcester on the way back - so he could visit the pubs and we went back to the Travelodge to watch Torchwood.
Yes, it was THAT night - hello, even Rebecca was in tears -nicci_mac tried not to make too much fun of us... I think. Well, she provided the tissues - she's forgiven.
*sniffles*
Oh, and before I forget it? Yes, we WERE recognized, damn it LOL - one of the receptionist were the same as last year in September. Heh, she'd recognizednicci_mac and was fairly sure she had seen me before as well. Oh bugger - does that bode well for the end of November? LOL
Travelodge: Alcester
Rating: ♠ ♠ 1/2
Good parking, a bit boring but it's a bit like coming home...
Eating in Stratford was good, but Alcester seems okay for that as well
Day 8 - July 10th - Friday
Route: Alcester to Ashton-Under-Lyne
We drove to Newark in the morning and parked - having a wander around while Becca insisted on staying in the car to sleep.
We wandered through a market and picked up a few tops for her in her absence. The walk took us down to Newark castle as well, which is a ruin, but still quite impressive. Also, we found a Wetherspoon's quite easily, so eventually, Neil went back to get Becca so we could have something to eat. I'm not sure my stomach will ever forgive me for the amounts of food XD
Anywho, we ate, we enjoyed the place and then lumbered off through the market again - back to the car. From there we went out to Newark Air Museum, because if we were allowed to fangirl about, so wasnicci_mac's hubby. Ahem. He's not allowed to make fun of us EV4H again! It was so much fun. He found a Javelin and I made the mistake of asking if he liked it - a rhetorically asked question to which the answer was: "I don't just like it. I love it. I want to have its babies!" Eh yeah. Took loads of photos, but i have to do those before I can post them - It's partly for my brother who's very much into planes as well.
Oh, and Becca got a genuine RAF jacket. It seems they get a lot of the donated to the museum, so the museum has kept the ones they want and the rest are sold at the shop. $£15, that was all! She dubbed it the Awesome Jacket of Awesomeness. I swear, she petted it, hugged it and kept taking it off the hanger that night to put it on XD. We stopped by a place wherenicci_mac's hubby normally goes to geek out with the other wargamers -- a huge, beautiful house in Newark.
Once in the Travelodge in Ashton-Under-Lyne (not easy to find either, but damn it, it's become habit to have to search for the damned places XD), we got showered and got a taxi into Manchester to Canal Street to meet up withhistoryterry. It was Sparkle weekend, so it was extremely colourful *g*. historyterry was out eating with one of his friends, a girl from his studies. It was a nice night, but loud. I guess I'm getting old - I was rather missing my local café XD with its rude barristas and bartenders.
So, taxi back to the TL and to bed. We were supposed to get up and go to Camelot the next day.
Travelodge: Ashton-Under-Lyne
Rating: ♠ ♠ 1/2
Good parking, a bit of a problem to find, but otherwise okay.
Day 9 - July 11th - Saturday
Route: Ashton-Under-Lyne to Lancaster (M6)
Urgh. It's one of those days LOL.
No photos taken. We decided to sleep in a bit and then checked out and went off to find Camelot. Ahem. *starts to giggle madly*
Let's just say we sort of got lost in a small town called Leyland, that WOULD NOT LET US LEAVE! What is it with the lack of road signs?!
End of the day we realized we couldn't find the bloody place and decided to just push it to Sunday and skip White Scar Caves.
We then drove up to the Lancaster Travelodge on the M6 - The evening we went to eat at the Wetherspoon's in Lancaster (via a number of backroads) - and for once the parking was nearly right across from it LOL
Back at the TL we finally caught up on the Torchwood ending and quite frankly, neither of us were particularly impressed.
Off to bed with us and up early the next day to go off to Camelot.
Travelodge: Lancaster (M6)
Rating: ♠ ♠ ½
Good parking, a bit of a problem to get back to from Lancaster as it's on one side of the motorway. There are however backroads you can make use of.
Day 10 - July 12th - Sunday
Route: Lancaster (M6) via Camelot to Gateshead
OMG LOLZ -- *laughs* We went out early on the Sunday to get to the Camelot theme park and good lord - seriously -- I felt like I was 8 years old again LOL. Becca and I went running from one insane ride to another. First the wet ones and then off to the wilder ones. The Knightmare was fun - so was the whirlwind. Excalibur broke down when we were on it so it had to stop. We went on later but I'm not sure Rebecca will EVER forgive me for that one XD - heard at the ride loudspeaker: ...where you will be upside down... girl: UpsideWHAT?!
So yeah, we then had our sandwiches and sat at the arena, a bit early, waiting for the joust to begin.
Oh it was FUN. The two jesters were hilarious - and the knights were... yeah LOL - Becca was definitely into sir Percival, a young knight. When we were allowed, at the end to pet the horses - she wanted to know if she was allowed to pet the knight too XD - cheeky girl - we're SO proud of her.
That said, now... Lancelot!.. omnomnomnomnom XD
The whole jousting was fun, as was the entertainment during the break. After, when everyone had been booing at Gawain (Mordred's sidekick), he callednicci_mac an old trout - after which one of the jesters smacked him in the head with a frying pan. It was so silly and entertaining XD
The drive after that was a killer - mostly because I was so bloody sleepy.
Travelodge: Gateshead
Rating: ♠ ♠ ½
Good parking, a bit of a problem to find, but that seems to be the general problem for us LOL
Day 11 - July 13th - Monday
Route: Gateshead and staying
So, having no plans for the day, we slept in and eventually just went out on a drive.
We ended up in Hexham where we went to the abbey church, took some photos and then headed off to Consett to have early dinner at the Wetherspoon's - not a particularly good one, though - but it was food and a lot of it. The service was cute but not terribly good.
Afterwards we eventually ended up back in the Travelodge and had a nice evening watching Monsters VS Aliens.
Travelodge: Gateshead
Rating: ♠ ♠ ½
Good parking, a bit of a problem to find, but that seems to be the general problem for us LOL
Day 12 - July 14th - Tuesday
Route: Gateshead to Dunfermline
Got up fairly early - left Gateshead around 10ish. - Stopped by the Scottish border to let me take over ^_^
We went up to Melrose to the abbey where we took a lot of photos - or tried to -nicci_mac's battery died midways.
We then went on to Galashiels to eat at the Wetherspoon's - not a fantastic one either, but okay ^_^
Then we were off homeward - and made it home roughly around 3.30PM
The house was still standing -- the two kids ALMOST having it tidied up LOL -- well, it looked better than we expected XD
Evening was spent with me and K going up to town to pick up chippies and eating and... yeah, crashing XD
So, everyone -- that's a long story of a long vacation. I miss the family and I know for a certain, I want to go back to Cardiff ^_^
Thank you to all of you who've commented and been with me the whole way.
The whole set of images can be found here
I've put in notes on the Travelodges we stayed at as well - each marked with 1-5 ♠ - the more the better of course
This entry has, as always, been crossposted with LJ and IJ
Day 1 - July 3rd - Friday
Route: Dunfermline (Scotland) to Newcastle (England)
Plan of the day:
Leave no later than 9AM, drive to Newcastle with a stop at Alnwick Castle to see where some of Harry Potter was filmed. then head to Newcastle, book in, find Terry near the railway station.
What happened:
The heater kept losing heat. Nicci checked it, restarted it, but it kept dropping. Question of the morning: Why's the carpet in the hallway squelching?
Right, turns out the radiator was leaking. so we had to wait till 9 to phone someone who could fix it. that done, we finally headed out. It was roughly 10ish before we left the big ASDAs after putting on petrol.
Alnwick Castle was... not terribly interesting. So I'm either getting used to castles or it was just boring. Also, I prefer places where I'm allowed to take photos inside, which of course, you can't.
It started raining when we left, so we were soaked by the time we got back to the car. Nicci's hubby wanted to visit a bookstore and after many woes on parking (entry/exit was narrow and parking was steep).
So, not the most fab start, but you can't expect everything to go according to plan. Really, you can't XD
We managed with some trouble to find the Travelodge (note, on this one - GPS did show the right way)
We met with Terry - it was fun to see him for real after all those years *grins* - and off we went to find food. finally we settled with Pizza Hut - not the best service, though even if the guy servicing us was a bit flustered and stressed out, he was also pretty cute *g*
We snug Terry into the Travelodge room and I had no idea how happy we'd be to have the damned fan with us as well -- because the room was boilingly hot after a short time. It might have helped if we could have kept the window open but we couldn't. Outside across the road was a pub, not to mention that at 7 they started up road work right below *sighs*
Travelodge: Newcastle Central
Parking: Underneath the TL, £5
Rating: ♠
loud, stinky and a sucky couch XD
Also, never EVER book on a Friday/Saturday nights - it's stag night central
Day 2 - July 4th - Saturday
Route: Newcastle (England) to Carlisle Todhills (M6 southbound)
The day went more or less according to plan O.o *laughs*. We went into Newcastle to visit Forbidden Planet and a couple of other shops. I bought a few mangas for my newphews and one for Becca. I almost bought another Jack (TW version) *grins*We checked out of the Travelodge and went on to Vindolanda (old Roman excavation site) and the Roman Army Museum just down the road from Vindolanda. It was great having
historyterry along as a guide as well.Carlisle want okay - had a bit of driving around to find the B&B that
historyterry was staying at. Worse was the fact that when we went out to the Travelodge to book in, it turned out they'd changed the road from an A road to a motorway. So in order to get out there, coming from Carlisle, you have to go past the Travelodge, a good few miles out to turn around and come back on the right side of the motorway *sighs*.Yeah. Fun.
Stil, we went in, had dinner at a pub across the road from the B&B - said our goodbyes to
historyterry - or rather, see you on Friday XDTravelodge: Carlisle Todhills (M6)
Rating: ♠ ♠ 1/2
A bit hard to get to, but otherwise okay
Day 3 - July 5th - Sunday
Route: Carlisle Todhills (M6 southbound) to Barrow-In-Furness
We went from Carlisle with a little trip to Cockermouth, just because it IS funny XD. Down through the Lake District. I'd like to point out, we should probably have chosen the other way down through it because "Arrrrrgh, fecking nasty narrow windy drop-you-over-the-edgeroads" (note to self, ignore flist suggesting alternate routes XD). Much fun was had, just ask nicci_mac. Ended up in Wyndemere, a town that is a bit too touristy for my tasteNote: Do not go there in high season, on a weekend with great weather. Too many people.
Eventually we came down to the Travelodge, hoping that we could do a bit of shopping in the 24H ASDA - which turns out only to be a 24H one Monday-Friday... *rolls eyes* - anyway, we found a Chinese take-away and managed to get something to eat.
Travelodge: Barrow-In-Furness
Rating: ♠ ♠ ♠
A bit outside everything, but otherwise quite good.
Day 4 - July 6th - Monday
Route: Barrow-In-Furness to Chester Central
We went out fairly early and shortly thereafter pulled into the South Lakes Animal Park. Brilliant place, by the way. Especially the feeding of the tigers, which is done on poles to keep them fit and to keep their instincts natural. Apart from that, there were lemurs all over the park *g* - well, the ordinary ones were a bit of a menace, but entering the enclosure that holds the other kinds of lemurs, that was fun. Easy to take pictures of, because they were all sleeping in the heat. And it WAS hot.nicci_mac, her hubby and I all got sunburned. Becca didn't because she was, the insane girl, wearing her black hoodie *rolls eyes*We then went onwards towards Chester. It was hell finding the Travelodge because it's along the side of a roundabout where you aren't allowed to park. And the car park along the road is insane with its £9 fee O.o - We went out to find a place to eat, and ended up with pizza express -- not exactly my kind of place, but it WAS food.
We were back at the TL in time to watch the first episode of Torchwood. Little did we know where it would lead. Hey, even Becca ended up watching it. And she's never been into TW.
Travelodge: Chester Central
Rating: ♠ ♠
Lousy parking £9!, overworked service and undermanned - on the upside, this one had a good couch and A/C XD
Day 5 - July 7th - Tuesday
Route: Chester Central to Cardiff, Atlantic Wharf
Northern Wales was magnificent! Beautiful view and not too narrow roads although they were a bit windy *g* - We stopped for NOTHING, going through the Brecon Beacons - you know, something you DO learn from watching TV XDWe went for a bit of a walk, took some pictures, went out to eat (ate at a bar in the Red Dragon Centre next door -- good and fairly cheap food) and then returned to the TL to watch TW - by this point Becca was pretty focused on it as well LOL
After that, we went down to the wharf again to take some shots in the dark. Of course we stalked a few TW locations as well -- finding one entrance to the Hub *g* the information centre one. Unfortunately the Roald Dahl Plass was fenced off due to a food festival the next weekend and that meant we didn't get to jump up and down on the invisible lift *pouts*
Travelodge: Cardiff, Atlantic Wharf
Rating: ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠
The only thing about the car park are the bloody bumps! At least the TL takes care of the parking fee.
Day 6 - July 8th - Wednesday
Route: Cardiff, Atlantic Wharf to Glastonbury
We packed our stuff and made sure all was right before nicci_mac and I went off to the Red Dragon Centre next door for the Doctor Who Exhibit.Oh boy, did we have a LOT of fun XD - There was a set up with Daleks with a button you could press and they'd start up and there were lights/lasers and more, and the Dalek voice still freaks me out! I swear, I only pushed it five times! *laughs*. Also? Since mid-January, I've had an order with play.com for the new Ianto Jones figure - which still hasn't been shipped -- they keep pushing the date *pouts* However, the first produktion of it, it turns out, is a limited 1.000 units - numbered. And Scificollector UK is the sole seller of that. Guess what they had in the Doctor Who store at the exhibit... Yes, I came home with a Ianto Jones XD. I am sure I could hear Jack cheering from his box in my suitcase in Dunfermline XD - No one wants to know what they got up to in the luggage on my way home!
So, we had a lovely chines buffet lunch afterwards, where
nicci_mac's hubby and Becca joined us as neither of them were particularly interested in the exhibit.Eventually we headed off to Glastonbury, which isn't the most impressive place. A tourist trap and the Tor's not particularly impressive either. I mean, on top of a day with so much fangirling, it would have to have been 10 times the size and covered in glitter for me to be impressed XD
Travelodge: Glastonbury
Rating: ♠ ♠ 1/2
Good parking but Glastonbury itself is bloody boring!
There's a Morrison's super store down the road as well.
Day 7 - July 9th - Thursday
Route: Glastonbury to Alcester
We did a quick shopping trip to Morrison's and then headed up towards Alcester. The drive was okay and we made it into Alcester in the afternoon.After checking in, we left Rebecca to it and went into Stratford for a pub dinner. We parked at a church right in the centre and walked across the town square to a pub where we got pretty good food and fairly good beer too.
We took a wander around the place, Shakespeare's house etc and of course
nicci_mac's husband managed to find a Games Workshop hole-in-the-wall store *g* -- We left him to geek about for a while as he hadn't been making all that much fun of us about the DW/TW fangirling thing earlier in the day... much *grins*So, we dropped her hubby off in Alcester on the way back - so he could visit the pubs and we went back to the Travelodge to watch Torchwood.
Yes, it was THAT night - hello, even Rebecca was in tears -
nicci_mac tried not to make too much fun of us... I think. Well, she provided the tissues - she's forgiven.*sniffles*
Oh, and before I forget it? Yes, we WERE recognized, damn it LOL - one of the receptionist were the same as last year in September. Heh, she'd recognized
nicci_mac and was fairly sure she had seen me before as well. Oh bugger - does that bode well for the end of November? LOLTravelodge: Alcester
Rating: ♠ ♠ 1/2
Good parking, a bit boring but it's a bit like coming home...
Eating in Stratford was good, but Alcester seems okay for that as well
Day 8 - July 10th - Friday
Route: Alcester to Ashton-Under-Lyne
We drove to Newark in the morning and parked - having a wander around while Becca insisted on staying in the car to sleep.
We wandered through a market and picked up a few tops for her in her absence. The walk took us down to Newark castle as well, which is a ruin, but still quite impressive. Also, we found a Wetherspoon's quite easily, so eventually, Neil went back to get Becca so we could have something to eat. I'm not sure my stomach will ever forgive me for the amounts of food XD
Anywho, we ate, we enjoyed the place and then lumbered off through the market again - back to the car. From there we went out to Newark Air Museum, because if we were allowed to fangirl about, so was
nicci_mac's hubby. Ahem. He's not allowed to make fun of us EV4H again! It was so much fun. He found a Javelin and I made the mistake of asking if he liked it - a rhetorically asked question to which the answer was: "I don't just like it. I love it. I want to have its babies!" Eh yeah. Took loads of photos, but i have to do those before I can post them - It's partly for my brother who's very much into planes as well.Oh, and Becca got a genuine RAF jacket. It seems they get a lot of the donated to the museum, so the museum has kept the ones they want and the rest are sold at the shop. $£15, that was all! She dubbed it the Awesome Jacket of Awesomeness. I swear, she petted it, hugged it and kept taking it off the hanger that night to put it on XD. We stopped by a place where
nicci_mac's hubby normally goes to geek out with the other wargamers -- a huge, beautiful house in Newark.Once in the Travelodge in Ashton-Under-Lyne (not easy to find either, but damn it, it's become habit to have to search for the damned places XD), we got showered and got a taxi into Manchester to Canal Street to meet up with
historyterry. It was Sparkle weekend, so it was extremely colourful *g*. historyterry was out eating with one of his friends, a girl from his studies. It was a nice night, but loud. I guess I'm getting old - I was rather missing my local café XD with its rude barristas and bartenders.So, taxi back to the TL and to bed. We were supposed to get up and go to Camelot the next day.
Travelodge: Ashton-Under-Lyne
Rating: ♠ ♠ 1/2
Good parking, a bit of a problem to find, but otherwise okay.
Day 9 - July 11th - Saturday
Route: Ashton-Under-Lyne to Lancaster (M6)
Urgh. It's one of those days LOL.
No photos taken. We decided to sleep in a bit and then checked out and went off to find Camelot. Ahem. *starts to giggle madly*
Let's just say we sort of got lost in a small town called Leyland, that WOULD NOT LET US LEAVE! What is it with the lack of road signs?!
End of the day we realized we couldn't find the bloody place and decided to just push it to Sunday and skip White Scar Caves.
We then drove up to the Lancaster Travelodge on the M6 - The evening we went to eat at the Wetherspoon's in Lancaster (via a number of backroads) - and for once the parking was nearly right across from it LOL
Back at the TL we finally caught up on the Torchwood ending and quite frankly, neither of us were particularly impressed.
Off to bed with us and up early the next day to go off to Camelot.
Travelodge: Lancaster (M6)
Rating: ♠ ♠ ½
Good parking, a bit of a problem to get back to from Lancaster as it's on one side of the motorway. There are however backroads you can make use of.
Day 10 - July 12th - Sunday
Route: Lancaster (M6) via Camelot to Gateshead
OMG LOLZ -- *laughs* We went out early on the Sunday to get to the Camelot theme park and good lord - seriously -- I felt like I was 8 years old again LOL. Becca and I went running from one insane ride to another. First the wet ones and then off to the wilder ones. The Knightmare was fun - so was the whirlwind. Excalibur broke down when we were on it so it had to stop. We went on later but I'm not sure Rebecca will EVER forgive me for that one XD - heard at the ride loudspeaker: ...where you will be upside down... girl: UpsideWHAT?!So yeah, we then had our sandwiches and sat at the arena, a bit early, waiting for the joust to begin.
Oh it was FUN. The two jesters were hilarious - and the knights were... yeah LOL - Becca was definitely into sir Percival, a young knight. When we were allowed, at the end to pet the horses - she wanted to know if she was allowed to pet the knight too XD - cheeky girl - we're SO proud of her.
That said, now... Lancelot!.. omnomnomnomnom XD
The whole jousting was fun, as was the entertainment during the break. After, when everyone had been booing at Gawain (Mordred's sidekick), he called
nicci_mac an old trout - after which one of the jesters smacked him in the head with a frying pan. It was so silly and entertaining XDThe drive after that was a killer - mostly because I was so bloody sleepy.
Travelodge: Gateshead
Rating: ♠ ♠ ½
Good parking, a bit of a problem to find, but that seems to be the general problem for us LOL
Day 11 - July 13th - Monday
Route: Gateshead and staying
So, having no plans for the day, we slept in and eventually just went out on a drive.We ended up in Hexham where we went to the abbey church, took some photos and then headed off to Consett to have early dinner at the Wetherspoon's - not a particularly good one, though - but it was food and a lot of it. The service was cute but not terribly good.
Afterwards we eventually ended up back in the Travelodge and had a nice evening watching Monsters VS Aliens.
Travelodge: Gateshead
Rating: ♠ ♠ ½
Good parking, a bit of a problem to find, but that seems to be the general problem for us LOL
Day 12 - July 14th - Tuesday
Route: Gateshead to Dunfermline
Got up fairly early - left Gateshead around 10ish. - Stopped by the Scottish border to let me take over ^_^
We went up to Melrose to the abbey where we took a lot of photos - or tried to -
nicci_mac's battery died midways.We then went on to Galashiels to eat at the Wetherspoon's - not a fantastic one either, but okay ^_^
Then we were off homeward - and made it home roughly around 3.30PM
The house was still standing -- the two kids ALMOST having it tidied up LOL -- well, it looked better than we expected XD
Evening was spent with me and K going up to town to pick up chippies and eating and... yeah, crashing XD
So, everyone -- that's a long story of a long vacation. I miss the family and I know for a certain, I want to go back to Cardiff ^_^
Thank you to all of you who've commented and been with me the whole way.
The whole set of images can be found here
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