Friday 4th May
I was looking forward to my Friday off, so that I could get my housework done followed by the ironing. I could then go shopping before making sure the van was packed up and we we were ready to go when Billy got in. Billy would do his packing up of the van on on Thursday night and hopefully we would be able to leave about 4pm on Friday.
However this all changed because when Billy came home on Thursday eveninghe said that there was not enough work and that he was not working on Friday. He decided that because he was off on Friday he would wait and pack the van up on Friday morning.
Friday morning I was able to put the hoover over and get the ironing done, whilst Billy put the bikes on the back and packed up the van.
I sorted the fridge and freezer food, including a home made fish pie that I had frozen to take with us. Billy said it would defrost in the fridge as we were travelling.
We were on our way by 12:30 and winding our way along the exe valley when bang our wing mirror had been hit, we were on a bridge when a white van decided he too would be able to go over the bridge and at speed. We stopped to check the damage but needless to say he did not stop. Billy was able to put the mirror back in place but the indicator cover was broken and the black has been scuffed and cracked. Our shiny new motorhome was not shiny anymore :( We continued on our way and ended up setting up at the Minehead Caravan Club site by 4pm.
The plan was to have the fish pie for tea but by 7pm the pie had not defrosted. Off we went to see if there was a take away in walking distance. We were pleasantly surprised as within 5 minutes walk we found, an Indian, Chinese, kebab/pizza, fish and chips and a co-op (if we wanted to cook). We ended up with Chinese and very nice it was too.
After dinner we then both sat reading our kindles until Graham Norton was due on the TV. We thought "lets try the TV", thinking it would take ages to sort the aerial. We were pleasantly surprised when we switched the TV on and we had a very good picture. We watched GN and then decided it was time for bed. We decided to try the drop down bed this weekend for the first time. We were both surprised how comfortable the bed was and the added advantage were the shelves for drinks, clock etc.
We do not have a shelf beside the fixed bed, although Billy is working on this. At the moment we open a cupboard and use this for drinks etc.
Saturday 5th May
After a good nights sleep, we decided on cereal for breakfast and then headed off to see what Minehead was like, it was a very grey day. Minehead is about a 10-15 minute walk from the site but not a very pretty place, mind you it may be totally different if the weather had been better. We wandered down the street looking around the shops, but when we reached the seafront, the tide was out and the sea was very brown.
We didn’t stay long at the front to take a couple of photos but soon moved as it was so cold.
We headed back up the street and stopped off for a coffee and a snack in Coasters. There were lots of lovely goodies to choose from but Billy and I were good and I had jacket potato and beans and Billy just had beans on toast.
We then headed back to the caravan site to set up the TV, in order to watch the FA cup final. I popped the fish pie in the oven at half time, thinking it would be ready by the time the football had finished. However this was not to be, the fish pie was not ready until 8:45 but it was worth the wait.
After our meal and washing up we read a couple of magazines and headed off to the drop down bed again. I decided to try getting out the bed from my own side rather than disturbing Billy. I used the cab seats to get down and this worked fine. Another plus for the drop down bed.
Sunday 6th May
This morning we had bacon and egg for breakfast and then settled for bike ride. We had picked up a cycle route leaflet from the information office at a caravan site and thought this would be something we could do. After all it said it was “Easy”.
However, once out of the site we were on our way to Dunster. We soon found out that the route was through country lanes and at the top of a steep hill! We have not been cycling for nearly a year and I found this too much so ended up walking up the hill.
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| Half way up the hill |
Once at the top, Dunster is a lovely village with a Castle. The sun was shining so we parked our bikes and took a look at what Dunster had to offer. If you want a cream tea there are several tea shops, plenty of cafes for snacks and restaurants for a proper Sunday lunch. We did not succumb though. We did find ourselves in some lovely little nick nack shops but again we left well alone. Ah no, I forgot we bought some morello cherry jam with port.
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| Dunster shops and restaurant Castle in Background |
Old Yarn Market - Dunster
We found our bikes and continued on our way. This time it was downhill and then flat onto a cycle track, a lot easier! We chose not to take the cycle track into Minehead as we had done Minehead the day before but headed back to the motorhome for some lunch and to sit in the sunshine. We stopped off at the co-op for some bread to go with cheese we had in the fridge. The sun was still shining when we arrived back so the chairs came out and we tucked in to the bread and cheese, oh and we had to try the jam!
Bank Holiday Monday (7th May)
Woke up this morning to heavy mist and drizzle, We packed up and headed back home.
We drove back via Barnstaple as Billy wanted to go to B & Q and maplins. We knew the car park was OK for the motorhome. We hummed and hahhed over whether we should go via Porlock Hill (1 in 4) but decided in the end not to go that way because of the weather, the scenery would have been lost in fog anyway.
