roemin around

 After 22 years of roemin around in our motorhomes we have decided that we need to move on and explore the world of Airbnb. We have had an amazing time driving around Europe, which is why we bought them, but those days of driving for weeks on the wrong side of the road are no longer a safe or attractive proposition. So in June I sold the Moniche and we will be roemin a bit longer - but by car, plane and cruise boat in future.

I had a rather restless night worrying about how the bookcase would fit into the van and whether the additional weight would be a problem. Before we left the site I emptied the water and waste tanks and moved any heavy items as far forward as possible.  We have never been to Sezincote although it is just opposite Batsford Arboretum, so I booked a garden and house tour, £30 for two. The 1st May is the opening day of the 2025 season.  The house is unusual in its Indian inspiration The supurb landscaped garden is multi-level with streams and ponds and unusual mature trees. The house tour is rather boring with only 4 rooms on limited public display. Although Indian on the outside with connections to the Brighton Pavillion, it is a collection of random periods and sources on the inside, collected by the existing family. It is used for the occasional wedding but otherwise is still a family home. We had coffee in the  Orangery which is the only part licenced for weddings. There ...

  After a rather chilly night we awoke to another perfect looking day. Warmed up some bacon from the night before for breakfast and had a day in Stow on the Wolds looking in the Cotswolds Store for a new bookcase. Right by the door there was an ex-display solid oak one reduced from £699 to £150 which was ideal but we had to take it away ourselves as it was a sale item.  We went for an expensive coffee and cake £18,50 at Huffkins to mull over whether we could pay and collect the next day. I decided to give it a go so we paid for it and arranged to collect it the next day on the way home. We had a shandy on the lawn at the Stow Lodge hotel (expensive) then we walked back up the hill to the Tesco where we were parked and did a bit more shopping before returning to site for a bit more sitting in the sun. Just a simple tapas style meal tonite with some Tesco yellow stickers and stuff from home.

  We are off today for our first trip of the year (and maybe our last) to the Cotswolds for 2 nights. We are going to Moreton on Marsh CMC site, which is the first site we ever pitched on back in 2003. The weather forecast for the week is dry and sunny so good timing for once. We left home at around 11:30 for the 90 min drive stopping at the CoOp in Moreton for some provisions. After hooking up at aound 2:30 we walked into the small town via the camping pod area (that wasnt here in 2003) and the path which comes out in the market square. The market was just packing up so we shared a gelato, bought some budgie seed and expensive cheese, then wandered back via the main road to site. These is a wood fired pizza oven on site tonite but we have bought a piece of steak to grill on the plank. There are quite a few small campervans here, including German, Dutch and an elderly Belgian couple right behind us. We relaxed in the warm sun for a few hours before grilling the steak and some bacon...

Another damp murky start to the day and not much prospect of improvement apparently. We had to leave the site by 10:30 and set off up the coast in a steady drizzle that made driving very tedious. By Portmadoc it had not improved so I set the GPS to take us  to Llangollen.  I set off following the route which took us 8 miles on a single track road over the Snowdonia hills with 50yds visibility at times in the drizzle and into the low clouds. Not much fun! The Pontcysyllte Aquaduct near Llangollen was well worth a visit and it stayed dry for us to walk along the aerial towpath. Another impressive feat of British industrial engineering designed by Thomas Telford and a World Heritage site at the moment. We had drinks and a toastie at the nearby Baptist Chapel before taking the A5 and M6 back home. No sun at all again today. Not a very good Welsh break.

The day started dull and the forecast rain started around 11 on schedule. We decided to just take the train to Barmouth for a few hours and walked to station in a heavy shower to join the other travellers. There were about 25 wet adults and children waiting for the 10min (£1.50) ride. We found a cafe to have a light lunch and to see if the rain would ease up. It didn't and we spent the afternoon wandering around some of the interesting gift shops including the Nepalese bazaar where we bought Marks chicken whispers hat last year. It used up the time until we caught the 4 o'clock train back to Talybont. Rosemary made a chicken stir fry from raw ingredients and we ate inside. It's still drizzling. Fortunately the TV signal is OK thanks to assistance from Freepoint. We still have the ice cream in the freezing compartment.

We decided to try and catch up on lost time, due to the cold wet spring weather, by taking a 4 day break before the main school holidays. Booked 2 nights at the Talybont site, we have used before, by the Phwelli to Barmouth railway line. We called at Chilcot farm shop and cafe for lunch and buy some meat on a nice sunny day. Arrived at 4pm only 3 pitches left, a lot different to last year. Pitched up near the caravan with seagulls nest over the wall and enjoyed a pleasant evening meal on the Jamie with a glass of red. Apart from a few young school children running around the site was pretty quiet. We walked down to the beach and the entertainment complex was busy but not overly so.