Our plan was to support Greg on his Coast to Coast cycle challenge, he’s helping CatZero raise funds for their charity by cycling from Hull to Southport, on one of the days they were passing very close to our home. Then the plan was to visit John’s parents in Wales on Sunday as it was his Dads birthday, that was the plan anyway.
It was one of those weekends where we knew we’d be going to visit John’s parents in Wales and we knew we were going to try and catch up with the CarZero charity cycle ride in one of two rest stops but that was about it.
Then on the Thursday we had a message from the Poo Pickers saying they were over our way for the weekend and wanted to know if we had plans on the Friday so we jumped at the chance for an extra night in the van with our mates 🙂
Dave had a planning room in mind (of course..!) so we met them up there after I’d finished work on the Friday. The sun was still shining when we arrived, seeing the whippet bus parked up amongst the rolling hills and sheep we promptly parked in front of their view – haha.. It was the only level bit where our doors opened in the middle. We had a quick chat and let Coop out for a widdle then grabbed dog things and headed into the pub. Dave had reserved us a table and we checked out the fab menu! Jo and I shared the BEST breads/olives/hummus platter ever.. They’d managed to get something so simple and make it amazing.. The rest of the food was also fab as was the company of course, and after 3 courses and 3 rounds of booze we toddled back to the vans feeling like we’d been out all night but it was actually 9 o’clock! Haha.. We all love snuggling up in the vans though so no one batted an eyelid at the time – we hit the bed with coop and caught up with some more Suits (binge watching on Netflix at the mo.. Other awesome programs about law firms are available..)
The next morning we were up and doors open by about 9.30 which was a lovely lazy morning.. I love it when we get to park up “doors in” as we tend to both keep them open and potter and chat while getting breakfast ready. Dave and Jo were heading off to Hebden Bridge and we’d decided to meet up with the cyclists in Charlesworth instead of Reddish Vale as it’s much nicer there 🙂 We did have to go via the house though as John had forgotten his PJ’s and my bottoms weren’t as comfy.. So we packed up and made our way to Charlesworth.
I had chance to have a potter around the few very nice shops (a brilliant grocers with massive colourful baskets of fresh fruit and veg and samples of a scrummy veg and pesto soup) Then we grabbed some sammiches and waited for the support team. We’re cheeky enough to start chatting to whomever arrived in the van but we had a lovely surprise and found ‘Oiley was driving – Dave has brought Steve along with him a few times for some weekend camping trips so it was nice to see a familiar face and Sarah was along with him, although we’ve not met before we’d heard all about her. I pulled out the nespresso machine and “got the kettle on” for them while they emptied the van and set up the trestle tables with food, snacks and drinks for the riders when they arrived. They had an app on their phone to track the riders so we knew when they’d be close so we could run out and cheer and film them as they rode in. Everyone looked a little in need of the rest although Greg had a massive smile as always – I think that was a particularly hilly part of the journey for them but at least the sun was shining (not too brightly now..) I made him a sneaky brew too and after a chat, some food and a mexican wave they were off again.
We had a few ideas of where we wanted to stay for the night in North Wales, a few that we hadn’t tried yet – we’d had a little message from the Curbside Crafters who we follow on Instagram saying they were in the area and we’d try to pop by and see them if we could. The first place we tried was a lovely beach stop but it wasn’t right for what we needed, the road leading to it used to be OK to stay from 8pm to 8am but there are single yellow lines there now with no overnight signs which is a shame.. Seems a lot of North Wales is going that way now, why when people in campers clearly spend money is beyond me – and if they think they don’t then charge a nominal fee for parking so you’ll definitely get some – I wouldn’t mind paying a few £s rather than not getting to park there at all. We checked out a few other spots and found a lovely little park up around the corner, it was a little late to grab some food from a shop at this point so thought we’d crack open the Instant pot and film one of the meals we like to make in it and planned in the morning to hit up the BEST little Popty (Bakery) in Conwy for some lunch to take and eat at John’s parents house (they even sold me a couple of sausages for fussy cooper to have too)
We had a lovely peaceful nights sleep and a little lie in, we grabbed some brekkie from the Bakery and headed towards the beach so we could let Coop have a little run off his lead and we could sit and eat. Once i’d had my 3 cups of coffee (the new lithium batteries have made my nespresso super efficient! I’d say it runs a third faster than it did with the old batteries!!) we headed off and found Claire and Rhys and stopped to say hi. They’d been enjoying the sights and sounds of North Wales and an egg butty (which we narrowly avoided interrupting!) They are so lovely – go find them on Insta 🙂
We were a little later than we’d planned getting to John’s parents – thankfully nothing keeps them way from their lunch so they’d eaten by the time we arrived. Cuddles were had and a nice catch up too. John’s dad had expressed a few worries about the adventure we are hoping to embark on soon (Anyone want to buy a house yet..? It’s very nice!!) So we asked if he’d mind if we recorded what these thoughts were to give some perspective and hopefully to assuage them as the very last thing we want is for them to worry unduly. I absolutely adore John’s parents and couldn’t have hand picked better in-laws if i’d tried and I love that they are so honest and open with us (they do make me chuckle too.. ) They are the perfect blend of honest opinions, cheeky dad jokes and brilliant hugs all wrapped up in unconditional love.. That video will be out soon.. 🙂
We could see that afternoon nap time was calling them so we packed up and headed back home again – I love weekends like that, just filled with awesome people in all the places we love.. Long may they continue.
If you found this videos to be useful and would like to show your appreciation you can do so here – https://www.johnandmandy.uk/thanks/
Are you interested in the Gear used to produce this video? Here’s a link to all my tech I use to record and produce my videos…
https://www.johnandmandy.uk/filmmaking-gear/
Thanks you very much for watching our videos and for your support. Follow us on Instagram @GadgetJohnonTour
