It’s that time of year when we take our annual (sometimes bi-annual) trip to Wales to visit family.
This time we were travelling as four. Alex the head driver. Me, distributor of snacks and directions officer. Erin aged 6 provided the entertainment, and Daisy our three year old King Charles cavalier who provided a bad smell and lots of snoring.
The first leg took us from Edinburgh to my brother’s house in Birmingham. It was an uneventful and rather enjoyable trip. Everyone behaved and we arrived safely (with the help of my excellent directions), just in time for tea which was cooked by my brother. Chicken wrapped in parma ham with spicy vegetable sauce, morroccan cous cous and roast vegetables, a pleasant surprise from a batchelor who’d rather be watching sport than cooking up a storm in the kitchen.
After a movie it was time for bed, Erin took it upon herself to ‘tuck Daisy in’. Not really sure if she’s feeling overwhelming love in this photo or is slightly hot and a bit pissed off.
After a goodnight’s sleep we were back on our way. Birmingham to Swansea. Homemade toad in the hole (you can see my life is mapped out by eating events!) was followed by an evening trip to Mumbles.
On Sunday we headed for the Gower and had Sunday lunch with my Dad. In the evening Erin went with my nan to her dance class.
Erin hit the arcades again on Monday winning lots of tickets, and tickets mean prizes. We stopped off to have some of the best ice cream in the world at Joe’s. A special knickerbocker glory shaped treat awaited my Grandad. With a belly full of the good stuff we visted the newly renovated Waterfront Museum. The whole marina has had a lot of investment and it’s a really nice place for a stroll and a coffee. On the way back we treated ourselves to fish and chips before it was time to get on the road.
We decided to drive through the night to cut down on toilet stops and traffic jams. We were on the road by 5pm and all was going well until about 10.30pm when Alex pulling up on the hard shoulder jerked me awake. Our windscreen wiper had twisted and broke splitting the other one too. We sat in pitch darkness in heavy rain awaiting our AA rescue. A guy that would have probably won Stars In Their Eyes as Peter Kay turned up to haul the car onto a truck while Alex and I carried Erin and Daisy into the back of the AA truck, Erin enjoying every moment of the ‘adventure’. Fortunately we were 5 mins from a 24hr garage and 15 mins and £6.50 later we were back on our merry way. We finally arrived home at 2am, when we all fell into our beds exhausted but happy.
