Miles and mills

Boys arrived , another69 mi,es chalked up and over a fifth of the way to j o g. Thye are tired but still smiling and now ensconced in band of brothers whilst I sort supper
Or write the blog - an idyllic spot in the open window of our rooming the old mill. Only the basing of sheep and the soinds of DVD gunfire in this remote and beautiful part of shropshire
Isobel is painting a water colour and life could not be much better except that we are missing dom who had to be dropped at bristolparkway this afternoon to return to the big smoke

Lost in bristol

Saturday was a long day for the boys.it started well with a leisurely breakfast and an enjoyable and meandering cycle to sixth of Bristol to meet godmother nanda for lunch
She proved appropriately able to converse about the technical aspects of bike wheels and armed alex with serious amounts of panforte and chocolate for the journey
Meanwhile we walked up the beautiful Glastonbury tor and Isobel explored the hip pier aspect of westncountry life in the world peace garden
We wre trying to discourage from continuing to drink from the waters of the well of tranquility. It doesn't smell too good

A swift visit to the gardens of tynetesfeld house, something of a Victorian monstrosity but with fab kitchen gardens
The big excitement was the arrival at the yha which really was a Norman castle and completely magical
Isobel was beside herself with excitement and tore round the gardens in the dark most of the evening with two other girls

Meanwhile we dressed up for the medieavel banquet (yes it really was and we ate with our fingers)and waited for the boys

....who had got very lost round Bristol and didn't arrive till seven thirty - one of then,ingest days yet.

Alex greeting to me 'what are you wearing mum?' admittedly it was a green velvet curtain
But I digress

So a very jolly evening of wine and song and made some new friends and we even had a rom that was big enough to walk around in
All in all a wonderful experience

Now it is Sunday morning and we saw the boys off to uncertain weather and starting to look a bit tired. Thankfully. After tonight at the yha at clun we will be going to the hotel og john and jester a tow night rest

Sadly we have to drop dom off at Bristol parkway shortly. But he has managed to have the biggest low and the high with us so far so he has a sassier of our life on the road...,,
T

Punctures and priests

So Isobel and I finished the washing and made for the pub. Or at least a lovely riverside terrace where she could do a water colour Jane Austen style and I could lose myself in the light moral philosophy of Isabel dakhousie.all very pleasant and tranquil

Then we visited the church in tiverton and were engaged in conversation which a splendidly charming vicar who offered ton pray for the boys

Hot line to god may have been missing the whiff connection however as the boys meanwhile were engaging in a series of punctures, heading across fields to find succour in non existent farm houses and finally (since neither boy had a working phone on him...) hitting the pay phone
'mum......' and of course that is what we're there for

So they managed to do 65 miles and thence scooped them up in Taunton just before it got dark

Getting to the yha after it had closed was challenging

But eventually we managed to out away plates of pasta very late in street and shortly after, oblivion!

Isobel's side of the story: This morning we woke up refreshed, luckily we weren't overly hot or had just 6 hours sleep. Instead we had a leisurely breakfast and stroked the new kitten, misty over crunchy nut. we took the boys bags from the youth hostel and went on to Glastonbury. we visited the tor, A huge, dramatic hill topped with a 12th century tower. After a breathless walk up the hill we experienced a panoramic view of three counties on a beautiful day. Later dad and I went to 'a garden of tranquility' where the hippy in the pay box said when dad's phone went off: 'such disembodied sounds utter from a human being' I had to bite my lip to stop myself from giggling and I then understood why mum, the skeptic of the century, decided not to go in. After paddling in the pool of tranquility and drinking from the healing fountain, which I have now been forbidden to drink because mum thinks it will make me sick we came to this lovely pub with a nice one-legged cat called smokey and we are going to meet nanda! X

Loud noises and launderettes

Sitting in a cafe in okehampton waiting to out the washing in the drier
It's all glamour on this trip
Okehampton yha left most things to be desired. Coking dinner in the 120 degree kitchen last night I felt like george Orwell doing his experience as a plongeur in Paris (shurely some exaggeration,Ed)
Sleep of variable quality owing to the continuous banging of fire doors from the early hours
However all that is as nothing compared to the magnificent feat of the boys who managed 84 miles in under 8 hours up hill and down Dale and so on and all in sub optimal weather
And they went off to do exactly the same thing again this morning except 4miles further
Heroic
Isobel is tired and cross with me for being on the blog rather than planning the day

So tootle pip for the present

Got to go and sort the washing
Next stop street in somerset

Sarah

If it's thursday it must be Devon
No post yesterday as we were residing in a small but very cost and friendly yha shack on the
Top of a cliff in perrenporth. No mobile communication but Isobel loved the home from feel and I managed to cook a large meal for us all whilst alex entertained the other guests with juggling (Dave he can do mitons mess now.....)and guitar playing in the garden next to a sheer drop. It's all straight out of Enid blyton in peerenporth yha

The boys had an easy and fast ride in the sunshine and arrived looking fit and nonchalant
Something of a contrast to their departure in deep cloud and incipient storm this morning.
Today is tough as they have to do almost 80 very hilly miles in poor weather conditions
Isobel and I on the other hand had a lovely time visiting the lutyens inspired 20c castle drogue near okehampton. Fascinating and beautiful with fabulous gardens

Isobel is frankly unimpressed by the okehampton hostel which is next to a station and in a dreary car park and no sign of any countryside

Mum went to wait rose (cheating) so supper should be edible even if the cooking experience lacks the sociable intimacy of Cornwall

We are waiting for the boys to get here but not expecting them till about 7pm in all probability

I am going to drag Isobel kicking and screaming out for a walk

Plus ca change......
Sarah

St just at last!

After hours in the car driving to what we hoped was land's end (but mum didn't trust the tom-tom!) we arrived at senen cove but we thought it was land's end and it was only after having an idyllic walk across the sunny beach and staring in awe at the gorgeous view that we realized over ice creams that it was not in fact lands end. so unfortunately we were back in the car...AGAIN. after what seemed like ages of frustration we have come to the sweet, old Cornish village of st Just where I can sit quietly in the local pub with my j2o and mum with her beer mildly aware of the fact it is a matter of hours before mum will declare she cannot live without her vi spring mattress. Ah, the gorgeous Cornwall

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On the Road: The day before we go....: "Much muttering about lost cameras. Cameras found and then the focus veers off boring but somewhat necessary packing to technology. And blo..."