Southward bound again

Saturday 05/04/2012 -  Waking up this morning to another glorious day made it even harder to leave this lovely place.  We had really fallen in love with this little corner of the world and hope to get back here again.  We enjoyed another yummy breakfast before packing our bags and heading for Essex again.  A last walk through Hawkshead to buy a couple of bits and then it was straight down the M6 for the next few hours.  A holdup with the traffic slowed things up so we decided to find another route and avoid the problem but in fact only ran into a bigger one as where we went there were all sorts of detours in place.  Why, we never found out.  Anyway an hour later and lots of frustration we returned to the M6 and kept going this time.  This weekend in the UK is a bank holiday and the roads were very busy and I can't believe how many caravans & camper vans we have seen.  In Hawkshead there were two campgrounds and last night they were almost full of tents.  And the temp was forecast to drop below 0.  Very brave folk I think!

We arrived home safely and once unpacked and the washing done we went out again in search of a pub for dinner.  We popped into the two closest ones and left straight away and then 3rd time lucky, the Green Dragon was lovely and fish & chips really good.  After dinner it was home to bed as tomorrow was our family reunion and we wanted to be fresh for that.

Sunday 06/05/12 - the Family Luncheon - After our big day driving we had a slower start to this morning but before long we were on the road again to meet everyone at the Eagle for lunch.  The little pub at Kelvendon Hatch does lovely food and is a favorite with Auntie Muriel for family gatherings.

On the way there we stopped at a little village shop and had a coffee before continuing on to our destination. Everyone arrived shortly after, some having driven a couple of hours to get there, and soon  we were tucking in to some yummy dinner and all talking non stop.

It has been 4 years since we saw everyone on our last trip so there was lots to catch up on.  Everyone is well, the littlies quite grown up now, and a few more grey hairs on the oldies but we are all doing well and it was so good to see everyone again. 4 hours later and lots of chatting and laughter it was time to say goodbye again as tomorrow we are leaving to start part 2 of our Grand Tour.

We are off to Paris for 4 days.  We are really looking forward to seeing Paris and meeting our friends there on Tuesday but sad to be saying goodbye to everyone here.  Thank you so much for coming to see us and to Gwenda & Nick for putting us up at Pippin's Orchard.  We have loved spending time with you all and  look forward to next time, whenever or wherever that may be.

Goodnight now....until tomorrow.

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