A weekend of change

The last weekend has been such a strange mix, part looking back and part looking forward. Tom was busy getting ready to start uni, this of course meant packing up a large part of his room. It makes you think of all the happy and challenging times you've spent as a family together and how this is now moving on.

Saturday came and off we went to Bedford, along with hundreds of other first time parents, taking their sons and daughters to uni: happy and sad partings all at once. We feel so proud to see him confidently embrassing the change and challenges ahead.

Then on to Sunday, getting ready for the big trip. Dave, of course has had his clothes sorted for weeks! I however have so much more to consider and be indecisive about. Should I take that top, will it go with those trousers and most important for any women, what shoes to leave behind!! I have finally made the choices, but I still may have to sneak another pair of essential shoes into the bulging case, I'm sure Dave won't notice......

And finally the night before departure, cases are packed, last minute panics over luggage labels resoved, time to paint nails (mine not Dave's) and relax with a glass of wine or maybe that was a couple of glasses. Even the cat seems to sense somethings going on or is it all the cases in the hallway that give it away. She's not sure which one to camp on; after all which one has all mum's shoes in that she likes to try on before going outside!!!

The Tent on the Puddle!

 Oh the joys of camping!

On a slightly soggy Friday we set off for The Peak District, having loaded the car with all possible "essential" equipment such as Ipod's and their docking stations, wine and beer plus tent. The rain stopped briefly to allow us to hastily set up in our allotted pitch, cook and eat before recommencing its intended purpose of filling up the quarry (where the campsite was situated) with water.

The next morning the efforts were impressive, a large puddle surrounded (and went under) our tent. Undaunted we set off on a glorious walk in the beautiful surrounding countryside, taking in the areas around Alstonefield, Milldale and Dovedale.

We met few people except on the busier well trodden section of Dovedale but one happy meeting led us to learn of the Well Dressing that afternoon in Hartingstone.

So there we are in Hartingstone finding scarecrows in all sorts of guises and positions in gardens, and having the most quintessential of English afternoons. That's right, listening to a brass marching band, parading with a rose queen, while we had afternoon tea in a teashop cum post office cum ice cream parlour! And finding a shop on the green that had a vast range of wonderful cheeses, of course we had to buy some for later on. Really the perfect way to round off a great day in the country before going back to face the puddle!

Feeling to lazy to cook that evening we went out to experience the excellent fare of the Coach & Horses at Fenny Bentley. And later that wonderful cheese with a bottle of red wine to discuss the walk and sights we'd seen that day.

The Sunday saw the day start with sunshine and the puddle had disappeared. Time to pack away and meet friends Cath and Pete for a long awaited catchup and enjoyable bike ride along the Tissington Trail. A slow climb upwards on the way out followed by a much faster return with no peddling required. There really isn't anything like chatting to friends about shared experiences and looking forward to more to come.

Lazy Sunday. Blog set up

Only 4 weeks to go before our big US/Canadian Adventure. Hope the fall is good this year and that we have the timing right. All hotels and Apartments are now booked and paid for. Car hire and sat nav sorted. Money sorted. Even got all the clothes out today. Don't know what I am going to wear for the next few weeks though, I am sure that Jan will want to go shopping for more!

This is our first blog and now that it is set up we will hopefully find time to write something every day about our adventures, the sights we see and the people we meet on our travels.

A brief agenda of our proposed travel schedule is as follows;-
Fly to New York on Thursday 30th September. First night stay in New York. Pick up hire car on Friday 1st October and then drive to Boston via Long Island.
From Boston we intend to drive up to the White Mountains for a few days and then onto the Green Mountains before heading up to Canada for a short stay in Toronto. We will then head back down to New York via the Finger Lakes. We hope to spend the final 5 days of our trip in New York where our sons Robbie and Tom will join us to help celebrate our Silver Wedding Anniversary. Need to find somewhere nice to celebrate the big day, should not be too difficult in the Big Apple.

Hopefully we will write again before the start of the trip.