It came right in the end

Well, there’s a thing. We finished up at the Annan site (the one overlooking the Solway Firth), with a 22 mile round cycle trip to Carsethorn Castle. The route was flat which, for some reason, tired us out. The good news was that whilst we only expected a peak at the ancient, moated castle, the grounds were free to enter and we had a good look around. It was fab. The bad news was my combination bike lock broke with my bike still attached to the stand … and no amount of coaxing was going to free it. Thankfully I’d unknowingly secured it to where the rear carrier meets the frame and I was able to take the carrier off and leave the chain in place. I spoke to the staff about leaving the lock behind and then we cycled down to the water for a picnic. 

bring me a shrubbery!

The route back was tiring for some reason – there was no wind to slow us, maybe it was just where we found ourselves? – but the Olympic highlights cheered us up. Hurrah!

We’d booked into a site near New Galloway, in the Galloway Forest, thinking we could walk and run from  there. On arrival we realised the lovely little site had no access to the forest and only a good slab of A road to start a cycle. It’s fair to say we were both a bit disappointed, although we only have ourselves to blame as we could have checked; we shortened our stay to just two nights (we’ve booked a lochside pitch next where we can walk, run, paddle and cycle in the forest, we hope). In the end (and surprisingly) today the whole place redeemed itself. 

We cycled down to Clatteringshaws Loch (5 miles), had a lovely coffee and cake from the visitors’s centre, trekked up a pointy hill (4 miles; 200 metres of climb) to get panoramic views of the whole forest and lochs, and then cycled back through the forest on ‘Forest Drive’, an 11 mile gravel track which our bikes lapped up (have I told you how good they are?). We stopped for a picnic mid-forest and then cycled back home on a road next to another loch, back in time for tea and medals. And the weather was fab – Mrs Sun, clouds and a perfect trekking/cycling temperature. Fab.

Tomorrow is C’s birthday. She’s a bit older than me and I guess that’s all I’m allowed to tell you. I have absolutely no surprises for her, but we do have some presents and some cards. Hopefully the lochside campsite will be as good as it sounds and we can have a really lovely day.

Finally, and for the record, the kitchen sink main drain broke a couple of days ago. The thing about motorhomes is that, where possible, everything is made from plastic to keep the weight down. The problem is, plastic degrades over time and our sink was leaking and I over-tightened the drain … and it snapped. So I’ve replaced it with a domestic set up (am now a plumber). It’s much sturdier, easier to keep clean, looks fab, but doesn’t have a built in u-bend nor an overflow attachment. The latter two are not problems for us at the moment, but I do need to sort them ,,, in time.

Stay safe everyone. And remember, if you want access to Prince Charles you have to pay the Tory Party a donation of £250,000, which goes in their coffers. Then it’s guaranteed. [This is from a Financial Times article of a couple of days ago.] Now I don’t know about you, but I think that’s probably not ethical. What a country we live in at the moment. Thankfully our Olympic athletes are inspiring us, because our government a falling way short.