journeying......

we are a bit of a wandering family I have decided......

over the past 7 years we travelled from Bristol, UK to live in 

Ballarat, Victoria, Australia,

then we travelled back to the UK to live in Wells, Somerset 

{one of the loveliest places I have ever lived},

next, we travelled back to Australia to live in Perth on the west coast

and now we find ourselves preparing for that longest of plane flights

back 'up north' to return to our home in Bristol.....

I have the important things with me as I travel.....

these two lovelies.....

and this.....

the only thing missing is my man,

who has to stay behind for a few more weeks to finish off the semester

at school and then he will be joining us 'up north' in time for the summer hols......

phew....... it's been an amazing few years and we have enjoyed

so many new experiences, met so many amazing people who

will be friends for the long haul and visited some of the most 

breathtaking places on this beautiful earth.....

I wouldn't swap a minute of the journeying and wandering....

even the trickier bits.....

they're all woven together to give us a rich and varied

backdrop to this journey we are on..... 

August...... the month of gadding...... part three

after returning from France and having our day messing about on the water,
 we set off again to visit the north east of England and to celebrate
Brian's parents' golden wedding anniversary.....

we met up with Brian's sister and her family at a rather unusual spot called

The Forbidden Corner - which describes itself as the 'strangest place in the world'.......

 that would actually seem quite an apt description to be honest......

 it is a place full of surprises, puzzles, jokes, statues, tunnels, 

gardens, towers, secret paths and so much more

 and provides a beautiful and fun place to spend an afternoon.......

our final stop on our visit to the Forbidden Corner was this fountain 

which plays a tune every quarter hour......

 however, it's not as innocent as it looks......

after a weekend of catching up with other members of the family

and generally enjoying jaunts out and about, the four of us wended

 our merry way to the Yorkshire Dales......

this is an area I have never visited before and I have to say that

I completely fell in love with everything about it........

the dry stone walling, the laith barns, the tiny hamlets of houses, the light,

the stunning views, the waterfalls which seemed to be around every corner.....

just everything...... it was somewhere that our two days could not do justice to

and I am determined that one day we will return and spend a couple of weeks

exploring it much more fully.......

until that time however, here are a few of the highlights........

the walling and laith barns covered much of the Dales landscape.....

I loved how it all looked and took loads of photos of just such scenes.....

we met quite a few of the locals......

just wandering around on the roads as we drove around......

we made sure we had supplies on hand for yummy outdoor lunches......

a sausage sizzle in Aysgarth at the edge of one of the waterfalls was a particular favourite.....

the draw of water, particularly for Evie, usually results in lots of

wet clothing...... and these few days were no exception......

on this occasion the jeans stayed fairly dry but the wellies

were full to the top of water by the time she had finished her paddle......

I still, invariably, forget to take along dry clothing for her to

change into...... I don't think I will ever learn that lesson.....

we had a short stop in Skipton and managed a little jaunt along the canal

before we headed off to our overnight stop.......

our second day in the Dales included a visit to the beautiful Bolton Abbey

where the children hammered pennies into an old fallen tree trunk

along with many hundreds of others......

and Evie got to climb, and absail down, one of the large trees in the forest.....

the Abbey itself was a lovely backdrop to our wandering.....

and there was even a unique way of crossing the river to get there

{if you didn't want to do it the conventional way and cross the footbridge.....}

after a lunch of bacon butties, cooked again on our trusty little gas stove

in the park at Bolton Abbey, we headed off to Gordale Scar where Evie

did a little more 'rock hopping'......

before we made our way up to the falls, which were just stunning......

there was lots of scrabbling and climbing and exploring to be done

before the sun started to get low in the sky and we headed off

to find somewhere to have dinner that evening......

I would have to say after this little jaunt, that the Dales have become one of 

my very favouritest places in England and I really am looking forward

to spending another holiday here......

I know that Brian and the children would love to do the coast-to-coast

walk one day so that will give us another great reason to spend a

good bit of time in this lovely part of the world.......

August...... the month of 'gadding'..... part one.....

yes, august was a month of gadding about for us.....

and lovely gadding it was too.....

we started the month off in France with my sister,

brother-in-law and their granddaughter, the ever poppity imogen.....

we made our home in a little gite in the middle of somewhere

in southern Normandy...... I actually have no idea where we were

because for the whole of the journey we just followed the car in front

{which happened to have my sister and a GPS in it}

and we had no map...... not even my ipod could tell me where

we were when I looked at the 'where is my location' gadget thingy.....

I really didn't mind not knowing where I was, it was

kind of liberating.....

the gite was lovely and quaint and the garden was HUGE, with an abundance of fruit trees

and raspberry canes, which happened to have quite a few ruby-red fruits on them

{we found these quite early on and had to sample some just to see if 

French raspberries tasted different to English ones......

research, carried out over a number of days,

determined that they tasted just as good.....}

we spent most of our days visiting a local lake for swimming 

{for the adventurous and hardy ones amongst us},

sandcastle building and general relaxing {for the rest of us}, 

which included much crocheting and reading of magazines

{the relaxing that is, not the sandcastle building.....}

we took a jaunt to Bayeux to view the most splendid tapestry.....

the above photo is not one of the splendid tapestry itself,

photo taking of that is not allowed, 

but there were modern replicas hanging around the place that you could take photos of..... 

there were even cushions and wall hangings you could puchase

 if you wanted a Bayeux-esk feel in your loungeroom when you returned home.......

I have to say that Isaac was not everso thrilled about 

joining us to visit this amazing piece of history...... 

he complained about the thought of having to stand around 

for hours while Brian and I 'ooooohhhhhed' and 'aaaaahhhhed' over it.......

however, the reality was that we were each given a little earpiece which talked

us through each event depicted on the tapestry as we walked its length....

 Isaac and Evie both opted to get the commentary designed for children

and it was so interesting that I wanted to go round a second time

and listen to the their one.... 

the result was that we all came away having really enjoyed the visit....... 

phew......

it can be a little tricky on holiday with teenagers as they are not always

interested in seeing the things you want to see and vice-versa but we

usually try to strike a balance of 'something for everyone' and this seems

to get us through most of the time.....

we had a wonderful picnic lunch in Bayeux just sitting in a lovely sunny, 

quiet square eating fresh bread, cheese and pate - which is how we ate

lunch every day - out in the sunshine munching on lovely fresh goodness......

we then continued on from Bayeux to Omaha beach on the north Normandy coast 

to visit the American cemetery and memorial of the D-Day landings.....

it was a wonderful memorial to an amazing bunch of men who gave 

all they had in a fight for freedom...... and I learned so much about

the when, where, what, why and who of the D-Day landings which I have to

admit to having been pretty ignorant about before.....

this was the view from the cemetery over Omaha beach......

our week continued with a visit {by the boys and Imogen}

to a model railway exhibition........

I stayed home and drank more coffee, ate more food and did more crochet......

I had my fill of model railway visits when Isaac was little and I tend

to opt out of such visits now...... 

there were plenty of games of garden cricket to be enjoyed

{this has become one of our favourite holiday games -

often played in pj's with dressing gowns on.......}

and Brian always manages to find something to use as 

'equipment' as invariably we don't have the right 'tools for the job'

{though this year we had taken a plastic bat and tennis ball, which was

a huge step forward from one of our holidays in Oz when we visited the Whitsundays  

and we used a large piece of bark, which had fallen off a tree, as a bat and some 

nuts/large seed pods, which we found lying around on the ground, as balls.......

seriously, there's no stopping us when we want a game of garden cricket.....}

ahhhh, it was a lovely week with much relaxing

and general lazy holiday behaviour.....

just perfect......

happy holidays.......

it seems that my blog is being sadly neglected of late..... 

 my intentions are good.... 

I really would like to write here more regularly to journal all our 'comings and goings' 

but I just don't seem to get round to it most of the time..... 

holidays are another story though..... 

oh, we do love a good holiday...... 

sunny weather, fab travelling companions, lots of sights to be seen 

and a lots of fun and laughter along the way......

we recently had the most glorious road trip in the USA....

we covered about 3,000 miles in California, Nevada and Arizona....

it was awesome....

so here's a little pictoral review of the highlights....

*one of our first purchases, after leaving the hustle and bustle

of Los Angeles and beginning our roadtrip up the 

Pacific Coast Highway, was a box of strawberries

from a roadside stall ..... 

lovely {the strawberries & the drive that is}.....*

* Evie was awarded the 'biggest strawberry'..... 

it took her about 10 mins to finish.....*

 

* we stopped overnight in Monterey and got to see

Monterey Bay very early in the morning....

the light was amazing..... *

* we continued our journey northwards to San Francisco 

and did some wonderful touristy sightseeing things whilst we were there......

like driving over the Golden Gate Bridge & making our way up to a beautiful viewing spot....

 just as the fog rolled in..... *

* then it was back down to the city and a little visit to the ocean.......

Evie has never been one to miss an opportunity to put her feet in the ocean.....

even in the fog..... *

* hills and cable cars..... 

that's what San Francisco is famous for..... 

and we enjoyed navigating our way around both.....*

* especially this street.....

Lombard Street....

'the crookedest street in the world'.....

{not sure that that is really true but it certainly was very steep and crooked.....}

* Chinatown was fun to have a wander around..... *

 

* and Pier 39 was a spot that Evie wanted to visit as she

has seen it on one of her favourite movies for years

and had always wondered if the seals really did live there....

yep, they do...... *

*  after San Francisco the next stop on our roadtrip was Yosemite National Park.....

we stopped here for our picnic lunch......

not too shabby a place for a picnic stop..... *

* Evie couldn't resist freezing her toes off in the snow-melt river......

{as I said, always one to get her feet wet}.....*

 

* and it seemed like every corner we turned there was another

beautiful vista to 'oooohhhh' and 'aaaahhhh' over......*

 

* this, however, was the most stunning view during our visit to

Yosemite National Park.....*

* and we couldn't leave without having a family photo at the base of the

Lower Yosemite Falls......*

* also within the Yosemite National Park is Mariposa Grove

which is home to lots of tall trees..... 

I mean, REALLY tall trees..... *

* next day it was on to Kings Canyon & Sequoia NP

and a photo opportunity at the base of the General Sherman tree..... *

*  from there, we drove to Las Vegas.....

we didn't get out of the car, the drive down the strip was enough....

it is one of the most 'fake' places I think I have ever visited..... *

* so we continued to drive, on to the Hoover Dam.....

this is such an impressive feat of engineering..... quite amazing..... *

* and HUMUNGOUS.....* 

* we did a little bit of driving along route 66...... *

* and visited a diner that we visited exactly ten years earlier

when our children were really little.......

made me want to put on a Pink Ladies jacket when I saw that car again..... *

* it was so lovely to be able to share the Grandest of Canyons with

our two now that they are older.... 

they were a little too young to appreciate it last time..... *

* and so ended the main part of our road trip......

these two kiddos of mine are stars with their travelling ability...

they made the back seat of our minivan into their little 

'home' for the 3,000 miles......*

* then it was time to make our way to my brother's house

for 10 days of fun and frolicking......

lots of pool tournaments were organised during our stay....

{Brian played in most of them}......*

* Isaac and Simeon had a lot of fun playing on the keyboard together.....*

* these three played together, swam together & rode together

as much as they could.......

time with family is precious after all...... *

* and we got to hang out with the best bunch of kids/young adults

on the planet..... *

* a couple of favourite places were visited too.....*

* after our time with our family in Arizona, we drove back to Los Angeles

ready for our journey home to the UK......

and we were able to catch up with these lovely folks.......

happy days..... *

* just before we left LA we visited the Griffith Observatory

and, never being one to miss a Kodak moment, 

got to take a snap of the iconic Hollywood sign...... *

* loving the architecture of the Griffith Observatory.....*

ahhh, we had such a lovely time....

there's nothing better than spending time with lovely people,

in lovely places, sharing life and good times.....