Sunday, July 18, 2010

18 June 2010 Cornwall to Bristol

Total strangers invited us in to have a cup of tea and to watch the MotoGP on TV in Shillingford Abbot, Devon.


A cool overcast morning greeted us upon awakening. Another lovely breakfast cooked by Geoff our B&B host whilst we watched the wild pheasants wandering around the garden. Jennifer is his wife, the sleeping partner!

They have a lovely little 10 week old Spaniel puppy called “Judy” so cute Lyn wanted to take her with us. As usual we got talking to them and Lyn discovered Jennifer was into craft so out came her beading and sewing.

It is funny how we get to engage in long conversations when we are about to leave when we should have spoken to them earlier as Geoff needed help with his computer as well. All too late. We were packed and ready to start our trip for the day and we wanted to drive to within easy distance of London, which is our next stop.

The MotoGP was run today and Mick desperately wanted to see it to see how Casey Stoner went so we decided to try and get accommodation for the night in Exeter. We took exit 17 off the M5 to Exeter. Well what a mistake that was, a traffic jam awaited us. Mick decided to turn around and get back onto the M5 but took a wrong turn. The GPS was saying we could keep going the way he was going but Lyn saw the road gradually getting narrower and told Mick to turn round and go back as she didn’t want to negotiate the narrow winding road.

Mick decided to ask a lady who was out the front of her house which way to go to get back onto the M5.

Lyn was sitting in the car waiting for Mick to return, it seemed like ages. Mick came back to the car, got in and reversed into the ladies driveway and said we had been invited in for a cuppa and we could watch the MotoGP on their TV (Mick has got a silver tongue you know).

Lyn was so surprised with that but less so when she found out that Clare and her husband Michael were Australians. They made us feel very welcome and turned the TV on and made us a cuppa. Michael offered Mick a beer, Fosters of course but Mick declined as we had a lot of driving ahead of us. We watched the race and after they showed us around their house we left and headed down the motorway towards Bristol.

Traffic on the Motorway was a little daunting for Lyn and it is just as well she doesn’t have brakes on her side of the car. Drivers don’t do much indicating and cars are darting in and out of the traffic. The speed limit on the motorway is 70 mph, but some old codgers (not us of course) don’t do anywhere near that so cause a few traffic problems. Good to be settled in for the night in a Premier Inn just a mile from the M5.

Just got back from having dinner in the restaurant. Mick had Lamb shanks and Lyn had smoked pork ribs, which were excellent.

London tomorrow.

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