THE WYE VALLEY and THE COTSWOLDS.

Sat 1st/Sun9th September.
Well we are in Witney for another two weeks as we could not get on the ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao until Monday 17th ! Over the weekend Carol and Chris came over and brought the rest of our things that we could not get into “The Hairdryer” so we went into Witney and had a smashing Sunday lunch at “The Fleece” on the green.After they had set off home Brenda decided to try out oue new bikes around the car park- she is now walking around with a black eye and a very badly bruised thigh !! after a slight”Wobble”and a quick dismount !! On Monday and Tuesday we caught up with the chores and serviced the Winnebago.We set off to Ross on Wye to stay with my oldest friend Allan and his wife Glenys,as we arrived we had a lovely surprise-Allan had picked up his mother from her nursing home and we sat and had tea and cakes and caught up with all the news.What is so special is that “Aunty Ann” is 99years old and going strong,with a great memory and her sense of humour intact! We had a lovely dinner and rounded off the evening with Torres Cognac and Mount Gay rum cuba libres,s Allans daughter Miranda is living and working in Madrid teaching English after studying in Granada,whilst their sons,Mark and Michael have gone to university and out into the big wild world,Allan has just retired this year after a long career with L'Oreal.The next morning as the weather was hot and sunny we drove down the Wye valley to Symonds Yat East and went for a boat trip along the Wye in this most beautiful part of the country.We then called into “TheThree Salmons “ at Usk for a splendid old fashioned lunch including Steak and Kidney Pudding! served by a old Spanish waiter who has worked there for 40 years!!In the afternoon we set off back towards the Cotswolds through the Forest of Dean and made our way to Stow-on -the-Wold where we found a rather special room at a very reasonable rate at the Kings Arms hotel in the square.In the evening after a walk around the town we had dinner at “The Eagle and Child”located next to “The Royalist Hotel” both said to be the oldest hotel and inn in England dating back to 947AD! Dinner was right up to date!!Today,Friday we are back at the site in Witney.On arriving back I found out that Ihad missed out on a driving job-they have taken down to the Isle of Wight 7 Winnebago,s to be on display at the festival over the weekend and had asked for some help from anybody on site,they also want help bringing them back on Tuesday! We have arranged to go back up to the Wirral and stay with Carol on Saturday as the Ben and Michelle are coming over on Sunday for lunch with their partners and Iam cooking lunch with Brenda,s help.We are staying for a few days next week before we come back down to prepare for the ferry on Monday 17th !The pictures show the new bike,Witney,Symonds Yat and the Wye,Stow-on the-Wold,the Hotel and our room with the large bed on the balcony.