In complete contrast to the previous day I woke that morning to blue sky and sunshine and the promise of a lovely day; it was just typical that our crazy British weather should decide that it would be nice on the day I was going home. My first job was to get rid of the pools of rainwater from the mudwalls and the top of the canopy connecting the awning to the van so everything would be dry by the time I had to pack up, then I took the dogs for a good walk round the site. A leisurely breakfast followed, then with my mug and plate washed and put away I started the packing up process - I think Sophie and Sugar must have known it was going home day as they stayed curled up in their bed and wouldn't come out, though when I got to the stage of taking the awning down I had to put them in the back of the van out of the way.
The awning was completely dry when I took it down, and even though there was quite a breeze blowing I had no trouble folding it up and getting it back into its bag, then with a check round the grass for any stray tent pegs I was ready for leaving. It was only 1pm and I had plenty of time so as is my personal 'tradition' I drove down to the promenade and took the dogs for a good walk on the beach before starting the homeward journey. With a cd to sing along to and the van window partly open it was a very pleasant drive in the sunshine, and as I'd set off a bit earlier than on previous occasions I was well ahead of the early evening rush hour by the time I reached Manchester, so there were no traffic tailbacks and no delays.
It was a few minutes after 4pm when I got home, with well over half an hour before I had to go to work, so I'd made good time and got back in just slightly over two hours. In spite of the previous day's rain I'd had a good weekend, and as I had nothing booked for the next bank holiday there was every likelihood that I would be going back to where I'd just come from - and sometimes I think I should just buy a house down there and live there permanently, it would save a whole load of to-ing and fro-ing!
For the second morning running I woke to the sound of rain on the van roof and the sight of a very grey sky - I could hardly believe that after the previous day and evening had turned out to be so glorious it was raining again, though I hoped that once I was ready to go out later on it would be fine. Unfortunately it wasn't to be - several times it stopped raining and I thought I would have the chance to go out but within minutes it had started again; even the dogs didn't enjoy their walk round the site and were glad to get back in their bed again afterwards. So with my planned photography expedition for that day put on hold until sometime in the future I resigned myself to the fact that as long as it kept on raining I wasn't going anywhere, and I whiled away the time by reading my book and watching a bit of tv. However, by 3 o'clock that afternoon I was thoroughly fed up of staying in so just for something to do I decided to drive across the Menai bridge and go to Bangor, a place I'd never been to before.
It didn't take long to get there and as I had no interest in going into the town itself I followed the signs for the pier and eventually arrived at the end of a narrow street with a small public garden on a corner and a private car park by the pier entrance. There was an automatic barrier across the car park and a notice on the nearby pay machine said it was £1 to park all day - very cheap if you were staying all day but I wouldn't be there long, though as there were no vacant parking spaces on the road there was no alternative, so I put my money in the machine, the barrier let me through and I parked up facing the water. I sat for a while looking out over the water, with Anglesey just across the straits, and I came to one conclusion - Bangor is just as miserable as anywhere else when it's raining.
Having seen a sign for a cafe somewhere along the pier I thought I would have a walk down there and get a coffee - as it was still raining, and I wouldn't be away that long anyway, I left the dogs in the van for once. As it turned out, my walk along the pier was a total waste of time - the cafe right at the end was closed and the kiosk halfway along was so small that with the four people already in there it was full, so my idea of getting a coffee was abandoned. Under the shelter of my umbrella I got three shots of the pier from the car park then as there was no point exploring anywhere else in the rain I returned to the van and set off back to Anglesey.
When I got back to the camp site I found that most other campers had gone, and in the field where I was pitched there was just one other tent and a campervan left; if the previous evenings had been quiet because of the power shortage then it would certainly be quiet that night. After a quick dog walk and a much-needed brew and something to eat I spent the evening watching tv, and as there was hardly anyone left to overload the site's electricity supply the power actually stayed on - I was glad of it too as yet again it was a very chilly evening. It was 11pm before I took Sophie and Sugar for their last walk of the day and it was still raining, although maybe not as much as before - and when I finally settled down into bed a while later I realised something; Louise's weather forecast the day before had been right!
