Sunday May 4th 2014 - Scree running without the scree

Well all the previous night's finger-crossing for nicer weather clearly hadn't worked as it was another cloudy, breezy and very grey day. The place I'd planned on going to was somewhere which I knew would look far nicer in sunshine than in cloud so I abandoned that idea and after a couple of hours pottering about round the tent and chatting to my neighbours I took myself off across the island to the car boot sale at the showground. As usual I was on the quest for mouse ornaments to add to my collection but there wasn't a single one to be had anywhere; I did manage to find a couple of books though - true life animal stories which I'm a sucker for - so I didn't leave empty-handed. Then it was a drive up the A5 to Penrhos Coastal Park for a good walk with the dogs, and as I turned into the entrance lane to the park I noticed that the nearby toll house had re-opened as a cafe after being closed for several years - I would check that out later on. 

Even on such a grey day the car park was busy but I managed to find a space overlooking the water then the three of us set off to explore, and once away from the populated area I let them both off the leads. A distance through the woods was a sloping headland and field with a well-mown grass path round the perimeter and a stone seat at the top end, overlooking the bay. Keeping the sea on my right I walked up to the seat then back down the far side of the headland to where there was a nice beach down below. I hadn't really intended going down onto the sand - beaches are for when it's sunny - but Sugar had other ideas; I only took my eyes off her for a couple of seconds and when I looked again she'd gone down the steep grass-covered slope, crossed the beach and was paddling along at the water's edge. 

Now I don't know if she was deliberately ignoring me or she just couldn't hear me, but no matter how much I called she just carried on paddling, heading for the far end of the beach. I knew if I walked to where there was easy access to the beach and I got out of her sight she might decide to go looking for me and I didn't want her to get lost, so there was only one thing for it - I had to somehow get myself down that slope. Easy enough to do if you have four legs for good traction - Sophie bounded down like a gazelle - but not so easy if you only have two. There was a bit of a 'rabbit track' of bare earth going down through the grass, presumably made by other people climbing up and down the slope, so I decided I would go down there - and that's where I executed my own version of scree running, but without the scree.

Crouching down on my haunches, moving one foot at a time and grabbing at the grass to slow down the momentum I slid down the slope; the last couple of yards went faster than I intended but by some miracle I stayed upright and managed to reach the beach without landing in an inelegant heap. When I finally caught up with Sugar she was still paddling so I found a large stick and threw it for her a few times before making my way back to the woods using the more sensible route from the beach. Back at the van I towelled Sugar down then went to get a cheeseburger and coffee from Pete's Burger Bar - and it was just as good as the first time I had one, so needless to say I wouldn't be visiting the Toll House Cafe.

With the cheeseburger well and truly demolished and my rubbish in the bin I decided to pay an impromptu visit to my camping friends Louise and Derek who lived not far away. I didn't really expect them to be in - they could very well have gone away themselves - but they were, and when Louise opened the door she was really surprised to see me. It was great catching up with everything that's going on in our lives and before I knew it a couple of hours had passed and it was time for me to go, with the promise that I would call again next time I'm over that way.

It was early evening by the time I got back to the camp site; the weather was still cloudy and with no reason to go anywhere else I settled down in the tent to watch a bit of tv before taking the dogs for their last walk of the day. As I lay in bed later on I thought back to my 'scree running' escapade that afternoon and wondered if I should really start acting my age and not my shoe size - but then if I did that my life would be much less interesting, so I think I'll stay as I am for a while longer!