Another warm and sunny morning arrived so I decided it would be a good time to have my 'big day out' off the island just in case the sun disappeared and it decided to rain later in the holiday. Llanberis was my destination, just over 18 miles away on the mainland, and I set off from the camp site quite late in the morning. It didn't take long to get there and I pulled up in a nice roadside car park overlooking the lake; it was fairly cheap there so I paid for three hours and went for a wander and a look at the few shops along the main road through the little town.
It wasn't long before I began to feel a bit peckish so I went along to a cafe which had been recommended to me ages ago as a good place to get something to eat. Choosing a pavement table with a post nearby where I could fasten the dogs I ordered a cheese and onion toastie and a mug of coffee, and though the coffee was a bit strong for my personal liking the toastie, which was oozing with filling and came with a salad garnish, was quite delicious - and Sophie and Poppie even got a treat of a sausage each from the lady who took my order.
Unfortunately by the time I was walking back along the lakeside the sky had clouded over and things had turned decidedly grey, with the sun just putting in a brief appearance here and there. Following the lakeside path, which at one point took me through a field of sheep, I went right round to the slate museum on the far side of the lake, and though I had no interest in going in the museum itself it was nice to wander round by the Llanberis Lake Railway station and over by the ponds in part of the old quarry before retracing my route back to the van.
As I walked back through the car park I saw a large board featuring a painted map of the town marked with places of interest and with a box of tourist leaflets at the side of it, and I realised that the ruined castle which I could see on the hill above the lake was open to the public and I could have got there via a path from the bottom end of the lake. If I'd known that when I was round by the slate museum I would have gone to take a look but it was quite a distance to walk all the way back from where I was and the time was almost up on my car park ticket anyway so I decided to save that one for another time.
The grey clouds showed no real sign of lifting so when I drove out of the car park I decided that I would go back to Anglesey rather than go on to somewhere else, though as I was passing through Llanrug I made a quick detour to visit my cousin Dave and his wife Hilda who lived there. Unfortunately neither of them were in - Dave was probably at work anyway - so I just continued on my route back to Anglesey, and the further away I got from Llanberis the more the cloud lifted and the sun shone.
When I finally got back to the island I saw that the blue sky and sunshine were just as brilliant as when I'd left earlier that day, and the sunset that evening was beautiful. With hindsight I should maybe have stayed on the island but even with the grey cloud I'd had an enjoyable few hours out so I wasn't complaining.
Although I'd originally planned on going to Anglesey on the first Saturday of the month unforseen and uncontrollable circumstances at home meant I'd had to delay my departure for a few days - not something I was happy about but there was nothing I could do, so leaving my son to take care of any further developments I set off that morning at 11am. The recent good weather stayed with me all the way and following a brief comfort stop en route I arrived at my usual site at 2pm; there was a new warden and a few more seasonal caravans in place this time but other than that things seemed to be much the same as last year.
With hardly anyone around the site was very quiet and I had plenty of space towards the bottom end of the family field to set up camp, so I went in almost the same place as last year as I knew it was reasonably level there. It was with mild trepidation that I opened out the tent - having been packed away very damp at Easter, and with no opportunity to put it up since then it could have been full of mould or anything, but although there was quite a bit of moisture trapped between the plastic windows and the blinds the rest of the tent was fine. Once it was up and securely pegged down a quick wipe got rid of most of the moisture and the hot sun soon dispatched the rest - and I was really pleased to see that not only was there no mould but there wasn't a mark on the tent anywhere.
With everything set out and tidy it was time to take the dogs for a walk - they had been so good in the back of the van while I was dealing with the tent and stuff and they deserved a good walk so off we went down to the beach. With the sunshine and blue sky it looked just as nice as ever and as the tide was quite a way out we walked along as far as the headland at St. David's holiday park before turning and making our way back.
Back at the van I made a brew and something to eat then spent the time relaxing with my book and a bit of tv before taking Sophie and Poppie for their last walk round the site. It had been a long day so it was an earlier-than-usual bedtime for us that night but it felt good to be once again going to sleep in one of my most favourite places in this country.
