Monday July 2nd 2012 - The end of the weekend

After the downturn in the weather the previous day I woke that morning to blue sky, sunshine and birdsong. I lay for a while listening to the various tweets and chirps coming from the trees and the funny little squeaking noises from the turkey chicks as they passed close to the tent; eventually though, and very reluctantly, I had to make a move - my weekend had ended and I had to pack up and go home. With the dogs walked down the lane and back I had a leisurely al fresco breakfast then started the sorting out and packing up process - and there's definitely an advantage to the tent having a door back and front; I can transfer my stuff straight from the tent to the van without walking round each time and it makes things so much easier. It was when I went across to the bin with my rubbish that I noticed grey clouds spreading across the sky even though it was still sunshining; I wanted to take a few photos of the site with the tent still in situ so I grabbed the camera and had a quick walk round, keeping my fingers crossed that it wouldn't rain before I took the tent down, and luckily it didn't.

With the tent finally dismantled and stowed in the van I checked the pitch for any stray pegs then took the dogs for another walk; I didn't intend to stop on my journey back home unless it was absolutely necessary so I needed to be sure they would be okay. This time, instead of going along the lane, I did a couple of circuits round the nearby pond; as far as I was aware, the pond belonged to the site but there was no indication of what, if anything, it was used for, though there was a well-used dinghy upturned on the bank. It was quite a pleasant walk round though and the dogs were happy to be exploring somewhere different.

The sun had returned by the time I finally left the site and my journey back down the A1 was very pleasant - that was until I was nearing the M62, when I ran into really heavy rain which lasted for many miles. At one point the visibility was really bad, and coupled with miles and miles of roadworks across the M62 it really slowed the traffic down - I was almost back into Lancashire before the roadworks and the rain disappeared and the rest of my journey was uneventful. I arrived back home at 3pm and after letting Sophie and Sugar have a run round the garden I had plenty of time to chill out before I had to go to work. My weekend in Northumberland had been all too brief but in spite of the sun letting me down I'd still enjoyed it; I'd stayed on a nice little site, and having had a taste of the photography opportunities in that area I knew I would be going back there, and hopefully sooner rather than later.