Tuesday June 9th 2015 - A leisurely drive home

Yet another gloriously sunny morning arrived and by 7am I was down on the beach with Sophie and Poppie. The tide was well out and with no warden around I was able to cross the main part of the beach to the water's edge where I walked right along to the very far end and back, and with only another couple of dog walkers in the far distance I almost had the vast stretch of sand to myself. As I walked back along the promenade I noticed that the end house, which had previously been white, was now painted pale pink, and with pink flower tubs and pink chairs on the balcony it looked so bright I couldn't resist taking a photo of it.




Back at the tent I made and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast then spent a while sitting in the sun with my book before (very reluctantly) starting on the tidying away and packing up process. I took my time about it so it was getting on for 1pm before the tent and groundsheet were finally stashed in the van, then after a short walk round with the dogs I drove away from my pitch for the last time.

As I was in no particular rush to get home I'd already decided that rather than the day being just a travelling day I would make it part of the holiday and stop off at a couple of places en route. The first stop was on the outskirts of Conwy, at a place which is featured on the Quest tv series Salvage Hunters about Drew Pritchard, a guy who turns all sorts of 'junk' into gems, and one of the 'stars' of the programme is his little terrier dog Enzo who often poses for photos with various items which are to be sold on the website.  I find the programme fascinating and watch it regularly - even the repeats of the repeats - and think little Enzo looks adorable, so I decided to visit the premises in the hope that I could get to see him.

The place isn't actually open to the general public but when I asked at the office just inside the front doors Ruth, the very nice young lady I spoke to, was willing to let me see Enzo; he was curled up in his bed in the office but when she called him he came trotting out - and he was every bit as cute and adorable as he looks on the tv. Unfortunately I didn't get to meet Drew as he was away filming for the next tv series but I spent quite a while chatting to Ruth and making a fuss of Enzo, and he was quite happy to pose for me when I got the camera out, though he's actually smaller than he looks in the photos.

After thanking Ruth for letting me see Enzo and taking the time to chat to me I returned to the van and headed back for the A55. By this time my breakfast had become a distant memory and it was time for coffee and cake so as I was approaching the outskirts of Abergele I turned off the coast road and headed for The Beach caravan park, where I knew I would be able to get a mug of good coffee and some delicious Bara Brith from Tides Bistro. When I got there however I was disappointed to find that the place was closed for refurbishment, so I headed into Abergele itself and drove down to the car park by the beach. I actually had some shop-bought cake in my coolbox so I just got a take-away coffee from the nearby cafe and stayed in the van while I had my snack, then I took the dogs for a short walk along the beach before continuing my journey.

My third and final stop was at Chester Services on the M56; the coffee I'd had in Abergele had worked its way through me and I knew I wouldn't survive the final hour of the journey. Greatly relieved, and after a quick look round the shop, I returned to the van and set off on the last leg of the trip. It was 7.45pm when I finally arrived home; the drive from Anglesey had taken far longer than normal because of the three stops I made but with no problems along the way it had been a very pleasant journey, and the evening sun still shining made a fitting end to a good holiday.