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Vicarious vacation: ROAD TRIP!
Aug. 2nd, 2013 10:08 pmI am inflicted with a kind of madness that inspires me to plan things like road trips. I am an American who inherited these strong genes for wandering. Put us in a mode of transport and we will go places. It goes back hundreds of years. An ancestor came from England in the 1630s because why the heck not. His relations slowly made their way across America, stopping along the way to produce more children who kept moving forward. My Grandfather was known for the time he drove from North Dakota all the way home to Edmonds (north of Seattle) in a day... because he could.
I suspect Mr. Jenner may have a hint of those genes for he wandered far for a job and acquired a wife with those itchy moving feet.
We began our trek today. I should mention that yesterday as I was picking up my kids from their playdate with cousins, I briefly spoke to my Father in law about how we were heading out. He made those British noises. Bill Bryson knows of which I speak. Those noises about how one should have left three weeks ago if one wants to dare leave the county. I laughed. I said, "we got this one."
I packed. We got ourselves on the road at 9am. That is slightly late by some standards. None of that hard-core American, "gotta be up and out the door by 5am so we can make the Grand Canyon by 11, and then make the Alamo in time for lunch. VROOOOOOM!" Let's see the country but let's not get too crazy. Besides there are time-warps that exist in various parts of the United Kingdom. (one of the worst is around Birmingham. Some people just stay there because they find they can't make it out.) We stopped in Weston-Super-Mare to visit Mr. Jenner's Nanny D. She offered tea and biscuits!!!! You can always count on a Nan to have tea and biscuits. She even found pink paper for Miss Biscuit to draw on. She is a keeper of all kinds of things. She was telling us about going to scrabble club, visits from assorted relations, and all the news that is fit to share. Grandchildren of all kinds have been stopping by to visit her, making sure she is all right. She said her sleeping schedule has gone to pieces since her husband died. But she is doing okay. She is doing things, people are checking in on her, and she is off to her middle daughter's next week for a good long visit.
We said our goodbyes, stopped somewhere to have lunch, I ventured into a TK Maxx to find a rain jacket since the one I ordered had not arrived yet. Argle-bargle. I found a good one in the men's section. (more in keeping with what I wanted and much cheaper than what the ladies had on offer.) I told Mr. Jenner it may end up being his once I am done with it, since I bought it slightly large.
We drove north. The kids being rather good sports. Oh how we drove. The traffic to get back on the motorway was a bit of a mess, but I made up for it for awhile by driving like a speed demon. Of course near Stroud it went tits up again. We decided to live wildly and avoid Birmingham and took the scenic route toward our destination. It proved to be a good choice. It shaved time off the journey, and it was incredibly beautiful. We saw some places we definitely want to return to and investigate. Shropshire... a fucking beautiful place. (they can use that as their motto if they want.) A tiny village called Quatt stood out. We kept ourselves amused by guessing how it might be pronounced. Eventually we made it to Shrewsbury.
Once we checked in to our hotel, had a cup of tea, regained a little bit of calm (because near the end of a car journey everyone begins to lose their general cheeriness) and decided to wander out. (also we were hungry) We saw a few interesting sites.
( Looking around and having dinner )
I suspect Mr. Jenner may have a hint of those genes for he wandered far for a job and acquired a wife with those itchy moving feet.
We began our trek today. I should mention that yesterday as I was picking up my kids from their playdate with cousins, I briefly spoke to my Father in law about how we were heading out. He made those British noises. Bill Bryson knows of which I speak. Those noises about how one should have left three weeks ago if one wants to dare leave the county. I laughed. I said, "we got this one."
I packed. We got ourselves on the road at 9am. That is slightly late by some standards. None of that hard-core American, "gotta be up and out the door by 5am so we can make the Grand Canyon by 11, and then make the Alamo in time for lunch. VROOOOOOM!" Let's see the country but let's not get too crazy. Besides there are time-warps that exist in various parts of the United Kingdom. (one of the worst is around Birmingham. Some people just stay there because they find they can't make it out.) We stopped in Weston-Super-Mare to visit Mr. Jenner's Nanny D. She offered tea and biscuits!!!! You can always count on a Nan to have tea and biscuits. She even found pink paper for Miss Biscuit to draw on. She is a keeper of all kinds of things. She was telling us about going to scrabble club, visits from assorted relations, and all the news that is fit to share. Grandchildren of all kinds have been stopping by to visit her, making sure she is all right. She said her sleeping schedule has gone to pieces since her husband died. But she is doing okay. She is doing things, people are checking in on her, and she is off to her middle daughter's next week for a good long visit.
We said our goodbyes, stopped somewhere to have lunch, I ventured into a TK Maxx to find a rain jacket since the one I ordered had not arrived yet. Argle-bargle. I found a good one in the men's section. (more in keeping with what I wanted and much cheaper than what the ladies had on offer.) I told Mr. Jenner it may end up being his once I am done with it, since I bought it slightly large.
We drove north. The kids being rather good sports. Oh how we drove. The traffic to get back on the motorway was a bit of a mess, but I made up for it for awhile by driving like a speed demon. Of course near Stroud it went tits up again. We decided to live wildly and avoid Birmingham and took the scenic route toward our destination. It proved to be a good choice. It shaved time off the journey, and it was incredibly beautiful. We saw some places we definitely want to return to and investigate. Shropshire... a fucking beautiful place. (they can use that as their motto if they want.) A tiny village called Quatt stood out. We kept ourselves amused by guessing how it might be pronounced. Eventually we made it to Shrewsbury.
Once we checked in to our hotel, had a cup of tea, regained a little bit of calm (because near the end of a car journey everyone begins to lose their general cheeriness) and decided to wander out. (also we were hungry) We saw a few interesting sites.
( Looking around and having dinner )
