Back in England

Saturday 22nd November – the end of a week in the comfort of Coventry

Lin here...Well, we managed to get to Dunkerque around 3.15 and got straight onto the 4pm ferry home. My sister Jan said we'd be welcome to go straight there, but we were too tired for the drive, so stopped in Aylesbury overnight. The pub where we stayed was newly taken over and run by a lovely chap, who sorted us out with great efficiency. He was clearly rushed off his feet and showed us how to get out of the building next morning, when the bar would be closed.... Anyway after an ok night's sleep we woke up quite early and had a bit of a moan about the cost of such a basic room. We were thinking of heading into Cambridge for breakfast, when there was a knock at the door and it was our kind host saying that breakfast was ready. We were really chuffed: suddenly the £50 we'd paid didn't seem so bad. We headed downstairs and a table for 3 awaited us all set up with hot savoury pancakes We asked where we should sit and were seen to the aforementioned table, where we expected a single person to appear any moment to join us. I went to pour some cereal and our host recommend eating the pancakes whilst they were warm. We quickly got stuck in and they were very tasty. After a couple of mouthfuls we heard voices and 3 people appeared before us, clearly expecting breakfast...uh oh! For a moment I lost my appetite. Our host appeared and covered his tracks well. He smoothly lead the 3 to another table and headed off for the kitchen, bringing our toast over as he left. He'd clearly realised it was his mistake, so we finished tucking into our breakfast and managed to hold in our laughter until we got back to the room. We left nice and early and just after 10am we arrived at my sister's lovely home in Cov. We've enjoyed a really comfortable week here and can't thank Jan enough for helping us get through all our laundry...washing, drying and ironing, feeding us morning, noon and night and entertaining us throughout the week. She's also given us the chance to sort out our stuff and pack up our backpacks ready for the next phase of our travels. It was also lovely to see Dot and Norm, Jackie and Ed, Leanne and Dean as well as Shirl and Bas and Barb and Pete and Niall. We really enjoyed cooking for everyone on Wednesday and going out yesterday... thanks Norm! We'll try to remember Niall and Norm's jokes to pass on in the course of our travels.

Tomorrow we are off to Nottingham for the day and will stay with Wendy and Dave before heading up to Carlisle to see Alec graduate. We'll then be heading to London on Wednesday and will catch up with Brent's son, David, before flying to the US next Thursday. We've managed to pack away our remaining belongings into Jan's loft and after buying a small bag on wheels, we're now ready for next Thursday's flight. We've tried out our back packs and feel quietly confident that we'll cope!!! Now looking forward to catching up with friends back home tomorrow...