The kids on their second go around in the infamous water ride at Drayton Manor.
Sat in the bowels of the Bilbao-Portsmouth ferry in the campervan waiting to disembark, we listened to crackly AM radio as England played Argentina in the World Cup semi - sadly by the time we’d made the short drive from Portsmouth to Sunnydale Fram campsite at Hamble, they had lost and it was all over for anothr four years. Doh.
Campsite was nice enough, quiet field and a chatty neighbour who collected hifi amplifiers and who I got into a longer-than-anticipated conversation with on the subject. Next morning Faye and I both headed out on our runs, intervals (hard!) around Hamble for me, a longer 18k for Faye through nice and not-so-nice areas. We were in Hamble to catch up with my folks David and Janet, who we met for a coffee before we took the kids to the nearby Go Ape at Moors Valley Country Park, a treetop obstacle course which I went on with them, as Faye and the dog gazed up at us from terra firma.
Nice marina-front meal at Banana Wharf in Hamble that evening where we had a proper catchup with David and Janet, then some easy running for both Faye and me before heading up to Faye’s family in Nether Whitacre, Birmingham, via a pet store in Banbury to get essential approved food for our high-maintenance dog. UK roads, especially around HS2, were their usual rammed selves, so we cross-countried it to get to Roy and Lynda’s, who cooked us posh burgers and chips for supper while the kids played football in their heat-parched garden.
What with the parkrun and two 10k’s together, Faye and I did more running as a couple than for years this week.
Next day was Saturday morning, and Faye and I jogged to Kingsbury Water Park parkrun, Faye coming 51st and me 15th out of 311 on a lakeside trail route, although my 20:50 time perplexed me - surely capable of faster? Afterwards went to the Dog & Doublet on the Birmingham and Fazely Canal to meet Faye’s mum Andrea and Mike for lunch, a proper no-nonsense locals pub, with many people enjoying the summer sunshine in the beer garden. A nap was definitely in order by the afternoon, before Faye’s bro Adam and their whole clan came over for an epic family evening, including a fantastic England vs France game in the runners’ up World Cup match - everything a football match should be (except the daft hydration breaks, of course).
How old does this make us feel? All the kids, all kinda grown up.
Faye and I had that rarest of things the next day, a 10k run together, before we all (minus dog, who Roy and Lynda babysat) headed up to Drayton Manor theme park for a family day out. It ended with all but Dylan feeling mightily sick, and all including Dylan soaked through - the water ride was truly extreme! Watched the dirty Argies win the World Cup Final that evening, not a patch on the England France game.
Next day Faye and I were up and running another 10k around the local countryside together, before a big shop in Morrisons, and a drive to Nantwich via the M6 toll (how much?!) to the canal marina, and the next stage of our trip…