Step 2 in UK

 All in all a great day out. Thanks Ken and Angie.

Finally it’s time to move on.

Seems like ages since we got here but it’s only 2 weeks! We have been avoiding thinking about heading out. I suppose we are in denial, wanting to go but not wanting to think about where we should go.

My Aunt recently passed away aged 97, and we have been hovering in the wings as my sisters have organized the funeral, started the probate process and moved her belongings out of the care facility she was in. Now we face the funeral which is going to be in couple of weeks. We will have to plan on being back for that and we have made reservations at Arrowe Brook Farm again.

Which means our plans for Cornwall in the far South West of England have had to move back. It’s not a problem as we don’t make plans or reservations except on Holiday weekends.

We came up with a short trip to York, a city in Yorkshire. About 150 miles east (well the way we went it was) it got us into the travel mode again.

Ken had mentioned a campground on the River Ouse south of York that had a water taxi that took you into the city.

We found Poplar Farm Caravan Park about 3 miles south of the city that had a bus stop outside the gate with a bus direct to the center of the city and also a pier from which the boat went also to the city center.

Camped right next to the river.

What could be better? How about it being right on the banks of the river with a nice pub next door? Sounded like heaven to us, and they had vacancies for the weekend!

The Ship Inn next door!

After a couple of hours drive we were checked in and all set up. The bad thing was that the house (Leisure) battery appeared to be dead and that ruled out a “Pub Stop” we had been looking forward to. Without a house battery we couldn’t get lights and some controls to work. A commercial campground like Poplar Farms has electric power hookups and we could happily run on that.

York is an ancient and very picturesque city with Roman ruins, a Minster (Cathedral) dating back to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, lots of Viking history, English Civil War battles. Lots to keep Barbara and I busy.

York Minister

We decided to search for a city pass similar to those we bought in London and Dublin last year we found one.

This would get us into all the major tourist sites, onto the Hop on Hop off buses and even on the boats that went right from the campground. As Senior Citizens we could get a discount so we bought a 2 day pass. It easily paid for itself just on the boat fares and Hop On Hop Off buses for the 2 days. The entrance fees for the York Minster, Yorvik Viking Museum, Clifford Castle and York Castle Museum were a bonus. We heartily recommend getting a city pass if you are exploring York.

The old part of York named "The Shambles"

We walked and walked! Luckily the center of the city is fairly small but our legs were tired for the next 3 days.

Cruising the Ouse past the Campground.

We extended our stay by a day for a couple of reasons. Barbara’s cousin Malcolm lives about 50 miles away and when we contacted him he arranged a meet up of the rest of the local cousins who we haven’t seen in several years.

The city walls of York

I wanted to see the National Railway Museum too and we took the opportunity to walk along the top of the city walls to get there.

The world's first passenger train (Went from Liverpool!)

And also the Bullet Train at the National Railway Museum

After a long walk around the walls and museum we were too tired to walk back, so a taxi did the work and we were soon out in the gorgeous Yorkshire countryside visiting all Barbara’s cousins who had gathered at Malcolm’s cottage.

It was scary to find how long it had been since we saw Brian and Dianne but thankfully we had met Janice and Malcolm fairly recently. Malcolm’s neighbour John came by and we all sat out in perfect weather enjoying each others company and eating Malcolm’s delicious food. We had so much fun we clean forgot to take pictures!

Our next destination was Thirsk which is only about 45 miles to the north of York. We had a reason for the short trip, a destination we both were looking forward to.

Huge campground and so clean.

We found a campground on the North side of the town called Otterington Park, a really spic and span place with huge gravel spaces, a shop/office and huge bathroom buildings. All surrounded by farmland and withing a 10 minute walk of a nice pub called the “Shorthorn” named after the Shorthorn cattle.

The reason for the trip was connected to one of our favourite TV shows on PBS and some of our favourite books from the 70’s and 80’s. I think most people have heard of the series “All creatures great and small”?

World of James Herriot Thirsk

It’s about a veterinary surgeon in a town named Darrowby in Yorkshire and it’s set just before World War 2 in the 1930’s.

In the series the vet’s name is James Herriott and his books became world famous. They describe the country vet’s life in the Yorkshire hills and the hilarious local characters he is involved with.

His real name revealed

Sorry to break the spell but James Herriot was not his real name and Darrowby wasn’t where he lived and worked. The hills, farms and character’s however are all real.

His real name was James Wight and the real town was Thirsk. His real house wasn’t called Skeldale House, in fact I don’t think it has a name, but it’s here in the delightful market town of Thirsk and is now called “The World of James Herriot”.

The real entrance hallway

The real dining room

Seeing the real house seems strange as it’s not very like the TV sets that we are used to. Finding that he had a partner and mentor but who wasn’t named Seigfried and who in turn really did have a brother but not named Tristian made the whole lot come to life.

The TV set hallway

The TV set dining room

Stories from the books and TV shows came tumbling back as we walked around the extremely well presented house where exhibits showed their actual lives and the parallel TV show including the sets in which it was filmed.

Just to complete the experience we went to the pub for lunch and true to form it wasn’t called the Drover’s Arms! We went to the Mowbray Arms in the old Market Square and had a very tasty meal (And a couple of excellent pints of Theakston’s Best Bitter).

Mowbray Arms

Pub interior

I don’t think we’ve enjoyed a day out as much in a long time.

I got a few of my favorite things fitted in also. We stopped at the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington where there were lots of airoplanes to see. The one I particularly wanted to see was a Halifax bomber from WW2. Most enthusiasts know about the famous Lancaster bomber but the Halifax was the other heavy bomber that shared to load. The one here is assembled form a collection of parts, it’s the only complete one in the world and is painted to represent an aircraft named “Friday the 13^th”. All the symbols represent bad luck but the aircraft actually survived 128 missions only to be scrapped at the end of the war.

Halifax Bomber Friday the 13th

We also stopped at a place called Sutton Bank and for an early birthday present I got to fly a two seat glider.

Putting on the parachute

Instructor running thru the emergency proceedures.

The instructor did the take off behind the tow plane and the landing but I flew the rest of the 1/2hr flight and really enjoyed doing so. Thanks Barbara!

Finally we drove back to our old favourite Arrowe Brook Farm.

Starting out for 2023

 By the time we were due to leave the cold, of course, had eased. The trip back was uneventful and we were soon back in Sundance working on our next adventure.

Stay tuned for that !

The next adventure is the same as our last one! We had so much fun touring Ireland and the UK last year that instead of selling the RV we bought there we stored it near my sisters (and Barbara’s brother and sister)’s houses.

Waiting patiently in storage

Now we have to get back, get it safety Inspected, which is an annual requirement, serviced, restocked and ready for the summer.

T Mobile has been great for this, we have made multiple calls across the Atlantic and they have all been done under their $15 a month overseas calling plan.

Being dedicated procrastinators we now had a ton of things to do and very little time to do it in!

Before we could blink it was time to go and we hurriedly got things packed, had lots of fun with everyone over for a happy hour, and did those things required to keep the house ready for our return.

Ed ran us to the airport and we checked in for our flight to London. Then we discovered the flight was delayed by an hour for maintenance but we had plenty of time when we got to London before our next flight to Manchester in the North of England.

Beer at the 3 Magpies

A pot of tea for Barbara

Almost too much time as some idiot (Me) forgot to check the layover times and we ended up with a 9 hour wait!

Fear not! We have experience around London’s Heathrow airport and our bags were checked thru to Manchester so we took a cab to a pub called “The 3 Magpies” where we ate and drank and generally enjoyed the time spent there instead of hanging around the terminal.

The flight to Manchester was also delayed 1/2hr and we finally got to the hotel we’d booked near the airport around midnight!

Sleep was no problem!

After a very nice (Free) English breakfast at the hotel our daughter Sally picked us up and drove us to my sister Jaqueline’s house which she kindly let us use as our base for getting the motor home ready.

The motor home had sat out in the open at a storage place nearby since last September. We had hopes it would start but both the chassis and house batteries (Vehicle and Leisure Batteries for our UK friends) were dead.

Rental Car a Renault Clio Diesel

First task was to remove the chassis battery. On the way back to “Base” we bought a battery charger and after 48 hrs the battery was fully charged and it started first try.

Next big hurdle was the annual safety inspection. Called an MOT (Ministry of Transport) test in UK it is very detailed and they put the vehicle on a rolling road which tests the efficiency of each brake including the parking (hand) brake.

We failed!

Luckily it was on some fairly minor things like headlight alignment, windshield washer and wiper efficiency, The bigger one was that the braking force of the 2 rear wheels was not balanced. They took the rear drums off and adjusted them to the required settings.

Then we were able to get road tax for the next 6 months which made us street legal and ready to go. We still had a couple of weeks left on last years insurance.

Street legal and parked outside my sisters house

Then we were off to one of our favorite places from last year Arrowe Brook Farm. A very quiet and friendly little campground, close to my sisters and Barbara’s brother plus our old friends from our teenage years.

Beautiful day at Arrowe Brook Farm

All those mundane little tasks like renting a car for a few weeks, charging the house battery, sterilizing the water system, inflating the van tires, shopping, going out for dinner and visiting the local pub made the first week just fly by.

Patriotic crochet top for a local mail box

All dressed up for the Coronation

Another Mail Box decoration.

A little thing called the Coronation of King Charles 3rd came up and we had "High Tea" at a big house called Inglewood Manor (Now a hotel) with both my sisters, our daughter Sally and the grandkids Niail and Kaitlynd while watching the replay of the ceremony and parade.

The family (L to R) Kaitlynd, Sally, Beryl, Barbara and Jacky

My other sister Beryl with Barbara and Niail

Fancy cakes and sandwiches for "Tea"

Plenty to go around

Champagne to wash it down!

Niail getting to try everything

Lawns and gardens

Inglewood Manor, very "Posh"

At last were back in the van and blessed with a beautiful sunny day to enjoy. I for one slept really well not waking up until 9am. We shopped and filled the cupboards and the tiny fridge with food and drink

Niail in blue, star defender.

Our great friends Ken and Angie called and invited us to a local event “The Secret Gardens of Oxton”.

All for local charities

Oxton is a small area of the town we grew up in, everyone calls it Oxton Village, and it was a small village until the town grew up around it.

One of the huge houses at the top of the ridge, one side faces Wales the other Liverpool.

The village is at the top of a red sandstone ridge that runs along the Wirral Peninsular. From the very top you can look south across the River Dee to the hills of Wales. Look North and the city of Liverpool stands out across the River Mersey.

The wealthy ship owners of Liverpool in the 1800’s discovered the quiet Wirral Peninsular and found that from the top of the ridge they could see their ships entering the harbor and also their shipping offices in Liverpool. By systems of flags they could receive messages from the ships and the offices.

Soon the top of the ridge was filled with grand houses.

A garden hidden away behind high walls

The Secret Gardens tour is a charity event where certain home owners allow the public to see what the gardens of the grand houses are like behind the high sandstone walls that typically surround them.

In some little narrow streets the cottages of the original village still stand hidden away and it was a delight to find them tucked away.

The cottages tucked down an small road

The original part of the village.

We lived in the village for a few years before we emigrated to the US and thought we knew it, but the tour revealed places we never knew of.

All in all a great day out. Thanks Ken and Angie.

Last stop for the day, the local pub.

Spring has sprung

 

The shed was full of models that required fixing from last winters adventures so the days that were too windy to fly gave time to do a whole bunch of repairs and maintenance on them.

A rebuilt Piper Cub that's probably 40 years old

Oh boy has it been that long since I posted an update? September! And here it is the middle of March already.

After the worst winter in 20 years here in normally sunny Arizona we are shuffling off the cold and rain ready for some more adventures.

The Monaco has been in storage here since September and we only got it out once in November for an RV Rally in Anaheim California. 

 We are returning to the Escapees “Escapades” Rally in Tucson where we began planning our fulltime RV adventure 9 years ago.

If September seems a long time ago 9 years is an eternity! We have been so fortunate to have stayed healthy and still to be enthusiastic about traveling the way we do.

In preparation for the rally we volunteered to look for an overnight stop near the Pima County Fairgrounds where the “Shanty Shakers”, our great friends from San Diego, could spend a night and also meet up to go into the rally together. This allows us all to be parked in one location and simplify the nightly “Happy Hours”!

We drove to Tucson (90 miles from home) and spent a day checking on possible locations. We settled on a place called “Hot Rods of Vail” which as the name suggests a Hot Rod shop, but also has a restaurant attached. Conveniently it also has a big gravel parking area which they will let us camp on, We made reservations for 16 in the restaurant. On the night we had 18!

Getting together at Hot Rods

 The rig seems to have made it thru the winter OK and we have been wracking our brains trying to remember what we need to put back in it for a week of camping! Lists have been made and compared.

We have kept ourselves busy in Sundance this winter with our usual pursuits: Darts, model airplanes, the Elks Lodge, dinners out with friends. The usual stuff. 

Theater in the round

Barbara had a part in the annual park play and I helped by making signs for on stage. We managed a couple of nights at theaters in Phoenix and a “Western Murder Mystery” dinner here in Casa Grande.

 Our Aussie friends Mike and Lynn have finally managed to get back to the US and have spent a couple of months getting their RV back into shape after it sat for 2+ years when Covid hit. We surprised the heck out of them when we appeared unannounced in Quartzite where they were camped at the huge annual RV event out in the desert.

Mike and some real beer.

Doesn’t seem we did much in 6 months here but it has been great fun and our friends here have kept us busy and happy.

Dinner after the theater

Having said that nothing appeared to have broken while the rig was stored, we had a problem the first night out! There was a BIG thunderstorm close by the Hotrod place and a sudden intense gust of wind grabbed one of th slide topper awnings and pulled it out all the way to the stops where it jammed. The wind and the billowing topper sounded like somebody beating a drum on the roof and we had to pull the slide in to stop it flapping around.

Luckily it didn’t stop us driving the couple of miles into the rally. The entry step also decided to mess up and we had to hold the steps out using a step stool and a plank we carry for emergencies.

Parked up at the Escapades Rally

Five rigs convoyed to the rally but unfortunately Wayne and Lynn’s motorhome decided not to start and they had to catch up with us after they found a mechanic who fixed a bad starter.

We were right back into the rally routine within hours, sitting around sipping drinks, waving to passers by and greeting old friends we hadn’t seen in ages.

The Happy Hour crew getting happy

And happier

 

Remember when we complained about the kids being on their phones all the time?

 We signed in and collected our welcome packages, met more friends, ate some free donuts and sipped the free coffee. Sometimes life is tough!

Happy Hours started up at the RV dealer’s area then at our Shanty Shaker spot, we went to the evening entertainment a couple of evenings and shopped in the vendor area.

ShadePro who are an awning specialist at the rally and we had them come and inspect the slider topper awning. The wind had pulled the awning beyond it’s normal travel and torn out the spring retainer in the end plate. They also pointed out that the big main awning had a tear in the join between the awning and the side of the rig which if allowed to progress would have the awning falling down while we were traveling. For the repairs to both it was $700 but they had it done the next day and we could put that out of our minds.

Having dealt with problems on the rig I was next to have a problem when I woke up with a sore throat. This rapidly developed into a severe cold and even after I tested negative for covid I decided that I couldn’t in good conscience go to any of the remaining events and risk giving the cold to everyone else.

Sadly I missed almost half of the rally, Barb stayed healthy though and managed a few seminars etc that she was interested in.

By the time we were due to leave the cold, of course, had eased. The trip back was uneventful and we were soon back in Sundance working on our next adventure.

Stay tuned for that !