DAY 286

Sunday 22 April 2012

We got up at about 11 and Dian and Charles made a quick trip over the Monnow Bridge into Monmouth where we found a cool pair of jeans for Nicole. The carrot cake Charles had bought at the Wells market the day before made a delicious breakfast with coffee from our thermos. Our route took us along the edge of the Black Forest National park and it was lovely.

Across from a preserve for swans and other birds we spied an honest box with cookies for sale. The owners, Hazel and Richard and their daughter, Megan came out to explain that these cookies were made from a hundred year old recipe and were made on the top of the griddle sort of like a flat scone. They were delicious and we munched on them as we drove by rapeseed fields vibrant yellow in the sun. Dian found a Mother’s day gift for Charles and Nicole to give her at an antique store and would have happily spent another two hours perusing the shop.

When we nixed a rather expensive camp the clerk pointed us in the direction of the Fox and Hound which had a Camping and caravan park behind the pub. As we entered the warm little room with a blazing fire in the hearth and saw the twinkle in owner Helen’s eyes we knew we wanted to stay there. It turned out to be trivia night so after moving the van to the back and getting a little stuck in the mud (Helen drove our van while we pushed), we went back into the pub and met some amazing Welsh folks. They included us in their weekly trivia game and when our team lost they gave us the prize – a bottle of wine AND the prize from the week before that they had left, saying, “Enjoy your travels.” After most of the patrons had left, Helen gave us each a beer on the house and we had some good chats with the locals.

We had hot showers and egg with rice burritos then fell asleep in our soggy camp where we were the only ones.