Wales

We had a couple of chores to finish up before we headed to Wales, one of which was getting the oil changed on Bijou and having a thorough inspection done. We get this inspection done every other year when we get her Control Technique certificate as required in France, but when we have some fairly significant travels coming up, we do it again just to make sure all is well.

We took her to Dave Newell in Telford, England. He’s considered to be a Hymer guru and comes highly recommended on the Hymer Owner’s Facebook page. We were in the area, so we booked an inspection. We took off on a long walk with instructions to return in three hours. Upon our return we were told Bijou was in great shape, although she had a rear light out and needed two new front tires. Great news!

We were parked up at a pub near Dave Newell’s shop the night before our appointment. These are “free” stops, as long as you buy something in the pub. It is possible to go broke staying at these pub stops. 🙂
While Bijou was being given the once over, we found a beautiful trail that took us by an amusement park. It was closed, but the music was playing so that made it super creepy.

Unfortunately, we had another issue that had nothing to do with the mechanics of Bijou, but rather, the bathroom floor. It had split and cracked to the point that it was unusable. It wasn’t going to last much longer. There is a company that refurbishes shower floors and we happened to be about half an hour from their headquarters. I mean, what are the odds of that?? Two days later we had a brand new bathroom floor. Sometimes the stars align. One last chore, a cut and color for me, and we were once again free to move about and play. Off we went to Wales, our first new country for 2023 and our 32nd overall on our European Tour.

The off white color tends to yellow with age and ours had certainly seen better days. And see that big hole next to the shower? That is not supposed to be there. And if you look closely, you can see cracks in the floor. No bueno.
I can’t even with this new snazzy floor!! We agonized over whether to keep it white, off-white or be adventurous and go with the grey. I even asked on the Hymer Owner’s FB page and the votes were evenly split. We just decided to go for the grey and, my gosh, we love it!
This is actually how we access stuff under the shower. You can see they built in a big support system to make sure we don’t get any more cracks in our bathroom floor. (Not my dust, btw…)
Before and after.
While Bijou was getting a new bathroom floor, we spent the whole day touristing in Ludlow. It is a cute town and we enjoyed it. We had our bikes with us so we were able to cover a lot of ground.
There was a lull in activity so Steven decided to get a haircut. At the time he was reading Sinead O’Connor’s autobiography and he got inspired.
We bought ourselves a new set of tea mugs. We haven’t used them yet, but we will.

Aberystwyth

I can’t see the name of this town without thinking of Biggus Dickus from The Life of Brian, you know, the guy with the lisp. All the road signs are in both English and Welsh. One makes sense and the other looks like gobbledygook. And Wales has some skinny-ass roads, y’all. Thankfully we were able to mostly stay on the main highways, but even then we both squealed when a big truck went by. It bothered Steven the most because Bijou is a left-hand drive, which puts him right next to the traffic in the other lane. He sucked in his breath a lot. We were always happy to reach our destination where we could stay put for a few days.

Skinny-ass road. That is an official designation. And this is one of the bigger ones!
This is what the Welsh language looks like (in LIDL). Gobbledygook. (I just noticed Dr Pepper in this shot! I don’t really drink soft drinks, but on the rare occasion that I do, it’s gonna be a Dr Pepper.)

In Aberystwyth we stayed at the Rugby Club, which seemed like a really good idea until the big weekend match got underway and Bijou, parked well behind the goalpost, started getting pelted by the ball. We cheered mightily for the away team so they would stay far away at the other end of the field 🙂

The first time Bijou got pelted we were inside and it scared us to death!
There is a funicular that rises above the town of Aberystwyth to a small park, a few concessions and a Camera Obscura. The view over the town was gorgeous.
The beautiful views of Aberystwyth.
Truth be told, this is one of the reasons we love coming to a coastal town. These fish and chips did not disappoint, but fell short of the best ever that we had last year at John O’Groats in Scotland along the NC500.

Aberdare

We made it to Aberdare County Park on the last weekend before school started back up and everyone in Wales was there with all their kids and dogs enjoying the last gasps of their summer vacation. But while it was crowded in the park facilities, we shared the surrounding hikes only with hairy four-legged natives. You know what that means, lots and lots of sheep shite. I have a pair of Merrill sandals that I have never hiked in before now, and wow, I love them! When we got back to the campsite I just ran a hose over them and they literally cleaned up like new. I can’t say the same for my Oboz.

No crowds up here.
Just a few locals who paid us no attention at all.
It had rained prior to our walk but not while we were actually walking. It was really a perfect hiking day, nice and cool and lots to hold our attention.
While we were in the Lake District I bought a new cover for my backpack. Steven now has to contend with my neon self in all his photos. Also, I seem to have gravitated to the color purple.
“If you’re gonna be in my shot, at least smile!”, said the photographer.
When we left Aberdare to drive to our next destination, we drove through miles and miles of row houses like these. South Wales was home to one of the largest coalfields in the world and all those miners had to live somewhere.

Hendreforgan

We came to this little village because we were planning a meet up with a nomadic couple from San Francisco, Cheryl and Rich who were housesitting about 10 miles away. They met us at our campsite and we took off on a nice hike to a nearby pub for lunch and a good long yak about nomadic life and beyond. When we first moved to Europe we had all kinds of company and folks to chat with, but the double whammy of Covid and Brexit brought our social life to a screeching halt. Now we’re practically feral, so when we do meet up with folks we are giddy with excitement!

Our campsite is actually a working farm and there were (surprise!) sheep in the fields all around us.
One of Britain’s cycle paths ran just across the street from our campsite so we decided to check it out. Part of it was lovely with paved paths and lots of signage. The rest of it was muddy, rocky and without directions, so we got lost and ended up riding on the very busy, skinny-ass road. It is even more scary on a bike than in Bijou.
Rich and Cheryl do much of their travel on their spiffy touring bikes. When not riding, they avail of public transportation to get to their destination. After a summer of cycling through Germany, they had a series of house/pet sits in the UK. This is when they rest, regroup, plan upcoming travels and get some kitty love. I think that’s genius! (Safe and happy travels to you guys! So glad to have met you!)

We said our goodbyes to Wales and made our way back to England where we parked up on yet another farm. We have spent a lot of time in Cambridge, we figured we’d give the other college town a try!


Up next: Oxford, England!


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11 Comments

    1. 2chouters

      OMG, were you in Ludlow when we were there? I haven’t seen you blogging lately, so I am assuming maybe? If so, I am sorry we didn’t know so that we could have met up with you! Do you guys need a new bathroom floor in your motorhome? I know a guy…. 🙂

  4. Liz

    Your photo of the castle in Ludlow reminded me of our visit there. We were on the path below, possibly the same vantage point as your photo, when a man coming from the other direction warned us there was a badger near the path. It was dusk and we hadn’t gone another 20 feet when the badger ran in front of us. Startled us, to say the least. Evidently, they are not very friendly.
    Thanks, as always, for sharing your adventures.

  5. Connie Faquhar

    I laugh and agree with your description of Wales’ skinny-ass roads and gobbledygook! But it’s a beautiful country and we really enjoyed it there. It’s a shame we were so close to each other but didn’t realize it in time to meet up. One of these days! We’ll be up in John O’Groats in a couple of days, where should we be looking for the best fish & chips?

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