28 Feb 2016

From the height of summer to the midst of winter

After spending a few more days with Mike and Shannon we said our farewells and took the truck to the warehouse, got a lift down to the ferry port, took a boat across to Buenos Aires, a taxi to our Air B&B and finally got the steak we had been waiting for since first arriving in Argentina. Thus far in South America beef has been poor at best, everyone told us how good steak is in Argentinia, but we entered just after Christmas and all restaurants are closed over Christmas and New Year, so this was our first chance and it was exceptional, so tender that our waiter cut our steaks open with a spoon and asked if they were done to our liking - they were.

We arranged for our taxi driver to pick us up the following day to take us to the airport and all in all had a petty uneventful flight back to the UK (other than when we left it was 32 degrees with a gorgeous blue sky and when we arrived it was just above zero with a chill wind and that horrible light rain that the UK is famous for).  We arrived via coach in Cirencester, to be met by our car, and drove to my cousins in Stroud. A 200 mile round trip the following day took us to our storage unit to get appropriate clothes, up to Bromsgrove to see my mother in hospital and back to Stroud. Then the day after up to Redditch for dads funeral and then on to Manchester to stay with eldest daughter Sarah for a couple of days.

After a few more days visiting and staying with family and friends, plus another funeral (the mother of one of my cycling mates in Winslow) we finally dragged the caravan out of storage and took it back to the pub in Mursley (where we stayed last year). This had been fine in the summer, but with an awful lot of rain this winter the field soon became a quagmire and we moved on to a farm near Buckingham, on hard standing and with power and water hook up.

Last Supper (again) with Mike and Shannon
Captain America ready for the off
Shannon sorts out her 'in flight' communication
& off they go
Last sunset before returning home
An amazing steak in Buenos Aires
Eva Peron
Back to the camp site behind the pub, but getting very boggy
Flash back to last May - the piglets at the pub
have turned into Jurassic Pigs
We re-locate to a farm yard just outside Buckingham
With a really nice walk into the town, just half a mile away
along the river
and past the University
We visit Bletchley Park a few miles away) - The secret location of the WW2 Code Breakers
Enigma Machine taken from a German Uboat
They even had a replica of Shanon's Bike
It might be cold but nothing beats a walk in Derbishire with daughter Sarah.