Back on the road!

We had another good weekend with Helen and Tony, and on Monday afternoon our friends Mirsie and David showed up in their van. We had met Mirsie and David in Kosovo last fall and they are on their way back to their home in Scotland after having taken a one year sabbatical to travel in their van.

So it was fun getting caught up with them. 

Kevin, Ruth, Mirsie, and David.

They headed out yesterday before lunch, and then Ruth and I got on the road after lunch. Thanks to Helen and Tony for hosting us all!

We stopped at a Lidl grocery store in Bridgwater and did some stocking up, then headed west towards the north coast of Devon.

Narrow roads, and lots of traffic.

Not sure what this is.

Made it to the coast.

We could see Dunster Castle from the road, and it looked quite spectacular, so I made a last minute turn into the parking area. I wasn't sure if this was an English Heritage property, but it turns out that it's run by the National Trust and they are two separate organzations.

It was pay and display parking, so Ruth remained with Max while I went to the reception to see the cost. It was already getting later in the afternoon, so we likely wouldn't have gone in anyhow but I wanted a photo of the castle.

Turns out that if you don't have the National Trust annual pass (ours is the English Heritage one) then it is £17 ($29 CAD, $22 USD) per adult. Yikes. And parking on top of that.

The place seemed pretty busy though, so I guess people are willing to pay it.

I did get us a photo, but not as good as the view that was from the road.

Driving through the village of Porlock.

Porlock is pretty tight to get through, with a lot of sections of two way traffic where it's only wide enough for one vehicle. Then, there's a really steep hill (25% grade) to exit the village on a road that is also used by tour buses. It's quite a circus, especially at this time of year.

Ruth took a good video for you... turn up your volume...

Scenery west of Porlock.

Max found a good overnight spot at GPS 51.226505, -3.736512

It was a very windy, wet overnight though, and they're calling for that to continue throughout the day. Looks like we may need our raincoats for whatever walk we end up doing.

Yesterday's drive.

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