A good day in Dartmouth, Devon

Again, we drove first thing in the morning, and good thing. While Dartmouth itself has more modern roads, the roads getting to Dartmouth are narrow, and big trucks use them as well.

There aren't a lot of decent motorhome options in Dartmouth. But someone told us about a popular parking app here in the UK called "Your Parking Space". It lists a variety of paid parking spots ranging from private driveways to grocery stores... at a variety of prices, some really cheap. We ended up choosing a 24 hour one in a Sainsbury grocery store parking lot for £4.60 ($7.85 CAD, $5.85 USD).

Devon and Cornwall are not very easy for a motorhome

Yesterday morning, we once again departed as soon as we woke up. It was about a one hour drive to Restormel Castle, just outside the village of Lostwithiel.

The castle is fairly remote, even though it's only a mile or so outside the village. We got there, and the gate was closed!

So many sea caves to explore!

Once again we were on the road before 7:00am making our way through the narrow country roads to the coastal village of Tintagel. We arrived at a large, totally empty parking lot with a "pay by app" sign listing prices. I had already done the research in advance and so I knew that motorhomes are allowed to stay overnight and that the cost was £8 ($13.75 CAD, $10.25 USD). 

There are several other places in the village where motorhomes can park overnight, but they all work out to approximately the same cost. This one is furthest away from the attractions, and while it was busy during the day, it was empty and very quiet overnight.

Seems everybody in this area does their grocery shopping on Sunday afternoon!

We've learned that you don't get anywhere fast in this part of England. There are no motorways, not that we would normally use them anyhow, but even the main roads in this area are narrow and curvy, and at this time of year there is a lot of traffic.

We've taken to getting up and doing our driving very early, as soon as we wake up, because it's just easier with less vehicles on the road.

I took a video for you, but it's a little rough...

Yesterday morning was downright miserable. There was a wind warning in effect, with a steady "breeze" of 30 mph (50 km/h) and gusting higher than that. Add in some drizzle and a temperature of about 13C (55F) and it was pretty easy to just stay inside all morning.

But after lunch, things cleared up a little. The wind didn't die down, but at least the precipitation stopped.

There's one more walk we want to do!

Our things have finally pretty much dried out from getting soaked during our wet hike on Wednesday. Almost. We haven't had any rain the past two days, but we haven't had any sunshine either. Still, the weather has been good enough to get out and get some exercise.

It's a great spot where we're staying. We have a nice view of the sea, and many different trails start from here. And it's only £3 a night, payable by donation in an honesty box.

More of England's Southwest Coastal Path

I was thinking last night that it was almost a year ago that we last flew back to Canada. This year, we arrive in Ottawa  at the end of this month on August 31st. This will be the longest that we have been away since we began this lifestyle in the fall of 2007.

Yesterday, we drove right away and arrived early into the village of Lynmouth and found a parking spot. It was free until 10:00am, but paid by the hour after that. I paid for three hours for a total of £3.90 ($6.60 CAD, $4.95 USD) and we had some breakfast and set off exploring.

A couple of drowned rats

The weather isn't cooperating, but it's only water and we have raincoats. 

We left Max in his spot up on the moors, and set off towards the South West Coastal Path, the longest marked trail in England.

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. 

July expenses, not a bad month...

At the end of last month, I had said that our planned budget for the month of July was $2,045 CAD ($1,545 USD). While we came in at $2,823 CAD ($2,134 USD), the extra was all related to my laser eye surgery treatment.

So without the cost of the treatment, we were pretty much on budget, although some of the categories were a bit out of whack . Here's how it all broke down...

Fun getting caught up with everyone

Ruth's mom and dad came to Canada from England in 1957, but Ruth and her siblings were born in Canada. So all of their aunts and uncles and cousins were across the pond in England, and they only saw them once every five years or so while growing up. Ruth and her cousin Helen were about the same age, so they formed a bond over the years.

When Ruth and I first met in March of 1983, she already had a trip planned to visit England on her own in September of that year.

Interesting day trip to Shaftesbury

We got into the car with Helen and Tony and headed west for a day trip to Salisbury. Ruth and I had been there before, but it was many years ago. Salisbury has a really nice cathedral. Anyhow, while we were driving along, I looked up the cathedral and saw that it is now a £9 ($15.25 CAD, $11.50 USD) fee per adult to enter the cathedral. 

Between that and the heavy traffic, we decided on a change of plans and instead made our way to the closer town of Shaftesbury.

Max is still for sale

We've had a couple of expressions of interest, but nobody who wants to make a commitment. I haven't really made an effort to advertise him much other than writing the motorhome for sale blog post and copying it to a couple of facebook groups.

We would have preferred to sell him to a foreign buyer who would continue to use him the way we have. Such an easy way for someone from Canada or U.S. or Australia, (or wherever!) to get into a European motorhome and be able to turn the key and head off right away. So I'm kind of surprised someone hasn't jumped at the idea.

Quick visit to the capital city of Cardiff, Wales

We stopped in the town of Cross Hands for some groceries, then headed southeast towards the city of Cardiff. The two lane highway turned into a four lane highway, then into the M4 motorway where traffic was fairly heavy going into the city of Cardiff (pop 400,000).

Not easy to find decent free parking around Cardiff, but we ended up parking at the big IKEA store and doing the half hour walk into the central area.

What a difference a day makes!

Unfortunately, the beautiful weather from the day before didn't carry over into a second day.

With heavy rain forecast to begin around 11:00am, we got up at 6:30am and drove right away to another trailhead parking spot a little further on to access a different section of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Trail.