BrumJim
Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
- Location
- Selly Oak, Birmingham
Sorry for this. I have to share it with someone.
Holiday was a bit of a disaster this year. We were supposed to be heading away to Forest of Dean for a couple of weeks during the school summer break. However in an attempt to get my wife into a condition where she could actually enjoy the holiday and do something, we enrolled our child in a summer sports program for 3 weeks. Only at the end of the second week one of his bubble was tested positive for COVID, so we tested him on the Sunday, and found he was positive too. Which meant that we had to self-isolate for 10 days, and therefore cancel the first week of the holiday.
But we eventually made it. Mostly due to Ibuprofen as I managed to pick up a 'flu bug just before we went away, resulting in muscle aches and much tiredness, but fortunately we had chosen a location only 70-odd miles from home, because I didn't think it would be too busy. So now I am mostly in sole charge of a very active 8-year-old who showed no symptoms at all, as my wife only just managed to make it through the previous two weeks with a very active child in her care.
Plans for the holiday included a big long bike ride, and climbing Pen-y-fan as my two key aims. Both of which had to be shoe-horned into the last two days, giving me as much time as possible to get over this 'flu bug.
Pen-y-fan was 8 miles of walking (we did most of the horsehoe route), and a big day of climbing up the southern UK's highest and second highest peaks.
The next day was a glorious sunny day, and we successfully completed the 50-mile bike adventure that he so wanted to tick off his bucket list. We travelled over to Lydney, up the Lyd valley to Upper / Lower Lydbrook, across the Wye at Kerne Bridge, and then following pretty much the route of the Wye down to Chepstow, finishing under the Severn Bridge (old suspension bridge) at Chepstow. Ice creams consumed at Symonds Yat, cakes at Tintern Old Station. The plan then was train to Lydney, pick up some fish and chips, and then get a taxi back as the starting point was 240m above the chip shop over a distance of 6 miles, so mostly very uphill, with a little bit of gently uphill at the end. Only being a city boy, I thought it would just be a case of phoning up a taxi when we needed one. But of course most taxis don't operate after 18:00, and it was just after 18:00. So we had to ride back, which involved a lot of screaming, yelling and crying when every corner he turned presented yet more hill to climb.
Therefore total distance was 57 miles, with a bit too much climbing at the end, but plenty of great views and good fuelling.
The last day, packing and heading off home showed that I was still very much under the weather. So we lost half the holiday, and half of the remainder was spent with me trying to recover whilst still doing something, and the final quarter was spent doing three of the things on our must-do list.
Today he has come home from school, and in his "about me" sheet that he has completed, his favourite holiday of all time was...
2021!
Don't know whether the Go Ape adventure had something to do with it, or the caves, but I strongly suspect that not only completing his 50-mile ride, but adding another 7 on top, was the main reason as to why this was such a great holiday.
Nice to fail but still come out on top.
Holiday was a bit of a disaster this year. We were supposed to be heading away to Forest of Dean for a couple of weeks during the school summer break. However in an attempt to get my wife into a condition where she could actually enjoy the holiday and do something, we enrolled our child in a summer sports program for 3 weeks. Only at the end of the second week one of his bubble was tested positive for COVID, so we tested him on the Sunday, and found he was positive too. Which meant that we had to self-isolate for 10 days, and therefore cancel the first week of the holiday.
But we eventually made it. Mostly due to Ibuprofen as I managed to pick up a 'flu bug just before we went away, resulting in muscle aches and much tiredness, but fortunately we had chosen a location only 70-odd miles from home, because I didn't think it would be too busy. So now I am mostly in sole charge of a very active 8-year-old who showed no symptoms at all, as my wife only just managed to make it through the previous two weeks with a very active child in her care.
Plans for the holiday included a big long bike ride, and climbing Pen-y-fan as my two key aims. Both of which had to be shoe-horned into the last two days, giving me as much time as possible to get over this 'flu bug.
Pen-y-fan was 8 miles of walking (we did most of the horsehoe route), and a big day of climbing up the southern UK's highest and second highest peaks.
The next day was a glorious sunny day, and we successfully completed the 50-mile bike adventure that he so wanted to tick off his bucket list. We travelled over to Lydney, up the Lyd valley to Upper / Lower Lydbrook, across the Wye at Kerne Bridge, and then following pretty much the route of the Wye down to Chepstow, finishing under the Severn Bridge (old suspension bridge) at Chepstow. Ice creams consumed at Symonds Yat, cakes at Tintern Old Station. The plan then was train to Lydney, pick up some fish and chips, and then get a taxi back as the starting point was 240m above the chip shop over a distance of 6 miles, so mostly very uphill, with a little bit of gently uphill at the end. Only being a city boy, I thought it would just be a case of phoning up a taxi when we needed one. But of course most taxis don't operate after 18:00, and it was just after 18:00. So we had to ride back, which involved a lot of screaming, yelling and crying when every corner he turned presented yet more hill to climb.
Therefore total distance was 57 miles, with a bit too much climbing at the end, but plenty of great views and good fuelling.
The last day, packing and heading off home showed that I was still very much under the weather. So we lost half the holiday, and half of the remainder was spent with me trying to recover whilst still doing something, and the final quarter was spent doing three of the things on our must-do list.
Today he has come home from school, and in his "about me" sheet that he has completed, his favourite holiday of all time was...
2021!
Don't know whether the Go Ape adventure had something to do with it, or the caves, but I strongly suspect that not only completing his 50-mile ride, but adding another 7 on top, was the main reason as to why this was such a great holiday.
Nice to fail but still come out on top.
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