Friday 23 October 2020

The Early Xmas Getaway

As mentioned in a previous post, today, we headed out of London and up to Yorkshire to visit family and deliver Xmas presents in case we don't get up here for Christmas.

Consequently, I've spent any spare time I had this week buying last minute Christmas presents for all family members that we normally buy for and wrapping them up ready to bring them with us, which has made it a busy week. I think I got it all done, although for one particular family member, I now realise I got it very wrong, but hey, I tried.

The journey north didn't start well, due to happening on an earlier accident which had closed the M11 causing standing traffic, just 20 minutes after setting off from London.  That set us back for almost an hour and we had to take a slightly longer route as a consequence. Luckily, I'd packed lots of snacks and a puff pastry pizza I'd made the night before, which kept us happy whilst stuck in traffic.

We stopped off for a quick toilet stop and dog walk at the services, but otherwise we were driving most of the day with Radio 4 for company.

We stopped off to visit OH's parents en route, being very social distancing/Covid conscious and then finally got to our accommodation at about 7pm (7 and a half hours later!!!) It's been a long day!

The accommodation is very spacious for just the three of us, we'll be rattling around here during this long weekend. It's not quite what I expected, but is very well equipped. I wasted no time in unpacking and making supper.

Organised as ever, I'd packed some pasta and sauce, so we could knock up a quick meal without the need for a shopping trip.  OH just picked up some bread, milk and treats at the petrol station and I had brought enough stuff from home to cover breakfast tomorrow and more. We were all grateful for that.

OH wasted no time in settling down to watch cycling on the TV, so I thought I'd catch up on a bit of blog reading and create a post to test out the Wifi, which seems to be working okay.

It feels good to be back up north. It feels like we've been cooped up in London all year, although we did get out to Suffolk for a few days in August. We're actually staying on the East Yorkshire coast on the outskirts of Bridlington this time around, which is further from family than we normally stay, but there was very little accommodation available, so we didn't have much choice.  It will be nice to go for a walk on the beach with the dog at some point though and maybe stop off in town for some fish and chips. 

We'll mostly be sticking to outdoor activities and staying away from crowds of people, as much as possible. We're thinking of a car boot sale visit on Sunday morning (if it's not too busy), a trip into Hull to visit old haunts and do a bit of thrift shopping tomorrow, plus maybe drop off a few more presents to family at some point. I've also got a jigsaw to do and a really good book to read (Naomi Klein's latest), that I started this morning, so I'm sorted.  Simple pleasures.

We're having to stay outside of peoples houses on this visit, which is very strange, but necessary to ensure everyone stays safe, due to us coming from a Tier 2 area. It doesn't help that the weather is colder up here than in London, but I'm sure we'll manage. It might be our only visit here for the rest of this year, so we intend to enjoy it and make the most of it. I'll keep you posted over the weekend, but there might not be many photos, as I've still not worked out how to upload them on my new Chromebook.




2 comments:

  1. You enjoy your get away. A few times I have set up a cabin in the mountains and when we have arrived, the cabins are way more than we need. It is lovely to be able to spread out though.

    God bless.

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  2. I'm so glad you got away before it all changed. I am SO grateful that we went up to Northumberland to see my MiL and to have a lovely holiday and look at the shops! I also managed to get some Christmas presents!

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