Camping!

So I’m really behind with this blog…Before I catch you up on the latest trip I went on, I’ll catch you up on what I’ve done in London lately (besides working)-
British Museum, Imperial War Museum, Wimbeldon, and a Jack the Ripper Tour lol.

The Jack the Ripper tour was actually really really good. The tour guide had written several books on the subject and when Johnny Depp was making the movie From Hell (a movie about Jack the Ripper) he went on a 1 on 1 tour with our guide…Anyway Wimbeldon was even cooler than the Ripper tour. We saw Andy Murray play mixed doubles and plenty of other world class tennis players we didn’t recognize. Having Wimbeldon and the World Cup going on at the same time over here was crazy.
Besides work and pubs that’s about it though…

This last weekend Chris, Sally (my homestay mummy), Dawn and John (Chris’s homestay parents who are best friends with Sally), and Archie (Dawn and John’s 2 year old grandson) all went ‘camping’ at the New Forrest in southwest England (can’t remember the shire). Chris and I thought we’d be camping in tents around a fire in the woods but no-they had a camper (they call it a caravan) and we were at a campsite with hundreds of other caravans and people around. There wasn’t even a fire. This wasn’t too disappointing though b/c it meant we got to eat good food all weekend. But before I get ahead of myself, the weekend started Friday morning with me and Chris riding with Sally. Dawn and John had gone the day before to set up. Sally, Chris, and I stopped at Stonehenge on the way there and saw that. It was really neat. All in all it was a pile of rocks, but it was still interesting.

We made it to the New Forrest by 11:30am. Then we found out as soon as we got there we’re going to the beach and going to meet up for lunch with one of Dawn’s old friends. So we drove 20-30 minutes away to a town called Christchurch and go to Sandy’s house. Sandy’s house was a beautiful hatched roof cottage (that was closer in size to a mansion than a cottage). It looked just like something out of a movie. It was also on the beach. We went to lunch with Sandy at Avon beach and saw the Isle of Wight. We walked around the area and saw the marina as well.

The day continued with a trip to the grocery, cooking dinner, eating dinner, doing dishes and going to bed. All of these seemingly mundane activities were made fun b/c of the 2 litres of ‘Scrumpy’s Cider’ (that came in pirate looking bottles) Chris and I decided to buy at the grocery.

The next day we woke up bright and early (thanks to Archie and Dawn). We ate a goooood breakfast and went to a “quant village” called Lynderhurst (I think). The “village” had an open air market and was pretty nice. It was also kind of boring. But the town-I mean village- was pretty and was on some river and had a really nice harbor with a marina.
For lunch that day we went to a little restaurant that basically served tea and scones. Very cliché. I had a prawn (shrimp) sandwich. I didn’t know what it would be like when I ordered it, but it was pretty good. After lunch we headed back to the New Forrest and for the first time actually spent time in the forrest! It was really nice. There were some HUGE trees and everything was really pretty. There were also wild horses that we went up to and petted and fed. We didn’t get to spend too long in the forrest however b/c Archie had to have his afternoon tea!! Can you believe they’re soooo addicted to their tea here that at age 2 if babies don’t get it on time they get really fussy??? Seriously…Anyway we went back to the “caravan” and made dinner. Same bit with the cider, dishes, and sleep.
Last day (my birthday) we were supposed to go back to the beach and eat breakfast with Sandy and her family, but because Archie didn’t sleep well and kept Dawn up so late she just had to leave early and cancel our beachfront breakfast. This would have been ok except for the fact Sandy has a BEAUTIFUL 18 year old daughter, Kate, that I forgot to mention earlier. In fact Dawn wanted us back in London so quickly she told me and Chris that we couldn’t shower that morning…Good start for my birthday.
Waking up in a camper with 3 old people and a 2 year old baby. Then finding out we won’t get to see Kate again AND I can’t even shower before I leave?? Actually it was ok. I was ready to get back to London and NOT be around DAWN! She’s a whole ‘nother blog…
Back to the story, we pack up and head out. Chris, Sally, and I rode back separate and stopped in a town called Portsmouth. There was a really old tall ship with sails. We didn’t actually see it though, just the top. It looked like a ship a pirate would sail. We didn’t get to see it because Sally couldn’t remember exactly how to get there and when we got closer traffic got really bad and we were really hungry and just wanted to get home, so we bailed on the ship idea, ate lunch at a pub, and went back to foggy londontown.

Random facts about trip I couldn’t fit well into a narrative:
I drove Sally’s manual transmission car at the campsite and besides being on the WRONG side, I had to shift gears with my LEFT hand! It actually wasn’t that weird…

There was one campsite with a rebel flag flying high. Were they American and from the South? Or just incredibly racist?? Me and Chris had to investigate…Turns out they were just old pensioners (English for retired people) that really liked cowboys, Texas, and country music. They were actually from about 15 minutes away from where we are in London lol. The funniest thing about them was when we first asked them about the flag and if he was from the South, the man said “no, I just like cayboys”. I replied: “cayboys?” (I thought he said “gay boys”) and he was like “you know, cayboys with horses and hats?” LOL his accent made ‘cowboys’ sounds just like ‘gay boys’….you had to be there…

Lastly, the weather changed soooooo quickly last weekend. I had to wear shorts but have a jacket, sun glasses, and an umbrella with me at all times. In a matter of 5 minutes I’d go from sweating in shorts and a t-shirt with my sunglasses on to shivering in my jacket with it sprinkling just enough to be annoying, but not enough to make it worth opening an umbrella and back to warm and sunny! I always thought Nashville was bad about fluctuating weather-but we’ve got nothing on England.