just another morning here

OK, so we already established that the main thing we will remember about our break in Windsor is the rain, but it wasn’t so bad really!

On Saturday we left early and arrived in time to set up before the Grand Prix qualifying. Yes, we were sad enough to plan that, and yes, we had looked at the weather forecast and decided that taking a tv was a good idea. No, we are not proper campers, we have a campervan with hookup whenever possible Saturday was grey and overcast, a bit drizzly, but not too bad.

Amerden Campsite was lovely, friendly live-onsite owners who were really helpful. It is *right* by the M4, so not the sort of campsite to sit around at really, because the noise of the motorway does get to you after a while, but I didn’t notice it above the noise of the rain anyway! It was a great place to use as a base because of its proximity to the river, Windsor, Legoland, London etc., and comes recommended.

Anna, Joe and I went out for a bike ride while the qualifying was on, our mission was to find a pub for meeting up with the Portico on Monday. Got as far as Eton Wick without seeing one, so bought a Radio Times, some chocolate bars, and cycled back again instead.

By Sunday the rain had set in, and we didn’t venture out of bed until about 11am I don’t think! We’d taken a good collection of DVDs, DSs and books The bed does get a bit squashed with 5 of us in it though! Got up, had brunch, then Steve settled down for the Grand Prix. It cleared up a tiny bit around lunchtime so I watched the first lap (boring, no-one crashed or overtook, so the race was pretty much a done deal) and then went out on my bike again, Anna and Joe opted to come as well. It was getting very wet by the time we got to the edge of Maidenhead but found the Blue River Cafe which had been recommended to us by the site owners, so mission accomplished there. We were pretty soaked by the time we got back to the campsite though. Sunday evening we … watched more DVDs

Monday was STILL wet. One DVD before showers and breakfast, then High School Musical kept us occupied until it was time to leave. Steve hadn’t seen it so it was a must-see for him Then we cycled to meet C&A et. al. at the restaurant. Had a lovely lunch, all the while looking out of the window wondering when the rain would stop (it didn’t). They came back to the campsite and the kids sat in their van while we sat in ours, then they watched a DVD in the awning, thank goodness for DVDs!

Tuesday dawned sunny, and we breathed a sigh of relief as it was the day nominated for Joe’s birthday treat, a trip to Legoland. Had a good day there but it was horrendously busy, I guess that’s to be expected on the one sunny day in half term!

On Wednesday we’d planned to cycle along the river to Windsor and go to the castle, but quickly shelved the idea of cycling as it was pouring with rain again, so we drove there instead. Had a good time there despite the rain, loved Queen Mary’s Doll’s House, and the State Rooms. Joe in particular enjoyed listening to the commentary in each area.

We spent a good hour in the educational room doing the ‘family activities’, which consisted of cutting, sticking, and colouring castle pictures – kept us all happy and dry! The rain stopped just as we left the castle so we meandered around Windsor for an hour, including an icecream in a Ben & Jerry’s cafe (another thing Exeter is lacking!). Back to the campsite for a chilled evening how camping *should* be, the kids playing out with other children and us drinking wine

Thursday was a dry morning too, we packed most things down with a minimum of fuss although somehow overnight the zip on the awning door broke, must remember to take stuff to fix it with us to Kessingland at the end of June. As we left it was just beginning to rain and it rained the whole way back, so we felt pretty pleased to have packed up in the dry.

All in all a good week, not sure I would have lasted the whole time – or even gone in the first place given the weather forecast – had we not had the van to snuggle up in, the rain really was awful, but it was kind of fun at the same time. Whole photoset on flickr

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