Lodge Life :: April 2024

Hi there everyone 😀

April started with us already at the lodge, at the end of our Easter break. Having had a couple of full days out, and with the weather not quite so good, we didn’t venture out at all on Easter Monday. On Tuesday we had a ride into Criccieth for lunch … to be greeted by a lovely bit of unexpected sunshine …

That was it then really for that visit. We had another day of cleaning and packing before heading for home.

It wasn’t long before we were back … full of excitement for a three week stay, including a long weekend visit by our good friends Jackie and Phil. 

We had a lovely drive over through the mountains. It seems ages since we’ve driven over in the sunshine …

We couldn’t resist a quick drive along the front at Criccieth for a good look at the sea …

We arrived on the Tuesday and Jackie and Phil were due to arrive on the Thursday evening. We spent our first couple of days settling in and getting organised for our guests … including checking out a local hostelrey for our Saturday night out. We’d had Whitehall in Pwllheli recommended to us by a few different people and it was just the job. Fab service, a lovely ambience and great food … and not too pricey either …

As usual the weather forecast wasn’t brilliant for the weekend but, yet again, ended up totally missing the mark … and we had three days of really good weather … which we absolutely made the most of.

We spent the Friday in the mountains … starting with a lovely walk along the river at Beddgelert …

… before having a drive through the mountains to The Ogwen Valley, where we had another short wander …

… before finishing our day off with a fish and chip supper back at the lodge. 

We’d had a lovely day … packed lots in and I took lots of photos which are definitely worthy of a post of their own. 

On Saturday we headed into Porthmadog, where we had a good wander up and down the High Street, before being lucky enough to get to see the arrival of The Snowdonia Star …

It’s always fascinating to see the High Street closed to allow the arrival of a steam train into Porthmadog station. It’s definitely always worth a watch. 

We had lunch at the station and headed back, via Borth y Gest … where we got to see another train heading out across the cob … it may have been The Snowdonia Star but it was too far away to be sure …

We got back to the lodge mid afternoon and all had a bit of an afternoon dose before heading ‘out out’. Not something we often do on a Saturday night, but we ate out at Whitehall in Pwllheli, and very nice it was too. 

Jackie and Phil were heading for home on the Sunday and we had a drive to Tanygrisiau to the Lakeside Cafe for breakfast, before having a short walk at the Cwmorthin waterfall …

We parted company and our guests headed for home and we headed back … calling in at the Bron y Garth Emporium on the way. It’s a place we’ve passed many times but either we’ve not had time to stop or it’s been closed. We had a really good mooch round … they had some really crazily fabulous stuff …

We’d had a fabulous weekend … the weather was due to change and we were looking forward to a few days just chilling out before getting out and about exploring some more. We’d got lots of plans to see lots of new things … but it was not to be.

Over the weekend we’d had an oil pressure warning light come on in the car and on Monday Martin had a drive round several garages locally to see if anyone could look at it. 

Unfortunately no one could look at it for several weeks so, after being advised by the local dealer that we shouldn't drive the car, there was no real option but to pack up and head for home.

It ended up being a bit of a stressful experience, with not the best of service from Green Flag, but we were soon on our way …

We actually ended up having a lovely journey home. The driver was fabulous. Patient, friendly and we chatted about anything and everything all the way back. He brought us home, helped unpack the car, then took Martin and the car to the garage and then brought Martin home again …

Whilst we were glad to be home safe and sound … we were both a bit gutted at having to cut short our break … but at least we are fortunate enough to know that, once the car is sorted, we can head back over again. Hopefully it won’t be long 😀

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