But I'm doing it now seeing as how I have found the time and the motivation to carry out my promise because once I say I am going to do something, I always follow through...eventually.
So last time I left you with Paul, Alan and I driving out of Birmingham.
We arrived at their home in Gloucestershire in the late afternoon.
Wine was had before dinner and Paul entertained me with his guitar-playing to keep my mind off of how sad I was to leave Birmingham.
Oh clearly he succeeded.
The next morning we began the journey to Cornwall. We took three cars; Alan and Catherine in one, Pip (Paul's sister) and Dom (her boyfriend) in their car, and I rode with Paul.
The trip itself wasn't that long (to me at least, as I am quite accustomed to long car journeys from Humboldt to the Bay Area). Halfway there, Paul and I stopped for petrol and lunch. Thankfully there was a nice pub near the petrol station so we weren't forced to eat anything cheap or inedible from the shop.
It had a really nice view as well.
When we arrived at the house we were staying at in Fowye, it was overcast but the view from our patio was lovely!
We took a walk about the town and had dinner at a place by the harbour where I ordered sausage and mash in a yorkshire pudding. It was a massive dish and I barely put a dent in it. After eating his massive steak and chips and peas Paul finished it off for me.
The next day it was still a bit overcast and we went down to the docks to check out the boat we had rented out for the week.
The next morning, however, the weather was much more pleasant.
Catherine, Pip, Dom, Paul and I took the boat out to go fishing.
We returned empty-handed to the house where Alan was getting the barbecue ready, but we had an amazing dinner nonetheless.
Dom and Paul looking at pictures taken from the day.
From the first day on we fell into a nice routine of getting up, walking around town, getting into the boat to attempt fishing, coming home, and having dinner.
In the middle of week, Alan and Catherine thought we'd take a day trip to a nearby town called Falmouth.
It was a bit cold and the town wasn't all that exciting. Paul and I often found ourselves wondering, "Why did we come here?"
At the end of the day, Dom exclaimed, "Well, Falmouth isn't getting an entry in my diary!"
The rest of the week we were back in the same routine.
This was the road where we lived: Esplanade.
Our address
Paul and I even discovered this nice cafe called Pinky's where we could get a wireless connection and get our much needed internet fix.
Oh, as well as fishing and walking and such, we also ate a MASSIVE amount of Cornish cream teas!
One morning we even had some pleasant visitors:
Dom had made a little plank out of a cereal box so the ducklings could make it into the makeshift pool we'd provided.
On our last evening out.
On our last day in Cornwall, Paul and I had a day of hikes.
After covering the hills of Fowye, the entire family took the boat across the harbour to this town called Polruan where we took a walk through these lovely gardens.
All in all, it was a fantastic holiday and I was so happy that Paul and his family had invited me to be with them for my last week!
Driving back having arrived in Gloucestershire:
On my final FINAL day in England, Paul and I took a walk through the countryside, which was lovely:
And lazed about at home watching telly:
With the cats...
It was the perfect close to an unforgettable year!
Next I see Paul, now, will be next month when he comes to visit me for Christmas and New Year's!!!!
I am well excited!!
Perhaps before then I will blog and update everyone (who still reads this) on what I've been up to my first quarter back in Santa Barbara.
