They Came, They Saw, They Left

This past weekend was the long await visit from my parents; short sweet and to the point, exactly how their trip was. On Thursday, Mum and Dad flew into Birmingham (about an hour and a half away from Ross Vegas), and took a train from there to Ledbury (20 min away from Ross vegas), where Rob and I picked them up from the train station.

It’s was great to see and actually HUG them for once in 8 months! From there we drove back to Ross at around 2:30, picked up some lunch in the Kings Head Hotel and checked them in.

Their room was one especially picked my Rob and myself. Room 3, the one they stayed in, was recently done up and it’s got a very nice four-poster bed with a fluffy duvet and completely new bathroom, with a shower that my mom just fell in love with (My parents have been thinking about re-dooing their bathroom at home and mom figured out she wanted a shower like the one in their hotel room).

After lunch we took them on a tour of our flat, and dad quickly checked his work e-mail to see why his phone hadn’t gone international yet.

It was weird having my parents at our flat. It’s nice…but it’s one of those things I couldn’t picture before they were here. It’s Rob and my flat, and it just was WEIRD having my parents in it. I always pictured being with my parents either in public(going on excursions, going to castles, etc) or in THEIR house cause that’s what I’m used to but I could never picture them in a house that I own or rent. There’s nothing wrong with it…but it was a strange experience….me having to HOST my parents instead of the other way around.

Anyway….then we went round town for a bit and I got to show them where I work—Store Twenty One.

We took them to a pub near the River Wye, called the Saracen’s Head where we had a quick drink (non-alcoholic for the parents), just to give them an idea of a pub-like atmosphere.

After that we took a trip to The Dam Barn and showed my parents all of the bunnies, puppies, etc and chilled out for a bit with Alice, but….the parents were waning fast.  Sitting around chatting was not an ideal thing for parents who had come straight off the flight and needed to stay active until bedtime….when they could finally crash.

Every time we jumped in the car, one or both of my parents were caught dosing off. Unluckily for them…I have pictures. :P

That night we went out to dinner with Alice at a place called The Mill Race.

The evening was pretty mellow….until the check came and there was a fight over the check.

Dad enjoyed winding Alice up, but eventually let her win and pay for our meal…with the promise that he’ll get to pay for the meal at the hotel the next night…but more on that later.  

DAY 2—Friday

Well rested, we headed out to 3 places on Friday: Symonds Yat Rock, Puzzlewood and Clearwell Caves.

Symonds Yat Rock is a lovely viewpoint where the 3 nearest counties(Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, and Mommothshire) can be seen. It was absolutely beautiful, since the rain hadn’t come down yet, and we could take some nice pictures.

Next was Puzzlewood, a place in the Forest of Dean where you can roam around the forest paths, climb up and down stair pathways and enjoy the nice mossy green atmosphere of the forest. Unfortunately, half way through the rain started to make some head way. And since it was raining, that means that there were puddles everywhere….so we had to be very careful where we stepped for fear of slipping on a muddy surface. We ended up finding our way out of the woods and heading on to our next venture.

Clearwell Caves: A series of caves that were used for mining long ago, now turned into an underground museum of sorts.

The caves themselves were wet, dimly lit and kind of creepy, but there were some lights on some exhibits that made the trip interesting.

More interesting than that, there was filming going on in the caves. Often times places around Ross are used to film things, especially TV show, such as Doctor Who, or in this case a show called Merlin. While we were in the caves NO one was around, but all of their equipments was, so we took a sneak peak at everything.

That night we ate dinner at the Kings Head , which was delicious. My parents even said that it set the bar pretty high for wherever else we ate this weekend. I’ve always been a fan of the Kings Head Hotel….not only because my in-law own it, but because it is FANTASTIC, especially the food….but to hear that my parents were impressed was a proud moment. James even sat down and chatted to us while we were having our starters, then…in true hotelier fashion, left  one of the waitresses to tell my dad, “the bills’s been paid for”. Vidlesr-2, McClellans-0

Day 3—Saturday

The main thing planned for today was our local Castle at Goodrich.



Mom, pointing to all the warnings....the same things that she would especially have to look out for because of her damaged foot.





Listening to their audioguides.





Me trying to be sneaky, climing over the tower wall.




The view of the countryside from the top of the castle keep.



I think my parents enjoyed it, and even though Rob and I had been there before it was still fun for us too.

After Goodrich Castle, we went to Hereford to go shopping (or as my dad calls it, buying). Part of the perks of mom and dad coming was that we got presents! We got 2 big presents to overcompensation for Christmas, and upcoming anniversary: a nice wooden chest(that I put all of our extra sheets/blankets/pillows/etc. in) and a new, big, HD TV. The HD TV came today, but we haven’t set it up yet….but here’s a picture of the chest:

We also got little presents to account for our birthdays. Rob got an electric shaver and I got a bunch of baking supplies(worth the amount of the shaver) to start up my cupcake business.

[SIDE NOTE: Cali Cat Cupcakes is a GO! I’m officially getting things together to get my cupcake business off the ground. I’ve been collecting supplies, thinking about decorations for my booth for the upcoming may Fayre where I’ll be selling my cupcakes, testing from scratch cake recipes, making business cards, working on a business plan, and creating a logo:

…So….that’s going to happen. J ]

We went to Hereford to see if we could find our gifts there….but we also had lunch at Zane’s Bistro, and wandered around the market, as well as getting lost in our own activities.

For some reason….even on vacation, my mom and dad gravitate towards the things they could be doing at home. Dad found a camera store and started talking lenses with the sale clerk, whereas mom wandered over to the Mommy and Me store across from the camera shop and began looking at cute things for the grandbabies. Oh parents….

Dinner Saturday night was at a little pub out in the country called The Cottage of Content. The food was alright, but nothing like the King’s Head. What I liked about it was the atmosphere and design. They had hops bushes hanging from the beams and their placemats were stone slates. Very west Country Pub.

Day 4—Dooms Day Sunday.

The day mum and dad left. Rob and I got up at 7am, met up with mum and dad at the Hotel at 7:30 and started on the hour and a half drive back to Birmingham international. One last picture at the airport and they were gone.

Rob and I quickly drove back to Ross Vegas only to be called into work…me at 11, him at 12…which we were JUST in time for me to get into work. Long long day, but we sent mum and dad safely off to Italy, with the promise that next time they’ll be here for a couple of weeks instead of a couple of days. Until next time……