We surprised ourselves by being ready to set off on our holiday adventure early. The Satnav took us on a delightful route through Hodnet, Whitchurch and Tarporley. Just before we joined the motorway south of Warrington, we stopped off at Hollies Garden Centre in Little Budworth, Cheshire for a late breakfast. I chose a danish pastry and a refreshing cup of tea. The wasps were out in force so I had to keep my pastry half wrapped in its bag to keep them at bay.

Our lunch stop was Kirkby Lonsdale. After struggling to park we found a sandwich bar where I chose chicken salad and watched the chicken being freshly sliced. Whilst the sandwiches were being made we chatted to the lady serving us. She mentioned that she often had customers who were cycling from Lands End to John o’ Groats. We ate our sandwiches sitting under the town’s market cross and enjoying views of the distant hills.

After lunch we rejoined the M6 before travelling through Kirkby Stephen where we realised that we had mixed our Kirkbys up (again) and this was where we had intended to stop for lunch. Our journey took us past Brough towards Scotch Corner and  Mainsgill Farm Shop where we stopped for a cup of tea. It has changed a lot since our previous visit a few years ago so we took the opportunity to browse around the shop. I enjoyed seeing the resident camels, although I still miss Kevin who was such a character, often wandering over to customers and posing for photos.

Later, we arrived at the Vermont to find that the hotel carpark was full and we had to pay to park the car overnight. After checking in and unloading the car we headed into Newcastle. Whilst in town we spent some time in Waterstones both ending up with a purchase, mine being a cookbook ‘Simply Raymond’ which I had had my eye on for some time.

Back at the hotel we freshened up before dining in the hotel restaurant. We found that the menu had become more down market than on our previous stays, although when the food (Haddock and Chips for me) arrived it was both excellent and delicious. We had a nightcap in the hotel bar before retiring for the evening.

The alarm seemed to go off very early this morning…

Mr C quickly did his packing before we went for breakfast.  There was a lot of banter as Toby served breakfast.  When one of the other guests asked him if he was alright this morning, he looked at us and said  ‘No not really’ and we fell about laughing, much to the puzzlement of the other guests.

After breakfast we loaded up the car and settled up the bill with Toby who then went to get Leona so we could say our goodbyes.  We exchanged email addresses and Leona said next time we are in the area, we must call in to have a coffee together, because at the end of this season they will no longer be running the Coach House  It was a sad moment that we were all rescued from by another client turning up to pay his bill.

We set off on our journey home via Mainsgill Farm thinking we might have lunch there.  It was very busy and crowded and not what we were in the mood for so we decided to drive on.   Whilst we were there I noticed that Kevin the camel was not around but I noticed two younger camels who turned out to be Doris and Delilah. Later I found out that Kevin was no longer with us.  He will be missed, he was a magnificent creature.

After driving a little further we arrived in Brough where we found just the right sort of tea shop for our mood.  It was small, busy and quiet.  Overlooking the tea shop were the ruins of Brough Castle which we went to explore after lunch.  We then resumed our homeward journey.

I did a double take when I arrived back at the car after stopping off for a refreshing cup of tea on a long journey home.  The ram had mysteriously buckled his seat belt!!!

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After saying goodbyes at The Coach House I drove across country and called in at Mainsgill Farm Shop for a cup of tea. When I arrived Kevin was there greeting all the ladies. He seems to have become a bit more gregarious since my last visit, he was posing in front of a row of ladies who were photographing him.

It had been the intention to to visit the farm for lunch on the way to Northumberland but the SatNav (human variety) malfunctioned and I ended up taking a ‘wrong turn‘, and going via Kirkby Lonsdale, which was a rather long detour.

On a recent post a comment was made about bears and seatbelts.  It reminded me of another incident that occurred last time I visited the farm.  When I got back to the car I noticed something on the back seat that took me by surprise….

For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out tnchick.