I am not quite on target for arriving to coordinate with my actual walk to Stonehenge in August. Life and on occasion a lack of Mojo have got in the way.

I wonder if I can get myself back on track…

That being said I am still on track to complete my ‘Walk 1000 Miles’ by the end of the year.

Photo from the Race the Distance website

Our next holiday adventure, although still in the planning stage is coming together. We will visit Norwich for a few days where we hope to catch up with friends and also enjoy Mr C’s 60th birthday present from last year. The present is an afternoon seas rather than an afternoon tea.

Our next destination will be a short hop on the train to London where plan to visit the Tower of London and see the ceramic poppies that have been reinstalled in the moat to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of VE Day. After some consideration we have settled on Windsor where the train station is next to a hotel we have previously stayed in.

By now I am sure you are wondering where Stonehenge and my ‘Virtual Challenge’ fits in. I planned to purchase this medal and walk the virtual distance later this year but when Mr C suggested that we visit Stonehenge on the way home from Windsor it made perfect sense to start the 199 mile challenge now.

The virtual walk starts at the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire, Wales and finishes at Stonehenge in Wiltshire. The Preseli hills are where the huge Blue stone rocks are thought to have originated from.

It will be touch and go for me to reach the virtual distance to Stonehenge before I actually arrive there in person.

In the run up to the 80th anniversary of VE day I took part in a virtual challenge, walking 80km along the Normandy Beaches.

I decided to have my medal presented to me by the Cassino War Memorial in the Commonwealth War Cemetery during our recent visit to Cassino just a few days before VE day.

The medal is a double sided gold chrome star, the front  side, along with the ribbon, is a faithful recreation of the ‘1939-1945 Star’ that was awarded to all operational service during the Second world War. The reverse carries the 80th anniversary VE day logo.

For various reasons I wasn’t able to lay my potential holiday clothes options out on the bed then reject some, keeping my packing to a sensible level before packing my bag the day before travelling as I usually do.

This left me feeling stressed out packing at the last minute whilst Mr C sorted out some last-minute things and fuelled up the car for the journey to Manchester. Whilst he was out, he picked up a mini fish for lunch before packing his bag.

We set off mid-afternoon for Manchester and our overnight stay in the Premier Inn. The Satnav picked a scenic route to Manchester along roads that we don’t usually travel along. We enjoyed the delightful route enhanced by the glorious sunshine.

When we checked in at the Premier Inn, we found our room perfectly located for a bit of plane spotting as they made their final approach to the airport runway. The experience was enhanced by a live plane tracking app on Mr C’s phone.

We dined in the Griffin rather than our usual Tatton Arms. We were welcomed, shown to our seat and told to order at the bar when we were ready. When Mr C went to the bar to place the order there was momentary confusion when the lady who served him said that that they weren’t accepting any more food orders. The man who had greeted us informed her that we had pre booked so we were not walk ins and she promptly took the order.

A few minutes later someone rushed up to our table and apologetically informed us that our choice of meal (chicken schnitzel) had run out! We took a few minutes to choose other options, in my case scampi. When the food arrived it was delicious. Before we left, I couldn’t resist the urge to have my photograph taken with my VE 80 virtual challenge medal next to Churchill who was part of the Griffin’s VE day decorations.

We returned to the hotel for a nightcap. We found the bar to be scruffy with few people, no atmosphere and no beer (they were waiting for the order to arrive). It was a Friday night!!  The atmosphere was a stark contrast to our experiences there before they rebranded it in 2024. Before the, the bar was fully stocked and the room was full and buzzing.

After this less than satisfying experience, we retired to our room for an early night in preparation for our 7:10 am flight to Rome.

Challenge completed and my medal is on its way.

The walk that completed my challenge was a post shift walk along the mile walk at Attingham Park. I need to get a new memory card for my camera so on this occasion there are no photos to share.

A walk to Dothill Nature Reserve and back through Apley Woods taking the long way round.

After a difficult meeting with mum and her social worker (mum was having a delusion) the sunny afternoon beckoned me out for a walk.

A window of opportunity for an afternoon walk in the sunshine with plenty of opportunities to sit and ‘rest a while’.