Visiting The Offspring

Now that Daniel's living in Surrey, we have to plan any trip we want to take to visit him. He's not just down the road like he was when he was at university in York, he now lives 206 miles away. We decided that instead of making the journey to visit him and then Mick and I staying in a hotel, we'd pick him and his girlfriend up after work on Friday and then whisk us all away somewhere else for the weekend.

Mick took Friday off work and we made the journey down to Surrey. There were plenty of stops along the way so that Archie could get out of the car and stretch his legs. We made good time and arrived just as Daniel was finishing work. He collected the things he'd need for the weekend and we set off again, this time on our way to Oxfordshire. We'd got a good deal on a hotel break on Groupon and luckily, it was a hotel which accepts dogs. We got something to eat on the way to the hotel and after being shown to our rooms, unpacking and freshening up, we all met up in the bar and enjoyed catching up with each other's news.

On Saturday, we had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel and spent the morning relaxing before going for a drive to Henley-on-Thames, famous for the Henley Regatta, a rowing event held annually in July. It was a beautiful day, we'd struck lucky as we couldn't have foreseen that we'd be wandering around without our coats it was so warm. The walk along the river was very pleasant.

Mr and Mrs Mallard were busy attending to personal matters, it takes quite an effort to look so good.

There were lots of Canada geese and they were all keeping their eyes on the many dogs out for a walk, I wouldn't like to bet on who would come out on top should there be any altercation, Archie always steers well clear of them.

Another stretch of the river. I love these riverside dwellings, they're all built on a little island. I think I'd get a bit fed up of having to get in a boat every time I needed to pop to the shops though.

We didn't walk too far before we turned and headed back towards the town.

There were a few boats on the river whilst we were there, many practicing their rowing technique.

This is the boat which took Mick's fancy, it's something he'd love to own if we ever win the lottery.

It was such a beautiful day that it would have been rude not to have an ice-cream as we wandered back in to town.

The town itself is very pretty with its tudor buildings.

It has an attractive high street which has a mixture of boutique style shops amongst the popular high street names.

We called in at a pub on the way back to the hotel for a meal and then once back at the hotel, spent the evening in the bar again playing Trivial Pursuit.

After another leisurely breakfast on Sunday morning, we drove Daniel and his girlfriend back home to Surrey before heading back ourselves to Leeds. We did take a small detour though on the way home. The motorway passes just a couple of miles away from Eleanor's student accommodation in Nottingham so we stopped off to say hello and take her for something to eat. She wasn't expecting us so it was a lovely surprise for her.

I really enjoyed seeing them, Eleanor's just got three weeks now before she breaks up for Easter but I don't know when we'll see Daniel again. We can always do the same again if I miss him too much.