It's Good Friday and we're taking Mario for his first trip of the year. Technically he'd moved two weeks earlier for the MOT, which thankfully he passed without issues, but this is the first of three weekends he's going out camping.
We're heading to a site close to Cheddar Gorge along with our friends who's kids also go to school with ours. It's been a busy week since returning from France so we're completely not prepared or packed when we wake up. The morning is therefore taken up with mundane tasks and getting no where fast.
Our site is 6 miles away from Cheddar Gorge and Al has found a mostly offroad cycle path to get us there so we're also packing the bikes as what we gain in comfort with the moho we lose in flexibility around where it can be parked. Al has also bought a contraption (looks just like a rope) to pull Liliya along should it be necessary as she did really well in France last year but hills aren't her strong point.
Whilst I'm packing and herding cats Al gives Mario a quick clean, one of the downsides about a white moho versus the grey camper we had is that it looks so much worse after being sat all winter. We're finally ready except for a stop to fill up with fuel for Mario and fuel aka food shopping for us. You'd think the shops were closing for days rather than just the Easter Sunday as the place is packed which poses a slight problem when trying to find somewhere to park but we find a spot for the click and collect vans and decide we'll be OK for a short stop.
Liliya loses the coin toss so Robert gets to choose his audio book, meaning I can guarantee she'll check out at some point during the journey but as I look back half way into the drive I find them both fast asleep 🤣
As is typical in the UK, it's a bank holiday weekend so of course it's raining, disappointing since the last two weekends have been nice enough to sit out but we'll make it work. The campsite is just a large field with about 6 other vehicles and feels nice and safe that we're happy to let the kids roam free. The site also has some holiday cottages a few minutes walk away with a games room so the boys spend time there playing table tennis whilst we get tea cooked.
The definite upside of the moho is the space as I've mentioned before so in the evening all 9 of us managed to fit with the kids playing a board game sat on Liliya's bed and the adults getting to chat and drink around the table.
During the night the rain is really heavy to the point I'm woken up around 5.30am and struggle to get back to sleep but Liliya sleeps right through till 8.30am so hopefully she's feeling nicely rested.
Around 10.30am we get a break in the weather and let's hope we can enjoy a dry afternoon. The kids make a beeline first thing for the games room again so the place is surprisingly quiet.
We've found a national trust venue just 25 mins drive away called Tyntesfield. It's a great find as the place is huge and they are running the annual Easter egg trail for the kids.
There's actually so much going on with egg and spoon races, quizzes, sheep herding (with each other) and arts and crafts that we actually run out of time to visit the very grand looking house. We did just have time to visit the kitchen garden with an amazing variety of tulips before running back up to the shop to claim the kids chocolate prize before it closed.
We'd arranged with our friends to have fish n chips for tea and set the sat nav accordingly. We're not used to miles and miles of country lanes and aren't sure if these really are the 'best' roads to be on in this part of the country or Google and Apple maps just aren't great realising single track roads with a national speed limit really aren't an improvement over a 30 mph A road. With approximately 12 minutes until we reached our destination we can go no further as the road has a max width of 2m (we're 2.3m). We have no choice but to take the only other road where we're soon blocked by a huge tractor who's trying to get a runaway chicken out of the road and a sat nav that's trying to get us to perform a U turn.
I have to go semi old school and load up my maps looking for some major roads to rejoin and after an extra 15 mins we finally make it to the chippy. Another interesting thing we encountered on our detour was a (narrow) road with some traffic lights. I could see ahead our lights were green but traffic was coming towards us. It was only as we got closer that a sign under the lights said both sides were green!!! What even is this craziness, to me a green light would imply I had right of way rather than nothing and proceeding with extra caution. I have zero idea what the purpose of these lights were. The weather continued to stay nice enough that we could all eat outside together which is one of the best things about these trips, especially with friends. Our last trip on mother's day to a fish n chip shop in Bournemouth resulted in an insufficient amount of chips so this time I had ordered a large but the kids had their own and this large really was that. I do feel like there needs to be some sort of standardised sizing when it comes to chips!
There were a few hiccups with kids dropping their plates so in between mouthfuls of chips the occasional blade of grass was likely also consumed.
Tonight the kids chose to play taco, cat, goat, cheese, pizza and colour brain both excellent card games and easy to travel with. We've caught a break with the weather so once the kids were in their beds the adults got to sit outside and enjoy a few drinks together (whilst also having fire pit envy from the childless couple sat looking very stress free 😜)
The next morning the sun has finally appeared which is very handy as the Easter bunny needs to hide some sweet treats for the kids, they all very much enjoy the hunt and given 65 items we're hidden and 64 were found I would call that a success (and later in the evening the 65th item was actually found).
Today we're all going to Cheddar Gorge and given it's only 6 miles away with a dedicated cycle route covering most of the way along the strawberry line that's how we're getting there.
The last time Liliya was on a decent ride it was probably back in France where she did 30k but not without a few dramas and cuts so we're hoping this one is easier. Al bought a special tow rope which can be used for any steep hills as Liliya still struggles to change gears mid ride and that was a part of the drama on the last big ride. Al estimated we'd likely be done in 40 mins which was a huge under estimation as we were only at the half way point around that time (she has only got little legs after all but was doing really well with only one fall, a little cut knee, a few tears but got straight back on). I did text the other half of the group though to warn them not to wait for us but as it turned out they hadn't left the campsite yet.
The second half of the ride was where things were not as expected, the strawberry line meets a main road and my anxiety levels aren't coping with Liliya cycling with cars around, I swap places with Al and take the place at the front so he can ride to the side of her and ensure she's safe. There are still a few areas I make everyone get off and walk as its just too busy for my liking and once we reach the edge of Cheddar it's carnage.
We hadn't appreciated that the caves were right in the middle of the village and although there were several car parks everyone seems to have had the same idea and there was no way we'd have got our moho anywhere close. We assumed we'd arrive much later than our friends given it took us double the planned time but they then suffered the issue of not being able to find anywhere to park.
Whilst we waited we had time to visit the Christmas shop and get ourselves another bauble, I was hoping for one with a cheese image and was not disappointed.
We then climbed Jacob's ladder all 274 steep steps, walked up to the viewing tower (not sure how many extra that was) but I'm really impressed with the stamina of the kids given this was straight after the long bike ride.
Our friends finally found somewhere to park and we met up with them to go into the caves. The first was Gough's cave and I would like to reel off lots of interesting facts that I learnt from the audio tour but with 5 excited children following the easter light trail things got a little distracting. I did remember the diamond chamber (probably helped because that was the answer to the trail which got the kids a creme egg) and so named because when Gough first entered the reflections by candlelight looked like the walls were sparkling like diamonds. It's also where they keep the cave aged cheddar which we'll be purchasing later on.
Next we headed to the prehistoric museum where I did learn that woodlouse don't urinate but rather release ammonia gas 🤣 We then went into Cox's rival cave and followed a digital guide but still couldn't tell you anything useful. There were some really pretty sights though.
With an hour ride ahead of us there was just time for an ice cream before the cycle back. Robert really wanted to try the cheddar cheese flavour and I opted for the thatchers cider flavour. I won, true to their word they really did taste like cheese and cider so Robert ended up binning his after a few bites and I did share my cider one with him but after a few licks of that (to get rid of the strong cheese flavour) he wasn't really enjoying the cider taste either.
The ride back was less stressful as there were a lot fewer cars on the route and this time it was without any incidents, well apart from my bike seat coming loose and wobbly so I tried to cycle stood up for as much as I could.
We managed to eat outside again and then everyone enjoyed playing with the frisbee. The kids started a board game giving us some more time to sit and have an evening drink but then they got into an argument around some suspected cheating just before the weather turned bad so we packed it away and them to bed just in time.
Easter Monday has arrived and Al and I are the only ones having breakfast as the kids filled up on chocolate easter eggs 🤣, there's no rush to get home and we could have done something touristy but we're not far away from a good shopping outlet so that's my choice. These kids are like weeds, constantly growing so any chance to get them some nice clothes at bargain prices I'll take it. The first 90 mins or so they kept up with the pace but as we entered Next and it was my turn they all gave up so I left them on a sofa with the bags full of all our shopping so far and I carried on. 40 mins or so later I emerged to some very tired people and it took some encouragement to get them to come into the kids section for their turns. Liliya loves a chance to shop though so once she got going she soon perked up. £220 later in that shop alone and by my girl maths having saved loads of money given a lot of the items were half price we were almost done. Just one trip back to the first shop we'd been in where Robert wanted to buy a body board, which will hopefully come in handy on a future moho adventure and it's time to head back to the van. The drive home is another case of wondering what the heck Google maps is doing and avoiding some single lane roads but with just 12 minutes till home time the adventure is documented and we've remembered why we love our moho.