Today didn't go quite as planned..... we were supposed to make it to Abbots Bromley but ended up in Uttoxeter which doesn't really sound like a real place, but we googled it and stayed there for 2 days and can confirm, it definatly is. We had to be up and ready as the guy who owned the campsite was picking up a coach driver from Alton Towers (even though we had walked 800 odd miles to get there, no i wasn't allowed to go!) It was cruel we went past it twice, mum would have been horrified being outside Alton Towers and not allowed to go in! We said we would offer the guy some petrol money as he was dropping us off in Alton, we thought a fiver would be ample, but when we arrived Mandy offered him some money and he said that usually, he would charge us a tenner, A TENNER! The cheeky bugger he had only gone 2 miles out of way, I know he didn't have to do but we had to pretty much take out a bank loan to stay at his tacky and overpriced campsite, but then his 'generosity' kicked in and said as we were doing it for charity, he would let us have it for free.
Our first job of the day was to fill up on supplies, we were chatting to a guy in the queue and he was telling us about a hideous story in Abbots Bromley, apparently there used to be an animal testing facility there and animal rights people were campaigning for it to close down, so when the owner died, the family buried the body, the campaigners dug up the body and told them they would give it back if they close down the facility, they let them keep the body! Only joking, they closed down the center and they got the mum back. Happy Ending.
Getting out of Alton and the surrounding area seemed to take forever, as usual the StaffordshireWay was a disappointment and majorly lacking signage, very early on in to the day my femur felt like it was going to give way and break through to my patella (our new favorite word). So i needed to rest every 2km maximum which was really slowing us down but there was nothing i could do :( Getting to Abbots Bromley was already looking very optimistic.
Possibly the worst getting lost in a field scenario today, the Staffordshire Way led us in to a huge cow field, we walked the perimeter of it and there was no way out! There was only one thing for it; a commando roll under the electric fence, but this only led us to a large deep boggy marsh, Becks was being brave and went over first, I don't know how she managed to Cross it without falling in, she must have been using her mountain goat like properties, as she had to balance on a round rock, and jump on to a brick! Myself and Mandy were very impressed! Becks went to scout out the other side, I was left alone with Mandy and within 2 minutes she had managed to electrocute herself! Becks found it funny when she came back, she was like I've left you alone for less than 5 minutes and you've electrocuted yourself! It was bad news, there was no way out beyond the marsh so Beck had to come back, once again mountain goat qualities were in full force, however, It was close on the stone! So back under another electric fence, and as we had a;ready walked the perimeter of the field, we thought we would spice it up and do a cross section. It was lovely.
We admitted defeat and just took the road until we could meet the Staffordshire Way again, to me The Staffordshire Way was just a boring, overgrown mudane path, it's like teh council were forced to put in a footpath and they just picked some firelds and backgardens and made sure they made it as doffocult a spossible for people to follow and enjoy. I told the team that I felt I couldn't carry on wlaking and would need a rest day tomorrow, the bod needed some rest and recouperation and my leg was on the verge of giving up on me so we thought ti would be a good idea to call it a day in Uttoxeter. Luckily the campsite didn't take too long to find but it was a caravan club based at Uttoxeter Race Course, turned out we had turned up to another convention without the right item - we had forgotton to bring out Belgium Shepard! Dum dumd, there was a Belgium Shepard competiton in, however we didn't know this until later, i said to becks and Mandy, I think it's a competiton for only balck hairy dogs, they laughed and said don't be such an idiot, I tried explaining to them that 99% of dogs who were being taken for a walk around the racecourse were black and hairy, I think they finally cottoned on when we saw the hundreth black and hairy dog, now who looks like an idiot? Hehe
Unfortunatly there wa sno gas left for a cup of tea but my sat nav told me there was a Tesco Superstore 600m away, and for once, it was right! We splashed out with shopping and vitamined and mineraled up as we had no gas we needed something we didn't need to cook so got a lovely hot cooked chicken woth salad and french stick, yum yum! Back at the campsite I went to prep the chicken to get rid of the bones, I went to the ammenties room and started de boning the chicken, I could tell the woman next to me was staring at me and i got chicken picking stage fright as she was being starey Mcstareison! I turned round and said hi - she then said rudely 'Is that a vegetable?' I said no..... I then realised the sign above the work surface said 'Vegetable prepartion area' I tried not to laugh as she was being a complete weirdo, she kept giving me dirty looks and watching me so I made sure I made the chicken picking as gross as possible, snapping all the bones and ripping it open - that shown her!
When I told Beck she said I should have replied 'Thats a bit embaressing if you don't know if chicken isn't a vegetable'. Beck then read me a bedtime story of David and Goliath!
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