Meg isn't the only one though working through her bucket list, admittedly my desire to see Yorkshire play cricket at their beautiful ground in Scarborough isn't quite on the same scale as travelling the world, but nonetheless it is an important rite of passage for someone born and bred in Yorkshire. I only wish I'd taken more notice of Megs packing and organisation skills before embarking on my journey north. Admittedly I wasn't climbing 5900m to the summit of Kilimanjaro and having to plan for the transition from the Tanzanian heat to the glacial pre dawn cold at the summit, but I realised as soon as I arrived at the ground that I was rather inadequately prepared. Watching Yorkshire play in Scarborough had been on my wish list for around 12 years (yes, I know! I've just been busy doing other stuff), but in that time I clearly had never considered the practicalities of sitting in the sun for 8 hours watching a game of cricket. I watched people hauling in cool boxes the size of a transit van, loaded with food and beer and labouring under the weight of fold up chairs and cushions. As I stood there in my shorts and and t-shirt, with the tall victotian guest houses that surround the ground trapping in the heat from the blazing sun, it began to dawn on me, that not even brining a hat or sun cream was probably a basic error. For a moment or two I did consider buying a seat cushion to make the rather uncomfortable wooden benches slightly more bearable, until I realised they were £10 each, at which point my Yorkshire instinct came to the fore and I thought they can bugger that, I'll be reyt.
As Meg continues her journey from Nairobi to Cape Town, stopping off in, amongst other places, the Serengeti, Zanzibar and Victoria Falls, our thoughts turn to the planning of our own next adventure in Marleen the MoHo. You'll be as relieved as I am to know, that the organising of this trip will be left to Mrs R, all I have to do is sit and drive. Our current thinking for Marleens Iberian Odyssey will see us driving through the Rioja region, exploring the Spanish northern coast and Picos Mountains, before heading south to the Mediterranean on Portugal's very own 'Route 66'. There will of course be a plan B if the weather is not in our favour in northern Spain. Once we are on our way you will be able to read more about our adventures with Oscar the Dog by clicking the link below to Polar Steps.
Following our retirement we expected to complete two extended European MoHo trips a year in Spring and Autumn. This spring however something rather more important occupied our time as my other proud dad moment, or should I say proud grandad moment was the arrival in April of our first beautiful granddaughter Delilah. It's been very special to be part of her first few weeks and months, she has already changed so much. Her smiles are infectious and even when we get a proper bottom lip wobble she is still so beautiful. Not to be outdone with all the travel plans, Delilah also has a trip organised with her mum and dad and nanny and grandad. We are all off for some Spanish sunshine, where I suspect Ellie and Ben will be hoping for some rest while nanny and grandad step in. With her dad being a Tottenham supporter and her granddad a Sheffield Wednesday fan, its not clear where her football loyalties will lie, but I reckon I've got another 12 years to improve my planning skills, before taking her to watch Yorkshire play cricket in Scarborough.
As the day passed, the beer flowed nice and steady and we had a great day of cricket which went down to the penultimate over and a victory for Yorkshire. Some supporters were rather more ambitious than me in their alcohol consumption, at one point there was total commotion as one old boy, who had nodded off, dropped into the gap between the benches and had to be helped back onto his seat by a group of stewards. Once there watching him almost became more entertaining than the cricket, as he appeared to defy all of Newton's laws of gravity, swaying back and forth a bit like one of those nodding ducks, somehow always managing to right himself rather than repeating his previous graceful tumble. At one point I spotted some people walking about with the £10 cushions. I initially put this down to possibly a mild form of heat stroke or too much alcohol. Then I realised it must be the Essex supporters, after all, no Yorkshire man worth his salt, no matter the conditions, would be so rash with their money. I arrived home the following day to be greeted by my wife asking "what on earth has happened to your face?" Apparently, a bit like a TV comedy sketch, I had white eyes where my glasses had been, with the rest of my face (and exposed arms and legs) glowing red.
What Next?
You can read more about our adventures in Marleen the MoHo, by clicking this link to our Polar Steps page.
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