The Great Outdoors
Well, in just over half an hour Steen will pick me up from work and we'll be off down towards the Taunton area for a weekend's camping. It's DonDev1l's 40th birthday tomorrow, and Steen's 40th on Wednesday, so it's sort of a duel celebration. DonDev1l is meeting us down there with his family, and Carl & Lorna, a couple they're friendly with that we met at the same site last year, will be joining us later. Assuming the weather doesn't turn against us, it promises to be a jolly weekend of lazing around, drinking quality beers at the on-site restaurant/bar and filling our faces. You never go hungry at Bowden's Crest: it's proprietor, Ken, cooks a mean breakfast and a damn fine Sunday lunch as well. I expect to be eating lettuce for most of next week, if our last visit is anything to go by.
The benefits of an on-site restaurant/bar mean that we don't have to stock up on food on the way down, don't need to bring our stove, and don't need to bring our kitchen tent - all of which means that we can actually fit all our gear in the boot, whereas usually we need to half-fill the back seat of the car as well. Steen really can't do without her coffee in the morning, though, so this time we're bringing a new acquisition with us: a tiny gas hob that screws onto a small gas container that can heat a kettle. We've not used it yet, so it might be fun.
Sadly, the weather may yet let us down. It was spitting with rain here this morning, following a full week of properly glorious weather. It's stopped now, but the sky's still pretty murky. Here's hoping it's resisted the temptation to produce a biblical deluge further south. MetCheck seems to think it's not going to be too bad, so we'll see. As long as it holds off long enough for us to get the tent up, then frankly it doesn't matter much. There's always the restaurant/bar, after all. And Saturday/Sunday seem to be shaping up very nicely.
I've done my usual bit of putting together two small MP3 players' worth of quality choonage for the weekend: both us and DonDev1l have access to little portable battery-powered speakers, so assuming the weather is on our side, we can sit outside and chill with some top-notch tracks. As usual, I've done my best to put some different stuff on, meaning that there are never more than two tracks or so by each artist. It's eclectic without being OTT: I've avoided metal and the more ambient stuff as a rule, 'cos I know some of the party don't like one or the other. The Church, The Pineapple Thief, The Reasoning, Marillion, The Waterboys, Breathing Space, Dream Theater, Floyd (there has to be Floyd - it's a tradition, or an old charter, or something), some Zeppelin... it looks like being a quality few days of chill.
Full update on our adventures on Sunday!
The benefits of an on-site restaurant/bar mean that we don't have to stock up on food on the way down, don't need to bring our stove, and don't need to bring our kitchen tent - all of which means that we can actually fit all our gear in the boot, whereas usually we need to half-fill the back seat of the car as well. Steen really can't do without her coffee in the morning, though, so this time we're bringing a new acquisition with us: a tiny gas hob that screws onto a small gas container that can heat a kettle. We've not used it yet, so it might be fun.
Sadly, the weather may yet let us down. It was spitting with rain here this morning, following a full week of properly glorious weather. It's stopped now, but the sky's still pretty murky. Here's hoping it's resisted the temptation to produce a biblical deluge further south. MetCheck seems to think it's not going to be too bad, so we'll see. As long as it holds off long enough for us to get the tent up, then frankly it doesn't matter much. There's always the restaurant/bar, after all. And Saturday/Sunday seem to be shaping up very nicely.
I've done my usual bit of putting together two small MP3 players' worth of quality choonage for the weekend: both us and DonDev1l have access to little portable battery-powered speakers, so assuming the weather is on our side, we can sit outside and chill with some top-notch tracks. As usual, I've done my best to put some different stuff on, meaning that there are never more than two tracks or so by each artist. It's eclectic without being OTT: I've avoided metal and the more ambient stuff as a rule, 'cos I know some of the party don't like one or the other. The Church, The Pineapple Thief, The Reasoning, Marillion, The Waterboys, Breathing Space, Dream Theater, Floyd (there has to be Floyd - it's a tradition, or an old charter, or something), some Zeppelin... it looks like being a quality few days of chill.
Full update on our adventures on Sunday!