A Rainy Day in Wales

As far as weather goes I have been super blessed. Other than sweating while sitting still for a couple days in Slovenia (although I don't like the heat I can't complain cause it was nice and sunny) I have only had about 1.5 rainy days since my arrival. One day in Ireland it was cool and "soft" as they say which means kind of misty or drizzly. And one day in Bath it rained in bits but the sun was out in between. Today I would classify as my first really rainy day because it was precipitating all day to some degree. It was a lot of fun though. We ran to catch a bus, which we missed by seconds. We could see it pulling away as we were running up to it. As a result we ended up in a cute little gift shop and had coffee while we waited an hour for the next bus.
The bus we took to Bangor, Wales took us an hour and a half. It was a long ride and when we arrived in Bangor we headed right to the "chipper" which is what they call a fish and chips joint. After we had been adequately fed we walked around town in the rain looking in little shops. The only things purchased were a tea towel and two umbrellas. We had coffee in a café and then hit the bus. We stopped at the town with the longest name which is called....

Yeah I can't pronounce it and it would have taken me 15 minutes just to type it. I'm not sure why the town's name is a phrase but it means "The church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel trees near the rapid whirlpool by St Tysilio's of the red cave." No Kidding, that's the name and that's what it means.
Then we got back on the bus and this time it was a double decker which thrilled Noa and Sandy because it was their first time on a double decker bus. It was fun. I always like riding on top myself.

Everyone is happy to be out of the rain and the kids are stoked to be on a double decker bus.

 

Noa and myself a little damp but still enjoying our day.

In the town with the name and the prized umbrellas.

 

 

A walk on the beach after we got back into town.

We had dinner and then the kids went to bed. I facetimed my family back home and could fall asleep while I'm typing. My watch just alerted me that it is midnight and I could have fallen asleep on the bus at 6 p.m. I was so tired. Not sure how the time just gets away from you here. I'm maintaining that it the sun. It doesn't go down until around 10 p.m. so it doesn't feel like it's late because the sun is still up at 9 p.m.

Yesterdays adventures should also be recorded so keep reading...
Yesterday I got up early to say good by to Luke and Abi who had leave early. I had trouble falling asleep on Tuesday night and only got about 2.5 hours of sleep. I got up at 6:30 a.m. and bid my dear friends adieu and picked up the kitchen, made my bed, packed up and Lucy picked me up to take me to the train station in Bristol. There was of course a stop at Starbucks on the way and during the ride some new-friend bonding took place. Lucy is a riot! I see us having some pretty good adventures together in the future. We exchanged phone numbers and addresses at the train station so not only are we virtual friends we are facebook officially real life friends.

The train ride was uneventful which is ok but I wish someone would have let me pray for them. Instead I ended up talking about politics, education, the state of the UK, weather in the USA, places to see in the USA, criminal law, ethics, and health insurance with a Welsh Lawyer on the train. He was funny. Upon arrival in Holyhead I was afraid that I would once again be waiting at the wrong place at the train station but I figured I'd follow the crowd and I ended up finding Noa who was with her Grandmother to pick me up. I had just about put my luggage in my room and Lea was asking me if I wanted to take a dip in the sea. She said "it isn't that cold, although I did get the kids wet suits because it isn't very warm." I was thinking if your kids are wearing wet suits I probably don't want to go in. But I put on my swim suit anyway and we walked down to the beach. I walked up to my ankles and it wasn't just cold, it was painful. I had to get out after a few seconds. Then I walked back in and repeated the cycle for about an hour. Then Lea mustered up some bravery and went in so I figured if a mom of three could brave it I probably should have a go. It was breath takingly cold but I did it. Lea quick snapped a photo to prove that I had done it. It wasn't too bad once you spent an hour warming up to it.
                      Lea making it look good.                    

Lea and Noa having a paddle.

                                          The girls looking great.  
        Dyllon being adorable.

                        Me and Noa braving the waves-ish. 

Me after the whole event.

 

Lea said the cold water was payback for making her ski on some icy trails. In my defense I didn't know the trail was going to be that icy, she knew how cold the water was. :-) It was fun anyway. We headed back to the house for some dinner and then we headed to bed again late. It has to be the late sunsets.

 

 

FYI: If you don't have any battery charge to watch movies on your computer feel free to pull it out on the train anyway. The blank black screen makes a decent mirror and when you can see yourself you tend to make funny faces so you have something to watch on a 4 hour train ride. If you put in head phones people will assume you can't hear them and wont bother to ask you why you are making funny faces at the computer.