The Sat Nav Serendipity Tours
I am a crack map reader. Got us lost twice in twenty years. Once somewhere in Holland (still no idea where it was) and once circling Althorpe estate. I still insist that we could have visited but somehow Hisself thought that catching that ferry from Hull was more important.
Despite my nearly faultless track record Hisself bough himself a sat nav. First one was cheap and naturally did not work. Or more precisely, it took him and No1 son two miles from a farm sale and then went silent waking up five minutes later insisting that they took a short cut across a nearby forest. To my delight it was returned to the shop.
Should have known better, the all singing, all dancing, best that money can buy replacement was sneaked in a few days later. He got caught when I did the books in the turn of the month. My feelings were hurt at the time, but honestly, we have never had as much fun as we had this time round.
The beauty of sat nav it that it always takes you where you want to go. The route on the other hand bears no resemblance to either common sense or practicality. So, on our way to Norwich and Oxford we ended up seeing the full beauty of East Anglia, some amazing crops along single line roads and for unexplained reason many a beautiful church dotted around English countryside.
We got the best and the worst of service. Those horrid little roadside cafes that greeted us with a sign on the door "Toilets for paying customers only". It sort of says "Do not ask for anything extra" and when you have restricted diet eating only happens when people are willing to give us a helping hand.
On the other hand by turning away from such places we discovered the most amazing farm shops along the way. Look out for Abbey Park Farm Shop along the A17. The lady prepared us the most fabulous packed lunch with hot new potatoes from the coffee shop kitchen, freshly cut ham, local cheese, specially prepared salad and the sweetest raspberries for pudding.
You just know you are in the right place when requesting some ham the reply is "How thick you want me to cut the slices." I still dream about the gorgeous beetroot they had - too far to take them home, but they looked so perfectly tasty.
We spend some perfect summer days with our friends lazing along the waterways and playing with the children. The weather was unbelievable +26 degrees and wall to wall sunshine. The reasoning is to bring No5 and her pals together every year but at this stage we parents get so much more out of it.
We all bring out troubles and triumphs to each other and share a lot we would not tell to anyone else. Our children have common background and as all adopted children, despite how normal they appear, they have special needs. It is good to understand and to be understood. In the end of the day it is good to be home.
But we are still wondering - was it really a field of rhubarb somewhere north of Norwich?