We just had our first camping adventure as a family. Friday morning, Ash decided that we were going to leave as soon as he got off of work and go camping for the night. It was my first British camping adventure and I really feel like I got the whole effect. It poured all night long. There were sheep just over a stone fence less than 100 feet away. We had somewhat yappy neighbors in the morning. All that was missing was drunken campers, really. We got very little sleep trying to keep Edith on her mattress; she is a mover! Also, we were on a slight decline and kept sliding down the tent. That said, we had a really lovely time and are super excited to try it again. Of course, we need to recover. This WAS only one night, after all.
The (awesomely sized) car was all packed, back seat included. Poor Edith didn't have much leg room.
Ash is getting Edith ready to go see the sheep before bed. It wasn't nearly as dark as the flash makes it seem.
Edith wasn't nearly as bothered about the sheep as we'd hoped, but she did say a very knowing "oh!" when she saw them.
Edith spent the majority of the night scooting over to the edge of her mattress to wedge herself between it and the air mattress. I kept trying to move her so she could breathe, but she'd just move right back. I don't get it. If she'd not been bundled up so tight, I'm sure that she would have been facing the other direction or at the other end of the tent (or on Ash's face). The funny thing is that we'd been wondering how much she moves at night. We just happened to get a first hand view of it. (And yes, that is a book. She woke up at 6 and started playing with my journal, so I gave her one of her books. She played with it, then wedged herself between the matresses and went back to sleep.)
It was pretty cold in the morning, so I bundled Edith up. She looked so cute! The next step was taking the hat off.
Right, so behind me are 2 cars with their tents. Across are 4 cars and 4 tents, I think (definitely 4 tents). Behind our car was a car and a tent. Farther behind us was a van (used as a caravan). Around the corner were 2 big tents and 2 cars. That is really not that busy. The wall behind the tree (and cars and tents) is the wall that separated the humans from the sheep. I really enjoyed being able to hear them bleat all night and in the morning. I felt bad for them when it was pouring, but it was nice in the morning.
This was the view just a few feet down the road from the camp site. We were in the Peak District, just an hour from where we live. That may not seem far, but considering that we live 2 hours from London, 4 hours from the bottom of the island, 4 hours from Edinburgh, and 2 hours from Wales (and that coast line), it seems a lot farther. It was beautiful!!
Next, we went to Buxton to find somewhere to eat. We ended up at a fish and chips place, which wasn't too exciting. Across from the restaurant is this bookshop that is like something from Harry Potter. There were books everywhere! The ground floor level was all ridiculously old books, then upstairs, it was an absolute maze of books! It was crazy!
