Or should that be we're back.....as ma did come home with me. Though I reckon she would have liked to stay on in Harrogate for a few more days....me too.
We have had a lovely time.......the weather was kind to us, the hotel was superb, the company was invigorating.....in short we had a memorable time. Now let's press the rewind button and do it all again......wouldn't that be a neat trick?
We were picked up on Friday Morning....it was a bit grizzly grey, and although my documents said my pick up time was 10 am, I was ready early. It's a good job that I was ready early because the mini bus came at 9.45. He still had a couple of clients to pick up on the way to Shuttleworth Mead.
When we arrived at the Fraser Eagle depot we were shown into a comfortable lounge area and offered tea or coffee and biscuits.
Now that is what I call civilized.
We relaxed and enjoyed our drinks and biscuits while someone loaded our luggage onto the coach....once this was done we were directed to our seats and introduced to our driver John.
John outlined our route......by this time it was not a grey day anymore, it was snowing.
Some of the passenger expressed concerns about our journey over the Yorkshire moors.
We were due to visit Howarth on the outward journey and they were worried we may get snowed up whilst there.
A quick phone call to the Howarth Tourist information showed that their worries were groundless.
So we set off in good spirits.......heading to Haslingden, Rawtenstall, Bacup....all those dark country places....Todmorden,Hebden Bridge....and then on to Howarth.
As we got deeper into what I call 'indian country'....the weather closed in.
The snow became heavier and the visibility reduced dramatically.....it was almost driving by Braille.
I was feeling quite despondent for our little jaunt away. I could see us huddled round a fire in the hotel in Harrogate....I could see us being snowed up and not being able to get back home.....worst of all I could see us not being able to get out to look at the diverse shops in Harrogate and York (boo hoo).
On the moors there were cars in ditches that had skidded off the road....the AA man looked like he had his work cut out.
We arrived carefully in Haworth....the snow had turned to sleety rain by this time.
Ma didn't fancy a hike down the main street....and while I didn't mind the going down the street.....I baulked at the thought of pushing the chair back up to the coach park at the top.
We were told that we could get a light lunch in the Weaving Mill....which is really Edinburgh Woollen Mills.
Ma said she fancied a baked potato.......anyway when we got inside there was a distinct lack of food smells, though there WAS a Costa Coffee outlet.
Never mind, we could have a sandwich and a coffee. This would sustain us until later in the day.
Wrong! They didn't do sandwiches, there were some miserable looking scones. They looked like the currants had been thrown in from the top of the stairs. They had crisps and cheese and crackers, there were pre-packed muffins(never a good sign) and pousy looking biscuits.
I asked Ma if she wanted to leave and try somewhere else.....'No' was her reply.
'I'll have cheese and crackers' so that is what she received. I also thought it would be best if she had a stem ginger cookie.....didn't want any hypo attacks.
The stem ginger cookies were not very good and the whole experience was unsatisfactory.
So if you are ever in that neck of the woods be warned and go somewhere else to eat.
Having eaten(though poorly) we went back to the coach......I reckoned that we would be in Harrogate for 2.30, after all it wasn't that far....but John our driver had other ideas. He took us through many of the picturesque places on the route....I'm sure those places are picturesque given a sunny day, but it was very gloomy......it never seemed to get properly light on that day and I just wanted to be at my destination, dump my luggage and go and 'recce' the shops.
We arrived at the Hotel around 3.30.....we were given those cards to open the room doors, rather than keys.
I eventually managed to get into the room and found that it had a double bed......so I skipped down the stairs to reception to tell them we had ordered a TWIN bedded room.
In a trice there were two very young assistants at our door and they quickly converted the double bed to two singles.
The next fly in the ointment was finding out that the main course for our evening meal was a choice of either lamb or salmon - neither of which I can eat.
Again I spoke to Simon on reception and he assured me that he would ask the chef to make me something else......I said a cheese omelette and salad or veggies would do for me...memories of Worthing all over again.
Then I went out into the receding daylight and had a 'recce' of the shops.
This was necessary so that I could plan which was the best way to get Ma and the chair into the centre of the town the next day.....both of the routes were problematic, in that whichever way we went it would entail a push up a fairly steep gradient.......I would just have to make sure I had three weetabix......and a full Yorkshire breakfast.
Come back and read more of the tales of our trip.
We have had a lovely time.......the weather was kind to us, the hotel was superb, the company was invigorating.....in short we had a memorable time. Now let's press the rewind button and do it all again......wouldn't that be a neat trick?
We were picked up on Friday Morning....it was a bit grizzly grey, and although my documents said my pick up time was 10 am, I was ready early. It's a good job that I was ready early because the mini bus came at 9.45. He still had a couple of clients to pick up on the way to Shuttleworth Mead.
When we arrived at the Fraser Eagle depot we were shown into a comfortable lounge area and offered tea or coffee and biscuits.
Now that is what I call civilized.
We relaxed and enjoyed our drinks and biscuits while someone loaded our luggage onto the coach....once this was done we were directed to our seats and introduced to our driver John.
John outlined our route......by this time it was not a grey day anymore, it was snowing.
Some of the passenger expressed concerns about our journey over the Yorkshire moors.
We were due to visit Howarth on the outward journey and they were worried we may get snowed up whilst there.
A quick phone call to the Howarth Tourist information showed that their worries were groundless.
So we set off in good spirits.......heading to Haslingden, Rawtenstall, Bacup....all those dark country places....Todmorden,Hebden Bridge....and then on to Howarth.
As we got deeper into what I call 'indian country'....the weather closed in.
The snow became heavier and the visibility reduced dramatically.....it was almost driving by Braille.
I was feeling quite despondent for our little jaunt away. I could see us huddled round a fire in the hotel in Harrogate....I could see us being snowed up and not being able to get back home.....worst of all I could see us not being able to get out to look at the diverse shops in Harrogate and York (boo hoo).
On the moors there were cars in ditches that had skidded off the road....the AA man looked like he had his work cut out.
We arrived carefully in Haworth....the snow had turned to sleety rain by this time.
Ma didn't fancy a hike down the main street....and while I didn't mind the going down the street.....I baulked at the thought of pushing the chair back up to the coach park at the top.
We were told that we could get a light lunch in the Weaving Mill....which is really Edinburgh Woollen Mills.
Ma said she fancied a baked potato.......anyway when we got inside there was a distinct lack of food smells, though there WAS a Costa Coffee outlet.
Never mind, we could have a sandwich and a coffee. This would sustain us until later in the day.
Wrong! They didn't do sandwiches, there were some miserable looking scones. They looked like the currants had been thrown in from the top of the stairs. They had crisps and cheese and crackers, there were pre-packed muffins(never a good sign) and pousy looking biscuits.
I asked Ma if she wanted to leave and try somewhere else.....'No' was her reply.
'I'll have cheese and crackers' so that is what she received. I also thought it would be best if she had a stem ginger cookie.....didn't want any hypo attacks.
The stem ginger cookies were not very good and the whole experience was unsatisfactory.
So if you are ever in that neck of the woods be warned and go somewhere else to eat.
Having eaten(though poorly) we went back to the coach......I reckoned that we would be in Harrogate for 2.30, after all it wasn't that far....but John our driver had other ideas. He took us through many of the picturesque places on the route....I'm sure those places are picturesque given a sunny day, but it was very gloomy......it never seemed to get properly light on that day and I just wanted to be at my destination, dump my luggage and go and 'recce' the shops.
We arrived at the Hotel around 3.30.....we were given those cards to open the room doors, rather than keys.
I eventually managed to get into the room and found that it had a double bed......so I skipped down the stairs to reception to tell them we had ordered a TWIN bedded room.
In a trice there were two very young assistants at our door and they quickly converted the double bed to two singles.
The next fly in the ointment was finding out that the main course for our evening meal was a choice of either lamb or salmon - neither of which I can eat.
Again I spoke to Simon on reception and he assured me that he would ask the chef to make me something else......I said a cheese omelette and salad or veggies would do for me...memories of Worthing all over again.
Then I went out into the receding daylight and had a 'recce' of the shops.
This was necessary so that I could plan which was the best way to get Ma and the chair into the centre of the town the next day.....both of the routes were problematic, in that whichever way we went it would entail a push up a fairly steep gradient.......I would just have to make sure I had three weetabix......and a full Yorkshire breakfast.
Come back and read more of the tales of our trip.