I was up and at 'em before it got light.
showered shampoo'd and dressed......case packed and at the top of the stairs.
I looked out of the window and it looked pretty cold, there was a good thick frost....this called for a woolly.
I made some wholemeal chicken and ham sandwiches.....put Ma a carton of frozen orange juice in the cooler bag......some grapes, a couple of pots of pineapple bits in juice....some biscuits and some crisps.
I had a bar of chocolate and a bag of chewy caramels in my bag too.
I know, it sounded like we were setting off to the frozen wastes instead of the Isle of Wight.
Hubby got me into town for about 8am.
I was the only one waiting for the coach, but within minutes Ma turned up in her taxi.
The Chair was off-loaded and her case.
I opened up her chair for her to sit on until the coach turned up.....she had hardly warmed the seat when the coach appeared.
There were only 7 people on it.....we picked up another couple at Blackburn and then set off down to the interchange at Lymm.
By this time it was clear that it was going to be a beautiful sunny day......I was looking forward to going through the New Forest on such a beautiful day.
We arrived at Lymm just after 9am.....we were hoping to be on our coach to the resort and away in half an hour......alas, there had been problems on the motorway which had delayed some of the feeder coaches......so it was well after 10 am when we were all on board and ready to set off.
I don't get stressed about such things as it doesn't help and doesn't get you there any quicker......I just sit back and relax.
Once we were on our way we made good progress.......stopping at Warwick for a late lunch, then motoring on.
We almost got caught up in a big traffic jam that had been caused by an accident, but the driver spotted the tailback and took another, alternative route.
We were booked on the 3.45 sailing from Lymington....it was pretty clear that we were not going to make that ferry......It was 4.30 when we arrived at Lymington - we were hoping to get on the 4.45, but that was fully booked.
We were re-scheduled for the 5.15 ferry.
I was hoping to get pictures of the sunset over Lymington, but the sun was just dipping out of sight as we left the moorings....and there was no chance to snap the Needles.
The sky was a tapestry of lovey colours from deep coppery hues to the colour of golden syrup.....and these hues were cast over everything.....making the scenery truly magical.
It is a good half hour of a ride on the ferry, and then a further forty minutes to the hotel.
It was dark by the time we got to the Ocean View.....there were three full coaches so the hotel staff were kept fully occupied making sure that we all had our key s and infromation about the evening meal.
Now, normally we have a wash and brush up and get changed to go down to dinner.....dinner was at 7pm that evening, and at five minutes to seven our cases still hadn't arrived at our room......so we went down to dinner in our 'scruffs'.
There were a lot of people in the same boat, and no-one seemd to mind.
We were ready for our grub......even though we had eaten most of the provisions that I had made up for the journey, we were hungry....and the lovely aromas tha came from the kitchen sharpened our appetites.
We were shown to a table with four other people.....two widowed ladies - Jean and Margaret, and a married couple - Frank and Marjorie.
We all introduced ourselves and settled down to a very companionable evening meal.
Home made vegetable soup - thick with fresh chunky winter veggies......then there was a choce of duck with lime and ginger sauce, or haddock mornay, or a Chef's salad.
The puds were all home made too...chocolate pudding with white chocolate sauce, Ice cream, Apple crumble and cream..and then cheese and biscuits to finish off......coffee and mints were served in the lounge.
We enjoyed our meal but we were well and truly stuffed.
We only stayed and watched the dancing for about half an hour......I could see that ma was in need of her bed, and If I am honest, so was I.
It was lovely to lie in bed with the lights out and listen to the sea......what a lullaby that is.
showered shampoo'd and dressed......case packed and at the top of the stairs.
I looked out of the window and it looked pretty cold, there was a good thick frost....this called for a woolly.
I made some wholemeal chicken and ham sandwiches.....put Ma a carton of frozen orange juice in the cooler bag......some grapes, a couple of pots of pineapple bits in juice....some biscuits and some crisps.
I had a bar of chocolate and a bag of chewy caramels in my bag too.
I know, it sounded like we were setting off to the frozen wastes instead of the Isle of Wight.
Hubby got me into town for about 8am.
I was the only one waiting for the coach, but within minutes Ma turned up in her taxi.
The Chair was off-loaded and her case.
I opened up her chair for her to sit on until the coach turned up.....she had hardly warmed the seat when the coach appeared.
There were only 7 people on it.....we picked up another couple at Blackburn and then set off down to the interchange at Lymm.
By this time it was clear that it was going to be a beautiful sunny day......I was looking forward to going through the New Forest on such a beautiful day.
We arrived at Lymm just after 9am.....we were hoping to be on our coach to the resort and away in half an hour......alas, there had been problems on the motorway which had delayed some of the feeder coaches......so it was well after 10 am when we were all on board and ready to set off.
I don't get stressed about such things as it doesn't help and doesn't get you there any quicker......I just sit back and relax.
Once we were on our way we made good progress.......stopping at Warwick for a late lunch, then motoring on.
We almost got caught up in a big traffic jam that had been caused by an accident, but the driver spotted the tailback and took another, alternative route.
We were booked on the 3.45 sailing from Lymington....it was pretty clear that we were not going to make that ferry......It was 4.30 when we arrived at Lymington - we were hoping to get on the 4.45, but that was fully booked.
We were re-scheduled for the 5.15 ferry.
I was hoping to get pictures of the sunset over Lymington, but the sun was just dipping out of sight as we left the moorings....and there was no chance to snap the Needles.
The sky was a tapestry of lovey colours from deep coppery hues to the colour of golden syrup.....and these hues were cast over everything.....making the scenery truly magical.
It is a good half hour of a ride on the ferry, and then a further forty minutes to the hotel.
It was dark by the time we got to the Ocean View.....there were three full coaches so the hotel staff were kept fully occupied making sure that we all had our key s and infromation about the evening meal.
Now, normally we have a wash and brush up and get changed to go down to dinner.....dinner was at 7pm that evening, and at five minutes to seven our cases still hadn't arrived at our room......so we went down to dinner in our 'scruffs'.
There were a lot of people in the same boat, and no-one seemd to mind.
We were ready for our grub......even though we had eaten most of the provisions that I had made up for the journey, we were hungry....and the lovely aromas tha came from the kitchen sharpened our appetites.
We were shown to a table with four other people.....two widowed ladies - Jean and Margaret, and a married couple - Frank and Marjorie.
We all introduced ourselves and settled down to a very companionable evening meal.
Home made vegetable soup - thick with fresh chunky winter veggies......then there was a choce of duck with lime and ginger sauce, or haddock mornay, or a Chef's salad.
The puds were all home made too...chocolate pudding with white chocolate sauce, Ice cream, Apple crumble and cream..and then cheese and biscuits to finish off......coffee and mints were served in the lounge.
We enjoyed our meal but we were well and truly stuffed.
We only stayed and watched the dancing for about half an hour......I could see that ma was in need of her bed, and If I am honest, so was I.
It was lovely to lie in bed with the lights out and listen to the sea......what a lullaby that is.
