Planet Ruby Starrs

Camping with the best girls at Creekside Campsite in Anderby on the East coast.  A fab week - sea, more sea a lot of sand, Aquarium, dinosaurs, beautiful sunsets, fields to play in, friends to make - tiring for little legs and sometimes not quite what a nearly teenager needs but we all had a very enjoyable break in glorious weather - couldn't ask for more - Little legs sobbed her heart out when we had to come home😞😞😞   

Ok its been far too long since I posted but we have been very busy and I will endeavour to catch up with a series of short illustrated posts over the coming quieter week... for starters...we went camping in North Wales - Idyllic - seriously such a good break and so wonderful to be back in the van... the first day it rained all day and it was quite joyous to be snuggled up in the van listening to rain on the roof doing nothing but reading books and doodling - bliss... Then he sun came out and stayed out for the rest of our trip.  We had found an excellent campsite on the edge of the Snowdonia National park and it was almost empty - so we had a whole field to ourselves - Tal Mi Gnedd near Nantile - fabulous spot extremely pleasant hosts, lots of sheep - even some escapee cows in our field at one point- good facilities and as a bonus, lots of walks just from the campsite. We had a fabulous day exploring crags and lakes locally and then some friends joined us for the rest of the week....

A complete break from college stuff as my daughter and her two children and myself headed off to France for an adventure.  For the girls it was the first time on an plane and it was pretty amazing, little legs was totally entranced by the whole experience, she soon got over the disappointment that nana wasn't driving and spent the whole time sat on my knee spotting her house - nanas house ( I wish ....we were over Jersey at this point) - there were actual boats but I wondered whether the 'whales ' she spotted were real... Then a serious rip off taxi ride to the camping Chateaux de Galinee in north Brittany, the same price for 20 mins 10 mile as an adult plane fare!! And the next bit of adventure - a caravan - which little legs thinks is called an airport!! and best of all a huge HEATED swimming area with wave machines Jacuzzi jets, and water slides - heaven for our water babies!!!! I totally renegaded on my promise to go on the water slides but no one seemed to care - the...

Another frolic in the damp wet cold depths of Teesdale with a enthusiastic group of foolhardy stargazers who love tunes.   Friday night was cold cold and got colder... Dr Fred and I were in the Beryl the yellow peril - known locally as the dirty tatty filthy (racist term) eyesore and we almost got toasty but it was down to sleeping almost fully clothed with a onesie on top and then my down gillet on top on that under a duvet and a couple of blankets... it rained and rained and the van was sat in a very large lake by 4.00 in the morning... too late to worry about sinking in the mud an we just had to brave it out.   The completely fearless in our party had intended to sleep in a tent!!!!! but in fact the tent fairly much dissolved in the rain and wind and they ended up in the bunk barn! But .... in spite of the weather we had a great weekend - a really good talk about exploring the solar system from Dr Fred - a new one for me so it was quite interesting  and the...

trusty camper We had a great time in Dumfries and Galloway- it had been too long since we last went that way..  Its a lovely place to get away from it all and we try to go often... It was the first place we went to in Beryl many years ago. This time we visited old haunts and checked out a new headland spotted originally from the ferry on the way home from Ireland a couple of years ago. We had a nice meal at the Steamboat Inn a recent discovery, it's busy early evening but gets quiet later and it's a nice spot with the added bonus of a place to overnight camp with loos and a very pretty car park, someone obviously takes pride in making it nice and welcoming.  We set up camp and then had a walk along the coast as the moon rose, it was incredibly still and very beautiful. yarn bombing in the carpark We wandered up Bengairn hill just over the way from Kirkbean, well, Dr Fred went right to the top I went half way and then sat sketching in the sun, it was very relaxing,...

wildlife on Ice Fields Parkway Its our last night of an amazing trip, we've been out and stuffed our faces and now are drinking all the left over beverages and doing the final packing.. lost baby - but wasn't there when we returned 8 weeks later!! As always the last 9 weeks seem to have flown by, loads of adventures and more stories - some we have recounted on here but there's some that didn't make the final cut so lots more to share.  We got off to a bad start, plagued with various illnesses but in the end the good times and  highlights are too numerous to detail.  Elk in Banff It was probably my best ever eclipse experience,  and I loved the wildlife especially the bears, elks and bison.  Yellowstone was fabulous but so was Craters of the Moon and City of Rocks. It was great to meet up with out friend from Australia and spend some time together drinking grey goose and sharing bad jokes!!! Solar viewing buddies I liked the off beat ...

Dr Fred got up early and went and clambered around some rock nearby – it was good he was very happy and his knee was sore but held up ok.  The rocks were quartzite and had a gorge with a creek called Ruby Creek running through them, causing some difficulty in traversing!! There were some nice slabby buttresses and some good bouldering tors on top of the nearby hillock, it was just what Dr Fred needed!!! – when he came back we packed up and went to secure camping for the next night, we are still a bit unsure about how busy sites will be so we cant mess about on rocks all day long!!.  We found the Beaver Creek site and set up camp – not without drama but I won’t bore you suffice to say we met the first unpleasant person of the holiday… The second was later in the day at the West Yellowstone Visitors centre who spoke to us like we were hillbillies and not in a good way!!! Dr Fred reckons we look quite dishevelled but I don’t think so – I had only just washed (and cut!) ...

Today it feels like our road trip has been upgraded from a budget trip in a tent to a luxury  drive around North america in a cruise mobile - i can picture myself a few days down the line - sun kissed ( probably burnt) driving in my car, arm hanging down the side, slightly grubby possibly even a bandanna  to take edge of the posh car .... a kinda aged Janis Joplin driving my Mercedes Benz cruising  the Canandian highways... Anyway back to reality….. We hit walmart and bought roll mats and stove, coolbox some camping pans and bits and pieces to make camping more comfortable in fact totally luxurious in keeping with the new image – then we did some food shopping – all cowboy food easy to cook and quick to eat, finally we hit the liquor store and stocked up on beer and wine and finally headed off up highway 99 the ‘sea to sky highway’ to Squamish where we had located a campsite – Dr Freds got used to driving the car and all seems to be going fine. Our first night ...

The excitement mounts.... 10 days to flight day...we tried the the tent out, its easy to put up and take down even in a force 7 gale, it felt quite roomy and hopefully will be watertight.  Its at least twice as big as the one we used on the last USA road trip!  Dr Fred was gladdened when he went to buy it and went to the outside display bit to check it out fully set up and discovered that it was one of the few left standing after some pretty dire prolonged wind and rain - and believe me if it gets that dire we will be in a hotel type establishment!!

I've bought a little notebook to travel with which means I can blog with ease and keep in touch with family and friends without having to resort to the dreaded tablet which has now been relegated for music only.   I'm feeling very smug as I mananged to set up the new computer all on my own and everything I need is there and working - to date- now all I need to to is buy a tent and finish the endless lists to ensure we pack everything for our summer trip. Its just under two weeks until we hit Vancouver and then the Rockies, travelling across to Calgary and then down into the States heading for Casper, Wyoming to meet friends and view the 2017 total eclipse and then on to where ever the road takes us.  As long as we are back in Vancouver mid September we can please ourselves.   I'm very excited champing at the bit for some quality sunshine and hopefully some dramatic weather in the mountains -not too dramatic while we are in a tent I hope - Last time Dr Fred was in North ...

Ross Island ....More on our recent trip to Dumfries and Galloway - all things considered we were lucky with the weather... Although things to consider include: we were in Scotland, it was Easter, we were camping and we were on the west coast.. It rained quite a bit but mainly when we were tucked up cosy under a duvet and furry blanket - admittedly we stayed like that all morning one day while the heavens poured incessantly but eventually we emerged and wrapped up up well went for a walk though  the woods down to Ross Bay and round the headland, Dr Fred did some clambering around on gallavidian rocks and I pottered around the beach collecting yet more shells.  We got rained on but its only water!  I love the emptiness of this bit of coast, we were out walking all afternoon and only saw two other people the whole time.  The sun shone mostly and the light across the sea was just glorious. Searching the internet looking for an alternative to the h...