DAY TWO:
The second day of our stay was Sam’s birthday. We planned on having a lie in, as none of us got to bed until early hours of the morning due to our late night hot tub session. We were all sat, with the jets and lights on, trying not to move to set off the automatic lights on the cabin, looking up at the starry night sky as it hit midnight. We turned our music down before wishing Sam and happy birthday as the day became the 15th June. Then, we went back to star gazing. You can’t usually see this many stars in the city, but out in the wilderness there isn’t the light pollution to block our view; oh and what a beautiful view it is! I, unfortunately, could not lie in as the curtains in the lodge weren’t blackout so, despite only going to sleep 4 hours earlier, I awoke with the sun. I didn’t mind though. Taking my book outside, I turned one of the garden chairs outwards towards the stunning view of the rolling hills. I listened to the sound of the birds as I read and felt the sun on my face. Although it was early, it was already warm so it really was the closest thing to paradise that I think I’ve ever felt.
When Sam woke up, he opened his gifts and cards and we spent maybe an hour looking through each item and talking about them. I think his favourite present was this stargazers book I got him (despite some of his other gifts seeming more tech oriented/sam-like/things he actually asked for). Since Tuesday, he’s read part of the book every day and he talks about the updates of things he’s learnt after reading. To see his joy, when he talks about such things, brings me more happiness than I can describe. Most people don’t realise that Sam infact has lots of little niche interests: from archery to piano and engineering to physics. I think though, one of Sam’s longest and passionate hyperfixations, is his love of the sky. He loves all things related to the clouds, the stars and the moon. I wish we could afford a telescope, alas a stargazers manual will have to do for now. We will save up though, and when we find a place to settle down after being on our travels, I know that is one of the first things I want to seek out for him.
Anyway, after Sam opened his cards, we decorated the front room with them. Alice and Helen woke up shortly after and Sam made us vegan, American-style pancakes. We had smunchy peanut butter, strawberries and good quality dark chocolate on top and a glass of fresh juice to wash them down. They were so delicious!
Then, we all got ready to leave as we were going to the coast for the day. In the car, Helen and I put on some old tunes and sang our hearts out with the windows rolled down, as we passed the stunning rolling countryside hills. The drive was just over an hour, but none of us minded as the views were breathtaking, the music was wonderful and the company even better! Upon arrival, we walked to a local small biz to get lunch. This vegan deli shop was so cute on the outside (and attracted our attention as, not only was the sign in Welsh, but also there was a huge rainbow flag in the window). The lady that owned the place was so so so wonderful! She told us about how she started making her own vegan pepperoni and, when she perfected the recipe, she decided the world needed to try it so she opened her own place. She also was not phased or annoyed whatsoever, when I had to ask about what contained soy, and as she made most of the stuff herself from scratch, it meant that she knew all the ingredients. Everything she outsourced too, she got up an ingredients list right away – what a darling, honestly! Also, this lovely lady lit a little sparkler when she found out it was Sam birthday. We all sang to Sam until the sparkler ran out and cheered with joy! Like it was literally the sweetest thing! Each of us bought a large pepperoni sandwich from the shop and a piece of cake. Sam and I also got a raspberry croissant and some drinks. Then we set off to the railway station.
We had an open-carriage steam train experience booked for the day, which set off at 2pm. The train ride lasted about an hour, and went through the Welsh countryside. Alice and Helen got some beautiful pictures, so I’ll try take a couple of those and add them to a later post, so you can see some of the views that took our breath away. The journey terminated a place called devil’s Bridge, where we had an hour to eat, explore the shops (in which Sam and I bought a couple of books to teach ourselves Welsh) and also look at the locomotive and gets some pictures of/with it. Then the steam train took us back on another hour long journey through the hills before returning to the coast. We did a bit more shopping, got some iced coffees and then started our journey back to the cabin. [SIDENOTE: on this day, Helen and I suffered the worse burst of hay-fever we have ever felt in our lives. We planned on spending more time at the beach, but our eyes and noses became so stingy and dry it was painful; at one point, I thought I was crying blood. So, we called it a day a couple of hours early.]
That evening we arrived back around 7.30pm. A sit was still so light, we decided to have a bbq. Sam and I prepped marinated vege skewers, salad, corn, burger and sausage buns and condiments, whilst Alice and Helen fired up the barbecue. We ate the corn first followed by the skewers, then sausage butties and finishing with beyond meat vegan burgers. As we ate everything in little bits spread out, we all managed to eat it all, over the course of about 2 hours. We drank beers and listened to music as we did so. Then we tided away and got on our swimwear and had another evening hot tub session before bed. It really was dreamy! A wonderful, wonderful day! Best of all though, Sam thought so too – after all that was really all that mattered, being his day and everything!