In the summer of '69 man landed on the moon and Bryan Adams bought his first real six string - and I was born on 12th August! So I'm a sixties baby by only 4 months.After much deliberation, I took up Husband's suggestion of a weekend away with my buddies in the Forest of Dean - on the understanding that he would organise it all. He did a superb job - as did my uni friend E who acted as local fixer as she lives there.
We arrived with G on Friday evening, meeting up with my Fabulous In Laws, M, C and M's offspring JA and MA. We had a wander around Parkend village - lots of woodland, a pretty church and some mud! Met up with everybody else for beer and a meal. Surreal moment when a sheep vaulted over a wall into the beer garden!
On sunny Saturday morning, Husband, CS, X, S, Fabulous in Laws and the As headed with me to Symonds Yat where we spent the morning cruising down the Wye on big canadian style canoes. CS and I made the most of the river, investigating every bit of bank, tree, rock and swan - nothing to do with our steering! Green and pleasant. Lunch by the river then we went to a bit of forest close to Parkend to do Go Ape.
CS, G, Kitty, Goldfish, S, X and me made up the first group, with the As following an hour later - we couldn't get a booking together unfortuneately. We were harnessed up & briefed - all the time we were above ground we were attached securely to wires. X was amazing - she seems to have no fear and was very balanced, scampering across the course. I wasn't so good - but agility and balance don't really fetaure in my skill set and I'm nervous & shaky getting up the loft ladder at home - so perhaps I should apply some perspective! CS opted to be our photographer after the first section - very much appreciated and I love the sillhouette pic you can see here. G looked very Lara Croft down the zip wires, Goldfish managed to drop his specs (retrieved safely) so completed the course in soft focus, S did well to follow X and Kitty had a very determined look! M is a climber & reckons that the trick to a lot of the sections was to do them quickly. My arms ached afterwards & I'm keen to try it again.
Barbecue followed by cupcakes and rounders in the dark where we girls beat the boys (assisted a little by the fading light). Lots of fun.
It was a bit chaotic on Sunday for cycling - E & J were having major problems with their & their kids' bikes. I enjoyed a 22.8km ride with J - he was doing very well on a road bike on the forest tracks. Husband explored the mountain bike course with Goldfish, S and X.
Finished my weekend with lunch at a crafts centre - excellent ice cream in a sunny garden. I'm really grateful to my friends for giving me such a fabulous weekend for my 40th!
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