After a very busy but enjoyable National Council weekend in Durham that included a wonderful river journey down the Tyne on Saturday evening as a bit of r & r, it's back to the final few days of preparation before the off!
The weather has been wonderful but has found me mainly at the desk although yesterday allowed a good workout in the gym which I badly needed.
This morning I walked along the beach in glorious sunshine with Bracken and then this afternoon had another workout at the gym - not quite as successful as yesterday but useful nevertheless.
Then all hell has broken loose as my computer crashed 4 times during the course of the late afternoon. I was hoping to take it with me to write my blog as I journey but there is something seriously wrong with the thing. It's likely to be more of a liability than a help. Yvonne has kindly allowed me to use her lap top this evening and it may be this one that we take with us.
I am told that we need to buy a 'dongle' [can that be true? can there really be such a thing?] which will allow us to communicate with the outside world while we are away - so that is on the list for tomorrow along with getting hold of some OS maps of the route! I love looking at maps and I have a large collection of them spanning the years. But can I really walk into a shop and ask for a 'dongle'? Is someone having me on?
Yvonne is going to lead the back up party and will drive the Presidential limo from a to b and then to c. Having her own computer with her will give her a chance to keep in touch with family and friends back in Spain while she is waiting for us all to plod into the next check in point!
We are trying to decide what to take with us apart from walking gear. We have a range of social occasions, meetings, club nights, BB Q's etc to enjoy during our two week trek and although I say that walking gear is OK for everything, Yvonne is of a different mind!
In her usual organised way Yvonne looked at the weather forecast for next week and it seems that we are going to have some rain, grey skies and the odd day of sunshine. Seems like perfect walking weather to me but not so good for the BB Q's!
Tomorrow I hope there will be a chance of a walk before we climb into the car on Thursday for the off. We attend a concert in Leicester on Thursday evening, then it's away to Birmingham Friday in readiness for a meeting with RTBI National Council on Saturday. Hopefully I shall have time to prepare for Sunday morning when we attend a church service to mark the beginning of our walk. I have been asked to address the congregation during the sermon slot! Just like old times!!
I am really looking forward to meeting club members who will be walking with me and looking after us during our two week 'pilgrimage'. The basis of our Association is 'friendship' and 'fellowship' and at the root of each of those is 'caring'. So many people have shown a lot of care in the preparation for this Millennium Way journey and I have no doubt that the spirit of care and friendship will be a hallmark of the walk. I'll let you know.
I was hoping to include a wonderful picture of the Millennium bridge over the river Tyne but it's on my computer - not this one. Perhaps I can include it in a future message.
If you would like to join us on any leg of the walk simply turn up. Details of what we are up to are on our website. Remember, I am trying to raise the profile of the Association, meet some of our members along the way and raise much needed funds for my chosen charity - the Ocean Youth Trust. If you would like to make a donation or sponsor me please do. Every little helps!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment