‘Momentous 2023’ was the title of a post I created in July last year but never published, announcing my new title as Nana given the birth in July of my first grandchild – a beautiful little girl – just to set the context for the below – apologies for the lack of polishing. No time when in the presence of the new human being is the overarching theme.
5 days of travel by campervan accompanied by mother and daughter duo Danni & Mia, including a quick stop to visit Great Grandma in Burton on Trent; overnight in the new and lovely discovery Bradford on Avon; 22ish hours on the good ship Pont Aven from Plymouth to Santander in a cabin with 2 bunks and a just about fit travel cot provided by Brittany Ferries with the assurance that “all our cabins can accommodate a cot” so that it was barely possible to get into the little shower room; 21deg+ (the newly-installed fan did help somewhat) overnight campsite stops in the Spanish cities of Logrono and Zaragoza, re-visits needed given lack of time and related necessary additional energy requirements; a further 200 miles with frequent stops to Palamos …………
have brought me to this 5:20am as far as I can tell squinting in the dark at my phone moment, lying as still as can be listening to road noise (one of many pet hates), the hum of air con, the regular movement of the little person in the cot at the end of the bed, constructing these sentiments to institute 2024 blog publications due to popular demand.
It’s now 7:30am and this content has been produced having successfully (success looks like not waking a just 1-year old ) crept out of bed fumbling for glasses, phone, and laptop to exit with as minimum noise as possible the studio apartment into the hotel’s atrium spaces.
I have worn more or less the same clothes for the journey, with my stripey dress serving even more purposes, with just not enough time and energy to apply the usual mitigations for the ravages of aging to myself. It’s all gone to pot in favour of the demands of 2nd pair of hands duties of Nana.
It must be said that a proof of concept campervan adventure was conducted to a posh site at Silverdale a few months ago, with my good self sleeping for the first time for many, many years in a tent. The sun shone, and therefore of course the current trip should work.
I will go back to the room to prepare for our official 1st day at the Spanish seaside.