Well, another superb weekend, huge thanks to the Crinkly party for advance planning and logistics!
We decided against the Illuminated locos at the NRM, in favour of getting on our way and joining the party. The drive over was uneventful after the customary bottleneck where the A64 goes single lane just outside York. We arrived in good time to unload MFWHTBAB's unfeasible amount of tools, which he'd brought along due to coming straight over to York from a job in the morning. Them, and Tiddles the Brompton, who hadn't been ridden back from my work to the flat as usual due to copping out and paying for an hour in my local carpark instead of shuttling to and fro.
Once unloaded, we dropped the car off in the conveniently local FREE carpark at the top of the hill and walked back to imbibe tea while the jacket potatoes and pizzas cooked. Oh, and MFWHTBAB fixed all the lights that weren't working, due to loose switches and innappropriate fittings.
A studendous supper was produced from the fridge. When CL revealed the smoked salmon, I thought I'd lost MFWHTBAB's affections for good!
Determined not to repeat our mistake of last year - staying up enjoying conversation and suddenly realising it was 2am - we toddled off to bed and lights out just before midnight...
CL woke us with a terribly apologetic "Kim's in trouble" at, well, whenever it was. Mentally humming the Thunderbirds theme we managed to dress in the correct clothes, all the right way round, and set the SatNav for "back the way we came". MFWHTBAB had the foresight to fit the roof bars before we left, to avoid faffing later.
It was a glorious night ont' moors. So many stars. My god, it's full of stars.
Until Pickering, where it became full of fog. Fortunately it wasn't too far further before we spied oncoming Lasers of Deth, which were revealed, after mutual rapid three point turns, to be the advance party. Reassured that we were on the right road we three-pointed once more, and soon spotted more Lasers of Deth, one of them lower down, and surmounted by a characteristically bobbing-from-side-to-side headtorch. Miraculously, we met at the entrance to a long layby, which gave us plenty of space to operate Thunderbird Skoda. "Just take all the loose bits off" I said, and Kim did, followed by the seat, which confused me until she then flipped the back end over and we both remembered that the trike folds to go in the boot...
After we passeed through Pickering again, Kim said "Where's the fog gone!?!"
Dropping her off, we replaced the car in the convenient FREE carpark, walked back to the house, enjoyed CL's note, and constructed a weatherproof holder for it, before slipping it under the wiper. We also came up with a few entertaining things we could have done, involving gaffer tape (wrapping it round the car), or a mythical roll of yellow sticky tape (reinforcing the double yellows in an up-and-over fashion) or a packet of chips (to be left on the roof and wait for the seagulls to wake up). Tiddles the Brompton was now sharing his room with the Trice, and we think his mind might have been boggling at its wheel alignment.
After that, we got as much as an hour's sleep - well, actually I think I got 10 minutes eventually, and MFWHTBAB rested his eyes, but anyway - before it was time to be up-and-at-em for breakfast. Updates from the peleton meant we did have time to imbibe some caffeine before setting out for a very good fry up in the company of some proper gnarly trawlermen. No half dead Goths this year though.
The rest of the morning passed in horizontality for MFWHTBAB (and Kim, but not together!), and in near-horizontality-but-with-tea-and-marshmallows-and-Goth-spotting for me and most of the rest of the party. It was decided that mooching round Whitby would be a suitable occupation for the afternoon. MFWHTBAB and I set off to attempt the 199 steps, which was easier than we remembered, and at the top we waved vigorously to the house. We think we were spotted.
After a tea and very good cake at the cafe, we retraced the 199 steps and did a bit of mooching in Goth shops. We didn't buy any Goths though.
After a cracking episode of thunder and lightning, the fish and chip party went out and foraged, while MFWHTBAB fixed the wooden settle in the kitchen so that it didn't rock, using a G-cramp and a piece of driftwood. We were rewarded with a window seat, although most restaurant window seats come with tables... Still, it meant we could legitimately ask for anything we wanted to be passed over, since we were coralled in by Cubs.
After dinner, and baths, I accepted a 'oh, just a small one, go on then' Highland Park from AndrewC. My reflexes were so dulled that I failed to say "Whoa!" in time, so I had to share it with MFWHTBAB. After that, sleep didn't so much beckon as beat me round the head.
Sunday brought another sumptuous breakfast, to which we all did justice, and then the Beach Party took themselves off out so that the Tidying Party could work uninterrupted. We majored in "digging canals up the beach", an occupation which is at least more exciting when the tide is coming in than when it's going out. We marooned various members of the party on islands of sand and rock before the cold and time and tide sent us back up to the seafront, where the Cubs were allowed candyfloss, and I bought MFWHTBAB a celebratory tub of whelks.
Then it was time to pack up, find I'd lost the scarf that was from the same set as the hat I lost two years ago (the gloves are worried now), and get everything into the correct respective cars. Tiddles the Brompton still unridden.
The drive back was fine, bar the usual bottleneck where the A64 goes single lane after Huttons Ambo. I'd left my work keys at work, so couldn't retrieve my bike. Tiddles the Brompton spent another night in the car. Unridden again. We walked home, laden with leftover groceries, and enjoyed dinner in bed (to keep warm!) of corn on the cob and smoked salmon on toast.
Today, although not part of the weekend, was notable for us actually getting our act together and Setting A Date at the register office, and then spending the afternoon pressing apples for the matrimonial cider. MFWHTBAB went home at 6ish. Tiddles still unridden....
CL had a rather good idea, to which we added a clause. Look out for details of the "FNRtSR Whitby Summer Weekend Ride incorporating Arch and MFWHTBAB's sort of honeymoon weekend" sometime after early June.
