Hot and sunny again but the early break to the store was a good idea, especially as the Tadpoles were still in bed when we left. Fully restocked we set about what was the down day and pottered about getting ourselves straight. Mrs T was right when she said that we'll not be doing the grand tour with the Tadpoles in tow again, it's just too much work keeping everything ship shape in such a small space, especially when that small space keeps moving around. Tours will be for Mrs T and I, we'll park up and stay put when we're accompanied in future. We are trying to instill the value of travel into the little blighters, constantly telling them about routes and relative positions, but they're not really interested; Harry Potter World could have been just down the street from home for all they cared. It's a bit dispiriting, though, when you've just entered your fourth US State of the day and they have to be roused from their DVD players to be told. Actually I was a really nerdy kid and always looked out of the window when travelling with my family way back when, which is how I can still find my way around Cornwall 40 years later, which is most useful when in Cornwall!
I did take the Tadpoles to the beach in the afternoon, where we spent two hours in the green surf, digging bits of fine weed out of our nooks and crannies. The wind was keen, which kept the surf up, but the water was still warm and the air temperature didn't seem to be affected. There weren't very many people about, which is of course a good thing, I suspect they were all sat in front of the hotels and apartments further down the beach.
The clouds were streaming in, as they were the day before, although the beach was still sunlit. I took a peek inland and saw the black clouds and lightning so thought it best to head back. Sure enough, not ten minutes after arriving back, the rain came and we retreated inside again to the cool air. This time, the rain only lasted a couple of minutes so we took the opportunity to head out to Wal Mart in an attempt to solve the Internet access issue (why Wal Mart? It's a long story). I then spent the next couple of hours failing to get things sorted whilst Mrs T went to try and get some washing done at the solitary machine in the bath house. There was a bit of an international incident at the washing machine where Mrs T sort of jumped the queue a bit, albeit that there was no one around when the machine needed to be loaded. Having set the thing running, an irate woman came over to remonstrate that she was next in line, not my dear Mrs T. It was too late to do anything about because the cycle had started but I'm sure the irate lady wasn't best pleased. On later retrieving our washing for the dryer Mrs T, ever the peace maker, apologised and immediately made friends with the now not so irate lady and her daughter. It turned out that they were a family from the Netherlands, posted to Texas with the Apache Helicopter Programme so the Europeans united and spent a while talking of Holland, Germany and things of an Old World nature. Big Tadpole, who has some pretty rampant hormones at the moment, took an immediate liking to the daughter (blonde and pretty) although in his immature manner failed to obtain even a name of said Dutch Delight. He did, though, spend the next few hours (this was 9pm!) trying to stalk the poor girl!
International incidents resolved, we headed to bed with thoughts that as the next leg of our trip was only 250 miles, we wouldn't rush about in the morning. I don't even remember going to bed that evening, but as I woke up in it, I suppose I must have gone!
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