Those jolly nice Principle folks were kind enough to 'put up with us' for a few days over Easter. Gluttons for punishment or what ?

The site had a commanding view over the Dee estuary, the pub was within walking distance, albeit down a bloody steep hill, and there was a beer festival being held over the Easter holiday. How do they do it ?

There was free tea and coffee all weekend, which was much appreciated by one and all.

Of course, no weekend in Wales would be complete without the rain, and rain it did. The field soon became 'mud logged', for want of a better word.

There again, it was nice and dry in the pub, the "Glan Yr Afon" if I remember correctly. There were some quite quaffable ales on sale during this 'beer festival' weekend. I started out with a rather strong mild { 4.5%} brewed over in Anglesey then swapped over to "Chase your tail", a very drinkable brew produced by the "Spinning Dog" brewery. In true technological fashion my digital camera decided to 'eat' its media card, which resulted in the loss of the "Tit shaped cake". What, you may ask, is a tit shaped cake? Well, I'll tell you. Paul, from the Principles just happened to have a birthday - so we just happened to have a cake shaped like a pair of tits. Said cake was promptly sliced and distributed amongst the masses. Very good it was too.

Kev Corbett was so overcome with emotion that he collapsed - well - he was overcome with something anyway.

The plan for Saturday was to ride over to Towyn, and take in the large market and car boot sale. We set off in glorious sunshine but this is Wales remember. After nosing around the fabric mill at Mostyn we headed out towards Rhyl. This was a mistake. Everybody in the world had decided to drive through Rhyl and we promptly ended up in a traffic jam - this was to become a frequent occurrence during the next few days. By the time we hit the market the rain was coming down - so we wandered round looking at what should have been a car boot sale but ended up looking more like 'guess what's under the polythene'. I decided the coast road was just too much hassle and set off along the A55. This managed to get myself and Pete the Feet back to site quickly, although somewhat damply.

Sunday's plan was very similar to Saturday's. This time we took the scenic 'back roads' out to Abergele, with a valiant member of the Principle RC acting as leader. This time we managed to stay *fairly* dry. A large quantity of steak, several red onions and other such delicacies were purchased for tea. Following feeding - - more drinking. Following the drinking - - more rain.

Monday, and time to pack up and hit the road. The field was looking decidedly muddy by now, so various trailers and my caravan were manhandled off rather than churn the field up even more with trikes. Of course, the rain decided to come down just as we hit Wrexham . . . bloody soaked again. A stop for dinner at Whitchurch was in order, then the last fifty miles back home. Even the M6 wasn't *that* badly jammed, which came a bit of a surprise.

Once again the Principle RC did us proud. A great pub, a great site, free tea and coffee and as much rain as we wanted - what more could you ask for ?

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