Captain Caveman went off early to Phong Nha on the morning of Friday 7th May having made arrangements to see me at East Hill at 11.30am and he had told Rob the plan too. I messaged Veronika, who had gone walking with Sue, to let them know we would be cycling from Elements Collection at 11am to go to East Hill for lunch, should they still want to come. I also messaged Andrea and she was up for cycling to our place first, with Rob and Anthony and then on to East Hill with us. It was even an added bonus that one of them would ride my bicycle, Bluey, who’d I’d left in the car park at the Farmstay, as Rob’s bike was already at our place.
At 10.50am people were downstairs waiting for me to go to East Hill so I went downstairs, Rob had forgotten the key for his bike which was locked and had cycled back to get it, Sue and Andrea were ready to cycle and Veronika was deciding if she wanted to take her motorbike or cycle with us. We waited for Rob to return, luckily, because he had to borrow Bluey’s pump and then he said he knew the way and he would catch us up because he also needed a mask. By now it was 11.15am and so I lead the way, Veronika had decided to cycle with me, Andrea and Sue but Anthony was going to cycle with Rob.
When we came to the turning off the main road there was no sign, which is normally there, so I cycled past and then realised, so we all had to turn round just as 2 lorries were going each way on the highway. The ladies made it, including the detour, in 5 minutes and 12 seconds where Captain Caveman was already waiting with a shandy. Everyone but me decided they also wanted a shandy but there was no beer, nor would the guy order any and so they shared a beer and two 7ups while I had a coke. We ordered 2 BBQ chicken and rice combos and waited for Rob and Anthony to arrive, which they didn’t. Captain Caveman messaged Rob but no response and Andrea had Anthony’s wallet and phone in her bag. When they eventually arrived they had been to the Pub with Cold Beer (which was closed) and completely misunderstood where we were going! When the chicken arrived Captain Caveman tucked in heartily, as usual, Anthony just had rice as he’s a vegetarian and Rob had a lay down and went to sleep. Andrea found the chicken was too chewy for her, Sue and Veronika didn’t eat much chicken, so it was mainly Captain Caveman and I eating. Rob eventually woke up when there was just a bit of chicken left and had a couple of pieces and the rest of the rice. For the way home Captain Caveman suggested a slightly longer scenic route which Veronika and Sue didn’t want to do and set off the way we came. I also didn’t want to chance Captain Caveman’s ‘better’ way so tried to catch Veronika and Sue up but they were too whizzy. It took me 8 minutes 41 seconds to cycle back in the now blistering heat and when I arrived back Captain Caveman, Andrea, Rob and Anthony were just a couple of minutes behind. All but Rob and Anthony got in our pool and they all had a drink to cool down before cycling back to the Farmstay.
Later that evening Captain Caveman had his briefing while Andrea, Rob and I joined Veronika and Ben for The Villas’ pizza night, which I’d not been to since the 26th March, 5 weeks ago! I managed 6 slices including a ham & mushroom, 2 showstoppers, 1 capture, 1 Momma D’s and 1 veggie – luckily Ben and Rob liked the smoked salmon ones. Andrea and I shared a bottle of red wine and then had an extra glass when Captain Caveman joined us for a drink at the end, once he’d finished work. We got the shuttle bus back with Ben while Captain Caveman cycled his bicycle home.
joloyolo 