Hey, we got sun in Clevedon - the whole day! It's still an odd little place - the age spectrum seems to be very young children and very senior seniors with not much in between, but the sun on the estuary was very pretty AND I found quark at the local Aldi, so things are looking up. Yes, I was behind it coming up the M5 from Exeter. Poor people. That's funny! It did seem there was some "Stein" thing on literally every corner. I wish I would have tried out the pastry shop especially. Yum! I'm always looking out for dogs - I've been doing my "traveldog" photos for years now - so I really do think that Cornwall is exceptionally doggie and Padstow the MOST exceptionally doggie in Cornwall. Or maybe there WAS a dog convention that day? Nope, that was today. First dogs I meet on my morning jog? Two 6.5 month old Labradors, one chocolate, one black. The universe was saying, "Just go ahead and pick one, why don't you?". Mmmm...future stops on the Labratour?
I'm behind on my photos, but that's ok as the next five days will be just me working and not doing anything photo-worthy, so I'll just keep popping my Cornwall photos here. First up, Tintagel, land of dramatic coastline, ear-drum bursting wind and LOTS of dogs. Fair warning, there are a lot of human posteriors in the dog shots, mainly because I've cropped the photos so that I'm not posting any faces of strangers without their permission. A couple dog posteriors as well...it's only fair. And yes, even a Rottie sighting!
Great photos! As always I love seeing the scenery, quite beautiful. I clearly need to move to a more dog welcoming city. I'm so so SO jealous of all the places you guys are able to bring your dogs. We can't bring them in to pubs here, or stores (well, a select few you can, pet stores and one hardware store and my hair salon) Everywhere is 'on leash' walking only unless it's an actual gated small dog park. Sigh. I could go on. Point being it seriously makes me consider packing up and going elsewhere that is more welcoming to dogs.
I suspect things may get worse over here sadly. our freedoms are constantly under threat and some places are becoming increasingly anti dog. We often have to fight to keep the freedom we have
Whilst not quite on the same scale as the highways in the US the M5 does go on for quite a while Mr Google tells me that Clevedon is around 70 miles (South) from Worcester. See how your travel plans go. Cool. I'll let him know
Talking of Padstow being the most dog-filled Cornish town brings to mind a childhood memory; the first lab we had was water mad and would jump in any available patch of wetness. We were on holiday in Cornwall and mooching around Padstow, the lab broke out of her shackles (lead and collar) and headed straight down the slope and into the harbour, started doggy-paddling like her life depended on it. A large crowd gathered oohing and ahhing because they thought she was a seal! My mum couldn't get her to get out and slid down the sea-weedy slope trying to get to her . Labs eh?!
Still not so far, so do-able! I actually was never a big driver until I came to Europe. In the US, I'd rather just fly. There's a whole lot of nothing on those long US highways. At least here you have the excitement of cows jumping over hedges (apparently) and the lure of an M&S every so often along the motorway. If they stuck a few M&Ss between San Francisco and Los Angeles, they'd make a fortune!
Great story! And if your dog survived that excursion, may I say that your mum is a patient woman with an excellent sense of humour (and apparently very athletic as well if she single-handedly fished your dog out of the harbour)!
OK, I now have an image of a woman wrestling with a Labrador in the open water, as an angry mob gather their pitchforks, mistakenly thinking she's battling a defenceless seal.
Brings to mind a story for me too -- the family Golden Retriever jumping breakwaters with my older sisters, only no one told him the last one was along side the river. Over he went, into the river and had to be rescued by a fisherman in a rowing boat. The mind boggles! It could very easily have ended in a great many tears.
There are more dogs in the UK and so far it does seem like a great place to be a dog, but I still hold out for Germany (or at least Bavaria) as the most dog-friendly place I've ever been to. The town I live in has no leash law, plenty of dog-friendly walks, dogs are welcomed in 99% of restaurants and non-food shops and no problem to take them on buses and trains. It is very common to see dogs on the U-Bahn/S-Bahn in Munich, for example.
@Emily_BabbelHund , you could always drive west from Worcester into Herefordshire where the pace of life slows to the speed of the tractor or horsebox in front of you The cows in the main stay behind their hedges. Seriously, I am so enjoying reading about your tour, it will be such fun to visit all those Labradors.
Absolutely - I'm really looking forward to my Bristol-area meets plus the "Gang Show" with Kate @Beanwood this weekend. That sounds lovely! I'm all for places that have more sheep and/or cows than humans. And well-mannered Herefordshire cows who stay behind their hedges to boot. And as a sort of an aside, may I say how good and courteous UK drivers are? Sure, you get your occasional idiot as anywhere, but overall, driving here is SO much nicer than most places I go. The only problems I've had so far are down to me being on the "wrong" side of the car (passing a car parked on the left while on a narrow two lane street is a pure leap of faith as I can't see a thing) but even that has been much easier than expected. So here's to you, English drivers!
Oh my god, you're kidding, right?! I hate driving in the UK! OK, over here, you have to put up with people overtaking on blind corners, whilst talking on their mobile phones and smoking a cigarette, but at least they don't drive so close! I'll happily drive the whole length of France, and a good chunk of Spain, to boot, but as soon as I cross that channel, I start to curse.
No, not kidding at all! In fact it seems like my experience is just the opposite - wicked tailgaters (following too close) in Spain, less so in France, but I've not noticed it at all here so far. I don't mind driving in Spain, by the way, I've just learned to become zen about someone who seems determined to sit on my tail pipe until I can pull over and let them fly on by. Maybe it's because I've been mainly in rural areas so far? Or maybe because I've got German number plates, everyone is giving that "crazy German lady in the micro-mini car" a lot of space?
This thread is an absolute joy to follow. Thanks for sharing your trip and your stunning pictures with us! Keep them coming!
