Oooh we’ve seen lots since our last update.  The Folks have been bundled in and out of the Dodge more times than they can count (and still its fun to watch mum trying to climb up into the truck!).  After leaving the Grand Canyon, with we might add a few more leg muscles after a 9 mile hike in the canyon, we have travelled old Route 66 and boy have we seen a few sights:

• Concrete dinosaurs along Route 66
• The Folks always finding strange people to chat to
• Miles and miles of vista views
• Craig’s favourite – Injun lands, teepees, hogans, dead things, ruins etc
• More visitor centres
• Slept in a Concrete wigwam complete with 60’s car parked outside
• Petrified forest and Painted Desert  -very pretty scenery
• We did Stand on the Corner in Winslow Arizona, with the flat bed ford for all you Eagles fans out there

Today has been a long drive taking in Canyon De Chelly, The Four Corners – oh yes we have stood simultaneously in four separate states (New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and Utah), very cool but right in the absolute middle of nowhere.  We are now at John Waynes old haunt in his movie days – so The Folks are grinning, as well as a rather spectacular view of Monument Valley to contend with we get to watch wall to wall movies with John Wayne in.  Mr Fogg has just grabbed the remote……no movies to night then, seems to now be broken!

Of course for the last few days we have been in non-alcoholic states – which means the back of the car is fully laden with a weeks supply of falling down water – you can imagine the fun we have had smuggling it into the rooms each night and the empties out the next morning.  The Folks are actually beating us at consumption too – the old soaks!

Next stop a tour of Monument Valley then we travel into new areas that Mr Fogg and I have not been to – oooh what fun, must be able to find more Visitor centres, dead things, old things, unjuns and the likes just for Mr Fogg’s enjoyment – or was that torture?

Yes the tour begins. Tonight we meet up with the Folks in that there Gatport Airwick. Tomorrow, well “Bright Light City gonna sooth my soul” 

Yee Haaa, Only 23 days to go until the Tour commences, oooo How exciting.

 When we manage to find palces with that there Interwebnet thingummy access, we will be posting updates for all to see.

Yes Mrs Fogg is now another year older and wii bit sexier (if that was at all possible).

 We spent Lorna’s Birthday Weekend at Whinstone View near Great Ayton (www.whinstoneview.com) and what a fantastic place it is, log cabins, hot tub, nice food and excellent service (for those of you that have heard me whinge before, this is my biggest bug bear in this country).

Whinstone have a fab addition to your rooms in the shape of a little rubber duckie, complete with his own brand sun glasses.  He was ours to keep and only asked to be taken on exotic holidays, photographed and for us to send piccies back to his family at Whinstone – if they like where he’s been it may result in a free night away!  We think this is a lovelly addition.

 It poured it down all weekend, but we didn’t care, sat out in the hot tub, champagne in hand (again there’s a surprise), watching the rain and just chilling.  It was a perfect weekend spent doing very little in and around the Lodge – we even managed to miss the evening meal on the Saturday night – ho hum…..

As part of the birthday treat we reinstated our long overdue Scrabble matches – commenced in St Lucia and incorporating the revised “Rude word scrabble rules”.  So, nicely chilled by Sunday morning, and just time for another dip in the hot tub we sadly left Whinstone and headed home.  However we plan to return……

 Now Mrs Fogg kept blathering on about wanting to go visit Helmsley on the way back so off we went along the North York Moors route – full of winding roads, several hundred Sunday drivers, four mad families with scores of kids cycling all over the road and, on arriving in Helmsley, the full membership quota of the over 50’s Hells Angels Rejects Club.  Oh boy, old boys and their Missus’ everywhere clogging up the car park, checking each others bikes out and generally getting in the way.  Pure hell, some of the worst parking ever and about three shops – one of which was the Edinburgh Woollen Mill selling clothes that required the wearer to be at least 80 years old.  We lasted 10 mins before negotiating the pensioner chicanes, climbing back into the car and heading off.

A fab weekend  – we just need to unpack the case now………

  So, summer has been and gone (you can tell by the wonderful weather we have had), petrol prices are on the rise, but petrol stations and the govt are not profiteering, oh no!!! Council tax is on the rise and the wonderful council staff (who voted unanimously, yes a whopping 54%, although only 27% voted, so realistically that only equates to 15% in favour) have decided to strike for 2 days to achieve a 6% payrise (if only we could all walk out to obtain that, on top of the flexi-time, final pension salary and the right to do bugger all if we didn’t want to). But I digress.

 This is not a rant, this is about our pet hedgehog, or hedgy as he is/was  known. Hedgy lived (yes past tense a story with a sad ending) in the bushes at the back and Spike had a friend to play with at long last, by play I actually mean, run away from really (Spike the hero). Hedgy has been there for a good few months now, helping to tidy all the garden. We came home last night and saw a leaf on the road, then ran over it, I was convinced it was Hedgy, Mrs Fogg said it was just a leaf, so we went to investigate. Low and behold there was old Hedgy flatter than a note out of a popstar wannabe. Poor little bugger I had run over him and killed him (Mrs Fogg is still convinced he was dead before I hit him, but I am not too sure).

 Now all I can keep humming is that silly tune to the safety road crossing advert “Woo woo woo woo”:

• Be Safe
• Be Bright
• Be Seen
• At Night

If only Hedgy had listened to his com-padres on the advert and worn a reflective jacket then he may still be alive today.

Hedgy rest in piece (well he is still sat at the bottom of the garden and we are debating whether he can go in the green bin waste, along with all the birds that Spike plays with).