Sunday June 1, 2014

The sun is out.  We checked out the new tent that Big Agnes sent us and it looks great.  It is slightly different from the old tent that we had – extra pockets on the inside and the ends are the same colour, whereas the old tent had different coloured ends.  We marked one end so that we knew which is the head-end of the tent.  Millie thought it was a lovely little tent, but a bit warm inside.

Millie:  Is this your home? So this is where you live now?

Jacky: Yes this is where we sleep for the next two years.

Millie:  hmmm.

I don\’t think Millie was impressed with our \’house\’!

After we put the tent away, we got a bag packed for our trip to see Joy (my younger sister). Lindsey took us to the train station and John (my brother-in-law) picked us up.  We arrived in Kemble at 6:22 p.m. On the way to Joy and John\’s house we stopped in Malmesbury to pick up pizza for dinner.

Joy has lost a lot of weight, in fact she weighs less than me – the first time ever.  We chatted for a while after dinner, but she gets very tired and was in bed by 9:00p.m.  This last dose of chemo has really taken it out of her.

Monday June 2, 2014 – Bath

Joy had an oncology appointment today, we went with her.  John dropped us of at the park and ride and we went into Bath, while they went to her appointment.

Bath is a beautiful Roman City.  Ralf said he is really looking forward to cycling through the UK because of all the history. I am a little concerned about the very narrow roads.

 

On the way back from the hospital we stopped in a lovely little cafe for lunch and surprisingly Joy managed to eat most of her Eggs Benedict.

When we got back to their house, Joy went upstairs and I joined her, we spent the afternoon talking.  She had a little nap while we prepared dinner and then I went and spent the evening with her.  We talked about her cancer and she told me she was scared, we had a hug and I told her I was scared too.

We talked about our trip and where we were going next.  We got a road atlas out and “planned” a route from Penzance to John O’Groats and then to Ireland and back through the UK to Portsmouth.  We will stop in to see Joy and John on the way back from Ireland.  Joy said she has loved following the blog, it gives her something to look forward to, even if her geography is lousy and she couldn\’t work out where we were going in Europe.

Tuesday June 3, 2014 – Back to Long Eaton

We left Joy and John’s place around 11:00 a.m.  Joy was waiting for a call from the hospital to tell her what time she could go back into hospital for more treatment – she has an infection which requires intravenous antibiotics.  She will have another CT Scan to see if the tumor has reduced at all.

While we waited for the connecting train in Gloucester we had a very interesting chat with the customer service rep on the platform. I had asked him about booking the bikes on the train.  He told me to book them as early as possible as they only allow two bikes on the train and make sure that I have them booked all the way through from Nottingham to Long Eaton.  We discussed about the fact that there was no longer a baggage car on trains as they wanted bums on seats.

We got into Long Eaton at 3:00 p.m. and tried to book our tickets to Penzance at the station.  We could not book our bikes on the train for Friday, Saturday or Sunday, actually for the foreseeable future.  He suggested I call Cross Country directly and check with them.  I did and they suggested I turn up with the bikes – not a good idea, as they could refuse one or both bikes.

Plan B, we rented a van to got to Penzance with on Friday.  It will be a long drive 335 miles, but at least we will get there.  I have booked us into a backpackers for two nights.  Might as well get a good nights sleep before the long ride.

Millie asked Ralf to play badminton with her.  He was incredibly patient and showed her how to serve and return the shuttle cock.  Later she wanted to play again, this time with me, only a few minutes playing with me she wanted Uncle Ralf to play with her because Aunty Jacky hits the shuttle cock too hard.  Lindsey laughed and said what she means is Aunty Jacky won’t let her win.  I can\’t help being competitive, it is in my nature – of course when you are playing against an 8 year old you should really try to be patient.

Wednesday June 4 2014 – Nottingham

Today we took the bus into Nottingham. Nottingham hasn’t changed very much but Beeston has.  It is one very large construction zone.  They are constructing a tram track from Nottingham to Toton via Beeston – it is supposed to be ready for December – I don’t think so.

I bought Ralf his birthday present, the Garmin 1000.  What this thing cannot do is not worth doing.  You can ask it to plan a route for 50 kms for example, you can ask it to be a circular route and it can plan a route for you.  Of course it will take a month of Sundays to read the manual so that Ralf knows how to do all this.

Thursday June 5, 2014

Final day before we leave for Cornwall.  We spent it packing our panniers and we went for a drink with my Dad at his local.  We were all in good spirits as Joy called and told us that the results from the CT Scan were good and the tumor is shrinking, so they will continue with the chemo.  They had considered stopping treatment if the chemo wasn’t working.

 Friday June 6, 2014 – Heading to Penzance

We picked up the hire van and drove the 335 miles to Penzance.

It took us about 7.5 hours, there were a lot of road works on the M5 so there were a lot of slowdowns.  We settled into the Backpackers, it is a nice clean place close to the downtown area of Penzance.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be cold and wet, if it is we will stay around Penzance, if it isn’t we will go for a wander around and may be a bike ride.