May 27, 2025
Today we did a few things. SL shopped a little this morning in Llandudno. Then we went up to the Great Orme, a Headland in Wales and saw some lovely sheep and limestone that has been there since before the dinosaurs. The limestone. Not the sheep. Then we headed over to Eryri National Park (Snowdonia or Snowden. It has different names depending on who you are talking to). We traveled through the park via the Llanberis path. We weren’t able to ride the train to the summit because they were sold out. We weren’t sure we were going so, we didn’t get advance tickets. It was quite foggy and we didn’t get to see as much of the majesticness but we saw enough to get the idea of its immense beauty. You can Google it to see sunny day pics. Yr Wyddfa, the summit, is 3,560 feet high. It is the highest peak in Wales and the third-highest point in the UK. It is a Mecca for hikers and most of the little villages cater to them with outdoor gear shops, pubs, and cottages. Sheep are everywhere. On the mountain, on the sidewalks, on the roads. We continued through the pass to Beddgelert and Betws-y-Coed. We stopped in Betws-y-Coed and it was the cutest little village. This is considered the resort center for the park. David, SL and I collected magnets whenever we traveled, so SL and I have continued our tradition. We got some of the places we saw in the park and we were all starting to get hungry, so we headed back to Llandudno to one of the pubs, Wetherspoon. It is a chain of pubs that usually purchase old buildings that were once used in other ways and make them into a unique place to grab a drink and a bite This one was in an old theater and still had the balcony and box seats. It was pretty cool. I’ll have to address the eating and food situation in another post. Anyway, I walked down to the beach front again, and it was so different after all the rain but just as beautiful. I scanned the beach for interesting items and then sat on the rocks for a while and talked to David. I do that a lot. I feel like he hears me and talks back in his own ways. I think he does. I don’t know. Maybe. We are headed back to Birmingham for two days before we head down to London to start the tail end of the trip. Seems like this week is moving fast. The kids (I call them kids but they are young adults) are starting to get anxious about parting. I told them that wasn’t today. Something David use to tell me when my mind ran wild with thoughts in the future and ones I could not control. I say that a lot now. Not wanting to leave Wales. This is the most peace I have found since January when David had to leave us. It is fleeting, but I did manage to hold on to it for a little while. It’s half 10 here and I still have to pack up. Here are some pictures from today. Diolch Cymru (thanks Wales)
