You name it, I've been there 2

It is 09.13 on Saturday 15 September and I have just returned from a jolly old jaunt round Britain. Well, a bit of the South anyway.

I set off with my daughter Emma at 7.30 a.m. on Thursday morning and headed for Headington Oxford. She was due to sign up for a shared student house there with three others - two girls and one boy.

We got there about 11.30 a.m. and I was delighted to observe that the three girls were accompanied by all their dads and one mum. Hooray for the Lads! The boy arrived on his own.

After introductions to the rooms and logistics by an agent who was no older than they are (19/20/21) we left them alone to decide on the room they each wanted. This they eventualy did.

I raced upstairs with Emma's gear (yes, at 54!) and then we went to Tesco's to eat and shop.
While we were eating our sandwiches outside on a bench a beggar asked us for money . If I wasn't so poor at the moment I would have bought him some lunch.

Then we took the shopping back to Emma's new place and I scarpered off to the Travelodge at Cherwell Services. I spent about 15 hours there for £15. What a bargain! On the way down we had stopped off at Stafford Services where there were adverts everywhere for the nearby Premier Travel Inn at (only!) £48 a room. No contest.

Yesterday (Friday) I meandered through the North Cotswolds, going through Chipping Norton, Burford, Bibury, and Cirencester, the place of my birth. I saw a sign for Siddington (my mother's birthplace) and the Royal Agricultural College (my father's alma mater) and realised that those two places led to my birth.

I then spent just over an hour in Brimscombe and motored on to Dad's at Painswick.

After a quick lunch Dad, his friend Michael and I went on through Stroud, past Stonehouse to Slimbridge Wetland Centre. We all had a great time walking, talking and admiring the birds.

By the time we got back to Dad's I was tired out. I spent the night in the Guest Room

But this morning I got up at 5.00 a.m. and made my way back from Painswick to Ingleton in just over three hours. This is a record time, brought on by lack of time and money.