Day 1: How early we were awake????!!!! How excited was I????? The start of what we hoped would be a fantastic holiday (and it certainly turned out that way). 2 whole weeks off work and away from the daily grind - wonderful. We arrived at the Caravan Club site in Tewkesbury (Gloucestershire) at lunchtime. We pitched up quickly (as you do in a motorhome!). Our pitch even had a view of the Abbey from the site window! After a snack in the camper we decided to head for the town as the sun was shining. Right outside the site is the wonderful Tewkesbury Abbey, where we wandered the well kept grounds (dog were allowed in here!). We then walked to the River Severn. Paddy was 'let loose' and paid us back by rolling in some fox's poo!!!! Thankfully it was dry so he didn't smell (luckily for him!). We walked back into town along the river via a nice riverside pub (and an even nicer pint of cider!).

Day 2: We awoke to rain (it always seems to happen the mornings we have to pack up?!). After an early morning walk through Tewkesbury we headed north on the M5/M6 to the Lake District. Our site was in Bowness-on-Windermere, right on the edge of Lake Winderemere. A perfect place to leave the camper for 2 nights and walk everywhere. Bowness town itself is a very busy place with loads going on and lots to see and do. We found a lovely hotel, off the high street so away from the hustle and bustle, with an outside seating area where we had our lunch (luckily the rain held off until after we had finished!). We spent the rest of the afternoon just mooching around the shops and pier area. We walked around the other end of Lake Winderemere in the evening where Paddy thought it was fun to chase the ducks into the lake (don't think the ducks were too chuffed though?!).

Day 3: Bank Holiday Monday. We walked into Bowness from the site (just a short walk along the edge of Lake Windermere). We decided to catch a bus (hop on, hop off ticket which lasted all day) to Grassmere. All Paddy wanted to do on the bus was sleep - see pic of him yawning!!!Where we wandered around the village, church and garden centre (very doggie friendly - Paddy was even allowed in the shop, where we had to watch his tail amongst the breakables!!!). We then caught the bus to Ambleside, which was packed. There seemed to be people everywhere. Lunch was spent sat outside a hotel in the sunshine, watching the world go by. After lunch we walked around Ambleside and along the river. The surrounding views are just stunning. When the bus arrived it was an open-top one and as it wasn't raining we made the most of the opportunity and sat 'up top'. Paddy enjoyed the wind in his ears and Michael near had his knocked off by low hanging trees!!!! We stopped off an Winderemere for another wander before catching the bus a bit later back to Bowness.

Day 4: The day we headed to Scotland! Got up early and walked Paddy around Lake Winderemere for our last glimpse before leaving the lovely Lake District. It had been raining overnight but had stopped before we left. We headed up the M6 through heavy rain. It eventually stopped just north of Liverpool (the sun always shines there!!!!). Heading into Scotland we saw the signs for Gretna Green, but Michael seemed to put his foot down at that point (?!). We stopped at the services in Hamilton where we had our lunch (very handy in a motorhome with a fridge full of goodies!). We arrived at our campsite (within the grounds of the beautiful Blair Drummond estate) just 7/8 miles outside Stirling mid afternoon. It was raining again so Paddy spent the afternoon 'bunny spotting' through the camper window!

Day 5: The day we collected our hire car. I had pre-ordered it on the internet from Enterprise as they offer a 'pick-up service'. We were staying approximately 7/8 miles outside of Stirling so this was great for us. We were collected and taken to their offices (Paddy was welcomed too!) only to find that the car we had ordered (Ford Ka) wasn't available! Anyway, to cut a long story short, we ended up with a free upgrade to a Vauxhall Vectra! After leaving the offices we drove through Stirling, saw the castle (which we tried to visit later but discovered a no dogs rule again!) and the Wallace Monument. We drove through the pretty villages of Doune (where we visited later that week) and Callendar to our first loch - Loch Lubnaig. It was raining but it didn't seem to take any beauty away from the place. We then drove onto Loch Earn where we found a nice warm hotel (it was only 9 degrees according to the temperature read-out in the car!!!!!) overlooking the loch, where we had our lunch. We drove back to Blair Drummond via Turret Falls on Loch Turret.

Day 6: Loch Lomond Day - and you certainly need at least a day to discover all the wonderful places on and around Loch Lomond! Our first stop was the Lake of Menteith (Scotland's only lake). It's a very serene place, very quiet, very still and extremely eerie. There was a lone fisherman on the lake (on his mobile phone and I could hear every word!!). We then stopped off at Balmaha where we parked up and wandered down to the waters edge. Balloch was our next port of call and Loch Lomond Shores (a strange places to have a 'designer shopping village' if you ask me?!). On the way round the loch we came across a little bay called Duck Bay. The hotel there, which sits right on the water's edge, was being totally refurbished ready for summer opening - it looked like it would be a fabulous place to stay. The little village of Luss was the next place we visited (Take the High Road - Scottish soap opera - was filmed there some years ago). It was a pretty little village (all the gardens were very well kept), which also had a small pier on the edge of the loch. It tipped with rain whilst we were there! Next stop was lunch (did we do anything other than eat on this holiday?!). We managed to find a little cafe/restaurant right on the loch near Tarbet. We watched the jet skiers as we ate our lunch, sat outside in the sunshine! After lunch we headed for Killin and the Falls of Dochart.

Day 7: Another day with the hire car so we decided to follow the Trossachs Trail, which took us to many beautiful Lochs, mountains, forests and rivers. Our first stop was the pretty little town of Aberfoyle, where we saw golden eagles (at a little falconry centre in the main park - not wild unfortunately!). Loch Ard was our next stop - very pretty - where we saw a field full of deer (we don't think they were wild because there was new fencing around the field they were in!). We then took the forest drive or Duke's Pass as it is known. The bluebells were fabulous, they were everywhere (unlike home where they have been 'over' for weeks now!). The views of the mountains and lochs were spectacular too. We stopped off at Ben Venue which overlooks Loch Achray on our way to the wonderful (our favourite) Loch Katrine, where we had lunch overlooking the loch and the SS Sir Walter Scott once it had docked. We walked around part of Loch Katrine (for about 1.5 hours) before heading back to Blair Drummond via Loch Venachar.

Day 8: Our last full day in Scotland. The hire car had to be back this morning so we dropped it off and we were then taken back to the campsite by the hire car company (great service for all motorhomers!). We made up a picnic when we got back to the camper and togged up ready for the 3-mile walk (each way) to the little village on Doune, which has a castle. We had our lunch sat alongside the river with views of the castle behind us. After lunch we walked back to the site through the Blair Drummond estate, where we saw a wild deer (Paddy spotted him first) and a woodpecker!

Day 9: Today was the day we left Scotland, for a 2 night un-planned part of our trip to the North Northumberland coast and Berwick-Upon-Tweed (partly in Scotland and partly in England!). It was a fairly long journey (mainly motorway). By the time we'd found the site in Tweedmouth (opposite side of the River Tweed to Berwick) it was mid afternoon. We got ourselves sorted and walked down to the Docks and across the River Tweed to Berwick - it was a Sunday so most places were closed but there still seemed to be quite a lot of people around.

Day 10: We were up early again this morning, ready to walk the city walls of Berwick-Upon-Tweed. We stayed on the other side of the bridges at Tweedmouth, on a site overlooking the Spitall. So we crossed the 'old bridge' to Berwick and started our walk around the city walls. Whilst walking to the lighthouse we saw a grey seal bobbing about and swimming in the River Tweed! We could also just make out Holy Island/Bamburgh Castle through the mist from this side. The Elizabethan Ramparts and Berwick Barracks are really well kept/looked after. After a lunchtime meal in a hotel (one of only 2 in the whole city that were doggie friendly!!) we did the riverside walk under the viaduct to the ruins of Berwick Castle. In the evening we walked along the Spitall Promenade.

Day 11: What a day this one turned out to be!!!!! Got up early for a long journey from Berwick to York to find that we had a problem with the motorhome! The electric step wouldn't work!!!! It had 'got stuck' in the 'out' position and just wouldn't shift. This of course would not allow us to drive off as the 'warning alarm' continually buzzed! After speaking to our dealer back in the West Country, to rule of problem electrics, Michael had to borrow a crow-bar and some rope from the very helpful wardens on site to attempt a temporary fix - which of course he did successfully! We finally left the site an hour later than we had planned. On the journey down we saw the Angel of the North - what a fab sight that was (I cannot stop thinking about it for some reason?!). We were travelling too fast for me to get any decent photos of it unfortunately, but I won't forget the sight for some time to come. We finally arrived on site in York mid afternoon. We pitched up and took Paddy for a long evening stroll, after a wonderful Indian takeaway from a place called York Spice (highly recommended!). We came across the Millenium Bridge which takes you over the River Ouse. The evening sun was just going down and it looked fantastic.

Day 12: After breakfast we decided to head into the city of York for the whole day. What a busy city during rush hour (I guess living in Cornwall you forget how busy cities really are?!). We headed for the Minster and Shambles area, which again were really busy areas. There was a market (daily we think) within the Shambles with lots of interesting stalls selling local produce and goods. We sat in the market outside cafe area just people watching. The Minster is fantastic. We couldn't believe the size of it. We obviously couldn't go inside because they don't allow dogs but it's an amazing site from the outside alone.