Washington to Florida road trip July 2014

We boyz love a road trip.  So the opportunity of heading to Washington, through the Virginia wine region, North and South Carolina, and down to Florida.  Yes!
First stop was Washington DC.  We hadn't been here before, and we liked it!  Gret big room in the Churchill Hotel.


And then a long walk around the sites.  First the White House (back):
 

And front:
 

Then the Washington Monument:
 

And the Vice President's office:


And we got to ride the metro!


And the Capitol:


Mummy and Daddy saw lots of other things, but we were pretty happy with our day out.  Next stop was Middleburg.  Land of white picket fences, rolling hills and horse country.  I expected Jackie Kennedy to come riding over a hill any time.  Of course, Hamish does not like horses.  Stayed one night in a B&B in town:
 

And then a night at Goodstone just outside of town - we really liked it there.
  

Back on the road, and next stop was Sperryville.  A cute little hamlet, and we wanted to stay there as there was a very good restaurant nearby.  As it was, we stayed at the Hopkins Ordinary, and were greeted with a beer which Daddy said was one of his favourites ever!


 

We enjoyed the evening on the long balcony with the great beers.
 

After a good night there, we headed down the Blue Ridge Parkway to enjoy the scenery.  Hamish and I really liked this drive.

 
  

Particularly Mr Strong levitating on the front windscreen


And Hamish looking all little against the view


At the other end of the Blue Ridge Parkway we stopped next at Charlottesville - home of the wine region and also a university town.  Was a fun place for a couple of nights, but the room was our particular favourite.  it looked normal to start with but...


That was before we saw the Hamish and Mr Strong bed in the corner.  They had the best night sleep ever.
  

One of the wineries also had a mini-digger outside it, so Hamish had to have a go on it...

 

After Charlottesville we headed down to Roanoke, in the King George Inn - very swish.  We also liked seeing the fireflies that night.  It was a large town though, and not particularly worth any more than one night.


From Roanoke we headed to Asheville - hippy land.  The boyz liked it here too.


Last main stop was Charleston.  Quite a long drive down there, but the boyz enjoyed the ride.  Daddy did some of the driving on this leg, and so Mummy was able to capture the boyz in their usual driving positions...

 

And on to Charleston.  Stayed at French Quarter Inn this time.


Had some nice walks around town.



Best of all it Hamish's birthday whilst we were there - he got a new eyemask!

South Africa 2015-16

Mummy and Daddy were heading down to South Africa again for Christmas and New Year, and so we had to go along of course.
First stop as usual was Franschhoek for a few days - the boyz wasted no time in settling into the room (and the deckchairs).  Hamish in particular was thrilled with his Christmas present - a new red bowtie.
  

It was arson season, so there were some nasty fires around, we took a drive around to watch the helicopters water bombing one of them.  We did mention to Hamish that his bowtie was slightly incongruous, but he wouldn't take it off.  The fire did make for stunning sunsets from our deck.

 

Next stop was off to Cape Town for New Years Eve.


We took the chance of a lovely day to go up Table Mountain.  First the Cable Car.


Then walking around the top to enjoy the views and spectacular clouds.

 
 

Daddy in particular found a precarious rock to sit on to take photos as the "tablecloth" came over


New Years Eve was fun - the boyz got balloons.
 

Next stop after Cape Town was Swellendam, and a beautiful room at August de Mist guesthouse - we would go back just to stay there again (despite that strange stuffed animal on the bed).  The boyz got their own bedroom!



Back on the road again and along to Oudsthoorn - it was too hot to leave the room here really.



Then we drove over the Swartberg Pass in a small 2wd car - interesting trip and Mummy did brilliantly driving the steep gravel roads and switchbacks,

 


Over the pass and a couple of nights at De Berghof in Prince Albert - the boyz liked it here, and got to see the most beautiful sunset.





Then we drove a long way along to Riebeeck Kasteel, beautiful weather and stunning scenery as always.



After Riebeeck Kasteel we headed along to Paternoster, staying at a lovely B&B overlooking the beach.



The scenery and sunsets were so beautiful.





And the boyz had fun writing their names in the sand, and watching as the tide washed them away.  First Hamish...



Then Mr Strong....