A note from my mom: Update on Torlands

I sent the blog link to my mom and she sent the following update on my post about visiting my first home ever:

Saw the pics of Torlands again and thought I'd take a detour and explain. The home belonged to a Royal Marine who was, at that time, stationed in the US. So the government rented it out from him and charged us $75 per month, that included maid and utilities. It was a SWEET time for the exchange rate and we enjoyed our time there. Consider that we had a really upscale one-bedroom apartment in the Washington area for a whopping $169 a month and that will help you compare costs. It was a fantastic deal even then.

The place had 6 bedrooms, several baths, and large grounds. Most baths had sinks in them--I think they adapted it and rented out rooms during the war. It's the place where several familiar stories originated.

The night we moved in, some burglars broke in, evidently thinking it was still vacant. With everything still in boxes, all dad could find for a weapon was his Marine sword. He crept downstairs, and they heard the creaky steps and fled. Drawers were still open and French doors open with curtains blowing in the breeze. Naturally, I slept through the whole thing and was awakened when Dad came back up to the bedroom, turned on the light, and said, "We've had burglars downstairs." Through my sleepy stupor I looked up, and he had on his boxer shorts, a flannel plain shirt (it was cold in the house) and his sword. I burst out laughing at the sight, and then realized he was serious! The police came the next day and concluded that we didn't really have anything worth taking.

It's also the house where the cows all wandered into the yard when I forgot to close the gate. I yelled and screamed at them and they didn't even blink. I got my English neighbor to come over, and she did the same thing in an English accent, and they all fled. Go figure.

28/1 Caernarfon Castle & on to Prestatyn

After making some toast and coffee for breakfast, we were off to storm the castle! Caernarfon Castle made Randy exceptionally happy. It was very impressive and historied, and houses the museum of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers so there was a lot of cool "military stuff" to look at.

I had a great time walking the grounds and goofing around in the gift shop...

That round circle in the middle of the grounds is where Prince Charles was "princed" in 1969, just a couple months before my birth.

When we were done looking around the castle, it was time to get back in the little car, which had to be parked by the water since the hostel had no parking. We packed it up and headed up to Pontins at Prestatyn for the Gathering.

Our tickets to the Gathering included lodging for Friday & Saturday night, but we got a note about a week ahead of time saying that if we were coming a long way for the Gathering, we were welcome to stay Thursday night at no additional charge. Thanks Jules! That was super cool. We couldn't resist so we made our way to Pontins Holiday Village to see just what was in store for us.

When we got there, it took them a while to find us, so we waited while one office called another office, and eventually we were given our registration package. Upon driving the grounds I was thrilled to see the Alarm flags flying at Pontins.

We had read several horrible things about Pontins on tripadvisor.com but were pleasantly surprised. If we had been expecting a hotel or resort, we would have surely been disappointed, but going in with a "summer camp" kind of attitude, we found the club level accommodation was just fine. We had a table & chairs, a couch, twin beds, and a small kitchen. In fact, it was very summer-campy and I kept humming the Kellermans theme song from Dirty Dancing when I wasn't singing Alarm songs.

I began to get a bit nervous. I have wanted to go to the Gathering for several years, but knew it was impractical to go to Wales for a concert, even if it was like a weekend long concert. There was part of me thinking this was going to be like a Star Trek convention for Alarm fans, and that I must seem like a total geek. I am usually comfortable with my geekiness but sometimes when it comes to music, I would just as soon look cool in front of Randy. He has NEVER gone to a Duran Duran concert with me, for instance, as we have decided that would just be weird. I started to wonder if Randy should have stayed away from "Alarm fan Beki."

Despite all reservations, we went to the Bells of St. Mary's Pub for a few drinks and the pre-Gathering gathering. We made some friends here - Kelly, Mitch, and Catherine (KS), Tim, a sports writer from NJ, and Lisa (CA) & Warren (Welsh, but now in CA with Lisa), and they became part of our core group for the Gathering. Randy talked sports with Tim all night and Warren explained the intricacies of the Brains beer distribution system (or lack thereof) and the different types of Brains beer, so he was happily occupied while I heard about first Alarm shows and how many Gatherings everyone had been to, etc. I'll post pics of these people later.

Thus ends Thursday.