It was at Tinturn Abbey that I realized I had left our laptop computer in Winchester! In Winchester, I had tried to recharge the laptop batteries, but ended up blowing up my little surge protector (bam!..smoke...) and the fuse to the room. I was so distracted, I had unplugged the computer, but left it sitting under the bed... I was pretty dissappointed in myself, but Mom was sooo good, and kept me laughing about it all, saying we'd surely have some great experience on our trip back to pick it up!! What a great sport she is!

It was late, so we drove on into Cardiff to the Youth Hostel where we had reservations, and decided to leave real early in the morning to go the 140 miles back to Winchester. My camera was full, and no laptop to offload them on, so there are no pictures of this day.

We picked up the laptop, and then drove back to Cardiff, but the big soccer match was going on, and all rooms were full for a long distance – they suggested we head for Swansea, about 40 miles west.

Near Swansea there was a real traffic jam, so we took the next exit to look for a B&B or hotel. The road was a big red stripe on our map, heading off to a town to the north, but it was actually a teeeensy little road, in some parts just barely wider than our little Ford Focus, with pretty rock walls on either side, trees hanging overhead, and winding up the hill.

It was looking unlikely that we'd find any B&B up here, and then we came upon some people, so Mom asked if they knew of any place to stay – they called friends and helped us find a great room for a great price in Swansea.

We had planned to explore Cardiff, and visit the Museum of Welsh Life there, but everyone we talked to said to stay away from Cardiff during the soccer match, that it was just going to be total chaos. So…we made a plan to head north towards Cardigan, with some stops along the way, and packed up in the morning and headed northwest.