Monday 11th June.

We awoke to a dull an drizzly morning. As we couldn't get into the apartment until 4pm, we didn't have to make too early a start, and so, I took advantage of a lie in.
This also meant that by the time I was up, some of the neighbours had gone to work, and I was able to move Sally's car a bit closer to our house. Otherwise it would have involved a bit of a trek with all the luggage to pack the car.
I got the majority of stuff into the car, and then we had a lovely breakfast of bacon, eggs and mushrooms. Very tasty indeed, and a good way to fuel the day.
We managed to leave just before 11am, but had to make a brief pit stop at the post office to get a few parcels posted. This meant that it was more like 11:15 when we left properly. By this time it was raining pretty heavily, and it was rather unpleasant. We hit the M6 and headed towards Birmingham. The traffic was very heavy, and the spray made visibility quite poor. We elected to take the M6 Toll road to avoid the worst of the traffic around Brum, and this proved to be a good move.
As usual the toll road was pretty much empty, and we able to make good progress. Not only that, but it seemed we were outrunning the weather too, and by the time we got off the toll road near Wolverhampton, it had virtually stopped raining.
As we got further along into the journey, and over the boarder into Wales, the skies cleared and the sun began to shine. Which meant that we were treated to the breathtaking beauty of the mountains. This truly is a stunning country, it just needs some half decent weather to appreciate just how beautiful it is.
We had a very brief stop for some fruit not long after Welshpool, and then made another stop at a craftmill near Dolgellau where we had a cup of tea. It turned out that the couple running the cafe were from Coventry originally! It is a small world.
Carrying on the journey again, we hit a lot of roadworks - they seem to be doing an awful lot of work, and in places it would seem that they are making the roads wider. They would be better employed making the hills less steep in my opinion!!
Passing through Porthmadog, we saw an Aldi and Lidl almost next door to one another, and rather than give our custome to the dreaded Tesco that we knew are there too, we elected to use Aldi, and bought a few bits that we needed. Unfortunately, it had started raining again, and come over very cloudy.
Criccieth is only a few miles further along the road, and we soon arrived, and then had to find the place we are staying. This proved to be easier than we expected, and it really is just across the road from the beach. If it weren't for the low clouds and poor visibility, the view from the apartment would be astonishing. We can just about make out the shapes of the mountains across the bay, but on a clear day, it would be magnificent.
The apartment itself is lovely. The three flights of stairs may well kill us off by the end of the holiday, but apart from that it is great.
The living room, dining room and kitchen are all one large room, with two comfy sofas, two bean bags in the bay window, large TV, dining table with four chairs and a nicely laid out and equiped kitchen. (Hob, oven, microwave, fridge, kettle, toaster and dishwasher)
There are two bedrooms, one has a double bed, the other two singles which can be made into a king sized - that is the one we will be using. The bathroom is set out as a wetroom. Its all very modern, nicely set out, newly decorated, and so far we have no complaints.
There was some milk waiting for us in the fridge, some cake, and a box of assorted twinnings teabag. Very thoughtful.
I sort of watched the England v France game, though it was not very exciting, so I was more than happy to star writing this during it.
Dinner was chicken, bacon and cheese. It may sound a little odd, but we are following the Slimming World diet, and today was a "red" day which means we can eat as much meat as we want, and have to watch the carbs. I haven't gotten my head around it really yet, but Sally has, and we have both lost weight on it so far, so who am I to argue with it.
We went for a walk along the seafront after dinner for about an hour. It has become a very pleasant evening - not sunny, but dry and fairly warm.
Back at the apartment now, Sally is watching the telly, and I'm going to finish this up before doing some reading I think. I'm sitting on a bean bag in the bay window, with the sounds of the waves crashing onto the sand drifting up to me, and the smell of the sea catching me too.
A lovely end to the first day away. Here's hoping for decent weather tomorrow!

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