- this year (lacking Colin the Camper) we opted to just go for a single day (the Sunday) as you can get a cheaper day ticket rather than having to pay for the full weekend, the only flaw in our cunning plan was trying to drive to the travelodge we were staying at on the first day of the school summer holidays...it took about 5 and a half hours *and* the post code for the hotel took us to a doctors surgery car park in the wrong town (even Google maps had it completely wrong when I checked on my mobile), we ended up having to call reception (who said "Oh yes, that's the right post code but it doesn't work with Sat Navs I'm afraid, you either end up there or at Waitrose") and they talked us in over the 'phone...*just* what we needed after hours sat in stationary traffic with a bored baby Thomas... ಠ_ಠ
Anyway, a fantastic (Rib eye steak) meal that night in the local American-style diner more than made up for it and we were up early (me managing to flood the bathroom when I had my morning bath and Thomas covering the floor in nectarine and squashed banana) so we beat a hasty retreat to Santa Pod with barely a backward glance in case an angry maid was chasing after us with a mop...
If you come on the Sunday they make you park in a different field (as we were early we were right on the far side of it - annoyingly) and then have to walk in, we paid our money and were told there was a shuttle bus to the strip if we wanted it, but we didn't think the pram would fit (and there's always a lot to see anyway) so we skipped it...
First stop, after marvelling at the odd things people had arrived in -
- (there's lowered, and then theres *lowered* - can you imagine that on the M1??) or brought with them -
- we made a quick pit stop in the new Pod Shop -
- to buy Thomas some baby ear defenders (as drag racing can get *rather* noisy for little ears) which he initially really wasn't very sure about but soon came round to, then we walked around the other stalls (glancing nervously at the slate sky) -
- and then wandered back (with a few new T-shirts and a VW Camper van bin) to watch some of the racing (as the sun finally started to put his hat on)-
- Thomas (of course) slept through the jet funny car -
- Oh well, there's always next year...when he did wake up he made a big point of making sure we realised that there were cars racing along -
- which was very sweet... ;) We had a poke around the show and shine (which was much improved by the lack of lakes of mud) -
- although it was very difficult to push the pram around thanks to the rubble it was taking place atop)-
- got a bite to eat (while Thomas bashed my head in extreme excitement) and watched the incredible new VW pickup bus do it's first ever run-
- after that we decided it was probably time to head home (as it had taken so long to get here the day before) -
- pausing to watch some incredible motocross stunt riders do their thing -
- notice the new Monster Truck Experience (very reasonably priced too) -
- and the usual heaps of rubbish the poor organisers are going to be picking up for weeks to come...Great day out (as usual) and great to see that a lot of the money we pay to get in is being invested back into the site, it's a better experience every single year...well done Santa Pod! ;)
Loads more pictures over here (if you are interested in this sort of thing)...
