13-16 Sept - US - Dave and Lois

Our last 3 days of the trip were spent in LA with lifelong family friends Dave and Lois.  It was lovely seeing them and visiting our old haunts... 

Dave and Lois' house top left

House, car and nearby baseball field

Trader Joe's

A cruise by Dad and Dave's old workplace - JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

And a look at the house we lived in in La Canada.

Another visit with Eric 😀

And a trip down memory lane for Dad

Excellent hike with Dan

Dinner out with Ed Caro

And a last look around La Crescenta

Sun 10- Wed 13 Sept - Ilmer

 Last few days. in the UK...

Goodbye beautiful UK!

Sat 9 Sep - Goodwood

 A bit more pre-racing fashion Goodwood style...

and some more shots of the fabulous cars....

and bikes 😎

Skip's 1934 ERA (English Racing Automobile) bottom left.

We sat in the stadium to watch the races.  It was just before the chicanes so the cars slowed down before fanging it down the straight.  So noisy but sooo good.

Practicing and just about perfecting the panning shot.

Even the kidlets had a go...

And the big race. Driver Marc Gillies - just pipped at the post!!

Goodwood Trophy 9 Sept 2023

And then that night it was off to the ball with Tim.  It was space themed fancy dress and we weren't ticking any boxes, i.e.

• Costumes - no
• Are you really Richard and Carol Skipworth? - No

What a night!!  The champagne and wine were flowing (way to freely according to me the next morning 😜), the food amazing and the entertainment second to none!

And here's a wee video to really show the atmosphere....

Fri 8 Sept - Goodwood

Day 1 of Goodwood and a quick discovery that it is not all about cars.  

Oh lordy no, Goodwood Revival is also about fashion....

And entertainment...

and the occasional motor scooter 😂😆

But mainly it's about cars, beautiful, classic cars....

Most of which are full of character and quite gorgeous....

Friday at Goodwood is also about qualifying races  (and attempts to take panning shots)

And Dick's beautiful 1934 ERA, very skilfully driven by Mark Gillies, raced at 9:30am and qualified in 3rd place on the grid....

Thur 7 Sep - Goodwood

Thursday 7 September 2023 and we're off to the Goodwood Revival in West Sussex, about a two and a half hour drive south from Ilmer.  Dad and Dick drove down together and I went with Dick's friend Tim in this beauty...

And a bit of pre-revival googling...

The Goodwood Revival is a three-day festival held each September at Goodwood Circuit since 1998 for the types of racing cars and motorcycles that would have competed during the circuit's original period—1948–1966.

Races over the three days include:

• Stirling Moss Memorial Trophy (2016–present; formerly known as the Kinrara Trophy), a 1-hour race for GT cars that raced until 1963.

• Richmond & Gordon Trophies a 25 minute race for 2.5 litre Grand Prix cars from 1954 to 1960.

• St Mary’s Trophy, a Pro-am event made up of two 25 minute races decided on aggregate.

• Whitsun Trophy a 20 minute race for prototypes up until 1966.

• Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy Celebration, a one hour race for pro/ams for cars up until 1964 which raced in the RAC TT when it was held at Goodwood.

• Glover Trophy, a 20 minute race for 1.5 litre Grand Prix cars from 1961 to 1965.

• Goodwood Trophy, a 20 minute race for Grand Prix & Voiturette cars from 1930–1951.

• A pedal car race for youngsters called the Settrington Cup, featuring Austin J40 pedal cars.

Our accommodation was in nearby West Dean College of Arts, Design, Craft and Conservation.  The building was spectacular, as were some of the art works on display.  The accommodation however was for students, so consisted of a teensy room with just a bed - which didn't matter at all 'cos we were barely there 😏

The college was beautiful and set on acres of ground.

Inside were exhibits of some of the artwork...

The initial view on approach...

After dropping our bags off it was off to lunch..

And a brief visit to the Goodword Circuit so that Dick could register his ERA in the Goodwood Trophy race, which gave a sneak peak of what was to come...

And then it was off to the grounds near Goodwood house for the driver's briefing, a spot of plane watching, a bit of cricket and...

 my personal favourite - Pimm's & lemonade 😀😀

And excitement plus!!!  Look who I spotted - Rowan Atkinson!  Yep - he's a regular racer - I so wanted to go up and say hi, but apparently he isn't into that, so just lurked around spying on him instead - much better 😝

Wed 6 Sept - travel - Haverfordwest to Ilmer

 Travel day - Haverfordwest to Ilmer and this time via Brecon to drop in on cousin Huw.  Huw and Bec live just outside Brecon in a tiny hamlet called Battle, and have exceptional views of the beacons from their back garden...

After a quick visit we continued on to Ilmer in Buckinhamshire and en route I discovered my favourite stretch of road in the UK - the A40.  I don't know if it was just today, but halleluja!!  No traffic, no roadworks, no random 50m speed limits, no no, this was smooth sailing all the way - one happy driver 😀

Tues 5 - Haverford

Dad was coming down with covid on our first fish and chip visit to Porthgain and if you know Dad at all you'll know that he LOVES fish and chips.  So back we went again for round two!  I learnt from round one that a whole serve of cod is enough for 5 people, so opted for the half serve 😌

Dad seems to be making a few bad food choices and today was no exception - he went for the whole serve of Monkfish but it was a bunch of little pieces - the disappointment was palpable.

Once again the weather was spectacular...

Later that evening Dad gave a talk to the Rosemarket history society on growing up there in the 1950's.  It was in the village chapel and around 20 people attended. They made Aussie snacks for afterwards, including Anzac biscuits and lamingtons.  Still waaay too full from my half cod to have more than a tiny nibble. 

Dad's speech went well, quite a few questions afterwards and he was presented with a bottle of Oz red wine for his efforts.  Well done Dad!!

Mon 4 - Pembrokeshire Walk

Early start today!

Dave has walked the 187km Pembrokeshire coast path and knows it like the back of his hand.  Today we were doing a 7 mile loop starting at Strumble Head Lighthouse..

and this is where the gorgeous scenery began..

and continued..

and continued...

Think Dave was sick of me taking photos

and then we met these cutie pies...

The weather was stunning, hot out of the wind

and 7 miles later

Three happy hikers 😀😀😀