Hi guys hope I find you all in good spirits. Today I would like to share with you a little trip myself along with some family members took last summer. It was my Father in laws birthday and we fancied doing something a little different for his special day, usually he is quite content to have us round for lunch and a few drinks but this year we had another idea. He lives in Berkshire in the UK and the river Thames runs right through the county so being summer we decided to chance the unpredictable British weather and take him for a river boat trip.
On the day we scored lucky it was dry and sunny so all loaded up with food and drinks we made our way to the nearby town of Reading where we picked up the hire boat, after a short orientation we were let loose on the waterways with a modern barge type boat, it was a great design with a slide back roof which allowed us to soak up the sun while cruising.
To get us under way I took the controls as I have a lot of boat experience and the Reading area had lots of boat traffic, we headed west in the direction of Oxford. Once out of town the countryside opened up and the river was far less busy, so I suggested others have a go at being skipper, first up was the birthday boy Homer not one of the Simpsons but he does love 10 pin bowling.
I think he's enjoying himself, co pilot Mini our Jack Russell.
Next up the Captains perch, Kirra who after a shaky start really had fun and was difficult to get out of the drivers seat.
Kirra with toothless grin.
The wife "Koz" had no interest in playing boats, choosing to chill with our other dog Harvey who is a Staffordshire Bull terrier, maybe she was feeling grumpy because of that spot on her chin, ( hope she doesn't read this she will kill me for that.)
Koz and Harvey.
Sister in law Anna also opted for food and drinks over taking the helm, whats wrong with these sisters no wonder women are such bad drivers.🤣
Koz, kirra and Anna.
We cruised for a while longer taking in the countryside and the fresh air before looking for a spot to moor up and have some lunch. While there a few ducks and geese got fed some bits of bread by Kirra, the feeding attracted some interest and some cows came down to the waters edge to get in on the action or maybe just to watch the strange people on the boat.
Cows people watching.
Lunch done, ducks fed it was time to make our way back, after all we only had the boat for the day. With myself at the controls the guys took time to take in their surroundings and wave at passing boats.
Homeward bound.
All had a great day and it was nice to spent time together with no distraction from TV, computers etc; just open space, nature and some good old fashioned family time. It was by far a better way to spend a birthday than sat at home doing the same thing as last year, I'll finish off with a photo of the man of the moment soaking up his day I think looking quite content.
Happy birthday Pops.
Hope you enjoyed our day out as much as us, until next time stay safe folks.
[//]:# (!pinmapple 51.469146 lat -0.992479 long River Thames Reading to Goring d3scr)