DAY 6 SUN. JUNE 5 BEAUMARAIS - CAERNARFON

Should I start with the good stuff, or the bad stuff? Maybe the bad stuff first, to get it out of the way.

I'm beginning to think we can't navigate our way out of a wet paper bag. We left Beaumarais, after a great breakfast, under cloudy skies. We were pointed in the wrong direction by a kid who tried to help. We then struggled inland, trying to find the "scenic" north coast of Anglesey, but we never made it. We ended up literally going in a circle back where we started. Screw it, we found our way to Holyhead by going on the major highway in a straight line: so much for the scenic route, although we did see some lovely lush green Welsh farms. Our bad luck continued when we reached Caernarfon. We almost overshot the town centre, but managed to get into a central car park. We walked to the visitor centre and were directed to a street with 3 B and B's, none of which were open. A good-hearted neighbour said she knew the mother of one of the landlords, but we had to follow her to a "Pirates of the Caribbean" street party for the local kids. Kind of neat to see. Well, the mother wasn't there, but we were handed off to well intentioned granny who took us back to the B and B's, only to get herself completely muddled in trying to figure out a code sequence on the security scanning system, which, if successful, would've allowed us to break in. Alas, she couldn't remember the code, even though she tried to will Lou into guessing some combination of her grandkids birthdates, phone numbers, whatever. I was starting to lose it, but kept my cool and said little. Lou gamely tried to help the old dear, but, when it became obvious she would be of no help, we thanked her and let her go back to Capt. Jack Sparrow and his minions. Back to the visitor centre we went, convinced the man to call a place, secure us a room for 2 nights: we walked to the B and B, took the room, navigated our way back to the car, managed to drive back to the B and B without getting lost ( victory !! ) and collapsed.

The good stuff? Well, we're still alive, we're still talking to each other, but with more volume and edge, the weather is still gorgeous ( hot and sunny, mostly ). We had a nice walk on Holyhead, but didn't really see puffins, had a good meal in a pub on the waterfront and .... that's about it. The car, a Vauxhall Astre, feels better in my control, and I'm reading an interesting biography about Mordecai Richler. As you can see, I'm trying real hard to be positive, but Wales is not helping. Oh yeah, we heard lots more Welsh spoken today in Caernarfon: apparently, this is a centre of Welsh nationalism. Bully for them ! Oh, and I forgot to mention that the landlady of the White Lion in Beaumarais is smokin' hot. I came to Wales for this?