by Today was a short driving day! Only six hours!
The plan was to crisscross Brecon Beacons National Park just north of Cardiff. It’s one of those cases where I want to see as much as I can, but there’s no single driving route, rather different areas to visit based on what you want to see. I’m not a fan of repeating the same bit of road on the same day if I can help it, so I had to construct a bit of a figure-eight route to get to most of it, knowing that another trip in a few days would cut through the middle part of the park that I missed.
Then the concierge at my hotel recommended I check out Three Cliffs Bay near Swansea, and today’s trip seemed like I could start there and then head up to Brecon.
Except.
Except, there was construction on the road I planned to take to cut over to the M4 to head to Swansea, but I didn’t find out until I was faced with the ROAD CLOSURE sign and a dozen orange traffic cones blocking my way. I tried following the yellow “Diversion” signs (the UK’s version of Alt-Route signage), but I’m pretty sure it just drove me in a circle? So after a half hour I just gave up and deleted Three Cliffs from the route and went back to the original plan. Ah well.
But today did end up including a few of my favorite things to encounter on a road trip:
1) The Surprising Vista
There’s legitimately nothing cooler than coming around a bend or cresting a hill and suddenly discovering a stunning vista that reveals itself to you all at once. “Breathtaking” is a word that gets over-used, but it is one of those moments where you genuinely gasp at what’s unveiling before you. Or at least exclaim “whoa!”
The first was Rhigos Viewpoint just south of Brecon Beacons National Park. Luckily this part of Wales seems to have more of those “Parking” spots than southern England did, so I could actually snag a pic or two.
The second was later at Hay Bluff. These photos genuinely don’t do justice to just how much it feels like you are at the top of Wales and looking out over the entire country. SO COOL.
This was also where I spotted either a brave man or an idiot attempting to hang-glide(? or… what’s the one with a parachute that’s already open? paraglide?) off the top of Hay Bluff. I just… idk man. Good luck? Also, for the record, there was the sound of screaming as he was jumping off, but it could’ve been from one of the sheep that was grazing nearby. Oh, right, the entire area was just one giant open area for sheep. No pens, just sheep everywhere where ever.
2) The Winding Road
I don’t know why, but being able to look ahead and see the road I’m on winding its way through the hills and disappearing around a bend is just very cool to me. Can’t explain why, other than my brain sees it and just thinks “SO COOOOOOL” and then I look for a place to pull over and take a pic. Well. I take a pic once just to have the photo. But for every one pic I take, there are a dozen winding roads that are just for me, in my memory. And they’re all great.
3) The Reminder Of Time Past
Sometimes I think I’m very bad at vacation. Like, once I’ve seen something, I don’t need to keep looking at it for an hour? I went to Stonehenge last year and was in and out in 10 minutes? I ogled the mind-boggling stones and patterns, took a bunch of photos (I tried to find cool and artistic ways to photograph them, but most angles include tourists gawking in the background and yuck who wants that in your photo), and then… that was it? They’re super impressive, I’ve seen them, and now I’m ready to go.
I’m the same way with most things. I’ll drive four hours to the western-most edge of Washington State to see the caves and cliffs of Cape Flattery. I’ll hike down from the parking lot to the ocean bluffs. But once I’m there? Cool. Look around a bit, scope out what I can, take a few photos, and then 15 minutes later: lets go.
All of which is to say, I saw Carreg Cennen Castle today and it was impressive. It’s huge and ruined and really old. Like, built in 1197 and ruined since 1462 old. And I was kinda done with looking at it after 10 minutes. I could’ve bought the map/guide and walked around it and seen every nook and cranny. And if it was a more historically relevant site I would totally be up for that. But in a case like this, where it’s just impressive and cool? I’m good.
But driving away from it, I could still see it perched atop its rocky outcrop from a few miles away down the other side of the hill. It’s this permanent part of the landscape, and it got me thinking about how much history took place there. 300 years worth, almost 1000 years ago. It was part of the War of the Roses. It survived the Black Death.
So even though I tried to only spend a few moments with it and move on, it managed to stick with me beyond our limited time together. And I think that’s why I’m okay with how I do these vacations: the things that really work their way into my brain don’t always need me to spend hours examining them, sometimes they make themselves a permanent part of my own internal landscape.
The Route:
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