Guy, Sarah, Sadie and Ruby Visit.

Monday 15th August, 2016 still near Middlewich.
Yet another beautiful morning and a lovely quiet mooring.

We popped to the shops first thing, as we were expecting R's nephew Guy, Sarah, and their daughters Sadie and Ruby, to visit at lunchtime. Guy (the Captain) was very excited at the prospect of meeting another Guy and sat on lookout duty.

He was delighted to see them approaching on the towpath...

...and even more thrilled finally when Guy met Guy!

We had tea, coffee, lunch (not all at once!) and a catch-up then discussed how to spend the afternoon. None of them had ever been out on a narrowboat trip before. Guy, Sarah and Sadie had visited MM at Harefield in 2012, but we had not ventured out of the marina. So, after lunch, we set off west along the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal. We couldn't take them too far, as they would have to walk back to their car.
Both Guy, Sadie and Ruby tried their hand at steering MM.

Less than a mile later, we came to Stanthorne Lock. Sadie and Sarah made sure that the lock was set for us.

While Guy and Ruby stayed on board as R steered MM into the lock. At eleven feet drop, this is quite a deep one!

Sadie soon got the hang of locks and how the paddles work.

Soon after, we moored up for more tea, coffee and cake.

A final photograph to record their visit; it was so nice to see them all - it has been far too long and we all promised to get together again soon and maybe to have more cruising time on MM.

We waved them off as they started to walk back to their car.

Along the way, to everyone's delight, they passed two boats: Ruby...

...and Sadie. What a coincidence!

It was heartwarming to see how much they enjoyed their first taste of narrowboating. Sadie, in particular, was very keen to have a boating holiday. We think that they have a natural affinity for narrowboating, having always had (and loved) VW campers!
A lovely evening followed.

Today: 1 mile, 1 lock and 2.1 hours.
Trip: 243 miles, 192 locks and 185.5 hours.