Nicholas Quirke was excited on 14th December to be embarking on a Road Trip with the youngest of his Progeny, Cole. He had woken really early after having been at a Men’s Therapy Group Meeting the Night before. There had been a couple of sad farewells to members leaving the group and he himself and confessed to feeling quite content and if that was the case, did he need what it offered anymore, It was hard to tell if this was contentment or his head had got firmly wedged in the sand! The early start was meant to get him packed, but his Chinese friend Terry in Denver had hired his services for some English Grammar work and he found himself preparing 90 questions for a test and this made him late to collect Cole to begin their journey to Cornwall to see the exhibition Cole’s photos were in. It was an easy journey, despite the late start and they arrived in South Brent for their first stop and lunch with Shirley by 1 pm. Cole had not seen Shirley since he was a child and it was great to see how easy and relaxed he was in her company, but then Shirley was an expert in talking with people and making everyone feel they mattered. Nicholas had to take 15 minutes out  to complete the grammar test which was with a 12 year old in China, he only managed to get through 30 of the questions he prepared, but then he settled down to enjoy the food and company. They had to get on their way and they made plans for places to stop on their way back to Dartmoor. It was a quick drive and they got to Penzance for 5pm but the Gallery was  closed and they would have to visit in the morning. The AirBnB they stayed in was lovely Judy and Glyn were very friendly and they had made Vegan Cinnamon buns for them. The house smelled lovely a a result. It transpired that there were fireworks in Newlyn and despite the harsh cold wind they wrapped up warm walked along the promenade to find somewhere to eat and to enjoy the display. They were unable to find a restaurant and instead bought some supplies from the Supermarket and went back to the BnB and watched a film, Paul, which was amusing, but Nicholas, exhausted fell asleep. He woke in the night with stomach ache but by breakfast he was feeling fine and enjoyed the delicious food served up by Judy. They said goodbye and headed in the drizzle to The Exchange Gallery to see the ‘Many and Beautiful Things’ Exhibition. It felt like a really big deal. Sponsored by the Tate gallery, Cole’s work was featured on the cover of their programme for the part of the show given to emerging talent, it was quite thrilling, Nicholas felt very proud of his son. They then saw the rest of the exhibition at Newlyn took some photographs and then headed to Polperro. the rain was lashing down and didn’t bode well but they made some stops along the way to capture some of the intriguing sights they saw. Because of the weather they had Polperro to themselves, barely a face in sight! They took dozens of photographs between them of the amazing smuggling village. The weather cleared, night began to fall and they drove to Widecombe in the Moor to stay with the Reeves. It was good to catch up particularly for Cole who had not visited them on Dartmoor for 7 years. While the family went to see the local Pantomime, Cole treated Nicholas to a substantial and satisfying Beetroot and Chickpea Curry at the Old Inn. They tried to watch John Boorman’s Excalibur, Nicholas’s first attempt at seeing it again since deriding it in 1981 on its release, 37 years later the derision continued and they gave up on it and retired for the night.