As part of the continuing adventures with the Capri, we took it out for the weekend round North Wales on a trip organised by Aled (alminera) and Dave. “Classic Ford Snowdonia Mountain Trail 2007” it said on the plaque attached to the bumper … I think we managed to contain our glee at such a gesture – little touches like that are what it’s all about as far as we’re concerned 
Here’s our route – 2 days, 370 miles – this car doesn’t do short trips any more 
After getting up at what-the-hell o’clock, we got the car packed up in record time, 
but somehow managed to be an hour behind schedule, so we let Aled know we’d meet them at Portmeirion village after making our way across country.
If you remember The Prisoner from the telly it will seem strangely familiar, but we didn’t see any Lotus 7’s or big balloons chasing people across the beach 
The place was built by a rich wacko called Clough Williams-Ellis, with the idea being that you could build stuff on a naturally beautiful site without spoiling it – I guess he wasn’t a big fan of Barrat Homes then 
He seemed to have a thing about lions, as they were everywhere – glued to the side of buildings, on plinths, lurking in the bushes. Maybe he once happened to mention to a mad auntie that he liked lions, and she just got him the same damn birthday present every year … for seventy years 
This one’s cool though …
We met up with the folks who’d managed to get their arses in gear and get there on time, and pootled back to the campsite. Yes, campsite 
Twice in one year!
Next morning we were up and at ’em and raring to go, but first we needed some go-go juice. We might have turned it into an eighties garage for a short while, (much to the amazement of passing motorists), but we didn’t manage to get them to turn the pumps back to eighties prices 
Our route took us back north across a small wooden toll bridge. I’m assuming that Aled asked if the thing would take the weight of a dozen old Fords all at once 
From there we motored up to Beddgelert, where we stopped to admire the shiny cars in the convoy 
Further on up the A498, we stopped to look at Mount Snowdon – if you don’t know what it looks like, imagine a big spiky rock thing to the right of this photo 
From there we climbed up and over the “Pass of Llanberis” – big hills, narrow roads, fearless sheep and a multi-coloured line of cars
From there, it was back round the bottom half of the loop for a bit of déjà vu, before we hit downtown Betws-y-Coed and took up half of the coach bays on a busy Sunday afternoon 
After a hearty lunch of fish & chips, we left our gaggle of onlookers behind and headed across to Llangollen and the Horseshoe Pass, before stopping at the top at the Ponderosa Cafe. Bear in mind it’s thirteen hundred feet up, it’s windy, it’s the end of September and the heater’s on in the Capri
After a reviving cuppa, it was time to say our goodbyes and set off for home. On the way back we were passed by a motor car that a few people might recognise…
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