Kendal, June 13th

The Lake District called early this morning, and we answered it, but not before coffee and a little bite to eat. 

I promised Dan that I would eat a full English breakfast at some point in my trip. Today was that day! I found a vegetarian breakfast. It was delicious.

I took a few pictures from the bakery and chocolate shop in Kendal as we walked around the village to show the kids. No, I am not actually eating all of these. I feel that if I take pictures it is almost like eating them, but minus the money and the calories. 

I also took some pictures of meat and meat pies for Nic. He has been loving his English food and today confessed that he may have over-indulged just a little. We will see if he actually takes a break.

After our morning touring the Lake District villages, we motored up the small, and winding roads of the Lake District. We passed Windermere Lake and snapped a few pictures. We were really looking to avoid the tourist crowds and see the land.

Nic really felt that experiencing the country roads was an important English experience. I will say that I did not agree. However, we have checked that box. I tried to snap a picture of us trying to get around this fellow - it was really a lot closer than my pictures demonstrate. (Sorry, Rob. The car is okay though!).

We ambled up to the Cambrian Mountains where we found the highest point in England. We did not hike it, but we looked at it.  We did hike Blea Tarn and the little hill near it for a view. It was truly spectacular. Nic wonders if the woods here may be old growth, or old growth restoration. As always with England there is Roman, Viking and other old people whose history is tied to this land. 

I think I mentioned that it is windy here? It has blown and blown for days. Nic and I are tired of the wind and we are hoping for a break in the next few days. I am not super hopeful. I have been assured by many English people that this summer has been unusually cool and that they are not all like this. I am somewhat skeptical based on the state of the trees.

I love the way the moss grows and covers the ground, rocks, houses, stone walls, and everything stationary. It is truly beautiful.

I was very entertained by the signs leading to the trails and paths around our hike. We did not see any horse drawn vehicles, but we did see a lot of sheep.

Again, my pictures do not really do justice to the hill we climbed or the view of the landscape, but it was truly remarkable. I am so glad we opted to go a little higher up to really see the land and that we hiked a bit too.

Getting down was a little tricky. I tried to take a picture of myself squeezed between the rock slab and the hill we climbed to demonstrate how tight of a squeeze it really was. I only managed a weird picture of me, but that is probably because I was being squeezed.

I snapped a few shots of this stone fence as it wound its way up the hill and around some fairly steep landscape. The English commitment to stone walls is impressive. It throws the whole Pink Floyd "The Wall" song into a new light for me. There are literally 1.5 billion bricks in the wall. I understand much more clearly the metaphor there now that I have seen a tiny portion of bricks and walls in England. 

This happy cat was milling about on the roadside keeping us company along the way. He was sweet and friendly.

On our way home from the Lake District, Nic took me to the Atlantic Ocean. That's right, it was just down the road. We stopped off and waved to Dan across the pond. I was a little disappointed by the ocean. I wanted waves and dolphins. Nic told me that we can reevaluate the ocean in a few days. I will keep you updated.

We headed back to Kirby Lonsdale to stay at Rob's house one last night. Rob himself had left, but I got to meet his lovely wife Sheri and her friend, Angi. We had a lovely dinner with gin and tonics. I have noted that people in England remember the Brexit vote the way we, Americans, remember 911. Almost every person I have met in England has told me exactly where they were and what they were doing when they learned of Brexit.

I also have noted and asked many English people about their bricks. Many are coated in black soot. I assumed this was a remnant of the Industrial Revolution. I have asked, probably rudely, how the fastidious English have not yet washed their houses. The responses have been varied and interesting. Most people do not think the black is from the Industrial Revolution, but rather pollution in recent years. They also point out in England it would the local government's job to clean them and they likely lack the money. Homeowners have told me they DO wash their houses, they just dirty up quickly.

Especially here in the north I notice what I think the English would call the grimness of life. Grim is the world that pops up in my mind as I see much of the villages and environment. Although beautiful and rich in so many ways, there is a black smudge of grimness in many parts of England. Not a judgement, just an observation.

Tonight I go to bed late sitting by my computer awaiting new of my parents in Flagstaff, Arizona where they have been evacuated from their home. Fires have been raging across the Southwest. Please keep them in your thoughts tonight.

Nic and I plan to leave for Scotland tomorrow, where our schedule will be slightly more flexible and fluid.. We are not 100% sure where we will land in the next few days, but I will keep you updated.