Best Western Cumbria Park Hotel Carlisle

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3. A Dime - No, not a popular brand of crispy chocolate bar, but a 10 cent coin of the American currency which will remain in my waist pouch until I (eventually) reach the United States, wherein I will find some suitable person to pass it back to - along with the story. So you see this isn't just a random trip around the world: this is a serious attempt at tackling the global recession by returning money to the U.S ...

Well after a good nights sleep, well I did but Martyn woke up complaining bitterly that he was kept awake by another form of wind from Leigh? we woke up to.. yes you guessed it, RAIN! but with the added benefit of of strong winds with gusts up to gale force strength..nice!

Once everyone had checked out of the Motel we set off for Glasgow on the scenic route via Otterburn & Haywick, stopping for breakfast at the very friendly Percy Arms in Otterburn ...

Travelled to Cumbria to see Mum and catch up with old friends - was originally going to leave all my kit here but realised that I needed more time to get used to the weight on the bike (and assess whether I might need to get panniers after all) so the trip has become largely a ...

... thinking that my LR is broken and I might have to call the AA to get me home. Eat first. I went out to have a look and now that the engine is cold and it's daylight it is easy to see what the problem is. The exhaust bolts have worked their way loose and it has come apart. 2 new bolts and I am back on the road. I am off to Hadrian's Wall today so only a short drive (and everything is OK with the LR, touch wood). I have driven to a place ...

... It is a castle that has been through lots of sieges and changed hands many times since the early 12th century. It is close to the border of Scotland so has a lot of war history. The Romans were here before the castle and they had built Hadrian’s wall from the east to the west coast showing their frontier.

The castle didn’t have much in the way of furniture, but lots of reading about the life here over the ages as a ...

... place to visit.

From there we drove around the Border Regions of England, checking out Hadrian's Wall - built by the Roman Hadrian to keep the Scottish clans from attacking them - and then up across the border itself into sunny Scotland. An hour in to the country, Helly received the phone call we were dreading - the call to come back to work early. *sigh* So that was the ...

... we went south, past Derwent Water, on the hunt for more geocaches. We took in a few small caves, the much larger Boweder Stone (a massive rock pushed here by a glacier some time ago...), more fields, mountains, stunning views and lots of plans for retiring early and setting up home there. On the way back to Ambleside we played on another pass, in amongst steep walls of ...

It's rather a good run to FW. The train leaves Carlisle on the fast WCML, crossing the River Solway before taking a sharp left turn at Gretna Green, (where a Scotsman can legally marry his sister providing a blacksmith is in attendance or something like that. . . ). The line follows the Solway Firth for a few more miles before passing Dumfries, one of the many market towns in South West Scotland where the legendary poet, raconteur and **** head Robert ...

... of the lake and I strolled around for 10 minutes or so. I assume that was Windermere, but I am not sure. I upload a few picture from there and if you know where it is, please tell me. Anyway, on our way back, we dropped by Lakeside Motor Museum. I was not interested antique cars exhibited in the museum, but John really was.

... to Carlisle Cathedral which was magnificent with medieval ceiling and paintings. Continued on to Carlisle Castle where we got great views of Carlisle from the top of the tower. Walked back to B&B for a rest and to check on the latest soccer scores before heading out for dinner at 5.30pm. We ate at Sloppy Guiseppe pizza which was a little bit expensive.