Grasmere Hotel

... br>
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 ...

... Riding down through Cumbria the amount of rivers that had burst their bank & surface water on the roads was staggering and really confirmed that we had made a good decision.

Currently, we are all sitting in the kitchen with Anne, Phillip and their two children Ieuan & Elise having stuffed our faces with home made lasagne & apple crumble claimed to be all of work of Phil our host!.. the look on Anne's face might mean he was exagerating some what!

... the night. Morag and Ruby who live next door came round to say safe flight and have a good time and they'd got me 3 stones that have different meanings. One to keep me safe, one to bring me luck and one for love, so pls keep your fingers and toes crossed I find it lol!!! 3 girl friends popped round with bubbly and mags which always come in handy and then my cuz Becca popped round for a last good luck hug.
Not ...

Ingnoring most advice we did head off for our anniversary weekend to the Lake District. Cumbria had just experience record rainfall of 400+ mm of rain in 24 hours and amny parts of the area were severly flooded. We had a great run up on the M6 on Friday afternoon and settled into Elim House. In the moring we went down to see the lake which was now creeping ...

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 ...

Yet more car trouble was on the horizon for Sunday morning. Sherpa had managed to turn his car on, then somehow knock the locking system as he was getting out, just as the door blew shut. Sherpa was now locked out of his running car. Several resourceful hikers spent some considerable time trying to poke the switch on the dashboard with a long pole through the bent window seal. Fun.
Hawkshead, England, United Kingdom rachelkw

... wet weather gear back on and headed off into the drizzle. Eartha and I were left strict instructions not to let the fire go out back at the Hut.Thankfully, the car was pulled free with little more damage than a bent bumper.

After tea, the mad fools once again traipsed off to the pub, leaving Eartha and I to enjoy the peace and quiet of a hut to ourselves. Once Eartha was asleep I sunk into "Jupiter's Travels" and rode pillion across India with Ted Simon.

... cross-country, across a little footbridge, in the dark and stormy night). Mad fools.

The bedroom had 15 sleeping places, consisting of 5 triple bunks. There were 14 of us staying, so it was kind of cosy. Eartha and I chose top layer bunks where you hit your head on the ceiling if you sat up too fast. Eartha went to sleep and I cracked open a bottle of homemade and joined Vince by the fire.

... in Ambleside for a hot beverage and then caught the mini bus back to Grasmere. Everyone went in to take a nap, sans moi. I explored the big hill outside my window... ...which was not my window much longer! When I returned, my room had big "DO NOT ENTER" signs posted on it. I went to the receptionist to inquire about this matter, and she informed me that the room had suffered from an electrical outage. Funny...it was room 13, and I ...

... 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.