The County Hotel Carlisle

... What, in essence, this coin represents is the continuation of the journey; a reminder that there are still many more miles to cover.

The last night in Appleby was a quiet family affair, Food, Wine and a movie from my childhood ('The Last Starfighter' - good choice Joanna!) and we are now just killing time until 2pm when it will be time to set off for Geordieland and my date with density ... er, I mean destiny ... ... I think!

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 ...

We leave after another full English breakfast, this morning I asked for scrambled eggs so there wouldn't be so much fat in the meal. It was good.

We head out north to Carlisle Castle. The country side is hills and dales, lots of farming, cows and plenty of sheep. There are stone walls or hedges dividing the pastures. It is very picturesque looking up at the hills. Another warm sunny day.

We find Carlisle Castle in the city of ...

... 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 ...

Busy busy busy today. First we went to Castlerigg Stone Circle, which dates from the Early Bronze Age - around 3200 BC. Pretty old. The setting is amazing - surrounded on all sides by mountains, and hardly a sound to hear...except for this annoying little **** who kept climbing on the stones. I realise I'm a killjoy, but for ****s sake, a bit of respect please? If you ...

... the two lambs trying to stand up. Would they have a real life or would they end up as roast lamb we would never know !!! We carried on walking, and after more fields, another farmer came over and told us to be wary as he had just let his cows out for the first time since winter. They were jumping around and enjoying themselves. Once they had calmed down, we started walking, and then they saw us. They started moving towards us, they got closer and closer, they ...

... 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.

... could not have been comfortable. Outside were animal shaped bushes with one being a country horse replica. There were also some flowers that Suzi made Leanne and I get our pictures taken pretending to smell them. We shopped at the MOFFAT WOOLEN MILL and were given times upon which to return. An older couple ended up getting left behind because they didn't return at the time Michael said to. I felt bad for them but he said that it wouldn't be fair to hold the tour ...