What followed went something like this:
John: Ooh
that doesn’t look bad.
Me: I
don’t know what you’re looking at!
John: It
could be worse.
This is a fine example of my overly-optimistic husband, and my ever-so-slightly pessimistic 'reality check' response. I think it's why we work well together. And thankfully (for his sanity), he ignores all but the most positive of retorts. It must be exhausting, honestly.
It rained on and off, but mostly on, for most of our 6 hour walk. We covered 13 miles, it wasn't too high so the climbing wasn't a challenge, but my boots are no longer waterproof (and nor are most of them, I don't think) - and the rain was just running down our faces, into the fronts of our jackets. My hands were freezing for quite a good chunk of the day, and the trench foot is a real possibility at this stage. We've stuffed our boots with newspapers (none of the B&Bs have the heating on to dry the boots out - it's July, even if it is only 13ºC / 55ºF. You don't really need the heating on in these temperatures, unless everything you own is soaking wet, which it is.
We saw horses (again), guinea fowl (which I adore) and some gorgeous calves. Oh, and the maddest of sheep, who was freaking out and chased us - I didn't get a picture of her, though.
The walk wasn't too taxing, as I've said - unless you've got blisters on your blisters and then it is difficult to keep smiling. I'm alright, but not all of us have survived 7 days of walking without a fair amount of pain.
The B& B where we are staying is lovely - beautiful rooms, great showers and we received a pleasant welcome, but the owner has two very small boys, and she seems low-level harassed constantly. She's over worked I think and so I didn't want to ask her to put stuff in her 'drying room' as I thought she really had enough to do. My fault, I accept that.
 |
| Rainbow over Kirkby Stephen |
 |
| Fortune favours the brave |
Kirkby Stephen is a lovely old market town - we stopped at a converted church which is now a coffee shop and 'Emporium combined with a Post office. Only in England, and it was charming and quaint, with good coffee and interesting things to browse. As my suitcase is already ridiculously over stuffed, I didn't want to buy anything else (no space whatsoever) but I was very tempted. I am trying to calculate how far it would be to drive over here from where we are staying after the walk, to see if it is viable. I don't think it is, unfortunately.
Speaking of places to visit again, Orton is beautiful. We were looking at holiday cottages here last summer, and it was one of our favourite Cumbrian villages. I think it still is. The George were very welcoming, the food was great, they have an open fire (they didn't light it yesterday, see comment above on temperatures) and a fellow was sitting at the bar playing acoustic guitar for most of the night which to me was very cool. Bob Dylan was one artist recognised that he 'covered' (not by me, not a clue) but it was chilled and very pleasant in the background.
Orton has a chocolate shop with cafe (already mentioned in Day 6), another cafe and gallery in the village, and one of the best village shops I've come across. They had a post office, ATM machine, fresh veg, local sausages and bacon (among other things), a cheese counter as well as day to day necessities and local walking guides and books.
Here was our route today:
Quotes of the day:
Pat: If I had a pound every time a Ryder man told me something was 'character-building' I'd be a very rich woman.
Megan: Grandma said ' If I had a pound every time a Ryder man told me something was 'character-building' I'd be a very rich woman, and I wouldn't need to go walking'.
Me: Did she say that last bit?
Megan: No.
Pat: You need to keep me in sight and I need to make sure I can see whoever is at the back out of these four.
Doobs: I'm sick of seeing your arse disappearing into the distance.
No comments:
Post a Comment