August 18, 2023 - Bolton, Appleby-in-Westmorland, England

 Today, we thought we would beat the summer crowds by visiting some of the small, touristy towns in the Lake District.  We may have beat some of the crowds, but we still had our share.  The roads were busy and the towns full of mostly British tourists with families.  It was fun seeing the kids, but the traffic got jammed up in the small town roads.

The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region and national park in North West England. It is primarily famous for its mountain, lake, and coastal scenery, and for its literary associations with William Wordsworth and other Lake Poets, Beatrix Potter, and John Ruskin.  The Lake District is completely within Cumbria, and its mountains (or 'fells') are sometimes called the Cumbrian Mountains.

Our ride made a warped oval loop on the map passing through:

• Penrith
• Pooley Bridge
• The Kirkstone Pass - with an altitude of 1,489 feet is the Lake District’s highest pass that is open to motor traffic
• Glenridding
• Ambleside - we had a nice lunch here of fish and chips, and meat pie with mash (potatoes) 
• Windermere
• Grasmere - we bought some famous gingerbread biscuits (similar to cookies) here
• Around Keswick
• Back to Penrith
• Home at Bolton

This route took us through the heart of the Lake District.  For several miles we rode along the shore of Lake Windermere watching sailboats, travel trailers, kayakers and hikers.  It was a lot of fun seeing everyone on "holiday", what Yanks call vacation.  And lots and lots of dogs, mostly well behaved.

Sooz pictures during our ride today

The VERY famous, and tasty, Lake District Grasmere Gingerbread Shop

Inside the VERY tiny shop

Sooz chatting up a local while waiting in line to get some gingerbread biscuits.  Her new friend shared that she used to come here when she was a kid with her parents and now she buys some biscuits for her family and kids.  It's a big tradition.  She said the line today was short compared to other times.

My lunch of meat pie, mash, gravy and broccoli

Me, doing some rock climbing.  This picture was hanging in the pub where we had lunch and cracked me up.  According to the waiter, it is a genuine historic picture of a climber in the Lake District.