Terry and Sooz's Travels

Monday, August 21, 2023

August 21, 2023 - Bolton, Appleby-in-Westmorland, England

Yesterday, we took it easy to recharge our batteries and watch the Women's World Cup Soccer match. England was competing against Spain and it was all over the news here. Unfortunately, England lost but held their heads high.

I also did some wet weather tweaking on the GS tank bag, phone holder and heated gear control. I was finding that the long periods of rain was getting into the phone cover I got to keep it dry, plus the mount broke. I used some bailing wire to patch it and make it securely mounted. I'm happy to say, it worked well during today's ride. The tank bag rain cover I have does not fit well and needed to be tightened up so it does not blow up into an inflated parachute when riding at speed. Sooz helped me use sealing tape to tighten it up and it worked well on our ride today. The final fix was to mount the heated gear control in an accessible place so I don't have to go hunting for it to adjust the heat levels on our gear when riding. It was too distracting. I used some velcro stripping to mount it in an easier place to access on the tank bag when the rain cover is on. It also worked well today.

Today, we rode to:

Brougham Hall - Brougham Hall is a hidden gem with a fascinating history. Built in the 14th-century, this beautiful building was the site of a fortified home, reaching its height between 1830 and the early 1900s. It was a nice visit walking around the old "hall". The onsite cafe was closed, probably due to the wet weather, but we survived to move on.
Castlerigg Stone Circle - This was another ancient historic site found in the middle of a field of grazing sheep. It's amazing how many historic sites, castles, forts, etc can be found just off the side of the road or in fields. We were able to walk up to the site for free, dodging sheep poo, with kids running around and climbing on the stone structures. Very accessible and casual. It's fun to see areas like this that are so easy to visit. It is not just its location that makes this one of the most important British stone circles. Thought to have been constructed about 3000 BC, it is potentially one of the earliest in the country. Taken into guardianship in 1883, it was also one of the first monuments in the country to be recommended for preservation by the state.
The nice little town of Keswick for lunch. Keswick is in the middle of the Lake District and is popular with the tourists. Even on cool, wet, windy day there were a lot of people walking around the downtown area. We had looked in this area for places to stay, but it was pretty much fully booked.
Penrith grocery store - we just needed a few things to make it through the next couple of days in our apartment.

I can't find Sooz - Brougham Hall

Brougham Hall

Sooz trying to figure out how to open the entrance gate

The full stone circle

Kids will be kids

Sooz looking out for sheep bombs

It's incredible how many miles and miles of stone fences are in the UK

No cement or motar

Sooz trying to escape

Friday, August 18, 2023

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.

Thursday, August 17, 2023

August 17, 2023 - Bolton, Appleby-in-Westmorland, England

Yesterday was the first time we have ridden some distance without rain. The ride from Conwy to Bolton, crossing from Wales to England, was a pleasant and uneventful ride. Weather was mid 70s, sunny and light wind. As we left Wales, passed between Liverpool and Manchester, and entered the Lake District, traffic thinned and the landscape became more rolling with open views. The roads also became narrower.

We will be here in a nice Airbnb for 7 nights, giving us time to explore some of the local stores, towns and historic features. It will also give us time to rest up. It makes sense that we get tired - everything takes longer, requires more concentration, and we've been gone 3 1/2 months now. But, I still get frustrated and feel like I should be able to go continuously and not feel it - stubborn. Luckily, Sooz is here to remind me that I'm not as young as I used to be, and we have done A LOT since we left Gainesville May 28, 2023, so it shouldn't be a surprise that I get tired.

During our ride yesterday, we stopped at Harwoods Patisserie in Wigan. One of the owners of the bakery has been on a popular baking competition TV show here in the UK. We have been watching it so it was fun to check out the shop. We also bought several of their items, which are more like pieces of art than typical baked items, and they taste really good.

Sooz took this during our ride from Conwy to Bolton

A flier we saw yesterday here in Bolton when we were grocery shopping

From this unassuming bakery, Harwoods Patisserie, came all of the goodies below

They protect their red squirrels here in the Lake District

Cows and sheep wandering around and on the roads

We saw this in a WWII War Museum near Conwy. It reminded people to not throw out garbage that might feed pigs as a way to conserve for the war

In the window of a Conwy shop that sold Barbour gear

Conwy waterfront during low tide

Crab butties? Quay?

Part of the Conwy Castle wall about 2 blocks from where we stayed

A fine cap collection for Marty

Walking the Conwy Castle Wall

Walking up to the wall

Saturday, August 12, 2023

August 12, 2023 - Conwy, Wales

We have changed locations twice since I last posted. Yesterday, we rode from Aberystwyth to Barmouth, and today we rode from Barmouth to Conwy on the northern end of Wales. Yesterday was mainly a ride along the coast and the weather was beautiful, mid-70s, sunny, little wind. Today, the weather was low-60s, rainy and windy until we arrive in Conwy when it cleared up, of course.

Both days were low miles and mostly slow. Yesterday, we rode through several of the touristy, coastal towns where families we on holiday enjoying the beach and ice cream. The traffic wasn't horrible, but busy.

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of staying at Bryn Mynach in Barmouth. We met the owner Tracey and really hit it off. She owned and ran a cafe in Barmouth for over 20 years and decided to change directions after Covid to develop her property into vacation rentals. She was interesting, curious about the US and fun to chat with. This is the 5th or 6th time, someone in the UK has asked us, "Can't you guys in the US do better than Biden and Trump?" And then they start talking about UK politicians such at "BoJo", Boris Johnson, and how they have have their own problems too. We have been open if people want to talk about politics, but also wary, trying not to insult anyone. With Tracey, politics ended up being a bonding experience, which was fun. We were the first Americans she had ever met, so she and her daughter had a lot of questions, which was fun, also.

Our Airbnb here in Conwy is beautiful. We will be here 4 nights and plan on doing day trips to different sites. Although, we may just be slugs. We are both pretty tired and need a few days to just rest up and take it easy. This will be a great place to hang out for a few days.

Once again, I have dropped a lot of pictures below, but I couldn't resist. Sooz took some great shots, and evey looking at them now only a few days later, I'm amazed we were just there.