Sept 30 - We have now moved to new digs, over in the Lake District. We're in another time share located out in the country, but this time it's very different. There is a very nice restaurant and bar, and there are considerably more units, all seeming to be full. Apparently there were 50 check-ins yesterday. Quite a contrast to our last place where hardly anyone could be found. But a very nice facility, with all of the amenities...pool, hot tub, etc. And we have wifi, at the bargain price of 25 pounds for the week. They haven't caught up with the rest of the world in terms of offering free wifi. Them's the breaks.

We've done an awful lot since our last post. Castles! Hadrian's Wall! Northumberland National Park. A one woman show in Wooler Friday night, performed by a Canadian actress, which was fun. Our focus has been primarily on building a good walk into each experience, where possible. For example, Hadrian's Wall was at least a 10 mile hike up and down the hills, through sheep and cow pasture lands. We started at the wrong place, thanks to a bit of misinformation from a rather disinterested information person. "Is this the best place to do a walk along the wall?", we asked. "Up to you, really." "Where does it start?" "Just walk along the road for a mile and look for the acorn sign." So we did. And it was probably an hour before we saw the first remnant of the wall. Then it was fields again for another mile before we found another stretch of wall. By the time we were at the half-way mark to our proposed destination, the mist and wind were heavily in our face, so rather than carry on and wait for a bus to take us back to our starting point, we turned about and retreated. We both hate to do that but the weather wasn't at all pleasant, so we gave in. Total of 4 hours of hiking, which was fine, but had we gone to the next 'station' to start our walk, we'd have been much better off. We drove there, found the remains of a large Roman Fort, and found the wall stretching off to the west, which we would have enjoyed hiking along. My fault for not researching better. Such are the perils of planning.

The castles? We saw a great range of them, from ruins to modernized spooky haunted to modernized classic, including the one where a lot of the Harry Potter filming was done (Alnwick, pronounced Annick). There you could get a lesson on how to ride a broom, and take a tour with a young lady who explained all of the films that had been done in the castle, and the lengths that producers go to in order to get the effects they want. That was a very good 45 minute tour. The castle is still lived in by the Duke of Northumberland, whose possessions are immensely extensive and in many cases priceless. The family moves out to Scotland for the summer tourist season, then moves back into their lavish digs in the fall for the winter.

The haunted castle was derelict until an adventurous character took it over in order to restore it. It is full of stuff that he has collected from all over the world (he's a leading antique expert known world-wide), it has a cool dungeon and torture chamber, is just crammed with stuff because he can't bear to throw anything out. He's climbed Mt. Everest, taken part in the big dog sled race in the north, is a friend of Prince Phillip...would be neat to meet this guy. His castle is a bit of a mess, but very interesting, with a lovely tea room next to the dungeon, where we had home-made tomato soup and bread (not in the dungeon). 

Enough about castles. On Friday, we got out into the park and did two hikes, one up a vertical to get a view of the surrounding beautiful countryside, back down, and then on to do another hike up and down to find a lovely spout (waterfall). That was about 6 miles total. So close to 16 miles in two days meant a pretty good effort on our part. We're feeling good with all of the exercise, and have managed to subdue our colds pretty well (Gail totally, me partially).

Some other things to mention. Brexit Brexit Brexit. That's the big issue here, and dominates the news. The Labour Party had their big conference last week, and came out with some unity as to what their options are, although their leader is under some stress for claims that he is anti-semitic. He made it clear he isn't. The Conservatives start their conference today, with Boris Johnson accusing Elizabeth May's plan to leave as 'demented'. Should be an interesting conference.

Sports? Football, football, football. And Ryder Cup. Unfortunately we don't have Sky TV in our quarters, so will have to go to the bar to watch today, but that's okay. They'd best have the golf on rather than football, or I'll be upset.

Food costs? We don't see a huge difference in quite a few items, when calculating the pound to the dollar (5 to 3 is a rough guide, so what costs 3 pounds is 5 Canuck bucks). Grocery stores in smaller towns are usually Co-op, but in larger towns big supermarkets are very good. And you can always pop into a bakery to get meat pies and other goodies. We've been eating in most days, as we have good kitchen facilities, so that saves the routine of looking for a place for meals, which is such a pain.

Pubs? They are central to life for a lot of people, so we've joined the routine by trying to finish each day with a pint. We found three different ones in Wooler, each with its own character, and generally friendly patrons and staff. Nice way to finish a day before heading home.

Driving? I've talked about it before, but it's still a challenge on the small roads, as you can't take your eyes off the center line for a moment, winding along up and down and all around as they go. The motorways are a totally different story, as there appears to be no speed limit. Coming here yesterday part of the way on the A1 I was doing 75 mph, with cars zipping past me on the outside lane. Drivers are generally courteous, but they always seem to be in a rush to get to where they're going.

This area looks very appealing, as some research last night revealed many interesting areas to go to for some good hiking. We'll let you know how it works out. But looking back at our week in Northumberland, we would recommend it highly to anyone looking for an interesting and varied place to spend a week. We very much enjoyed our time there.

Time for some breakfast, then over to the bar area to hopefully catch the key moments of the Ryder Cup. Thanks to those of you who follow this rambling nonsense, and for sending along comments. More later. Stay tuned.