Wednesday, Oct 3 - Cloudy, somewhat drizzly, with brief spots of respite today. So given that it's mid-week, and that we had trudged more than 18 miles over the past two days, we decided to do  a grand tour today. Not too much walking, and a little bit of sight-seeing. So that's what we did.

But before that, we did a long walk yesterday around Durwent Water. It was a very good walk, some ups and downs, but mostly just fairly long, as it was a little more than 10 miles around in total. The lake is surrounded by lovely hills, the waters relatively quiet, and it wasn't overly crowded. There were a fair number of walkers, but not enough to make it uncomfortable. There are lots of people here in Cumbria despite the fact it's now October, but a lot of them probably come because it's off season, and shouldn't be too crowded. Sounds like our County.

Near the end of the walk/hike/stroll, we came upon Lingholm Estate, which was a summer favorite of Beatrice Potter. We saw Mr. McGregor's garden, stopped to enjoy a cup of tea in Peter Rabbit's tea house, and had a lot of old memories return. I hadn't read the story of Peter for years and years, so found a little book on the shelf, and quickly reminded myself as to why it was such a favorite of mine when I was a wee lad. Good memories.

We capped the day off with a stop at the local Sportsman's Pub for a pint, and called it an evening. Speaking of which, our usual routine after our pub visits is to return to our place, have a wee nip, and settle down for the evening watching British mysteries. We even keep up on the news of the day on occasion. Glad to see that NAFTA is now USMCA, with some pros and cons. Hope Trump continues to receive disturbing news, and that the nominee for Supreme Court goes down. Sad about Indonesia big time.

Today we did the big tour around both Windermere and Coniston waters. This is the main center of the tourist industry, so the villages along the east side of Windermere were loaded with people. We did a nice hike up to the top of Orrest Head, and had a lovely view of the lake and the surrounding countryside. It is truly a beautiful area, with deep valleys, crags and fells disappearing in the clouds, waters nestled in the bottoms of the valleys. The hills are of many shades, green to russet to brown, mostly bare, with stone walls climbing up even the steepest slopes. Sheep everywhere, grazing to their heart's content. All you can think of when you consider the Lake District.

Coniston was home to Ruskin, the artist. It was also the lake where Malcolm Campbell died trying to set a world speed record for watercraft. There were memorial plaques honoring both. Coniston is a lovely little town, one of its neat features being a steam yacht gondola. The 'boat' does cruises for tourists, has the shape of a gondola, complete with figurehead at the prow, and is powered by a steam engine. Quite a creation.

The roads in some areas were so narrow it seems a wonder that we got through without scraping the left side of the car off, or ramming into an oncoming car/lorry/bus. The oncoming vehicles are often just over the center line, and the stone walls and hedgerows on the left seem only inches away as you squeeze over to miss the traffic. And if anyone gets behind you on these roads, they drive with an urgency, pushing you despite your best intention to only go at a speed that feels right. It's a little nerve-wracking, to say the least. But we got through it.

After our long drive today, we stopped at another local pub, and were invited to join a couple sitting enjoying a drink. They were wonderfully friendly, and also so full of knowledge of the area, that they were a treat to spend time with. Their son joined us a little later, and told us of his challenge to do all of Wainright's fells, all 235 of them. These are peaks that were chronicled in amazing detail by a Mr. Wainright, who spent years meticulously detailing all of the information known to man about each of the high spots in Cumbria. It took 7 volumes to do so, one of which we were shown. A most amazing little book it is, full of minute detail, sketches, contour lines, immaculate descriptions of the route to be taken to get to the top of each fell/tor/peak/hill The father, Jeff, has done all of them, and his son has done about 112 of them. Quite a challenge to undertake.

Tomorrow will be our last full day here, as we've decided to go to Glasgow on Friday afternoon in order to avoid a Saturday morning rush to the airport. We'll do a good hike tomorrow, and maybe find a smaller one for Friday morning, then say good-bye to a wonderful time in northern England. It's been a great time. More later. Stay tuned.