Lakes District

Friday

Friday became a strong contender for the "longest day" award...we had left our London home by 8.30 and caught the tube back to Heathrow to pick up our rental car. It took some time to find our way to the shuttle area, then had a bit of a wait for the shuttle to come, then had to take a number and wait to be called to the counter...it's already 10am and we had planned on hitting the road by 9.30. Bingo, our number got called...then the fun really started! We were informed that the car ordered was not going to fit all our bags (even though the website said it would!), and told we should upgrade...at considerable cost! Long story short, after an hour of negotiations we ended up with a big beast of a van (a Renault Traffic), still at extra cost, but can definitely fit all our bags (plus some!). It is too big for most car parks, and we will have to change our ferry tickets...but at least we could get out of there! On the road just after 11am! We got out of London without any trouble - Tata drove for the first three hours, then we stopped for lunch. Then I took over the driving...almost immediately, the flow of traffic slowed considerably. We crawled along at snails pace, celebrating the few times I got out of second gear (not often!). No reason for the congestion other than it being a Friday afternoon! It cleared after the Blackpool turnoff and we raced along the last few miles. Finally got to the prearranged meeting point for Vicki to escort us to her house in Burton-in-Kendall. Woohoo!!! But wait...A bit of a problem getting our bags out of the van...the boot was jammed shut! Ben had to climb over, get some bags over the back seats, then pull the door apart, but we got everything out eventually.
Vicki had cooked us a lovely dinner (with lots of vegetables!), we'd had a couple of wines, having a good catchup when Ben went upstairs to get something (around 10pm)...we heard a loud thump, bang and then some very loud groaning. He had gone to jump down the stairs, but the low ceiling got in the way, resulting in a big gash in his head and lots of blood that was flowing faster than the traffic on the M6!
Soooo...a trip to Lancaster A&E 30 mins away to get his head glued back together.

Finally went to bed 1.30am!

Saturday

This morning we drove to Vicki and Derek's cottage in Corney...along some very narrow, very windy, very flooded roads! A very pretty drive but also very nerve-racking! Unloaded the bags again, in anticipation of the repair man coming to fix the boot, and headed off in Vicki's car along more very narrow, very windy roads to Lake Grassmere for a late lunch. The scenery around this area is just stunning, and there were a lot of people out tramping and cycling (totally ignoring the rain...I suppose you have to really, or you'd end up doing nothing!).
Back to the cottage to prepare for a BBQ with the neighbours (who were kindly giving Tata a bed for the night). I needed a quick nap first (Janae's cold has got me!). Had a lovely night...another late one!

Sunday morning

Time for a quick walk along the beach with Vicki, in the wind and rain! Then time to hit the road...it would've been lovely to spend longer here with one of my oldest and bestest friends. Can't wait to come back...and look forward to seeing the transformation of the cottage (very much a work in progress at the moment!).

But for now...Scotland, here we come!