13 February - Abbots Ripton to Carlisle

We set forth on Friday the thirteenth for our journey into Scotland. Our first destination was Carlisle, the western end of Hadrian's Wall.


Our first stop along the way was for a geocache, not a washroom break as the picture of Jeff might suggest. This was also our first glimpse of a countryside different than that around Abbots Ripton. I was never a fan of the prairies of central Canada, so, while the architecture of Cambridgeshire interested me the Fens did not.


It is difficult to describe my feelings when I first saw the Yorkshire Dales. There was a sense of solitude and even loneliness that I found I was drawn to and wanted to experience. Maybe it is the sailor in me that sees the dales as a sea to be explored and discovered. I truly would like to return and spend some time in the Dales, maybe in a farm house like the one pictured above.
I enjoyed the series of books by James Herriot and was thrilled to see where his experiences as a country vet took place. He truly loved the Dales and now I can see why he wrote so poetically about them.



After climbing to an altitude of 1452 ft. we made our descent into the Lake District. Our route did not take us near any of the beautiful lakes so if you click on this link, Photos of the Lake District, you will why the Lake District is such a special place.





We checked into a B&B near the city centre of Carlisle, got settled in and decided to explore a bit before dark. We had to pry our able driver Jeff off the bed with a promise of a pint sometime in the evening.


The only point of interest in Carlisle that really caught my eye was a plaque on a house identifying it as the birth place of the mother of Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States. But it was a pleasant city to walk around and we did get Jeff his pint at Pizza Express. It was Alexander's turn to choose a place for dinner and he chose well.
We made it an early night so we would be well rested for our tour of Hadrian's Wall in the morning.