Day 3 - Fountains Abbey to the Yorkshire Dales

Day 3 took us out of the Fens of southeastern England.  The Fens used to be swamps, but long ago some enterprising would-be farmer decided to drain one of these swamps and try his hand at growing something other than eels.  It worked very well and now most of the Fens are farmland…very low farmland.  The roads through this area are about 8-10 feet above the surrounding farmland, but the soil looks rich and black.  I should have a picture of the Fens right here but, a) they weren't very exciting, and b) there were high hedges all along the roads so you could hardly find a place to take a decent picture.  Trust me…flat…very flat.

So we made our way toward Ingleton, where our first bed and breakfast was located.  Our daughter/travel agent, April, booked our accommodations for us and did a wonderful job!  I highly recommend her.  But first, on the way to Ingleton, which is on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, we wanted to stop at Fountains Abbey.  This is a ruined Abbey, but sounded like fun so off we went.  Here's the first glimpse of the Norman tower that sets off the ruin…

but first we went to the manor house to see it and its sculpted hedges and neato bridge…

There was an orchard on the other side of this bridge so we each grabbed an apple…they were great!  And reminded me of when Sue and I used to pick apples on the south side of the BYU campus when we were starving students, but that's another story (great memory!)  Ok, back to the Abbey…

…to add to the atmosphere, there was a flock of Rooks (crows) flying around the ruins and cawing…perfect for touring an ancient sorta-creepy place.  The last picture above was a guest house that obviously used to have two stories.  The rock masonry was really impressive, especially give that it's still standing.  On to what's left of the basement and barracks, the main chapel, and the tower…

This place sits in a lovely little dale with a stream running through it.  An idyllic setting…

Notice the floor detail in the last picture.  That had to be a labor of love.  But, I guess without TV or WiFi, they probably had some time on their hands.  From the Abbey we walked around to the Elizabethan-age fountains that harbored pheasants and swans…

We sat down for some hot peppermint tea and enjoyed the surroundings.  On our walk back through the grounds to the car, I saw this statue of a deer…then it moved!  I was astounded…the "statue" then got up and trotted away.  A deer with moose-like antlers, but not much bigger than Grizz, my dog!

Sue got a safari-esque photo of a hedgehog in its natural environment…it looked kinda mad…

So we got on the road along the edge of the Yorkshire Dales…

… on to our lovely B&B in Ingleton.  It's also the local garden nursery.  The town is quaint and welcoming…

…but I had to remember to duck…and once I didn't…ouch!

We had dinner at my first English pub.  The food was great and hey, they welcome dogs and muddy boots, so what could be better?

This trip just keeps getting better!  We had a wonderful day, a peaceful rainy night's sleep, and tomorrow promised more adventure!

England, Day 2: Cambridge

Day two in the Merry Olde land took us to Cambridge.  We slept well, not feeling much jet lag, at least not yet.  Cheryl made me some "Manly Energy" herb tea and I was off like a shot!  Cambridge (from the river Cam, and the bridge that goes over it) isn't much on parking spaces, so we parked outside of town and rode a neato orange double-decker bus!

The roads into Cambridge were narrow and I applaud the bus driver for his skill in not ever driving on the sidewalk or into oncoming traffic.  We went immediately to the town square, where this town has been having markets for about, oh, over 1000 years!  So we went to the market and bought ostrich burgers…yummy.  This guy was really jammin' on his guitar…he really was good, but when I saw his face I was struck that this old looking very British guy looked just like Wallace, from Wallace and Grommit.  Dig the sideburns, Uncle!

This place is old (see above) and really beautiful…

…but unfortunately they aren't much on zoning, so there were soviet-looking concrete office buildings built right up against this majestic architecture.  I didn't take pictures of that stuff.  (Think Jason Borne in a room with one bare light bulb sewing up a bullet wound.)   I also saw and entered a quintessential British red phone booth (no phone any more, but pretty smelly.

Cheryl has always wanted to go "punting" on the river Cam, so we were the excuse she needed.  Off we went with some college student who was selling tickets and before we knew it we were punting!  Actually, we were sitting, he was punting.

We passed some cool bridges…

…and King's College (yes, THAT King's College)…

…and a cool old ivy-covered wall.  I noticed that our boatman was punting on the right side of the river, with other boats passing on our left.  When I asked why that was (instead of doing things the way they drive), without skipping a beat he said "the Cam flows all the way to the sea so this is essentially international waters."  I laughed hard and congratulated him with a fist bump (they do that in England too…he didn't leave me hangin').

I saw my spirit rock Easter Island head thing (I really want one for my back yard…

…and we ended the day by attending Evensong at the King's College chapel…I couldn't stop staring at the ceiling...

where Sue sang with the King's College Boys Choir!!!!!  (so did everyone else, but she sounded really great!)  This is all of us outside afterward.

It was a great day with great friends in a really cool place.  Something like 31 colleges in that one little town.  Oh, and this place...

is the pub where Pink Floyd got their start.  Cheryl was beside herself (and in this photo, beside the pub too!)  Thanks James and Cheryl, we had a wonderful day!

England...the real one...across the ocean

The long awaited time is here, and we've come across the pond to England!  The purpose of our trip is to visit our kids who live in Aberdeen, Scotland, but first we stopped in to see our dear friends James and Cheryl Meinders who live NE of London in the village of Mildenhall.  So...we got on a behemoth airplane

that was allegedly going to fly across the ocean.  I guess that thing called the Stromboli Effect is pretty powerful to lift this huge sausage and keep it in the air.  By the way, I know its Bernoulli, but I like Stromboli better.  British Airways treated us very well, with cute cans of soda and a gluten free meal for me.  Sue got something better.

The Stromboli did its job, as did the 747, so we arrived safely with no problems.  We found the rental car place and got our car, and I drew the short straw so I got to drive first...on the "other" side of both the car and the road.  Sue is a great co-pilot and navigator, constantly reminding me "turn left stay left" or "turn right stay left", and we developed a whole chorus for the roundabouts!

British drivers are very polite, which I greatly appreciate.  We hopped on a highway and got ourselves the 2+ hours to Mildenhall where the Meinders live.  They have a lovely new house that looks old.

Not to let the moss grow under us, they whisked us off to Ely to see the cathedral there and enjoy an Evensong service.  We sat in the cathedral choir seats for the service.

We even stopped for a moment to see Oliver Cromwell's house.  He's an important old British guy.  I don't think he was at home.

(that's not him in the picture, that's Miles, a mini-Meinders.)  Along with the lasagna Cheryl baked and the wonderful company and the really comfortable bed, we had a great first day in England!

Treasurevault Mountain

A week ago Saturday, Sue and I and Grizz climbed Treasurevault Mountain in the Mosquito Range.  This was my highest peak since we move to CO, at 

13,701 feet.  We got to take the Truck this time (Irv2) because we had to drive some dirt roads to get to the trailhead.  Irv2 gets pretty happy when we take him on dirt roads, and it was a lot more fun when I decided to stop and let some air out of the tires so we weren't getting so beat up by the rocks.  How's this for a trailhead view... (remember, make the pictures big, they're better that way)

The hike follows a 4-wheel drive road until it reaches a lake, but we didn't feel like bouncing along at a slower-than-walking pace, so we left Irv2 at the trailhead.  Good call too, the walk was great.  There's that altitude thing, though.  We were soon in the "where did all the air go" zone, but were inspired by Grizz's enthusiasm.  Notice the clumps of bushes in the next picture...Grizz was CHASING BIRDS from clump to clump.  He was having a blast!

We were headed to the peak that is second from the left, with the snow on it's left flank.  First, however, as is often the case in the mountains, the lake.

Ok, so the plan was to hike to that low point on the ridge that is almost in the center of the picture.  This is one of those ridges that doesn't look very far away, and then you get closer and it looks further away, and then you get closer an it looks further away...you get the picture.  Not too steep, but this is at altitude (have I mentioned that I LOVE altitude?), and we were feeling it somewhat.

Our walking took us, not to the low point in the saddle...the snow there turned out to be a wall, so we bent left toward the shoulder of the peak.  Then it got steep.  Steep, at altitude, such a wonderfully humbling combination.  So, I took off my pride, tossed it over my shoulder, and watched it roll away down the slope.  Then I took 50 steps and stopped to breathe.  Then 50 more.  Then 50 more.  While I was 50-stepping, this was my view:

And 50 steps by 50 steps, we made the peak in less time than I though we would.  (Thanks to Irv Nielson for teaching me that one.)  Here's the Peak, with a lovely mountain nymph for added beauty!!

Again the views were stunning, 14ers to the south, 

That's Democrat, Bross, Lincoln, and the other one I can't remember.  Oh, did I mention that we had the peak, and the trail, TO OURSELVES....ON A SATURDAY!!!  13ers ROCK (pun very much intended).  We got to slide down some snow on the far side of the peak, because, if you know Sue, we HAD to do at least a bit of a loop (no out and back on the same trail if we can help it).  On the way down the tundra was really beautiful.  Look at this color pallette...

We passed another high lake...(our peak in the back, with snow on the left)

and then found a cool snow overhang.  I couldn't help crawling in...

After the overhang we ambled back down the trail, through this:

...and ended up back at the Truck.  Humbled by altitude, humbled by the beauty, thrilled by the glee with which Grizz flew across the tundra in his bird-chasing bliss, grateful for strong bodies and a Heavenly Father that designed such a beautiful world.  I LOVE living here!!