england

we were in england three different times this trip.

arriving in dover from calais then our visit to the lake district 

and back again for our final two days.

from dover, we headed to london to pick up paul o.'s sons

and another hiker, steve.  we then drove

to pick up another fellow, friend, hiker rob at his beautiful home (below) in the english countryside.

the hiking club was then complete.  

the second peak the boys climbed was scafell in england's lake district.  

oh my, the lake district.  luckily i have photos, because

words would never be sufficient to describe the moist, green, sheep strewn

panorama of this storybook destination.

while the boys hiked scafell, the highest peak in england,

i had a leisurely day to myself.  just a few steps from our sleepy hotel on derwentwater, 

i caught a boat and spent the day circumnavigating the lake, stopping to hike here and there

savoring the misty, moist weather.  i absolutely love boats and being on the water.  to spend a

day boating and hiking and taking photographs was magic.

i hiked up catbells, one of the most popular modest hikes in the area.

these views are from the top.  i could have stayed up there forever......... just dreaming.

i also stopped at the charming village of keswick on the bank of the lake.

i ordered a sausage roll and vanilla slice for lunch and people and dog watched.

what a dog friendly village this is!

these two beautifuls made me miss my pup.

i have discovered that i am very taken by door fronts, store fronts, cottage fronts, pub fronts...

as you can see, low, rain filled clouds were the order of the day.

the hiking club fought rain and wind, mud and cold arriving successfully

back to "base camp" (a comfy, cozy hotel) absolutely drenched.

no small feat to try and dry out all of their layers and boots for 

the next mountain challenge.