Day 8 - The Lake District

*Due to slow Internet speeds in the Lake District and Whitby, this post has been delayed.*

Our B&B is on the shore of Ullswater Lake in a fairly remote part of the Lake District. The Beech House is quite lovely and our host has the beginnings of a Scottish accent. We are quite happy as she has agreed to do our laundry today which was just in time! We are having a wonderful time and are still amazed that out of 8 days, we've only had one with rain.

Tom, his wife Jeanette, and their daughter Katie, joined us shortly before 10 as we walked down to the pier to catch a "steamer." A steamer is a boat that you takes you around the lake with a few stops along the way. It provides for excellent photo opportunities in the crisp, bright morning air.

After our water tour, we loaded into Tom's van for a driving tour. The van sits high enough that we can see over most of the stone hedgerows and have excellent views of the landscape. We lunched at a fantastic pub then took a hour or so walk in the woods to view Grasmere (one of the smaller lakes). The hike was absolutely fantastic and afforded us an up-close view of the lake.

By that point, Katie needed to get back to Kendal in order to collect her kids from school. We were fortunate to meet one of her sons, who approached our van, greeted "Grandad," and asked if we'd had a nice day. He was very proper and a real treat to meet. Tom and his wife took us to a local pub for a pint then continued our journey. We eventually ended up eating at the Kirkstone Inn located on a mountain pass about 1,500 feet up. It was a very old inn and pub and had fantastic food. We all laughed at Tom's ghost stories, told to scare Marianne. The history, stories, sights, and fun we had with Tom and his family were amazing and really added a personal touch to our trip. Tomorrow we venture into some of the Lake District villages before heading out for Hadrian's Wall and Whitby.