UK Continued

The drive to this lovely farm on Friday was a difficult challenge for Pop. Will Schermer had given us his GPS and it had admirably directed us all the way from London to Pateley Bridge, the nearest town. However, just to make things more interesting the GPS fiendishly charted a course over the hills and down through Wath rather than suggest the shorter, flatter route. The road we were on was narrow to the extreme--one lane with stone walls on either side. The views were astonishing, but the road was treacherous with many blind curves and the possibility of sheep in the way around every corner. We didn't meet any errant sheep, but we did come upon three sheep dogs with their shepherd.
Because of the challenging driving on Friday, Pop decided not to drive anywhere yesterday. Instead we explored the area around the farm where we are staying. The Nidderley Way--a 53 mile scenic public footpath--goes right through this farm (and many others, too) so we took a short hike down along the Gouthwaite Reservoir. There are several American families living in converted barns here on the farm. Two of the couples invited us for dinner last night. It was warm enough to eat out on the patio, but not uncomfortable at all. We had steak, salad, potatoes, and a pound cake to beat the buttermilk variety I make.
We looked for a church to attend this morning, but found many closed. We had a delicious roast (beef and pork) dinner at a pub and later had tea at Bettys (no apostophe) in Harrogate. We found a church there that we hope to attend next Sunday.
Tomorrow we're spending the day with British friends of Mr. McKenney, Rick and Vera. They'll show us some of their favorite sites/sights in the area. Then we're off to Edinburgh on Tuesday. I'm glad to report that even with the winding roads I have been virtually headache free for most of this vacation!

Touring the UK: Part 1

It is Saturday, almost noon, and I feel like I've lived a lifetime between Tuesday and today. Did I really think I wanted to skip London? I loved it. The city is big but not too tall. It's not as overwhelming as New York, but just as interesting. How much can you do in two days there? We took a tour of the city on a double-decker bus--sitting on the top even in the rain. We took a cruise on the Thames from Westminster Pier (across from the Parliament building and St. Stephen's Tower--which houses the bell called Big Ben) up to Tower Bridge near the Tower of London. We ate at a wonderful pub--twice, and had tea there, too. We went to the National Gallery and attended a concert at St. Martin-in-the-field. We took the Underground, a lot, and it was so easy I could have done it by myself. We walked until our feet and legs were sore. We did the London overview. Now I'd like a few weeks there to tour all the historic buildings we only saw from the outside.

Yesterday we got our rental car. It's a Vauxhall. I only remember seeing one other Vauxhall in person. It belonged to my Aunt Flo. The drive from London to the Yorkshire Dales is long. Most of it is on interstate-style freeways which were crowded around London. The terrain in the south was flat but green, and we saw lots of hedges and wheat fields. As we approached the north we saw our first castle, many hills, and the quilted landscape with hedge or stone-fence bordered fields. The drive over the hills on a one-lane road, through quaint towns, brought us into another world. If you've seen photographs you only have a hint of how beautiful it is. The stone fences, barns, and houses really do look as if they've grown out of the hills. Everything seems so lush and tranquil. They grow sheep and rocks here, although I think the sheep are more economically profitable--and rabbits! I saw a crowd of rabbits in a field last evening. I guess they were just nibbling grass. Jon, what do you call a group of rabbits; a warren? a hutch? a parcel? Of course, you see the blemishesof the countryside when you get up close. They seem to have an abundance of spiders.

Paradox

Bright lights and loud noises give me headaches.
So why do I love fireworks so much?