Day 5- Haytongate to Carlisle

This morning found me waking with a sore throat, a headache and upset stomach. Breakfast was rough. I was running to the bathroom every 5 or 10 minutes. I could only eat 1 egg and one piece of toast, some juice and coffee. Anyone who is about to start a 13 mile walk needs a good breakfast. At one point, I thought I was going to hurl, so I stepped outside for some fresh air, only to find the sweet smell of freshly spread manure permeating the air. I wasn't sure I could do this today. We got a little bit of a later start- about 9:00 due to my slowness, but the day looked to be a good one. Around mile 3, I started to feel better, and started nibbling biscuits I had "nicked" from the Twice Brewed hotel room. All through the a.m. I nibbled. Two packages of biscuits, some almonds, and an apple. Got me through. We enjoyed some pretty heavy rain before lunch. This time I had my rain pants on, and for that I was glad. We walked through little clusters of houses, and then wound our way down to the Eden River flood plain. Flat walking here on out. In a way, it's nice and easy, but not nearly as exciting as the higher stuff.

8 Miles from our start, and after the rain shower, we stopped at a very old Pub called The Stag. Great food, good service, and walkers, lots of walkers also stopping there. We now are familiar with several other groups of walkers who must be taking the same 6-day trek as we are. We pass them, they pass us, we end up at the same restaurants in the same towns in the evening. Everyone smiles and acknowledges each other. We're all MAD, you see, and I suspect everyone of us has sore feet. It's like a secret crazy brotherhood (and sisterhood, but I think there are slightly more groups of men than women on this trek). We met 2 earnest ladies at the beginning of the third day, as they passed us quickly on one of the first hills of the morning. We came upon them on and off for 2 days and struck up some conversation with them when we'd see them. They were fun, and did manage to follow some people who they assumed knew their way, but got lost. People are friendly and the West-bounders greet the East-bounders with smiles and "Morning!" or "Hello!" and the other way as well.

We made better time on the flat land today, so the day went by quickly, but we are all feeling some discomfort: I have a couple of blisters, Rob has a sore ankle, Nate's Achilles tendon is feeling strange. Then there is the chafing. I won't go into detail, but the older in our party are wishing we had brought tech wick underwear, if you know what I mean.

We want to finish what we started, but there is a slight possibility, depending on the weather and the state of our health, of catching a bus tomorrow. The warrior in me wants to complete this walk- simply for the bragging rights. And we probably will. One more day. 15 more miles.

Time to pop another blister and get some sleep, y'all.
30,178

Day 4- Once Brewed to Haytongate

Walking through a cow maze


Christian on the wall


Today seemed like a hard day. We didn't sleep well. Our room was pretty awful. Uncomfortable mattress, no bathroom, (we shared one down the hall) a broken light over the mirror, and right above the pub. Luckily, the pubs clear out pretty suddenly here at 11:00 on weeknights, so things got quiet then. Nathan got the room we should have had- quiet end room far away from the pub, private bathroom, away from the road...but frankly, we were so weary from our walk and the hotel guy spoke so quickly and with such an accent, we blindly followed him and put our bags in the first room he showed us. We did manage to hand wash a bunch of very smelly walking clothes and there was a boot room across the hall to dry them in. There's slim pickings out here in the hinterlands, so I guess we were lucky to have a bed, brews and some supper.

Our walk started out with a long slog up, up and up, from the valley where Twice Brewed was located back onto the windy craggy heights. I liked the heights again today, (we reached the highest point on the trail) still breathtaking, although not quite as spectacular as day 3. And the sheep! Such variety in types I never knew there were. They were a noisy bunch again today. They scattered as we walked along the trail, both sheep and cows alike. One becomes agile in the dance and weave to miss stepping in the copious amount of dung out here. The morning consisted of more ups and downs, and many steep downs where I was thankful that it was dry. To lose one's footing in some of those places would be disastrous, and I find the older I get, the more fear I feel, so was very careful picking my steps. We met up with Nathan at a little park where there was a rest room and picnic tables. 3 friendly ducks followed us over to our picnic table and were begging like dogs, so I held out a little crust of bread. To my delight and surprise, the ducks ate right out of my fingers! Then a little bird landed on our picnic table, so I crunched up some crisps (Brit for potato chips) and the bird hopped right by me, getting crisp crumbs all over his beak. Nate said the bird needed a napkin. I was in wild bird heaven. I guess it was tame bird heaven.

After lunch we walked along the wall, although some of it was buried. The only reason we knew the wall was there, was because the ditch that the Romans dug on the North side of the wall was visible. We checked out the ruins of Thirwall Castle. We kept on walking through cow and sheep pastures in country that reminded me very much of areas they used in the making of "All Creatures Great and Small." Remember that wonderful PBS program that was on 20 or 30 years ago? Well we were walking along windswept fields, narrow lanes and old stone farm houses so far apart you could scarcely see the next one. It started to look threatening, so I put on my rain coat on in time for a real soaker of a storm. My pants and boots were soaked but my top was dry as we trudged on through the driving rain and chilly wind. We were almost at the pick-up town when the rain stopped, and the sun came out. My wool socks were squishy. Eww.

Bill from Sands House B and B came along in his little white Van and picked us up in Lanercot, a town where there is an ancient church and priory. King Edward I is said to have spent 8 months there recuperating from dysentery. His troops boldly stole from Hadrian's Wall to build the church and priory and surrounding buildings.

Sands House was nicer than Twice Brewed. Nice deep tub for soaking in, and a short walk to a quaint little town of about 5,000 called Brampton. After dinner, we hobbled back to our rooms and crashed. I slept as if dead.

Pedometer Reading for Wednesday: 36,923 steps.

Fun with Christian

Happy Birthday, Big Guy. Wish you were here!

Wall to Once Brewed

Day 3 Wall to Twice Brewed Inn

I fully expected to be immobile this morning, but sleep is a wonderful healer. The friendly man at the Inn was chatty. I asked him about the teacher strikes in G.B., because they were all over the front of the newspaper, and we chatted a while about such things. When he asked me later if we were walking coast to coast, I said yes, and asked him if he had ever done it. “No, I think you're MAD,” he said. “I've never done it, and never will. I love that you are doing it for our business, but I think you're MAD.” Add an accent. Love the accents here. So many flavors.

The weather report was for a bad day today, so we were prepared for rain and colder temps. But let me tell you today was PERFECT for hiking. Sunny, in the 60's, a lovely breeze- absolutely perfect! Yesterday I managed to get quite sunburned on my neck- but only on the left side. (We are walking East to West consistently every day, so will be all crispy fried- but only on one side. I pinned one of Rob's Japanese handkerchiefs to the bottom of my baseball cap and felt like Lawrence of Arabia. (Can you hear the theme from that movie? I can.) It did the trick. And sun screen helped too.

In the morning we passed blazing poppy fields, and trudged up through more sheep and cow fields. We climbed a lot today and took a lot of pictures of sweeping green vistas. From breathtaking heights we could see animals grazing far below and castles miles off in the distance. There were miles and miles of exposed ancient Wall today and it was great to finally hike along it. We caught up with Nathan in a forest for lunch around noon, and then, after lunch the spectacular part of the day began. It was lots and lots of steep climbs, and we could see the wall stretching off as it followed the contour of the hills (think Great Wall of China) Up and down we went from about 1:30 to 3:30. I found myself recovering quickly and feel really great this afternoon. I am happy to report that my ...ehem...love handles are noticeably less today than yesterday! (And no new blisters!) This exercise plan of working out for 7-8 hours a day is a good one. We passed by mile forts and castle ruins, and lookout turrets facing Scotland from the high cliff heights. Nathan and I imagined battles and Scots trying to attack the wall. One of my great pleasures of the last 3 days is watching Nathan blaze on ahead. He is like a mountain goat; all muscle, lightness, speed and coordination. He leaves everyone in the dust. He gets a few miles ahead of us then waits, usually from the top of a hill, or a large rock or a fence. I find myself playing “Where's Nathan?” as I look ahead in the great distance. I am proud of his good humor, good sense, his strength and agility. He is a delight to have along on this trip.


I wished today especially that Chris Howes was with us. He would have been thrilled by viewing and walking along the miles of visible wall. I imagined him telling us of the history- Robin says he knows quite a bit of Wall and Roman history. Today's pictures of Christian include lunching in the shade with us, and him taking a wee in the bushes (you can just see the top of his head). We've all been taking a wee here and there along our walk. Can't be helped. There are simply no facilities along the way.

Tonight we stay in a place called “Twice Brewed Inn.” It's located at the four corners of “Once Brewed.” Think of it being comparable to the bustling metropolis of Perry City. I am looking out my window at sheep on a hill. I can hear them bleating. Been hearing them talk to us all day, as a matter of fact. Tonight we will eat here and the boys will again enjoy the local brews. Nathan and Robin are certainly enjoying their ales.

Slightly shorter walk today, but much more physically challenging. Today's pedometer reading: 36,009 steps.

Day 2- Heddon-on-the-wall to Wall

Day 2- Heddon-on-the-wall to Wall.

Tonight, my feet and legs are screaming at me. I am in Hadrian's Hotel in the town of Wall. We had a day of walking in the countryside, and it was breathtaking. The hills, the wild-flowers, the stone buildings ( we even saw a castle off in the distance) the sheep, their poo...it was all so Old World British. Rolling grasslands are hot and steamy under the bright sun and humid skies. We shared our path with cows and sheep today. Climbed over numerous stone walls- using stairs and steps and went through too many kissing gates to count. We kept being thrilled by what we saw. Helps keep your mind off your feet.

After a late-morning break at the Robin Hood Inn and Pub, we began again, and had been walking about a mile, when I discovered that my camera was missing!! I roared on back, was deliriously happy to find it, and then went roaring on back to try to catch up with Robin. I knew Nathan would be miles and miles ahead, and I knew also that I didn't need to hurry, but I did- I dropped the hammer and really pushed it. Much to my agony tonight. When I finally caught up with Rob, I was starving, so we found some not so great shade and ate the lunches that Paula's mother had made us. Shortly after we found Nathan waiting for us on top of a hill, standing on a large boulder. From a distance he looked like a tiny statue. We mainly stayed together later today. A rain storm around 3:00 was rejuvenating and restorative. Hope my boots dry out by tomorrow.

Sore legs, sore feet. I need sleep. We all have had a long soak in a large hot bath, have had a dinner (Have I already talked about how difficult it is to just order a salad here??) and are ready to pass out in a meat-stupor exhaustion. Today's pedometer reading: 41,561 steps.

Newcastle to Heddon-on-the-wall

Day 1 Derek Day
(Dog poo day)
The morning dawned bright and sunny. Andrew, our host served us breakfast an hour early at our request- 7:00 instead of 8:00. WE had a traditional English Breakfast: bacon, sausage, egg, baked beans, grilled tomato. Lots of meats that I reperatedly enjoyed throughout the morning. We walked from Wallsend metro station, found the beginning of the trail and set off. It only took about 15 minutes before we started disrobing: It was a hot and steamy day. As we wlked through some quiet areas on a Sunday morning, we saw a Vicar heading off towards his church, guys mowing their tiny lawns with almost silent lawn mowers and poo. Poo everywhere. The Brits apparently resist cleaning up after their dogs. WE saw poo in the middle of the side walk, for pity's sake. Poo in the grass, poo in the woods, bags of poo sitting by lamp posts. And signs about poo. Warning signs and fine sign and even a sign saying, “There is no poo Fairy Godmother.” We were pretty grossed out by it all, and at one point I had it on my left shoe, and my right sock and LEG! I must have sat in or near some on one of our breaks.

We had the opportunity to see Newcastle from along the River Tyne, and we picked up a guide early on. Derek took it upon himself to be our personal guides to “His city, and HIS river.” He was very friendly, and quite helpful. He also appeared to have been drinking, and it was hard for him to articulate his words, but he suffered a motorcycle accident 2 years ago while going 110 mph around a turn, undoubtedly drunk, and took out his whole left side. Anyway, he escorted us for several miles and commented on his family and work and life, and was rwall very sweet. It was a relief when we wore him out however, and he sat down while we carried on. At that point we wandered into a Sunday open market by the river, and had fun looking at all the delicious food and craft items for sale. We ended up buying an assortment of olives, some cashews, baklava, and turkish delight which we enjoyed throughout the day.

Most of day 1 was unfortunately on black top, which was pretty unforgiving. And hot. After our snack we wandered back into Old Newcastle and visited the castle keep. How awesome to be standing in a building that was built in the 600's. This part of Britain oozes with history and I am constantly day dreaming about the people who lived here centuries ago. There has been trade on the banks of the river Tyne since Medieval times. And we were there.

We walked a long way that day- 15 miles total, according to the guide, but I believe we walked more than that. We saw children playing in parks, the WALL, the River Tyne, little bitty football players, the opera house in Newcastle, many beautiful old and ancient stone structures, cows and horses and gorgeous views from Heddon-on-the-Wall, our day 1 destination. AS the day wore on, the poo truned from the doggie variety to the cow variety. We pretty much smelled poo all day, although I will say, I'd rather smell cow than dog. Our final push was from a valley up to a village on top of a hill...Heddon-on-the-Wall. At Heddon-on-the-wall, with feet throbbing and toes aching, we got our first glimps of the 3-metre wide wall, built by Roman Centurians for Hadrianus Agustus. The wall was built to keep the Scotts from invading the Roman Empire. I suspect that a small band of highly motivated and aggressive ancient Scotts didn't let some puny little wall get in the way of their pillaging and plundering. The wall is amazing in other ways though. It spans Great Britain at it's throat- runs east -west and is about 84 miles long. It only took 10 years to build. Much of it today is buried under roads, or under farm land, and as we walked along there were places where we could spy some ancient remnants of the wall. There are places where it is fully exposed, and we took pictures of those places. We passed by miles and miles of old stone walls that were not Hadrian's, but contained stones from his wall. As a matter of fact, most of the old farm houses built 2 or 3 hundred years ago and earlier use stones that were taken off the wall. If you look closely you can see the ancient tool marks made by the Roman builders in stones from walls and houses, all along the way.


Christian Howes masterminded this trip, but injured his knee several weeks ago, so is not along on with us. We miss him, and are sure it would have been much more highly entertaining with him along, so we brought along his likeness. We are taking pictures of him as we travel along our way. My favorite picture at this point is titled, “Head on wall at Heddon-on-the-wall.” See above picture.



We arrived at North Houghton Farm around 4:00. p.m. We were greeted by our host Paula yelling at her little scruffy dog who was barking at us with, “Shut up you stupid wench! You little tart!” Paula was incredibly friendly and funny. Our place was much like a hostel, with rooms with bunk beds and rather spartan accommodations. It was clean and quiet and we slept well. After we settled in, Paula ran us into town in her farm truck so that we could get some dinner. We ate at a place with really friendly wait staff and incredible views of the surrounding hills and valleys. Great ale was enjoyed by all.

The great thing about walking 15 miles is that when your head hits the pillow- you are OUT.

Today's pedometer reading: 45,037 steps

A long dang day

If I recall correctly, and I'm not sure I can right at the moment, I think I got up at 6:00 on Friday morning. It's now 7:44 on Saturday evening, and I haven't gone to bed yet. I feel like I'm on a boat. My head swims, and I feel like the world is rocking back and forth, floating, as if on a sailboat at it's mooring. This is nothing new. I always experienced this sensation when I reached my destination to or from Asia. But weirdly, this trip took longer than getting half-way around the world to Tokyo.

Elmira to Detroit, Detroit to Atlanta, Atlanta to Manchester (we were delayed almost 2 hours by spectacular thunder and lightning storms) from Manchester, a 3 hour train ride to Newcastle, and finally a metro trip- about 25 minutes to Whitley Bay- right on the ocean. We arrived at Oak Tree Lodge around 3 in the afternoon a full 26 hours since we left home in the 'Burg.

Here are things (so far) that strike me as being very much the same as home: the vegetation, the rolling green hills and farmland, the cows, people speak English, the train system is very much like the Japanese system.

Here are the things that are different that I've noticed so far: the toilet paper is in a dispenser like facial tissue- in little squares, instead of a roll. So it's like pulling kleenex out instead of rolling the roll. The architecture is quaint and old. The giant stone farm houses dot the lush green hills in style. Closer to town, there are brick town homes and apartments everywhere. The chimneys are almost identical in their size and placement and they were pretty stunning against the dramatic sky. People speak English.

I have been lost for words and stupefied several times today when someone has spoken to me. I think it's a combination of jet lag, water in my ear drums and the speed and pitch at which they speak that is confounding me. I know I'll get better at this during our stay, but in the meantime, I'm afraid we are making Americans look pretty idiotic as we sit and stare blankly at their questions like, "You on Holiday?" and "Just take it out the top." (referring to why I couldn't get through a turn style at the metro gate. It wouldn't let me pass so the attendant said something unintelligible and then took the card out and handed it to me. All the while I know I was looking like someone with a few cards shy of a complete deck.)

We managed to doze, squirm and drag our way to the B and B, and then went off to walk the 2 miles to the town of Tynemouth. Off in the distance we saw a ruined Priory and a castle, when we got closer, we discovered that the grounds closed at 4:00. But we were starving and ate at a place that would make vegetarians run screaming into the street. I guess the Brits really love their meat. During a lovely full-bellied stroll back to our accommodations, Nate and I stuck our feet into the cold North Sea, we all saw a an amazing rainbow, and watched the drama of the clouds and blue sky in front of us.

Now we are trying to stay awake at least until 9:30 or 10:00 and then we will crash. Our breakfast is slated for 7:00 tomorrow and then we are on our way for our first 15 mile hike. It should be a sunny day, and our trek will take us mainly through city areas- and a little bit rough ones at that. We are excitedly awaiting the days when we will be out in the beautiful rolling countryside.
I am having trouble posting pics, so if you are interested in our photos, check out my Facebook page, until I can figure it out.

This evening, jet lag made me think signs that said "TO LET" on them said "TOILET" on them. I was ranting on about how landlords could possibly rent apts without toilets in them, when my long suffering husband pretty much told me to shut up. They have been making toilet jokes at my expense ever since.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Pretty big day around here. Last day of the school year, and yes, I was just arm-sweeping stuff into boxes and cramming it into the closet at around 4:00 this afternoon...got my room taken apart once again. Just in the nick.

Nathan and I ran to Ithaca to pick up some last minute tech-wick shirts for our trip tomorrow! Whoo hooo!! It's sinking in finally and it's 8:00 and I still need to pack. Great Britain here we come! Tomorrow we fly to Manchester and make our way to the East end of Hadrian's Wall.


Sunday we commence our 84 mile hike along the path of this ancient structure. Robin, Nathan and I will be taking this journey on foot. Missing from our party will be Christian and Faith. No kidding. Those are their names. Christian is Robin's roommate from McGill and Faith is his college-aged daughter. We were originally planning on joining them for this 50th birthday hike. Christian has been dreaming of this birthday hike for years, and will be celebrating his birthday one day next week while we are hiking. Unfortunately, he wrecked his knee while dancing at a Tokyo American Club benefit dance for the tsunami victims last month, and has had to cancel his trip. His wife described him lately as "Mr. Grumpy Pants." Frankly, I don't blame him one bit.

We will be armed with life-sized pictures of Christian's smiling face, and will be sure to have him join us in photos whenever possible. Stay tuned for tales of adventure and history. Lots of great photos and stories of the people we meet. Getting geared up for all kinds of weather (bring it on!), chips, crisps and pints of ale. It'll be off the hook!