Had a great Fourth of July spent with friends and surrogate family outside of Temple, TX. My hostess even went to the lengths of grilling up some salmon for me and I munched on veggies while everyone else was enjoying hotdogs, hamburgers, potato salad, and banana pudding... (to name just a few of the many and varied dishes).
I had a nice talk with a guy named Bill and his wife Beth about travel to the UK. They asked a lot of great questions and I think, may want to actually go there on one of their upcoming vacations. It’s always a good day when I get to talk about my “other” home.
Some good friends have recommended a self-catering place for my next stay in the Lake District. It may, actually, be a great plan – as I usually have folks come and visit me in the lakes. They wouldn’t have to scramble so much for a place to stay! Here is a link to the joint:
Seems pretty reasonable and fairly close to all the things I want to be close to. I should have a rental car next time. I’ll plan to just stay put in one place and tour with folks in other areas as they would like to. One of my friends has offered to take me on a tour around Northumbria (which I haven’t seen much of). My one exception to the “staying in one place” rule may be spending a night here:
And possibly staying over with Ray and his wife for a day or two if the invitation still stands.
I *still* haven’t gotten to the Sutton Bank Visitor’s Centre to hike the Yorkshire moors.
I am not a long distance hiker, but would enjoy day hikes along the way for my next visit.
In the meantime, Larry and I are planning a trip to the Great Smokey Mountains for my birthday in October.
We’ll be staying in one of these cabins:
I plan on doing some hiking and sightseeing... as well as visiting what may be left of my family in the area and maybe visiting some places related to my family on mom’s side:
Might even break away to go over the state line to put flowers out for my dad’s folks living up near Spruce Pine, NC. The family goes WAY back in that area.
The neat thing would be to somehow hike even a small bit of the Appalachian Trail – which has been on my list for ages.
I think Larry wants to go to Gatlinburgh (tourist trap) and we both want to see Cades Cove again.
Those are my travel thoughts for this morning. I’ll fill you in later on TWO dude ranch experiences I’m planning as well as a cruise to the Bahamas! Watch this space!
