The UK Trip - The Lake District/Coniston

Before officially leaving Edinburgh, we decided to see Lauriston Castle. What can go wrong, we thought?!?! Castles are always open, we said. Boy, were we wrong. Apparently, this castle opens in the afternoon and takes reservations. So, that was out. We took some cool pictures of us there and of the North Sea, so we were happy. Here are a few.

This castle was pretty cool looking from the outside 

 Back view

 KK and I in the gardens

 The North Sea as seen from the grounds of Lauriston Castle

 I love that this girl will still hold my hand...I hope it lasts.

From Edinburgh, we headed southwest toward the Lake District. The drive was spectacular! Little J started complaining of a belly ache. Oh boy. He can get some motion sickness, under the right (i.e., wrong) circumstances. We moved him closer to the window and to the front. Situation diverted.

We ended up stopping at a little church ministry for lunch, by pure accident. I must say, God provided us with some amazing, accidental eating locales. I love when he blesses us like that! Anyway, it was a small cafeteria building next to the church that serves food to raise funds for their ministry. We had yummy things like tomato (toe-mat-oh, not toe-mate-oh) soup, sandwiches, crisps, etc. They even had some lovely desserts, including a gluten free treat for me. I love finding little places like this!

Here are a few pictures of the drive.

 Crazy boys at lunch

We headed back on the road and decided that we would do a long drive through the Lake District. Big mistake! The roads are narrow, windy, rocky-edged...also beautiful. We almost got a flat tire, hit by a lorry and lost our ever-lovin' minds. We could not check in until 5:00, so we still had to drive around the Lake District for a bit. The lakes are spectacular tho...

It was finally time to check-in at the lodging. It was a hostel that also had family rooms. By family rooms I mean it had 2 bunk beds instead of several. HAHA We ended up getting upgraded to 2 family rooms. The driveway to the hostel was, umm, treacherous. I felt my stomach tying in knots as we drove. The view upon arrival was worth the knots. The hostel is on the grounds of an old copper mine. It was lovely. There were waterfalls, trails, sheep, beauty galore. Here are some pics (I have to say, the pics don't even come close to doing the landscape justice...the colors were so vibrant.)

 The hostel and our fan

 Isn't that sky amazing?

 

We then had a homemade dinner made for us. We had tomato basil soup, Indian curry chicken and pudding for dessert. The adults had some beer and cider, because we were in England. After dinner, we played games in the lounge.

 

One of my favorite ciders...and it was pear! I don't even like pears.

The next morning, we got up early and headed out. We thought we would do a leisurely tour of some of the lakes. Yeah, the roads are stressful, you pay for every parking spot and many times have to walk to see anything but a parking lot. We only stopped a couple of times and headed for Liverpool, our next stop. Here are a few pictures from our few stops.

 

We ended up paying for parking and going to this cool park. It was a great time! One of those places that you wish you had an unlimited time frame so you could just stay all day.

See you in Liverpool...