So I’d borrowed my husband’s GPS phone thingy (I’m very technical as you can see!) and duly entered in the destination of the hotel.
I’d already decided to travel past Ullswater as I thought it would be a nice little drive.
Yeah, little being the operative word. It took two flippin hours! (enter your own expletive because I did but I’m just being polite).
I joke not. I couldn’t believe it. My sister travelled in my car with one of my children and mom was behind with my niece with my other two.
Ullswater was beautiful by the way but would have been a lot better without the driving rain and 7 very tired people. The roads were very up and downy and twisty. I drive a small family car which wondered what the hell was happening.
I was climbing these very steep hills and even second gear couldn’t cope. I’d then shove it into first (much to the car’s disgust), over rev and kangaroo up the hill.
The problem was every time I got it wrong I caused my mom behind (in her four wheel drive) to have to slow down. Thankfully my sister and I could laugh about it and even tried to make the car drive better by leaning forward in our seats.
I had known before booking the hotel that it was further away than we really wanted, but truly did not realise it would take so long to get there. And, after all it was the only one I could find that would accommodate our needs.
We stayed at a hotel in a place called Alston (take a look) which is just inside the Lake District.
We got there and it was my turn to feel a little unhappy!
July 20th, 2007 at 10:19 pm
Hi ya,
Sis here, just wanna set the record straight. We are not rain haters and I personally love a good storm from inside the house. I love shopping for fancy clothes, nice undies and stuff for my garden. We were just a tad fed up of looking in shops with little variety in the pouring rain especially close on the heels of our sojourn in sunny Europe. I have to say that the experience has made me a stronger person and not forgetting the quality time spent with my delightfully eccentric but loveable family xox
July 21st, 2007 at 1:18 am
Err, I didn’t say you were rain haters! But thanks for putting the record straight and glad the experience made you stronger.
And thanks for the photos.
XX
July 21st, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Which bit was Ullswater?, I thought we were at Windemere then Alston, can’t see it on the map of the Lake district. Were did the ferry take us? I’m really confused as I know we covered Cumbria, Northumberland, Lancashire and Morecambe, some of the names I rememeber in a three day blur. There were so many roads, so many bends, some many steep dips, so many moors, so much hysteria of the good variety! But where the bloody hell was Ullswater and when were we in it!!!!
July 21st, 2007 at 12:52 pm
The ferry was from Bowness on Windermere across the lake as a short cut to take us to Hawkshead.
After our snack stop in Hawkshead we travelled up to Ambleside (with the left turn I didn’t believe was there!) and carried on up past Ullswater.
Ullswater was the very, very big lake we drove around and up along side.
Remember when we stopped at a small parking area to let mom know we were on the right track and we said that the Lake would be beautiful if it wasn’t for the rain!
July 21st, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Oops! Have I walked into a family squabble?
July 21st, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Looks like it doesn’t it? But no, sis was genuinely confused by where we had been!
When I unravel the rest of the journey you’ll see why.
July 21st, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Oh thanks for that, no wonder we were never in it -we would have drowned and that I would remember if i’d lived!!!!!.
Hi Misslionheart sorry if it looked like a squabble but it was friendly fire and pure confusion.
July 22nd, 2007 at 11:48 pm