Back into England - Northumberland and North Yorkshire

 

Well we are back in England.    Time is moving forward at breakneck speed and soon we will be wrapping up this years trip.    But before I put a fork in this adventure - let me bring you up to date.

We left you last in Peebles, Scotland.   A small market town about 30 miles south of Edinburgh..

We stayed in a real nice converted Bothy (sheepherders hut) on the expansive grounds of Neidpath Castle.

We were only there for 3 days, and one day was spent driving up to Dalkeith to pick up Lucys ashes. 

We sort of took it a bit easy, and simply enjoyed our surroundings, but did take a quick trip into Peebles.

The High Street in Peebles

Dog friendly everywhere

On Weds August 9 we packed up and made the 3.5 hr drive south to our next destination which was Warkworth, England.    Since we had time to kill before we could check in - our usual M.O. is to find a side trip or two.     This time we took some smaller roads heading south.

Southern Scotland on the way to Warkworth

Entering England we crossed some moors where the heather was starting to turn purple and coloring the hillsides.

Purple heather on the Moors

Along the way we also made a stop at the National Trust Property Cragside.  Built in the mid to late 1800's by William Armstrong, an early industrialist, the property is both beautiful and innovative.

Among many other things, it could be said that Mr Armstong was the world's first international arms dealers.   He invented many types of innovative weapons, and sold them not only to the British Government, but to many other nations around the world.

Heads of state from all over the world would be wined and dined at Cragside while Mr Armstrong sold them weapons, ships, or whatever.

Among many features, it boasts the world's first hydroelectric plant to power the place.   It also used water power and hydraulics to operate many of the modern conveniences found in the spectacular home.

Set on an estate of over 15,000 acres, the gardens surrounding the house are beautiful.   Today you can drive on the loop road, a 5 mile circuit that was created to allow the owner and guest to take a carriage ride around the expansive grounds and gardens.    It was a delightful ride that passes numerous lakes and picnic areas.

Inside, the kitchen boasts one of the world's first dishwashers and hydraulically controlled spits to cook large roast over the fire, keeping them turning without manual labor.

The kitchen

The dishwasher

One of the gardens and the "Iron Bridge"

Moving on, it was getting late enough that we could now check into our next place.   A really nice ground level studio apartment in the center of the town of Warkworth.     It had a beautiful back yard ("Garden") in British speak".   It was super private and quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of the village just outside of the gates.

The owners had a pair of minature male poodles.   They provided Annie with a nice diversion, and the enclosed garden allowed her to really get in some good running around time.

Annie looks for her boyfriends.

About a mile or so walk from the house brought us to Warkworth beach.  It was a great sandy stretch of beach and I finally got to dip my toes into some cool salt water.

Annie also got her first trip to the beach.    At first the waves breaking and running up onto the beach kept pushing her away from the water, but by the end of our visit she was getting into the spirit and ran thru some of the water.

The Village of Warkworth is quite pretty.   Surrounded on 3 sides by a bend in the River Coquet there is an ancient bridge over the river at one end of the village, and the imposing Warkworth Castle at the other end.

St Lawrence Anglican Church

The old bridge in the distance

A couple of miles south of Warkworth is the Village of Amble.    A pretty coastal town with a vibrant marina.      We headed down one afternoon, walked about, and had lunch at one of the many outside cafes.

Looking out over the North Sea from Amble

Fishing boat returns to Amble Harbor

One morning we walked up to the end of town and visited Warkworth Castle.  It is considered a ruin, but I've found it in pretty good shape compared to many of the other ruined castles.   Being English Heritage and National Trust Members, our entry to most of the places we've gone to have been free.

Warkworth Castle

A view of the east side of the castle and the moat.

Inside the castle outer walls.

Looking down into the inner yard from inside the bailey

The castle kitchen.  Note the huge ovens.   They could roast several oxen at once.

The castle kitchen

Looking out from the castle towards the village.  Our house is just about dead center in the photo.

The village square.   We ate several times at the Mason Arms including Sunday Roast.   Like almost everywhere we go - no problem bringing the dog along.

Annie gets a good run in the garden playing fetch.

Later - a tired dog = a happy owner.

On one day we took a 40 minute drive to visit Bamburgh Castle.   There has been some form of fortification on this site since at least 400ad and the current castle dates to the 11th century.

The castle looms over the village of Bamburgh

Driving up to the castle

Outer gun walls

Inner courtyard

Inner courtyard view from inner raised gun walls

Inside the castle is quite impressive.   The castle is owned and occupied by the Armstrong family.   If that name sounds familiar, it is because it is the same people who build Craigside which we visited earlier in this post.

Grand Hall

Sitting room

Kitchen

View over Bamburgh Village

Again, we took some skinny scenic roads back home.   Below you can see the North Sea off in the distance.

Another week flew by and soon we were off to our next port of call - Pickering in North Yorkshire.  

Again, having some time to kill before checking in, we made a detour to the scenic, and historic seaside town of Whitby.

We had planned on staying here last year, so I already had researched the place pretty well, and had a decent lay of the land.    So we parked the car and headed to the old section of town.

Whitby Old Town Streets

Famous for its fish and chips, we stopped for lunch and then about 3:30 or so headed down across the Moors to Pickering.     The Heather seems to be getting prettier by the minute.

Purple Heather in North Yorkshire Moors National Park

Our next place is a very nice 2br row house right in town.   Set back off the main road in a courtyard, we have private parking and it is nice and quiet.

Kitchen

TV Lounge

England has a lot of preserved old rail lines.   Many of them steam.    The North Yorkshire Moors Railroad runs from Pickering to Whitby and we planned to take it for a spin, so we visited the  station to see one of the steam units pull in.

This station starred in many films, most recently as Kings Cross Station in the Downton Abbey Movie.

A couple of days later we are onboard headed to Whitby.

Being fairly inclement, and also having been to Whitby, we simply took the train round trip rather than getting off.

One of the stops along the way is Goathland.   This quaint station stars in many films, most notably the Harry Potter films.

Back at the house, we were giving Annie jumping practice.    Again - a tired dog = ........

Saturday, our friends Craig & Vickie came up for the night.   We met them and Vickies sister and Husband at a local pub for dinner.    

Sunday - today - while most of England was glued to their TV's watching the women's footballers complete (and sadly lose) in the world cup final, we headed back up to Whitby to visit Whitby Abbey.

Dating back to the 7th century, this imposing structure was the inspiration and setting for some of Bram Stokers book "Dracula"

We were fortunate in that during August they are running the play Dracula for free on the grounds of the Abbey on Sundays.     3 Actors (2 men and 1 woman) play all the characters in the novel.

Annie takes in the show with us

Each new scene finds you moving to a different part of the grounds.

The show ran for 90 minutes and was quite captivating and entertaining.    

While moving from one location to another, one of the actors spotted Annie, and while staying in character he exclaimed "that's right - bring the hounds, bring the hounds.   They will be useful for sniffing out the vampires"

Heading back to Pickering, I again took a detour and ran a smaller road right down the center of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park.   It was a beautiful drive and the heather seemed even more vibrant than the day before.

All the heather on the Moors makes me think of Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights.

Well that brings you up to date as of today - Sunday August 20.

We are here in Pickering for a few more days and on Weds we move down to our last home of the trip in Winchcombe.   Those of you who have followed us for a while might remember our last visit to Winchcombe where we rented the castle gatehouse.   Winchcombe and the Cotswolds are one of our favorite areas in the UK and we will spend 3 weeks there.

Once done with Winchcombe, we are then on the road to Paris and Barcelona because I have to see a man about a dog.....

See you down the road.

RVing in The Scottish Highlands

 It's been a bit over 2 weeks since our last post.  Losing Lucy took a bit of steam out of our motivation but with places booked, we had to push on.

First and foremost - thank you all for your kind words.    I normally try to reply to every message left on the blog, but this time doing so was too painful.   Just thank you for all of your kind thoughts.  It meant a lot to Kate and I.

The Saturday that she passed was the day we were supposed to pick up our Motorhome and head to the Highlands to meet our friends Craig and Vicki.   We arrived at the Motorhome Depot a few hours late and the manager there was so nice and understanding.   He told us that if we wanted to wait a few days to pick up the MH that would be fine, but we had places to be and keeping busy was the best medicine.

In retrospect - traveling with Craig & Vicki for those initial 10 days was perfect.   They did a fantastic job keeping us laughing and our minds occupied on other things.   It gave us the much needed breathing room to soften the rough edges a bit.

We had a 3.5hr drive from Edinburgh to Bunree - in the Highlands.    After stopping at a nearby Morrisons to load up with supplies, we were on the road by about 1:30 or so.

The Highlands remind us so much of Alaska.   Being in the mid to high 50's in latitude, the flora seems so similar.  Just no snow capped peaks or Grizzly Bears.

We arrived at our Caravan Park - my first one ever - about 5pm.   Our friends were already there.   Hooking up is rather simple since they really dont have all the hookups like in the US.   Due to using 220v the electric cord is much smaller.   16amp service with a cord as thick as a regular extension cord in the US.   The service is equivalent to 32 amp service in the US

Our view over the Loch from our campsite.   Over here they call them "Pitches"

We stayed at our first stop for 3 nights and made some day trips.   Below we are parked on a "layby" with a nice view having some lunch.   We are in front.

As usual, the 3 days flew by and below I'm checking out.   The reception is beyond our MH.

Our next stop was about 3 hours away on some interesting (skinny) roads.  

And some other wider and very picturesque roads.

We spent another 3 nights here on the Isle of Skye.  Below was the view out of our front window.

While here we mad a side trip to the village of Portree about 20 miles away.

Another day we visited Dunvegan Castle and Gardens.   The ancestral home of the MacLeod Clan.

The castle was built around 1200 with several additions over the later centuries.

Kate takes Annie for a stroll.  Our MH is beyond her with Craig & Vicki to our right.

Soon it was again time to move on.   Our 3 days were up.    Our next stop was reached by many miles of one-lane roads.    Its a peculiar way to travel but it seems to work.   It does however take quite a while to put on the miles.    Even the big trucks use these roads as often it's the only way to get somewhere.

Two more scenes along the way - both on wider sections of roadway.

Our next stop was in the village of Interewe.   A pretty village tucked into the end of a large bay.

Interewe is known for Interewe Gardens.   One of the finest gardens in the UK.    We are National Trust members so our admittance was free.

We took a selfie at the end of the garden trail at the "High Viewpoint"

Our two days in Interewe flew by and our trip was now winding down.   Two more nights and we were done with our 10 day trip.

Our final destination was Stirling.   The place where William Wallace defeated the British in 1297 and was loosely portrayed in the movie "Braveheart"

Enroute to Stirling

Our final stop for 2 nights.   Witches Craig Caravan Park.    Finally the weather decided to play hardball.   This whole trip we played hide and seek with bouts of light sprinkles, but in Stirling the skies opened up and decided to provide a downpour.    I had also injured myself a few days earlier and was having a hard time sitting and walking so the couple of days downtime helped me.

We had a great 10 day intro to Euro motorhoming.   Its a pretty simple process but in the UK everything is on the other side.

We visited pubs and had dinner or lunch in every location.   And shared a lot of laughs and made good memories.   Thanks C & V for the laughs when they were most needed.

Since I have a fair amount of RVing friends following this blog, I'd be remiss if I did not discuss the specifics of how things work at the Caravan parks with waste and fresh water.

First...  there are no permanently installed black tanks.    You have a cassette - about 6 gallons in ours- that is removed and taken to a "chemical toilet" disposal point.    This point is only for black water.   Grey goes elsewhere.   Most of the cassettes have an extendable handle and wheels, much like wheeled luggage.   So you pop it out of the MH or Trailer (Caravan) an wheel it over to the Chemical waste point.

This particular waste point was out in the open.   Many are in a 3-sided enclosure to protect you from rain.

The business end of the waste point

The cassette removed from the MH.

Here is the casette in an enclosed waste point.   You turn the spout, uncap it, and pour it down the big funnel.   There is fresh water there to fill and rinse the cassette, and once clean, you put some chemical into the cassette, pull the flush handle, and you are ready to reinstall in the vehicle.

Grey water is handed at "Motorhome Service Points".  There is a grate that you pull over and then open your grey water drain over the grates to empty your tanks.    The fresh water tank was 100 litres and the grey tank 60 litres.    About 25 and 15 gallons respectively.

There was no standard in grey disposal sites.    Some were just small squares, some were rectangles that ran across the pad, and others were under the vehicle and you dumped onto sloped concrete that ran into the drain.

The water was co-located with the gray disposal at the Motorhome Service Points.   All of the spigouts had a quick release connection so that you could quickly get in, fill, and move on.     Some had fresh water hoses on a reel, but most you used your own hose.

We turned in the Motorhome on Tuesday morning and moved onward to our next stop, a nice little flat in the Leith section of Edinburgh.    We spent 5 nights here.    While here we were to attend the Tattoo and a nice dinner as part of a package.   Since we were going to have 2 well behaved 15 yr old dogs we were not worried about any barking in the apartment.     But now only having Annie, we did not want to take a chance and I had to scramble to find someone to dog sit for us.

The only person that I could find turned out to be super qualified and dependable, but she could not come till 5 pm which meant that we would miss the dinner portion of our night.

The first few days we explored the local area which is right along the shoreline.

This nearby ship in the river serves as a hotel.   Our flat is in the building just beyond the bow of the ship on the right.

On Saturday we headed off to the Tattoo and caught the Tram to the city center.   Edinburgh has great and very clean public transportation.    A ride each way was £2

The Tattoo this year had performers from about 10 different countries.   Many but not all were military bands.

Trinidad & Tobago Military Band group

US Air Force Band

A private dance troup performing Irish style dancing

Swiss Central Military Band

Norwegian Military Band

I dont recall all of the performers or where they were from.    The whole show moves with military precision.   It starts exactly at 615 (early saturday show) and ends exactly 90 minutes later.

The performers mass for the exit procession.

A video of part of the closing procession.   One of the best parts of the show.   It had just started to rain a bit harder, thankfully at the end of the show.

Yesterday - Sunday - our 5 days were up and we had to clear out of our flat in Edinburgh.   We had time to kill before we could check into our next place, a unique converted Boothy on the estate of Neidpath Castle.

So we made a side trip to the shoreside fishing town of Dunbar.

Colorful lobster pots

Dunbar Harbor at low tide

Dunbar was fired on by John Paul Jones during the American Revolution.  Jones, the founder of the US Navy, and a Scotsman, had a bone to pick with his home country and this was likely his calling card.

Kate & Annie at Dunbar Battery

While in Dunbar, I realized that we had lost the Apple Air Tag that we had on Annies harness in case she ever got lost.    Looking on my iphone, it looked like it was in the gravel parking area behind where we had stayed in Edinburgh.    So leaving Dunbar we drove 40 minutes back to the flat.   When we arrived I started to look for it using my iphone.    Just like magic, it told me to walk 25' in a certain direction and it zoomed right in.   There it was, laying in the grass next to the parking area.

We are now at our next stop for just 3 nights.   Today we go to pick up Lucys ashes.  Another sad milestone of this trip.

The peaceful lane leading to our boothy

The other night I was talking to Kate and said that with all the trouble we had getting here in the first place.   2 covid cancellations, 1 busted knee cancellation, then the ship not arriving, 2 dogs passing, and finally my injury 10 days ago (mostly healed now).....    

Somehow we are still having fun so don't feel bad for us.

Life moves on and so must we.

Lastly - I almost forgot to mention....

We have another new arrival coming.   I've rescheduled our last 8 days in the UK.

Instead, we'll be leaving our car at the VRBO where we stayed by Canterbury.   We'll take a pet taxi to Calais, pick up a rental car there and drive to Barcelona (with 3 days in Paris enroute).

We've been so pleased with how well Annie has worked out, and how well she was started on her training, that we decided to get another dog from the same breeder.    At first they did not have any, and then they contacted me a few days later with a cancelation where the timing would work out.

In Barcelona we will pick up Phoebe - a sister for Annie.    So we'll be returning to the US with 2 new Cobberdogs.   Annie and her little sister Phoebe.   Phoebe will be what they consider a "toy" size.   Likely in the 14 lb range where Annie is a mini and will probably top out around 17 - 20lbs.   Both good travel size.

Phoebe will be 15 weeks old on Sept 21 - the first day she can legally enter the UK.   The ship leaves on Sept 22nd.    Timing is everything.

So Annie will continue her world traveling training and Phoebe will get her  starter course in living on the road.

We are going to make a mini 8 day vacation in France and Spain.    

We'll visit Paris, Barcelona, Carcassonne, and Normandy before we turn in the rental car, catch another pet taxi from Calais, pick up our rental in Canterbury, and drive to Southampton where the next day we'll all board the QM2 for NYC.

Assuming it arrives this time.....   

But I have a contingency plan for that too.