h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So we went away for a couple of days, essentially a weekend but on Monday and Tuesday instead of the approved weekend days.
to the lake district.

first we drove up to Windermere and to Brockholes. which was lovely and scenic. we got out of the car, paid for parking and went on a walk inter-spaced by mini-golf for
they were doing work on the adults assault course not that this bothered me I'm not exactly in condition to be swinging from trees
but it did mean a longer walk to get to the children's play ground. there were a lot of diggers around. Monster is no longer at the age where he is interested by diggers.... my little boy is growing up. anyway... there was a beautiful view of the lake and the visitors center is quite nice i would have stayed in that bit longer if i didnt feel so guilty letting mother in law look after monster in the park while i looked at the pretty things and plotted for cake in the cafe. Anyway I did feel guilty and i didn't have cake. instead we applied more sunscreen and went to the park (daddy went to the lake to paint) and I sat on a bench to sore to move while monster played on a huge tin boat toy / playground thing.

then we continued onwards to our stop off for the night.

We were staying in Eskdale. I don't know if any of you have been to eskdale but it is quite the journey.... Well no it's not it's a short journey it should only take half an hour but we somehow ended up taking the worlds longest short-cut down to somewhere near Barrow in Furness then up to Ravenglass before we got there so we were all rather sore, tired, hungry, peevish among other things.

we had hired the camping barn at eskdale caravan site because I didn't think I'd be able to get up again if I'd slept on the ground. and it has it's own kitchen. but no toilet you have to go to the camp-site toilet like everyone else. so after Finally finding the place. we booked in, got our key and went to see what we'd paid for. now it's not cheep at £125 a night or round about. But you do pay more for hotels and a lot of the B&Bs in the area esspesually if you want a family room and monster being four I don't think he's quite old enough to be sleeping in a hotel room on his own.

Well there was a log burning fire which of course we felt far too hot to even contemplate using. the kitchen as promised (fridge no freezer, hob no oven but the pots and plates were included) up the wobbly spiral stair case to the bedroom which apparently can sleep eight, I think it would be a bit of a squash but you probably could if you all slept shoulder to shoulder. the camp beds were provided and were sturdy if not comfortable.

we then felt rather hungry so off we went to a little pup just down the road. it was a pleasant country type affair that sold real ale (apparently, we didnt try any it could be anything...) and some nice food. The menu was quite good considering it's in the middle of no-where had lasagne - staple of pub menus everywhere and Joe and I had soup of the day (it turned out to be celeriac) Mother in law had a warm chicken salad which was meant to be a started but the portion was rather generous. then we had desert. I went for the toffee crunch sundae which was nice and asked for chocolate fudge cake (which was far too sweet)

Then we toddled (or waddled in my case) back to the barn and went to bed. or tried to
a I said they weren't exactly comfortable, sort of what you imagine the army having with them... I suppose you could get used to it but I wouldn't want to. and there are so many strange noises in the countryside that your not used to after living in a small town. Owls hooting all night, the annoying spider killer thing that chirped incessantly till i switched it off, the creaking of the beds when you moved the slightest amount.... I think I eventually fell asleep around 3am because i distinctly remember having to go outside to walk to the toilet at 2.... Then up at 6 on what turned out to be a much cooler day than the day before (thankfully)

Joe started a nice little fire that we were worried wouldn't catch for a while.... the shop opened at 8 for milk which was good because after the journey we'd had to get there I think if we had brought any with us it would have been cheese...
and there was a trampoline in the garden for which kept him occupied while we gathered up all of our belongings and then we were off to take a trip on the eskdale to ravenglass railway.

if you are a train enthusiast of some kind and have never been to the railway I highly recommend it. if you are eight months pregnant I do not. The railway is a narrow gauge railway that was once used to help the local people get to and from work places. narrow gauge meaning there isn't much room width ways... and it can be quite bumpy...
we saw quite a few large flies which I am convinced to be horse fly but I am quite happy to be proven wrong.

after our journey we went to Grizedale forest. found some musical tree sculptures before running off to the park with mother in law, Joe did some painting and I followed to the park in a steady waddling pace amid much looks of pity from the walkers. but I did stop at the gift shop which had a very poor variety of items considering it's location to buy a postcard to send to my gran and a book of panoramic photographs to send to Joe's gran.

Well after that it was time to walk back to the car and begin our journey home. what I have learned is this
1) always have directions for every stage of the route, never trust a satnav or your husbands sense of direction.
2) People will feel free to mention how very pregnant you look as if you hadn't noticed
3) walking is not an enjoyable activity when 8 months pregnant
4) never go camping
5) never go camping when pregnant and need regular access to the toilet
6) pack better food
7) Everywhere in the lake district no matter how remote and unvisited charges for parking EVERYWHERE
8) factor 50 sunscreen is a gift from the pharmaceutical gods especially if it sprays on
9) there is always time for ice-cream
10) there are never enough benches

I was very thankful for my own bed in my own home with my own toilet last night, but not as thankful as i was for my own bath....

Anthea

I don't usually mock typos, but this one made me laugh out loud!

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Anyway - I went camping whilst heavily pregnant. Tent, airbed, the lot. We are seasoned campers, and I hadn't even thought about doing anything else, and didn't fancy subjecting Nos 1 and 2, who were five and seven years old at the time, to the constraints of a hotel. Nowadays, I would say that for that constellation, a Youth Hostel is the ideal type of accommodation.

Anyway - the Lake District is lovely. It's hard to imagine it being hot there, though!

it is rather difficult to imagine but i am reliably informed that it does indeed get hot a few times a year



I don't think i would have minded air beds too much they would probably have been more comfortable than the camp beds that we had