Why do they call it the Lake District? There are twenty-one large bodies of water here, a lot of other smaller ones

But only one of them is actually called a "lake". The Brits have other names for these, like meres, tarns and waters. That lake we crossed yesterday wasn't Lake Windermere, it's just Windermere.

Very pretty here. Neda says it reminds her of a Thomas Kinkade painting. I have to Google who Thomas Kinkade is. Nice! I can see why this is such a popular place for hiking and camping. But that's not the reason we are here. We're motorcyclists and we like riding roads.


Heading up the single track road of Hardknott Pass

The weather is cooperating beautifully with us as we twist and wind our way around the Duddon Valley. There's still a little bit of the holiday traffic on the roads, but everyone is polite and pulls over to let us pass at the next pullover.


Twisty tarmac as far as the eye can see on the Hardknott Pass

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

We get held up at a series of hairpin bends. No room for the cars ahead of us to pullover!


Whee! We like hairpins!


Such beautiful scenery!

While nowhere near as scenic as the Scottish Highlands, the Lake District does offer up some great views without having to travel the distance to the northern-most reaches of the island.

Onwards, we march!

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

welcome back Gene & Neda

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My memory is becoming that good, I should be able to organise my own surprise party soon

Great to see the stories back on line
Hope you guys are good

Gino & Fiona

Enjoying this. Hope you're coming to the Cotswolds soon. We've got some great roads and beautiful villages to enjoy

Thanks guys!

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/357.html



Liverpool. Liverpool.... This city is famous for something. I can't quite remember what it is.

I think somebody well-known was born here. Or maybe it was a band that came from here.

Pretty sure it was Nirvana.


We arrive into Liverpool in the late afternoon after another quick drive on the British motorways

Despite the short jaunt, we are exhausted. Maybe not physically, but mentally. I feel like we should be sleeping like a log.

It's been over half a year of non-stop travel since our last long break and we're suffering from intense travel fatigue. Travel fatigue has to be one of the least sympathetic ailments on the planet. So why on earth should I moan, when it seems to everyone that we're on a permanent vacation, it's not like we've been working like a dog.

Neda found us a great AirBnB just across the River Mersey from the downtown core. We can literally ride across the bridge and visit Liverpool anytime we want. Maybe tomorrow though. Or the next day. Or the next... Oh well, nothing to get hung about.

Our AirBnB host is very friendly. She showed me our room, isn't it good?


Neda gets busy with her cross-stitching. See the scissors in front of her? She named them Billy Shears.

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

From our top-floor window, we can see Liverpool across the river. Nice skyline.

We don't leave our little apartment at all for the first two days. Just waiting at the window all day, wearing the face that I keep in a jar at the door. Just watching the tides of the river go in and out twice a day. Every day the same: woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head. Nothing else. I really needed this.


The river at high tide. There beneath the blue (and grey) suburban skies, they sit


The river at low tide. That's the famous Royal Liver Building across the river in the background. It's a UNESCO site.

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind

Our AirBnB host must think we're nuts. We only leave our room to come down and make meals. I guess we've very much unlike her regular tourist guests who spend most of the day out sightseeing around the city.


One of our meal breaks. We found our way downstairs and had a cup (or two)

One of our favorite s is Hobgoblin Ruby Ale. Hard to find in Canada, but it's made right here in England! We also noticed some other s from the same brewery that never made it across the pond. King Goblin, a more stronger ale and Black Wych, a stout. So delicious!

On Day Three, we left the AirBnB. Partly because we wanted to explore. But also because we noticed a bug infestation in our room! Beetles everywhere! Some of them were silver.

We just spent the afternoon walking down the boardwalk along the river.


Looks like he got muddy water. He said: 1 + 1 + 1 = 3

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Salt water waves crash against the walls beneath the boardwalk at high tide


Picture yourself in a boat on a river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies. Full stream ahead, Mr. Boatswain!


A crowd of people stood and stared. He must have been a local. They'd seen his face before. Probably from the House of Lords.

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

A four of fish and finger pies. Hungry for fish and chips now!


Just a lazy day walking up and down these rocks. They get to the bottom and they go back to the top, turn around and go back


Cap off the day at our local pub (there is no shortage around here) to have a pint of dark ale. Loving England!

Although I'm already missing haggis. Haggis and dark ale would go very good together. Tres bien ensemble. Oh haggis, I love you, I love you, I love you! That's all I want to say.

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

Sky of blue, and sea of green. Couple walking along the river bed during low tide


Bright are the stars that shine, dark is the sky

Turns out that bug infestation is not just in our room. It's all over the city.

It's been a good four day's worth of rest and now all our troubles seem so far away. I think we're ready to resume our tour of the UK. We were only waiting for this moment to be free. Just have to hop online and buy some tickets to ride. I just hope that we've staved off the worst of the travel fatigue moving forward.

Oh well. Don't you know it's gonna be... alright.

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

I don't think anyone else could have hidden so many lyrics in there - it really made my day!

Glad to see you're still going after the long silence.

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/358.html



We never did make it into Liverpool to sightsee. Just savoured the luxury of lazing around our apartment across the Mersey River doing absolutely nothing, except drinking dark ale and eating fish and chips.

And now we're about to depart the big island for a much smaller island!


The Steam Packet Ferry is a familiar fixture for Isle of Man visitors

The Steam Packet Company has a monopoly on all ferries going in and out of the Isle of Man. If you're coming in to see any of the motorcycle races on the island, you've got to book your tickets well in advance. We actually purchased ferry tickets online for last year's TT -- 8 months before the races! But, as usual, we couldn't predict where we'd be in 8 days (a week), much less 8 months! We ended up flying back to Toronto that summer, so in the end, we had to forfeit the tickets.

So this is our second attempt at the Isle of Man!


We got in!

Normally the hold is full to the brim with motorcycles, but the reason why it's empty and we were able to purchase tickets just the day before is that we are visiting the Isle of Man a couple of days after the Classic TT races. Even when we arrived in the UK a few weeks ago, I knew we'd be in the vicinity around this time, but there was absolutely no chance of securing a ferry reservation for the race days on such short notice.

No sour grapes at all, though. I've watched TT races on TV and I truly do not believe we could've dealt with all the crowds in our fragile, travel-exhausted state. Still, we've heard the island is really beautiful, so we're looking forward to just poking our heads around without loud motorcycles and shoulder-to-shoulder crowds everywhere.

Honestly.

__________________
Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com

It takes just under three hours to cross from Liverpool to Douglas, the eastern port on the Isle of Man. Not only are there few motorcycles on the ferry during our mid-week sailing, but there's not many cars or passengers either.


This is what the ferry normally looks like during race week, with several crossings per day! Picture from the Internet

We rolled off the ferry in the early afternoon and made a bee-line through the middle of the island to the other side. We've been told by many people that there's a good campsite just outside of Peel, on the west coast. Coast to coast on the Isle of Man is really not that far - 17 kms! The island is small! I can't imagine tens of thousands of motorcycle spectators on this tiny island on race weeks! Well, I can imagine it. I've seen the videos...

So glad we're not fighting all those crowds. And all those bikes.

Really.


Our campsite in Peel. This was the only other tent in sight

Numerous light patches of grass marked all the spots where campers had set up their tents last week. Feeling neighbourly, we unpacked our new home up beside a large RV and a German woman came out to greet us.

"You've just missed the races!", she exclaimed in absolute dismay. She said this in the same tone that you'd use to describe a huge natural disaster, like an earthquake or hurricane.

"Yes, we know. We're just here to see the island."

She seemed not to hear me. "The races were just a couple of days ago. It was so good! We come every year. I cannot believe you just missed the races!" Now her fevered voice reached the pitch reserved for mourning the loss of a family pet.

This woman was getting annoying. I thought about moving the tent.

"Yes, that's too bad we missed the races. We're just going to continue setting up. Nice talking to you."

Her husband came out. She wailed to him: "They just arrived. They missed *ALL* the races!" It sounded like her entire family just disappeared in a plane crash.

"Okay, bye."

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Gene - http://www.RideDOT.com